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Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen



Jess was standing in the bathroom in Nick’s room when she heard a noise, ”pop....pop.....pop......pop.” As she turned to go out into the room to see what was making that noise, she heard scuffling and a man’s voice yelling, ”I shot him, I shot him.”

Jess hurried out into the room to find a man on the floor with the security guard pinning him down and trying to put handcuffs on him. Brian was off to one side of the room, his face was pale, he looked shocked. When Jess turned her focus over to Nick’s bed, her heart nearly stopped.

Nick had his hand clutching his chest, blood was pouring out between his fingers. He looked over at Jess his eyes were wide with fear and pain. As she ran over towards him, he collapsed. She reached up above his bed and pulled the code blue switch. A team of nurses and resident physicians poured into the room. They didn’t waste anytime putting Nick’s bed flat and starting CPR.

Jess backed away from Nick’s bed and stood with Brian. They held one another while they watched the medical team work frantically on Nick. A nurse came over to Jess and Brian and asked them to come with her out into the hall. Jess didn’t want to leave.

“It would be better for you to wait out in the hall. You don’t need to see this.” The dark eyed nurse looked at Jess sadly.

She walked with Jess and Brian and went into the hall. As they stood there, people were rushing in and out of the room. It seemed to Jess that they were working on Nick for hours when it actually was only minutes. Finally, a doctor appeared in the doorway and walked over towards Jessica and Brian.

“I’m sorry, we did everything we could for him, but we lost him. He took too many gunshots to the chest.” The doctors words didn’t make sense to Jess.

“No, no, no....” Jessica started to scream. Brian held her tight. She wanted to run back into the room and find Nick sitting in his bed playing Nintendo. After a few minutes, Jess asked the nurse if it would be possible for her to go and see Nick.

The nurse led Brian and Jess back into the room. She quietly told the people that remained in the room to give them some time with him to themselves.

Jessica walked up to the bed and looked down at Nick’s face. He looked as if he was sleeping. She touched the side of his cheek and noticed that his skin was starting to get cold. Brushing the hair from his forehead, she bent over and kissed his cheek. Blood had soaked the sheets and had spilled onto the floor.

Jess cried when she thought about how Nick was trying so hard to get better. “This isn’t fair, how could this have happened?” Jess stammered through her tears.

Brian didn’t speak, he just held her tight. Tears were streaming down his face as he sobbed.

“Hey, goofball, wake up.” Jess was puzzled, why would Nick talk to her like that. He was still laying still in the bed. “I said are you gonna stay asleep all day?”

Jessica jumped. She opened her eyes and realized that she was sitting in a chair in a lobby near the elevators. Howie was standing over her.

“Ohmygod, Howie, you scared me.” Jess still wasn’t sure if this was a dream she had had or not.
Howie laughed at Jessica’s reaction to him. He hadn’t been back to see Nick in a few days mainly because it was difficult for them to come to the hospital without being recognized and mobbed.

“Shall we go in and see how Nick is doing?” Howie asked Jess as he held his hand out to pull her up from the chair.

The MTV live interview was going to air tonight and one by one, the boys had come to the hospital to prepare for this. While Brian was helping Nick get cleaned up, Jess had decided to escape and took a quick nap. That was why Howie had found her asleep in the lobby.

When they walked into Nick’s room, they found Nick sitting in his wheelchair dressed in jeans and a Miami Dolphins football jersey and white tennis shoes. Jess was happy to see Nick out of a hospital gown.

“Boy, you look good Nick. You clean up well.” Jess teased as she kissed him on the cheek.

“Thanks.” Nick smiled. He was glad to wear something normal for a change. He was getting stronger with the physical therapy so getting in and out of the wheelchair was no longer a challenge for him. The dressing required a little help and he was glad Brian was there for him.

“The crews have come already and are starting to set up in the conference room on the first floor.” Howie said. “Hey, Nick, when Kev and AJ come, do you feel up to practicing a song for the interview?” Howie was hoping that Nick would feel up to it. He knew that MTV would want them to possibly sing a song during the interview.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Nick was excited about the interview, but he didn’t know how his voice would be. He was afraid that it had been affected when he had the tubes in his throat. He had not tried to sing.

Kevin and AJ entered the room. AJ looked like he had been running.

“Man, it’s getting worse out there, I can’t believe it. That crowd can be scary.” AJ stated as he slumped into a chair. “Holy shit, Nick, did you get more stuff again?” AJ said as he looked around the room.

“Yup, I am loved.” Nick simply replied.

“What song do you think we should do for the interview?” Howie asked.

Everyone seemed to look at Nick when the question was posed. They didn’t know if Nick would be ready to sing.

“Let’s try “I want it that way.” Nick replied. He figured this was the best time to try as any.

The guys pulled chairs around by Nick and they did a silent count to start. When the song came around to Nick’s portion, his voice was shaky. Embarrassed, Nick cleared his throat and asked if they could try again from the top.

“I guess I’m outta practice.” Nick apologized.

“Hey buddy, don’t worry, it takes time.” Brian stuck up for Nick. “We’ve got plenty of time to practice, nobody says we have to sing anyway, if you’re not ready, don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks Bri.” Nick was trying to feel comfortable about the lack of response from his body. He wasn’t used to not being able to sing when he wanted to sing. He was mentally going over the lists of songs that they sing thinking if there were one that wouldn’t be too noticeable if he didn’t participate. All of the songs they did he either had a major part in it or a major vocal.

After they practiced the song for an hour, they decided that Nick was doing the best that he could. They tried to encourage him to sing tonight and reassured him that his voice sounded great. They noticed a little weakness in it, but were sure that it would be nothing the fans would notice.

They watched TV while they waited for the time to arrive for them to go down to the conference room. MTV ran the music video of “I want it that way.” The guys sang their parts along with the video except for Nick. He was watching himself intently wondering if he would be able to walk across a room again, or even dance. He was starting to feel let down.

Jess put her arm around Nick and kissed him. “You’re gonna be okay.” She knew that he was starting to feel uncomfortable.

There was a knock on the door. Jessica got up and opened it up and stuck her face out. She was the one that always answered the door since her face was the one that would be unfamiliar to fans.

“Guys, they want you downstairs now to set up.” Jess said as she closed the door.

Kevin pushed Nick and the rest of the group walked around him like they were protecting him. Nick had asked earlier if Jess could put something on his face to conceal the bruised eyes and face but both Jess and the guys agreed that it would make things look too noticeable. People were going to be looking at him closely and if he were to have something on like that, they would think he was in worse shape than he truly was.

As Nick entered the conference room, he saw the table set up with five chairs. Off to the left, there were five microphones in front of five bar stools. Nick looked up at Jess.

“I could see sitting in a chair at the conference table, but I don’t think I can sit by myself in a bar stool and not fall over.” Nick whispered.

“I’ll talk to Kevin and see if he can change that arrangement.” Jess whispered back.

Just as they were getting towards the table, they were greeting by a tall red headed woman with a deep voice.

“Hi, I’m Anne from MTV, we put cards on the table so you know where we want you to sit. If you have any questions or need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.” She talked fast as if she didn’t want to be bothered with any questions.

“Um, I think we need to change the bar stool thing.” Kevin stated. “Could you put chairs in there instead?”

Jessica hadn’t had the chance to talk to Kevin about Nick’s concerns, he had brought this up himself. She smiled when she thought about how these guys really did look out for one another like a family.

“Why, what’s wrong with the stools? You guys always use stools.” Anne seemed puzzled. She didn’t look as if she would compensate Kevin’s request.

“It wouldn’t be too comfortable for Nick to sit like that without back support.” Kevin partially lied to her. True, he needed back support, but the main part was he would have to be lifted up to the chair to even sit there in the first place.

“Oh, well, I guess we could put folding chairs there or something.” Anne replied.

“Thanks, that would be great.” Kevin smiled at Anne.

Brian had taken Nick up to the conference table and pulled the chairs around his aside. They had Nick sitting in the center of the table with Brian on his right and AJ on his left. Nick didn’t hesitate to move his body from the wheelchair to his seat. He was getting better with his upper body strength and was able to move himself around with more ease.

Jessica found a chair by the cameras out of the way. She always enjoyed watching these guys do an interview. It was fun being behind the scenes and seeing the things that go on during commercial breaks.

Carson Daly from MTV entered the conference room and Jess knew by the look on Nick’s face that he must have seen her mouth drop open. She always thought that Carson was hot and Nick always seemed to be annoyed when she would say anything about Carson being so damn hot. She smiled weakly at Nick and winked and mouthed I love you. Nick smiled back.

Jess watched the guys tense up as they counted the seconds down to the live airing. Each of them had funny little quirks before they performed and Jess knew every one of them.

“Hi, Carson Daly here for a live special interview with The Backstreet Boys on their Millennium tour. We are live at Tampa Bay Hospital in Florida where Nick Carter has been recovering following a car accident that happened a week ago last Saturday. Hi guys.”

“Hi Carson.” They responded in unison.

Jess could tell that Nick was nervous. He was usually tense during interviews but tonight he was especially tense because he knew there would be a lot of attention focused on him.

“Alright, I know the first thoughts on the fans minds is how is Nick Carter? Nick?” Carson directed the question to Nick.

Nick smiled faintly, “Pretty good, I guess.”

Brian could tell that Nick felt funny talking about himself. He made a side comment to Nick and poked him in the side.

“Nick, what were the extent of your injuries?” Carson asked.

Nick kind of rolled his eyes and really didn’t want to go through the list. Brian took over for Nick.

“He was banged up pretty good, but he is doing better now.” Brian replied. He figured less was more and it was no one’s business what was going on with Nick.

“Which one of you would you guys say has been the driving force that has kept Nick upbeat and positive?” Carson asked.

“Jess.” The guys responded in unison.

“No doubt about it, it’s Jess.” Brian replied.

“Who’s Jess?” Carson asked.

“Nicky’s girlfriend.” The guys replied in a teasing voice. They all looked over at her and jeered.

Jess felt like she wanted to crawl under a chair and die from embarrassment.

“She’s here?” Carson asked.

“Yeah, over there.” Brian said as all of them pointed in the direction where Jess was sitting.

The camera panned over to where she was and the red light went on meaning that she was on live TV.

“Hi Jess.” The guys laughed and waved at her when they said her name.

“Hi guys.” Jess smiled back at them and waved back. She gave them a funny look as if to tell them that she would be getting back with them later.

“Ooh, she does not like to be in the spotlight, eh Nick?” Carson smiled at Nick.

“No, not really, she’s kinda shy that way.” Nick answered and winked at Jessica.

“Okay, your new album Millennium debuted over six weeks ago and have three singles that have reached the top ten from this album. When do you start your European Tour and where?” Carson asked the group, not directing his question to any specific person.

“Well, um, that’s been postphoned right now indefinately.” Brian spoke up. “We were to start touring the first of July in Amsterdam, but Nick would not be able to tour right now, so we’ll have to wait until he gets better.”

Nick kept his head down looking at the table while Brian talked. He felt bad that he was keeping his friends from doing what they wanted to do.

“The tour would be too much of strain on Nick?” Carson asked.

Nick really felt funny now, here they were talking about him as if he weren’t in the room. He sat still in the chair. He knew that the camera was on him.

“Well, the accident was only a little over a week ago and we’re lucky that Nick is here with us right now.” Brian spoke out in Nick’s defense. “By the grace of God, he will be stronger and be able to resume our schedule soon.”

Jess felt her heart fall when she looked at Nick. She knew how embarrassed he was that they were talking about him as if he weren’t in the room. She wanted to run up to him and hold him.

After a few minutes of talking about the group and some of the songs on the album, Carson told the viewers that the Backstreet Boys would sing a song from the Millenium cd when they returned.

They had approximately four minutes to have Nick go over to the chairs that were set up for their song. The guys cleared the way and Anne from MTV brought Nick’s wheelchair over to him. Nick quickly moved himself into the wheelchair. Jess thought she saw a flash of light while he was moving into the chair. At first she thought it was a camera flash, but then she dismissed it thinking that the crew would be more professional than that.

Everyone got into their seat in front of the microphone. They had less than thirty seconds before they were back on the air. Nick was getting more nervous thinking about singing. He hoped that his voice would be more stronger, he prayed that his voice would be clear.

“Welcome back, I’m here in Tampa Bay, Florida, with the Backstreet Boys. They are going to sing I Want it That Way from the Millennium cd. Here’s the Backstreet Boys.”

Carson stepped out of the way and the background cd was cued up for them to start. Brian started his part flawlessly. When Nick’s part came up, he hesitated, but it wasn’t enough for anyone to notice besides the group.

Nick looked over where Jess was and decided to sing to Jess instead of the camera, it made him feel more comfortable. He didn’t try to sing anything fancy especially the parts he was usually pumped up for while he sang. It was simple, almost like he was in church. The guys sang a little louder to cover for Nick’s voice being so shakey. Nick felt like he was getting winded singing a three minute song. He was suprised how much it took out of him.

Carson took calls from fans, most of them told Nick how sorry they were about his accident and that they were praying for him. One girl asked Nick if he was still hurt and one had the nerve to ask if there would be any lasting effects from the accident.

The show was getting ready to end and Carson asked the group while they were having a commercial break if they would sing another song.

“Nick, are you feeling up to it?” Brian asked. All of the songs the group sang involved Nick in one way or another.

“I dunno, I guess I could try.” Nick wasn’t too sure of himself. He knew the last song was a real struggle for him to get through. “I guess we could do Larger Than Life.”

“Are you sure? That is a heavy song.” Kevin asked.

“No, I think I can get through it. You’ll carry me if I can’t sing my part, won’t you?” Nick asked the guys quietly.

“Sure we would.” All of the guys agreed.

The cameras went on and Carson walked over to Nick. “I want to thank you for allowing us to come here and do this live interview. I know that the fans appreciate being able to see that you are okay. Good luck and keep in touch.”

“Thanks.” Nick and the guys thanked Carson.

“As we close, we’ll hear another cut from their new album, Millenium. Here’s the Backstreet Boys singing “Larger Than Life.”

The cd was cued up again and Nick started his part out flawlessly. Towards the end of the song, it was becoming more difficult for him to sing his parts and the guys knew and carried him. With the song being so new fans wouldn’t really know which parts were Nick anyway.



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