"What's wrong, baby?" Leighanne asked as Brian turned back to look at her.
"Nothing." he said softly. He turned back to look across the airplane to Kevin and Lily who were sitting a little bit ahead of them and couldn't seem to keep their hands off of each other.
"Are you still worried about her?" Leighanne asked softly. Brian turned and looked at the understanding in her eyes and once again, for the millionth time, thanked God for bringing this beautiful woman into his life.
"I can't help but be, Leigh. I guess I'm a little over protective. But Kevin hasn't exactly been thinking rationally here lately. I worry that-"
"That's your problem." Leighanne interrupted. "You worry too much. Just let her lead her own life, Bri. But let her know you'll always be there if she needs you."
Brian smiled at Leighanne an placed a gentle hand to her cheek. "I love you." he said softly.
Leighanne smiled and answered "I love you too."
***************
Hannah opened the door to see the smiling couple of Kevin and Lily standing there. "I was wondering when you two would get around to picking that little hellion up." she said with a smile, moving aside to let the two pass.
"Hey, we came straight from the airport, OK?" Lily said as she passed by her, followed by Kevin.
"He's in the guest bedroom, taking a nap." Hannah called after them. "He's running a little bit of a fever so I gave him some Benadryl. He should be out for a while."
Lily nodded and went back to the guest bedroom to fetch her son. She picked him up and gathered his few possessions that she'd left with Hannah a few days earlier. She walked back into the living room and chatted with Hannah for a few minutes before she, along with Kevin and Jeremy left Hannah's house.
***************
As Kevin was stretched out on the couch in the living room, Lily went in to check on Jeremy, who was still asleep, hours after they'd left Hannah's.
She walked in his bedroom and walked quietly over to his bed. Seeing him lying there so peacefully touched something within her and she moved her hand to tuck a stray lock of hair off his forehead. At her first touch on his forehead, Lily froze and her heart jumped to her throat.
"Kevin!" she called loudly as she started to unbutton Jeremy's shirt to put her hands on his chest. Everywhere she touched was as if his skin was on fire. For the first time she noticed his labored breathing and sweat pouring off his little body.
"What's wrong?" Kevin said as he came into the room, sounding alarmed.
"Jeremy." she said with tears in her voice. "He's so hot, Kevin. There's something wrong!"
"Calm down, Lily and go call his doctor, I'll stay here with him." she did as he said and within minutes was on the line with Dr. Baldwin, Jeremy's doctor. After she spouted off Jeremy's symptoms to him she waited silently for him to tell her what to do.
"OK, bye." she said and hung up the phone. "He said to bring him to the ER." she told Kevin and quickly hustled around the room to pack a small bag for Jeremy.
When she was finished Kevin scooped Jeremy gently into his arms and carried him to the front door and outside to Lily's Jeep Grand Cherokee, buckling him into the car seat. Lily climbed into the back seat with Jeremy and Kevin climbed into the drivers seat and quickly sped off.
On the way to the hospital picked up his cell phone and called all the guys, letting them know where he would be. When they reached the hospital, Dr. Baldwin was at the entrance to the ER waiting on them and quickly showed them to a room where Kevin laid Jeremy down on a bed and was then forced out of the room.
Feeling completely and totally helpless, Lily and Kevin stood outside the room, in the waiting room, waiting for some word on their son. They sat side by side on a couch, clutching one another's hands for support when the rest of the Backstreet Boys arrived to offer their support.
Almost an hour later, Kevin and Lily both stood up abruptly when Dr. Baldwin came through the door everyone had their eyes on.
"Mr. and Mrs. Richardson?" he said as he approached them. After their nod he continued. "It seems your son has a severe case of pneumonia." he took a breath and said "It's very bad...I'm sorry but..." The entire group held their breath as he came to the part that he couldn't seem to finish.
"Your son isn't expected to live through the night."
