Chapter 53
AJ, Lex, Kryss, and Fiona met Tyler, Howie, and Nick at the emergency room door and Howie asked, "How is he?
AJ said, "They won’t let us back there. They said only family could go back."
"What about Tyler?" asked Nick.
"Surely they’ll let Tyler back there," said Lex.
Howie led Tyler to the desk where Howie said, "My cousin is here to see Kevin Richardson."
"Is she family?"
"They’re getting married next week."
"I’m sorry, but they aren’t married yet; only immediate family."
That seemed to snap Tyler out of the daze that she’d been in. With AJ, Howie, Nick, Kryss, Fiona, and Lex standing behind her, Tyler found the strength they all knew she had. Tyler looked at the lady and said coolly, "Do you know exactly who Kevin Richardson is?"
"He’s currently a patient in our emergency room and that’s all that matters right now."
"Kevin is one fifth of the Backstreet Boys. All I have to do is make one phone call and in a matter of minutes, you’ll have hundreds of screaming teenage girls and countless reporters and photographers swarming this emergency room just to see Kevin or the three guys standing with me. You’ll have so much chaos in this waiting room, you won’t know which way is up. Now, if that’s what you want, say so. Otherwise, let me back there with my fiancé."
The lady said, "Ma’am, I’m sorry but rules are rules."
"FUCK THE RULES," said Tyler angrily. "I’m sure your supervisors would rather a rule be broken than having the chaos I could create."
The lady looked at Tyler and realized how serious she was. "Fine. Come with me."
Tyler gave Howie a kiss. "I’ll let you know something as soon as possible."
Tyler followed the lady back to the examining room where Kevin was. She was expecting the worst so she had prepared herself for it. As she started to enter the room, a police officer stopped her.
"I’m sorry, miss, but no one is allowed in here, the patient’s request."
"I’m his fiancée."
Kevin heard Tyler’s voice and said, "Officer Leek, it’s okay. That’s my baby I was telling you about."
Officer Leek stepped aside to let Tyler through and Tyler rushed to Kevin’s
side. She was relieved to see that he appeared to be okay except for some
bruises and cuts and his knee was swollen. He took her in his arms as she asked,
"Are you okay?"
"I’ll be fine, baby."
Tyler sat facing him and she put her hand on the side of his face. "You scared the crap out of me. When the officer said you’d been hit by a car, I thought you’d be near death."
Officer Dominguez was in the room with Kevin and he said, "We called him to go tell you that Kevin had been hurt. He didn’t know the extent of Kevin’s injuries. I apologize for scaring you."
Kevin reached up to take Tyler’s hand in his. "Who brought you here, baby?"
"Nick and Howie came to get me and AJ, Lex, Kryss, and Fiona were waiting here for me."
Kevin asked, "Joe, would you mind going out and getting our friends for me?"
"Be glad to."
The police officer left the couple and Tyler asked, "Are you REALLY okay?"
"I’m fine, Tyler. Just banged up pretty bad. I’m waiting to go to x-ray to find out about my knee."
Tyler and Kevin sat together talking about what had happened. As they were talking, Howie, AJ, and Nick joined them.
"Hey, Kev!" said AJ. "How you doing, bro?"
"I’ll live," grinned Kevin.
"You know, ‘Train’ is just a nickname," teased Nick. "It doesn’t mean you are one and you can’t try to take out cars."
Everyone laughed and Howie asked, "What’s wrong with you?"
"I messed up my knee and a lot of bumps and bruises."
"How bad is the knee?" asked AJ.
"Don’t know yet."
The lady from the front desk came back and stuck her head in Kevin’s room. "Excuse me, but this is ALL completely against the rules."
Tyler looked up at her and asked, "Do I REALLY need to make that
call?"
"Don’t bother. The screaming teenagers are outside crying and
sobbing."
Nick said, "We’ll come out and try to help.":
"I’d appreciate that greatly."
The lady left and Kevin asked, "What call were you talking about, Ty?"
AJ, Nick, and Howie started laughing and Tyler blushed but no one said a word.
Kevin asked again, "What call, baby?"
Howie said, still laughing, "That lady wasn’t going to let Tyler back
here so Tyler threatened to make a call and let the news know you were
here."
Kevin looked at Tyler and she responded defensively, "I had to get back here and she wasn’t going to let me. I had no choice."
"You should have heard Tyler when the lady said it was the rule," said AJ.
Kevin asked, "What did you do?"
Tyler blushed more and said, "I told her fuck the rules."
Kevin laughed, "Baby, you’ve been around AJ too much."
"Hey! Are you trying to say that I’m a bad influence?"
Howie said, "YES!!!"
Tyler looked at Kevin. "I had to be with you, ‘Boo’," whispered
Tyler as the tears started to stream down her cheeks.
"Come here, baby," said Kevin as he pulled Tyler to him. "I’m okay."
Howie said, "We’ll go take care of the crowd. We’ll be out front if you need us."
"Tell them I’m okay."
"We will."
The three left and Tyler snuggled next to Kevin trying to be careful. Kevin winced with pain when she accidentally hit his ribs.
"I’m sorry, ‘Boo’."
"It’s okay, baby."
"Kevin, I was so scared that I was going to lose you.
"I know but I’m okay and you’re with me."
Tyler looked up at him. "Are you sure you’re okay?"
"I’m going to be soar for a while but yeah, I’m fine."
The nurse came in and said, "Mr. Richardson, it’s time to go to x-ray."
"Baby, wait here for me."
"Don’t be flirting with all the nurses on the way," teased Tyler.
Kevin kissed her, "I only have eyes for you, baby."
The nurse and Tyler helped Kevin into the wheelchair and Tyler watched as she wheeled him away.
While Tyler waited, she decided to go back out to the lobby and see how the
guys were doing with the crowd. Lex and Kryss were with the guys but Fiona was
sitting alone so Tyler went over to sit with her.
"How’s Kevin?"
"He’s bruised pretty bad and his knee is swollen but he’ll be okay. What’s up with you?"
Fiona looked over at Nick and then back to Tyler. "Promise not to tell Nick?"
"Of course."
Fiona looked at her ring and started, "When Nick and I broke up back in LA, I thought I was pregnant. That’s why I was going to go back to Nick."
"Are you?"
Fiona shook her head, "No. When we got back here, I went to the doctor. He
said given all the stress I’d been under with Mr. Burton, losing my job, and
so forth, my period was probably just late."
"I’m so sorry, Fiona. I take it that you haven’t told Nick."
"No. I wanted to be sure I was pregnant first before I told him. I think it’s probably for the best given what Nick and I were going through and his fear of commitment."
"Are YOU okay with it?"
"I am now but at first, I was disappointed. It was hard because I couldn’t talk to Nick but Tyler, he’s been so wonderful ever since he proposed."
"Nick’s a sweetheart and he really wants to make this work. Have you set a date yet?"
"Not yet. I don’t want to push him. We’re working on this one day at a time."
AJ came in. "Hey, Ty, the fans want you to come out there."
Tyler looked at Fiona. "Do you mind?"
"No. Go ahead. I’ll go wait for Kevin and come get you when he’s ready."
AJ took Tyler’s hand and led her out to where the fans were gathered. She spent the rest of the time talking to the fans and reassuring them that Kevin was okay.
Fiona had gone back to the examining room to wait for Kevin and when he got back from x-ray, he asked, "Where’s Tyler?"
"She’s out talking to the fans. What did they find out about your knee?"
"I bruised it pretty bad. The doctor wants me to stay off of it for a couple weeks."
"What about the wedding?"
Kevin looked at Fiona. "I’m not going to disappoint Tyler. If it kills me, I will stand without crutches."
"Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah."
"Come on. I’ll help you."
Fiona pushed the wheelchair out to where the others were with the fans. Everyone was excited and relieved to see that Kevin was okay.
Kevin signed autographs for the ones who were still there and then using the crutches, he made his way to the truck. AJ, Howie, and Nick went with him to make sure he got there okay and into the truck. Then Tyler drove them home.
At the house, Tyler helped Kevin in and he made his way to the couch. "Baby, I’m going to sleep on the couch. I don’t think I can make it to the bedroom."
"Do you want me to get you anything?"
Kevin looked at her and saw how tired she was. "Come here, baby."
Tyler went to him and sat beside him on the couch. Kevin put his hand on the side of her face and pulled her to him to kiss her.
"You were terrific tonight, baby, with the whole situation. Thank you."
"You’re welcome. Now, lay back and get some sleep. I’ll go get you a pillow and a blanket."
Tyler got up to go get the things for Kevin and when she came back, he had pulled off his shirt and was laying back on the couch half asleep. She lifted his head and put the pillow under it. Then she covered him with the blanket.
Sleepily, Kevin took her hand and kissed the back of it. "I love you, Tyler."
Tyler sat down, brushed a stray piece of hair back, and whispered, "I love you, too, Kevin."
