Swollen Issues - Chapter 18
Brian caught another glance at Nick just in time to
see his pale friend unsteadily stand up fast, knocking
down his chair in the process. Covering his mouth,
eyes was scanning the room, searching for the exit.
Desperate. As he saw the rooms enterence, he set off,
running through the whole room. Hoping to make it in time.
"Oh no!" Brian called out, "Excuse me," quickly he
stood up and followed the blondes path.
Needless to say several curious guests had turned
around at the sound of the chair hitting the stone
floor. What was the American up to this time?
Not only the guests had caught the situation, but the
press had some trace for a great scoop. A blood hound searching for some trace.
A loud groan was heard from the dining table. It came
from Kevin, rubbing his temples furiously, trying to
fend off an escalating Nick-headache.
"Take it easy," AJ said, once again saving the
situation. "Iīll take care of it." With that he left the room too.
Kevin sighed. Nick had been a pain in the butt the
whole evening and to tell the truth Kevin was in no
mood taking care of his immature "little brother." He
was more than happy that both Brian and AJ,
suprisingly, was playing this night's Florence
Nightengale. All Kevin wanted to do was strangle the little bastard.
He and Bruce had one heck of a time trying to convince their
upcoming sponsors that Nick had to be coming down with
something and therefore, he couldnīt stand alcohol which
accounted for his strange behavoir. Yeah right, Kevin
had thought, but after a while convincing as well as
adding some parts in the business deal, favoring Mr. Kyiko, the Japanese host had finally come on great terms withthe boys again.
Bruce had been really upset, saying that Nick was
going to pay personally for the damage that he had
done to the band. Kevin had agreed since Nick needed
to be taught a lesson, which would be good for him.
Brian ran to the reception desk out in the lobby,
panting. "Have you seen a tall blonde.." He didnīt
have to talk long before the girl in the reception
pointed at a corner in the room, near the entrance door. There was his good buddy Nick! He was leaning over a
plotted plant, decorating it with what was left of
the nights drinks and dinner. Judging from the flow he had drank a hefty amount of alcohol.
"Shit! Frack!" Brian called out, running towards his puking friend. Nick was in no shape to answer since he
was way too busy to tend to his needing task.
The smell was nauseating, yet Brian took a firm grip
on Nick's shivering shoulders. "Come on," he said
gently, "We need to get you to a restroom, think you can hold on?"
"Uh," Nick swallowed hard, not trusting his voice. He
felt so bad that he just wanted to pass out. Yet he
managed to back away from the mess he had created on
the potted plant, a silk one. He could feel Brian
rubbing his back in smooth circle, whispering "Itīs
Okay." Still he didnīt believe his friend. He had once
again managed to make a moment in Nick history, but as
he stood there sick as a dog he didnīt really care.
All he wanted was to stop his stomach from churning so bad.
He turned around slowly to be met with flashes in his
face. It was the press prepared to take the picture of
the year. Closing his eyes, he swayed and he leaned
heavily on Brian, who was trying with all his strength
to keep Nick up. It wasnīt an easy task since the
Kentuckian wasnīt that big. But he was stubborn.
"Get the fuck away," growled a hoarse voice behind
the boys. It was AJ shouting to the media to back off.
The press showed no mercy what so ever, instead they
were pushing at the boys and some journalists actually
had the nerve to ask them if Nick was using any drugs.
Ignoring the questions, Brian tried to fend off the
press, protecting Nick. "Let us through," he said as
calmly as he could, teeth clenched. Gently Brian
guided Nick through the crowd that was surrounding them.
Where is security when you need them? Brian scrowled
while hiding Nick's face from the flashes. He could
hear AJ at the back telling the press to back off.
Again.
But the circus was on. The papparazzis acting like
vulchers that caught a scent of dying corpse crowded the
room. The interest for the boys was as high as if the
press had caught President Clinton with his pants down with an intern.
Finally they reached the restroom facilities and the
boys quickly escaped the press. AJ growled at the
people in the restroom to stop staring or get the fuck
out. He was in an AJ mood and Brian couldnīt help but grin and appreciate AJ's demeanor of the situation.
Nick however was moaning, holding his stomach,
mumbling "I donīt feel too good!" With those words
he let out a loud belch, following with a project
style hurling, decorating the tiled bathroom floor.
"Yuck!" Brian jumped aside just in time, only catching some on his pants.
The people that were left in the restroom ran out
quickly, not wanting to get caught in the action.
This was a sight for sore eyes and the press did
everything they could to get a glimpse of the situation.
Some photographers tried to sneak in through the door
and this really tested AJīs temper.
"This ain't no fuckin show....get the fuck outta here
and leave him alone! You bastards! Where the fuck do
you come off like this?" AJ barked, while trying to
push out the nosy photographers.
No consideration was taken and the photographers
showed no intention to leave the room, by free will at least.
"What the fuck!" AJ snapped when a flash exploded in
his face. Trying hard to keep his anger in check, he grabbed the camera, pulled
out the film, exposing it and then yelled "Get the
fuck out or I shove this down your fucking throat!"
With those words, the skinny man grabbed the
photographer by the collar and shoved him out of the room.
"Leave us the fuck alone," he called while trying to
shut the rest room door. By this time the boy's security
had caught the situation and was standing guards,
fending off all curious persons. AJ breathed a sigh of relief as he walked over to
Brian and Nick. "They are like hyenas! Howīs he doing?" he continued, a bit calmer.
"Not too good," Brian had helped Nick to sit down on
a clean spot on the floor, and he was sponging his
head, wiping off the sweat from the sick boy's forehead. Nick was very pale and he was shivering constantly like he was trapped in a freezer. What had Brian
really concerned was the swolling that reached from his
ears down towards his neck. If it had been bad before,
it was nothing compared to now. Nick looked like a marsmellow man.
Maybe it was more to it then just over doing it on the drinks, Brian wondered.
Chapter 19