“Nick… I’m home!” Meggie said as she shut the front door. She plopped her purse and keys down on the coffee table as she took off her high-heels. “Nick?”
Walking through the kitchen, she saw the dishwasher was running, and the counters sparkled from the light above. “Nick? Where are you?”
She wandered through the halls and stopped at the end where his recording studio was. She listened carefully, as “When You Wish Upon A Star” played softly. She turned the doorknob and peered through to see Nick laying on the leather couch asleep, and Madison lying beside him, her little arm hugging her Backstreet Boys teddy bear Kevin had given her for Christmas. Austin lay on the floor beside the couch in a pile of blankets and pillows, along side Willey. Her lips curled up into a smile as her family lay peacefully in front of her. She checked her watch, and then left the studio to begin making dinner.
As she poured the uncooked macaroni noodles into the boiling water, Nick walked into the kitchen with Madison on his shoulders and Austin holding on tightly to his pinky and ring finger.
“I didn’t hear you come in,” Nick said as he set Madison on the floor.
”You wouldn’t have. The door was shut, music was playing, and you all three were sound asleep,”
“Oh… so what’s for dinner?”
“Macaroni and cheese and hot dogs,”
“Mickncheese!” Austin yelled, giggling.
“Could you put them in their high chairs?” Meggie asked, turning off the stove. Nick picked a laughing child up under each arm and set them down in their distinct high chairs. He hooked the trays up, and then helped Meggie carry the food over to the table.
After dishing out, they began to eat, and chat about their days.
“Kev called this afternoon… they’re talking about going back on tour,” Nick said.
“Really?”
”Yeah. He wanted to make sure I was ready to make a come back.”
”Are you?”
“Yes. I’ve been off the road for more than two years. I just want to get back on with my career life.”
“We could probably come out and see you a few times while you’re on the road.”
“That’s the other thing. We’re all getting separate buses this time. You know… Kevin and Kris and the baby… and the others with their girlfriends. It’d be perfect. We could set cribs up in the back bedroom and everything. And even on the nights we want time to ourselves… there’s plenty of people willing to watch them.”
“Do you think they’re old enough to go on tour?”
“Baby… they’re a year and a half now.”
Meggie sighed, as she knew she had lost her part of the conversation.
~Two Months Later~
“There they are!” Meggie yelled over the roar of the crowded airport. They had just gotten off their flight from Tampa to San Francisco, where they were meeting with the other four Backstreet Boys to begin the US tour. They weaved themselves through the crowds over towards where the guys were standing.
”Hey,” Brian said, taking Austin from Nick’s grasp. “Hey Maddie,”
“Hi,” She replied shyly.
“Hey AJ… come help me with the luggage… please?” Nick asked. AJ nodded and followed Nick as Meggie collapsed down into a chair with Madison.
”How was the flight?” Kevin asked.
”Long… have you ever been on an airplane with three kids?”
”Not with me… three?” Howie asked.
”She was also speaking of Nick, D,” Kevin laughed. “Alright, we’re supposed to go to the bottom level of the parking building, and our buses should be waiting for us there,”
They waited for Nick and AJ to come back, and then they all began to walk to the parking building.
As they neared the buses, Brian began to hum the chorus of “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”.
“Goodbye everyone… I must go find something to entertain myself with… man, I need a girlfriend,”
“It’s about time you realized that. See you all later,” Kristen said as she climbed onto Kevin and her bus, a sleeping child in her arms. Last year, while Nick was in the hospital still, Kristen had given birth to a little boy, that they named Jerald, after Kevin’s late father. The others boarded their bus, and began the long drive to Denver, Colorado for their first concert. Instead of starting off their tour in Florida, they had decided to end there this year.
“Man… it’s good to be back on the road,” Nick sighed, sitting down on the couch beside the large window. The bus was finally quiet, as the twins had been put to bed about a half hour ago. Meggie sat down beside him and peered through the window. “It’s going to take awhile to get used to not having the other guys on the bus.”
“Bet the others are thinking the same thing.”
”Yep. Anyways… care to join me in a game of NFL 2000?”
“Why not? As long as I can be the Giants,” She replied.
”Fine with me,” Nick said, turning the television on. He placed the NFL 2000 CD into the Play Station 2, and hooked the paddles up.
[AN: I have no idea if there really is a game called NFL 2000, and if there is, that it is even for PS2… I’m not much of a video game player..]
After two hours of three intense games, they both began to stifle yawns.
”Babe, I think it’s time for bed,” Meggie said, rolling the cord around her paddle.
”Agreed,” Nick did the same, and then placed the paddles atop of the game system. He turned off the T.V. and followed Meggie into the small bedroom at the back of the bus.
They soon fell asleep to the quiet breathing of the twins, off in their own dreamlands.
~ The Next Day ~
“Dada…dada!” A squeal came from one of the cribs. Nick pried his eyes open, only to be met by a stream of bright sunlight, escaping in from one of the windows. He sat up to see Madison standing in her crib, staring back at him with a grin on her face. In the other crib, Austin stood silently and sucked his thumb, watching Nick’s every move.
”Are you both hungry?” He asked, climbing out of bed. They both nodded with excitement. Nick couldn’t help but smile back. “Alright, we can eat, but we have to be quiet so we don’t wake Mommy,”
Nick slid a pair of jeans and then rummaged around on the floor for a shirt. After finding one, he went over to the cribs and picked them both up and carried them into the main room. He settled them down in their booster seats at the table, and then looked through the cabinets for breakfast food.
He settled on Fruity Pebbles for himself, and dry cheerios for the twins. He poured them each a bowl and set it in front of them. Then he poured milk over his own cereal and sat down on the other side of the table. After the trio had eaten, Nick turned the television on, and put “The Lion King” in for them to watch. Nick sat back down at the table with a yellow writing pad and a pencil in front of him. The front page was blank, and remained blank for the next hour, until Madison crawled into the seat beside him and perched herself on his lap to watch the rest of the movie. As he watched his daughter, words began to pop into his head. He quickly wrote them down, a small smile appearing on his face. Fifteen minutes later, he had a new song lying out in front of him. All he needed was music, and he could get Brian or Kevin to help him with that. He signed his name at the bottom of the page, before pulling the cover down over the messy writing.
A few minutes later, Meggie sleepily walked into the room.
”Good morning,” Nick said.
“Morning. Why’d you let me sleep in?” She asked, getting a bowl from the cabinet.
“You really didn’t sleep in. It’s only eight thirty. These little munchkins woke me up at seven o’ clock for breakfast.”
~ Two Weeks Later; In Boston, M.A. ~
“Show you the shape of… my heart…” AJ sang, finishing the last verse of “Shape Of My Heart.”
They bowed, and said their final goodbyes to the crowd. Waving one last time, they ran off stage and into their dressing rooms.
“Hey baby,” Nick said greeting his wife.
“Ugh… don’t touch me. You’re all sweaty,” She teased. “Take a shower before you go for the Meet n’ Greet, please. I don’t want to be known for having a smelly husband.”
Just to add a kick to it, Brian reached over and pulled Meggie into a hug.
She glared at him as he ran down the hallway to the showers, along with the rest of the guys. She glanced back at the couch, where Madison was sound asleep, but Austin sat up wide-awake.
“Looks like we wore your sister out, huh Austin?” He looked up at his mom in wonder, as if he understood everything she had just said.
After the guys had showered, they went to their Meet n’ Greet which lasted only a half hour. Afterwards, they went back to the dressing room to pick up their belongings.
“Nicky… could you get Madison? I’d probably wake her up trying to carry her out to the bus.”
Nick smiled as he gently picked his daughter up and rested her tiny body against his chest. With Austin on her hip, Meggie grabbed the diaper bag and made her way out to their bus, followed by Nick. They piled on, and put the twins in their cribs, then climbed into their own bed and fell into a dreamless sleep.
Sometime in the early morning, Meggie woke to Madison’s soft cries. She got her a bottle of juice from the fridge and gently slid it between the small girl’s lips. As her hand brushed up against Madison’s cheeks, she noticed more warmth than usual. Meggie laid her hand on her forehead, to find it also warm.
Her motherly instincts kicked in, and she picked Madison up out of her crib. She took her with her to the bathroom, and then sorted through the medicine cabinet for the thermometer. As she began to take her temperature, Madison was unusually calm.
”A hundred point four.” She whispered to herself. “We’d better go find that baby Tylenol, eh?”
She quickly found it in her travel bag, and poured a tablespoon of liquid into a spoon and slid it into Madison’s mouth.
“You really don’t feel good, do you?” She turned on the T.V. and put the news on mute, and she softly rocked the baby back and forth, as she sipped her juice.
“Meg?” A voice came from the bedroom.
“ In here,”
Nick’s tall shadow appeared, worried and sleepy. “What’s wrong?”
“Maddie’s running a fever,”
”Is she ok?” He asked, quickly waking up.
“I don’t know. I gave her some Tylenol, in hopes it’ll bring the fever down. We might need to see a doctor in Chicago tomorrow.”
“We can do that. We could probably stop now if we needed to…”
“Why don’t we just wait and see if her fever goes down?”
“Ok,”
Nick sat down across the table from her, and watched the muted news.
About an hour later, Meggie felt Madison’s head.
“It’s still there, but not so warm. Why don’t we go back to sleep? She could use the rest if she’s sick.”
Nick nodded and followed her back into the bedroom. He kissed Madison on the forehead before Meggie set her back into the crib.
“Goodnight, Maddie.”
A few hours later, the sun began to stream through the windows. Nick woke up to see Austin standing in his crib, staring back at him.
“Morning buddy,” Nick said, picking him up. “Looks like it’s just you and me this morning, little man.”
Nick carried him into the kitchen area and set him in his booster chair.
“Are you hungry yet?” Nick asked.
Austin shook his head, but pointed to the television screen.
Nick chuckled as he put Tarzan into the VCR. He settled down beside his son and soon became intent with the movie.
“NICK!!” Meggie suddenly yelled, a panic in her voice.
Nick jumped up and ran into the bedroom to find Meggie holding Madison in her arms.
”She won’t wake up Nick! I keep moving her and moving her and talking to her... but she won’t wake up!” Meggie cried.
Panic and fear stricken Nick ran up to the front of the bus.
“We need to get to the nearest hospital.” Nick exclaimed.
“There’s one a few miles up the road. Let me tell the others.”
Nick nodded and ran back to the bedroom. He took Madison from Meggie and held her tightly against his body.
”Maddie… baby… wake up for Daddy. Maddie…”
Nick took her up into the kitchen area and paced around. Meggie picked up Austin from his chair and held his trembling body, as his dad was pacing around nervously.
“We’re almost there,” The driver yelled. Nick stood up and waited until the bus slowed to a stop. He quickly opened the door and ran out into the hospital. Meggie stepped off slowly. She looked around for the others, and found them walking rather quickly from the parking lot.
“What’s happened?”
”Madison wouldn’t wake up…” She cried. Kristen took Austin from her as Howie offered her a hug. Brian ran into the hospital and looked around for Nick, knowing he wouldn’t be very calm in this situation. He found Nick talking to a woman behind the counter. A nurse ran out and took Madison from his grasp and took her into the actual emergency room.
”Have a seat out here, and I’ll send a doctor to talk to you as soon as they know what’s going on.” The woman said soothingly.
Nick turned around, his face full of emotions. His bottom lip trembled as his eyes met with Brian’s. He came over and pulled Nick into a brotherly hug. As the others filed in, no words were exchanged. As Jerald and Austin became whiny, Kevin and Kristen took them down to the cafeteria.
Nick glanced at the clock once more. Only a half hour had passed, but it seemed like practically days. He brushed his hand through his hair, as he always did when he was upset.
“What’s taking them so long?” Nick asked, on the verge of tears. He just wanted to know what was wrong with his daughter.
As Brian stood up to go talk to a nurse, a woman in scrubs walked into the room.
She leaned over the counter to talk to a nurse, who pointed to the small group waiting impatiently for news.
”Are you all with Madison Carter?” She asked.
“Yes.” Nick replied quickly.
“Why don’t we all go to a more private place? There’s a conference room down the hall.”
Nick nodded and everyone followed her down the hall to a big room with a table in the middle.
“Have a seat, please.”
Nick’s hands shook as he sat down. Gripping the arm of the chair, he watched the doctor intently as she sat across from him.
“My name is Dr. Lector. First off, I want to say that I believe in being very honest and upfront with my patients and their families. So I will not tell you any lies or try to hide anything that is going on with Madison. You will be the first to know about what is happening.” She said, her voice soft and friendly. “Madison is in what we call, a Diabetic Hyperglycemic Hyperosmolar coma.”
“Diabetic? But she’s not diabetic!” Meggie said.
“She wasn’t diabetic. Nick said she was running a fever last night? That is one of the symptoms. So when I heard that, and she wasn’t waking up, I immediately ran a blood glucose test. Her glucose was severely elevated, along with her serum sodium. Her heart rate was also high, 120 beats a minute. She also had a low blood pressure. I ran a blood sugar test, which finalized my expectation.” She replied. “Diabetes can occur over weeks, or just a day or two. And being in such a young child, there was practically no way to see that she was getting sick, except for her fever.”
“So.. this means..”
“Right now, she’s in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. We’re trying to hydrate her to help the poor circulation she has right now. Also, we’re pumping insulin into her, to help the high glucose level.”
”How long until she wakes up?” Nick asked.
The doctor looked down at the ring on her finger, before looking back up at Nick.
“There’s only a fifty percent chance your daughter will ever wake up. And if she does, she might never be the same.”
Nick stared at her in pain, as if his heart had been ripped right out from his chest.
“I’m very sorry. I’m going to leave you all alone right now. If you need me, for anything, have me paged. Madison is allowed two visitors at a time. She’s on the fourth floor, in room nine.”
As the doctor stood up and left, Nick continued staring at the place where she had previously sat. Silence had filled the room, except for Meggie’s soft cries. Nick looked back at the group, his eyes glistening from his tears. He wasn’t sure what to say, or what to do. He choked back a sob when he saw Austin asleep in Kevin’s lap. If his baby girl died, he didn’t know what he’d do.
“Meggie… I want to go see my baby girl.” Nick sniffled. Meggie nodded, and stood up, taking Nick’s hand. The others nodded in approval for them to go. Nick pulled Meggie against him and allowed her to cry on his shoulder, as they rode the elevator up to the fourth floor. As they stepped off, a wall of painted animals greeted them. They’re faces were bright and cheery, not fit for the mood they were in. They followed the signs down the hallway, until they reached room nine. Nick took a deep breath as he pushed the curtain away. His breath stopped in his throat, as he saw his little girl lying helplessly in a metal crib. A nurse lowered the side of the crib and waved her hand, for Nick to come closer.
“You can touch her and talk to her. Some doctors say the patients can hear while they’re in a coma. Sometimes it even wakes them up.” She said quietly. She offered Meggie a smile as she left the room. Nick swallowed hard as he walked closer. He reached out for Madison’s hand and held the tiny limn in his large palm. Tears rolled off his cheeks, as he eyed the equipment around the crib. A ventilator had been pushed down her tiny throat, and heart monitors practically took up the whole area of her chest. A large clear tube had been placed in her side, surrounded with gauze bandages and tape. Nick could see a cloudy clear liquid flowing through the tubing. Her arm had a brace in it, keeping her arm straight for the numerous I.V.’s in which had been stuck into her.
“Baby girl… it’s Daddy. You’ve got to wake up for me, baby. I can’t stand to see you like this.” He cried. “Mommy’s here… and Austin… and all of your aunt and uncles. Maddie… wake up, sweetie.”
Meggie left the room, for the sight was too much for her, too soon. She had only just begun to get over Nick’s trauma.
Nick sat down in the chair beside the crib and watched over his little girl. All of the tears he had held in for so long, finally released themselves.
“Maddie, baby. You can’t do this to me. You have to wake up. You can’t leave me yet. We’ve got a thousand things to do before either one of us can even think about leaving this earth. I want to see you on your first day of kindergarten. I want to have the chance to beat all of the boys off with a stick, when they come to near. I want to watch you graduate, and walk off stage in your cap and gown. I want to walk you down the isle at your own wedding. I want to be there when you have your first child… and your last child. Maddie.. baby… I need you there to bury me in eighty years. It’s not your time yet. You’re too young to do this. Why you? This should be me in the hospital again. Not you.”
He wiped his face with the back of his hand, as he continued to watch his precious little angel sleep. As if to ease his pain, he began to sing softly.
I never thought that I would lose my mind That I could control this Never thought that I’d be left behind That I was stronger than you, baby Girl if only I knew what I’d done You know, so why don’t you tell me I would bring down the moon and the sun To show… how much I care.
As Nick finished the first park, Brian walked in and began to sing the chorus with him.
Don’t wanna lose you now Baby, I know we can win this Don’t wanna lose you now No no, or ever again
“How are you doin’?” Brian asked, looking down at Madison.
Nick shrugged. “I can’t lose her Bri… I can’t. It’s not her time yet… she’s only just a baby.”
“Hey… remember when they gave you a few days to live? You’re still standing here. And if this little girl takes after her daddy so much… then she’s going to make it through this.”
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