Unexpected outcome
" Aww finally," AJ was digging into a Quarter Pounder and it was not even eight o clock in the morning. I felt nauseated. Not only because Bone was drooling and eating like a pig, but also because my throat ached and the van ride didn't make me feel any better. I had tried to get some sleep, but it was way too cold in the van and even though I had my jacket wrapped around my body I was still shivering like crazy.
Now I was sitting at a McDonalds somewhere in Germany trying hard to get some food into my stomach. Pushing the toast aside (Happy Meal again) I laid down my aching head on the table instead. This caused some predicted concern from my band mates.
" Nick you ok?" Kevin was always asking such stupid questions. No, I'm NOT ok. If I were ok I wouldn't be leaning on a table at Mickey D's looking a green shade of chartreuse and snot running down my upper lip. That is not the sight of someone that is feeling ok. Yet I answer as stupidly as my "brothers" would have done, " Eh..just tired."
" Tired my ass," Bone needs to learn how to choose is vocabulary a bit better.
" You're not gonna eat anything?" Brian says, coming back from the john and with one look at me I can tell that he is trying to judge my physical state. I´ll bet that I am not getting to high grades.
" Not hungry," I mumble between the sniffles. " Besides it's too early in the morning." That is a fact. I have never been a morning person and also eating in the morning, which is until ten am, makes me feel sick to my stomach. This causes some problems since we are often up by the crack of dawn. I've solved the problem with always carrying something with me in my backpack. In case I get hungry, that it is often a candy bar but another story.
" You need to get some sleep." Kevin informs me and before I can react he is there, feeling my forehead. " Yup," he says mostly to himself, " You're warm."
" It's because you guys keep touching my forehead all the time. The friction makes my head hot." I can just hear how stupid and pathetic it sounds. And whiny.
" What is the problem?" Donna has come in at the restaurant to see why we are taking so long. Seeing my slumped posture she walks up to me and for one second I actually think that she is going to show some concern for me and my situation. Instead she says, " Nick sit up straighter. That slumped position is doing nothing for your posture."
" He isn't feeling too well," Brian is coming to my rescue and Kevin states the same.
" Who isn't feeling too well?" Howie is coming back from the john too and I can tell that he is walking a big circle around me, looking like he has seen a ghost.
" Nick."
" Oh."
With a moan I sit up straighter in the seat, " I'm fine. It's just that didn't sleep that well last night," I murmur, making another attempt to eat my McToast. There is no way that I am telling Donna how shitty I feel. She wouldn't understand anyway and she probably would end up pushing me even more as a punishment. Bad thoughts!
After waiting for the guys to finish up their breakfast for what seems forever I am ready to get back to the van again, As for me I have tried to get something into my stomach so that queasy strange feeling will go away. Kevin has practically pushed the toast down my throat and in the end I had no strength to resist him. " See Nick, you feel so much better if you're not on an empty stomach," he said. Well I have some valuable information for you Kevin Richardson. Eating while feeling like you want to purge is NOT a wise idea to do. Especially not when you have a bumpy ride ahead of you. You of all people should have learned the lesson.
Kevin stopped me, putting his hand on my shoulder, as I opened the entrance door, " You feel better?"
Nope! " Yes a bit," I told Kev so that he didn't have to bother his already overheated brain with being concerned for my well being. Kevin looked satisfied, " Yeah, what did I tell you. Eating is always good." To that comment I have just one thing to say,' let's give it a few hours and we'll see how good this actually was'. I might even consider using Train as a target since I have a lot of target practice of all sorts.
That was bad. I know.
As soon as we're back in the van I crawl back to my own place, pulling my jacket over me and kicking off my shoes. Then I try to get as comfy as possible. Not an easy task since the seats are hard and we are in a cramped up space. Brian sits down beside me and I don't have to wait long until B'rok does his standard procedure. Checking me for a fever.
" Well?" Kevin is waiting for a reply and I am starting to get seriously pissed over this annoying game.
" Still warm," Brian frowns, " We should get a thermometer so we know how high of a fever you have, Kaos."
" I don't have any fever," I mutter as I pull the jacket closer to my body. " Can someone turn up the heat?" I say in next sentence.
" You're cold?" Now AJ is concerned too.
The boys discuss something and since I don't have the strength to listen to them jabbering I close my eyes, trying to block out all sounds. This "silence" doesn't last long since I am interrupted with a series of loud sneezes. This really sucks. " I need some tissues," I whine and as I say this a package of white tissues are thrown at my way. Looking up a bit startled I grab one tissue and make good use of it.
" Thanks," I say to whomever has been so kind to me. A bit surprised I found out that it's Donna! She grins to me and now I feel even more cold than before. An evil Donna is bad, but a nice one is worse. Then I never know where I have her.
********************
" Here try this," Brian hands me his water bottle and I accept it gratefully, taking a swig. I don't know if it's that I am sitting hunched over with an sickly yellow green tint on my face or that I am sweating profusely, cold sweat plastered behind my back, but Brian has taken upon the quest to "baby-sit" me. The reason for my predicament is called: car!
As you might have figured out I am carsick and not so little either. For the past hour the feeling have slowly escalated and now I am soon ready to let the Mc Toast have it's freedom. I just hope that we get to stop since the idea of hurling in this cramped up van doesn't sound too tempting. Not for me and certainly not for the guys. It doesn't exactly help the situation that my head is totally stuffed up and every 30 seconds I am blowing this traffic light of a nose. In other words I am back to feeling like crap again.
" Is that any better?" Brian asks as rubs my back.
All I can do is shake my head since talking requires too much energy. Besides it means that I have to move my lips and the way my stomach is going right now that is not such a wise decision. No not at all.
" How is he doing man?" Kevin has turned around, asking his cus about my state of health. A shrug back from B tells as much as 1000 words and Kev gets even more concerned. This time however he is addressing me instead, " How are you feeling, Nick?"
" Sick," I mumble before I am talking too much. Ooops close call. Instantly I shut my mouth and groan audible. Maybe it's that I have let out those harsh shrieking noises for the past minutes, topping it with gagging sounds, that has Brian uttering these words, " Stop the car. I think he is carsick!" Yeah Frick you're so right about that one.
" Maybe he just needs some air," Nooo Kev there is more to it than that. Trust me on this one.
" No can do," Johnny announces from the drivers seat, " We are on the autobahn and there is nowhere to stop."
" Nick will have to wait," Donna states coldly.
Now I don't know if you have been in the same position that I am in right now, but if you have you know that wait is NOT something that you can do when you feel the acid burning in your throat. Sniffling I mumble more shaky than I ever thought I felt, " Pu..pull over." My stomach has decided to end my pain and a bit panicking I notice that my manager makes no attempt to stop this damned van.
" Pull over..NOW!" Brian helps me out as things are starting to get a bit desperate. Frantically I fumble with my seat belt. Brian, sensing the panic in my eyes grabs the McDonalds Happy Meal bag and he hands it to me in a swift move. With no words I make good use of it. Just in time!
" Gross!" You say?
" Ewww" Yeah, but how do you think that I feel?
" Disgusting!" Sorry dude can't help it.
It's clear that the boys and the Wrights don't accept my sound making and to tell the truth neither do I. But I have no choice than to let go!
" Nick couldn't you have waited?" This time it's Donna that is questioning my bad timing. Howie looks like he is thinking the same. Brian comes to my defense. " Told ya that he was carsick!"
" That kid is always sick," Johnny mutters, turning on the volume on the stereo to block out my not-so-nice sounds. " He is always trouble." <
" Yes so true honey," Donna chuckles and I can tell that the other guys are not so amused with the choice of words. Maybe it's time to give Donna one of those fish tasting bubblegums again. I grin inwardly as I am in for another round.
" Gee man, if there is something that Nick is a master off. It's hurling." AJ sounds a bit impressed, Howie doesn't.
" Aww man, " Kevin always feels so responsible for me and this is no exception. " B'rok change place with me so I can see how Nicky is doing."
" I can handle this!" Brian says calmly and I agree with him. B is the best there is when you are feeling crummy. Mainly because he is just acting calm and helps the sick person out without making too much fuss about it. Kevin is great too, but he is way too much dad for my liking.
" No I take care of it!" Now Kev is acting stubborn too. I listen with half an ear as I am making use of the bag and still can feel that my stomach is way too unsettled to stop. Man I sure hope that this bag will take what I have deposited. Yuck!!!
" I said that I have the situation under control." It's getting heated and there is an argument hanging in the air. AJ and Howie also listen waiting to see where this is going.
" I am ALWAYS the one that take cares of situations like this." Kevin sounds a bit pissed, but so is B´s response too,
" Well who does he turn to when he feels sick? It sure ain't you" Hold it guys I wanna yell. In my wildest fantasy I never thought that I would be the reason for such a "fight". And I who thought that no one cared for me. How ironic!
" So you say that..Well who was the person that stayed up with Nicky the whole night when he was puking his guts up last week? I didn't see you any where in sight!" Kevin sounded upset, " In fact it was TWO nights!"
" Hey who took care of Nick when he had Strep and his first hangover and when he had that nasty ear infection last year? You all ran like you had fire in your pants. Not to mention all those nights staying up when he had the flu" Brian was getting more and more worked up and soon they were engrossed in a heated argument over who was taking care of ME!!!! I couldn't believe my ears! At least I felt a bit better and had got my head up from the McDonlad's bag and I was following the "battle" with some interest.
They were acting like a couple of parents arguing over their child and after a while of heated discussion AJ exclaimed, flaring with his arms in disgust, " Will you two grow up? I can't believe you guys that you are actually fighting over who gets to stay with a hurling Kaos? That is sick!"
Howie shakes his head, " Yeah man, that is weird." There is no way in life that Howie would argue over such stuff. The things that he can get into an argue about is stuff like what color someone's pants are or how long it takes to blow dry your hair or even worse what conditioner one should use. Ok I know I was a bit nasty, but you get my drift.
" Well we better ask Nick who takes care of him the most then," Brian said not letting go off the topic. He was a winner and if there is one thing that me and B has in common it's that we like to win. There is just one big difference; Brian is the winner and I am the looser. Except when it comes to burping and playing Nintendo.
Kevin not wanting to loose either gave his cousin a look, " Ok that is the deal." Kevin is the one that never says no to competition and the nasty thing is that Kev is good at almost everything too. Looks like there is some IQ stuff going on in the water. Maybe one should move to that beef and chicken loved state! But then I would never trade the ocean for farming. No way, even if I luuuuv animals.
Turning to me, the two cousins was set to find out who I thought had the best bedside manner. It was just that at that point my head was back in the bag again.
The answer had to wait.
