A knock on Howie’s hotel room door drew his attention up from the book he’d been reading. “Come in!” he called out. There were only three people who would be knocking on his door and he was up for visiting with any of them. Anything to dull the tedium. It wasn’t quite time for visiting hours yet, so none of them had headed over to the hospital. That just left them killing time here, waiting until it was time for them to head over.
The door opened and Kevin strode in. His expression didn’t look too pleased. Instantly Howie’s stomach muscles clenched. Had something happened? Was Nick ok? Was AJ? Brian?
It startled him for just a moment that his first thought had been of Nick. He didn’t pause to think about it though. “What happened?” He managed to ask Kevin. His lips almost felt numb. Something was wrong; that much was obvious by the expression on Kevin’s face.
Kevin dropped into a chair and ran a hand through his hair. “Everyone’s ok.” He quickly reassured Howie. It was enough for Howie to start breathing normally again. “Geeze, Kev. You about gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry, sorry. It’s just, I feel like an ass right now.”
Now that he knew the others were ok, Howie marked his page and set his book down, allowing him to turn his full attention toward Kevin. “What’s going on?”
“Brian called. He asked if one of us could come and pick up Nick.” Sighing, Kevin leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and hiding his face in his hands.
Why this made Kevin feel like an ass, Howie had no idea. “And…?” he asked, trying to find out what more was going on.
From inside his hands, Kevin spoke “We’ve been here the last couple days, D. Brian and AJ have been in their room together this entire time. Think about where Nick was. Where neither of us thought about him being.”
“In his ro-…oh.” Suddenly it made sense. Howie chewed his lip as he realized what it was that had made Kevin feel like an ass. Hell, now he felt like one too. Each one of them knew, for the most part, the fears of the others. It was common knowledge that Nick did not do well sleeping alone. Even when it got to the point that they were offered individual rooms, they had denied it and kept them on the doubled up plan. Two doubles and a single at each hotel they went to. That not only allowed Nick to keep someone in a room with him, but it allowed Brian and AJ to share a room as well. Though, Howie had to admit, both Brian and AJ took their turns sharing a room with Nick. But either way, Nick was never left to sleep in a strange room on his own. “Well, shit.”
“Shit is right.” Kevin echoed. “Brian spent twenty minutes ragging my ass for this. He went down and talked to Dr. Brand and got it cleared for Nick to be on crutches now and to come back to the hotel. They want him sticking close, though, to come back and get his leg checked when it’s necessary.”
Very rarely did Brian’s temper get up. When it did, it wasn’t a pretty sight. “God, I can’t believe we forgot. I bet Brian was pissed when he called. Is Nick doing ok? Is he upset with us?”
“Apparently Nick’s fine. Brian, yeah he’s pissed but he’ll get over it. The one we’ll have to watch out for is Age.” Here, Kevin lifted his head, giving Howie a wry look. “Apparently Nick was on AJ-duty while Bri filled out some paperwork and AJ got Nick to spill the beans about his parents. Somehow, in that conversation, Nick made mention at being alone in his room. Brian says he walked in the room to find AJ standing beside the bed, looking ready to chew nails and spit out screws.”
“Shit.”
The two men sat there for a few minutes, wondering what was going to happen when they reached the hospital. Then, as if by an unspoken agreement, they rose. “If we’re going to do this.” Howie said. “Let’s get it over with.”
“Amen to that.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nick wobbled his way around AJ”s hospital room, testing out the new pair of crutches that Dr. Brand had brought down. It felt wonderful to finally be up out of the chair and moving around under his own steam. Made his arms and armpits ache a little, but that was something he could deal with. Anything, if it meant he was up and moving around outside of that chair.
Out of the corner of his eye he watched as Brian and Dr. Brand helped AJ move from his bed and to a chair next to it. Nervous, Nick chewed his lip a little. It was good to see AJ up and moving. He was a tough guy, though, so it didn’t surprise Nick that, only days after having surgery, AJ was already sitting in a chair. Just like it didn’t surprise him that Brian, one of the toughest of them all, was already moving around so much even after his surgeries.
No, it wasn’t AJ moving that had him nervous. It was the knowledge that the others were on their way here to pick him up and AJ most likely wasn’t going to be polite. Hell, not polite was a mild way of putting it. AJ and Brian were pretty pissed off.
It wasn’t like it was a big deal. So the guys had left him alone for a couple days? It was a stupid fear anyways. One of these days he was going to have to get over being afraid of sleeping by himself in a room. Just…he’d always had someone there. First family, then the other guys. There was always someone there; some kind of noise in the room with him. Silence was what got to him. Not being able to hear someone breathing, or snoring, or shuffling around. Those little sounds were soothing to him.
“Nick! Earth to Nick!”
Brian’s voice yanked Nick out of his thoughts. He shook his head before looking over. AJ was sitting in the high backed chair, his legs kicked out on a stool in front of him, a blanket tucked over his lap, arms lying on the armrests. Brian stood alongside the chair, one hand resting on AJ’s shoulder, his other arm still bound in its sling. It was the only part, that and the fading bruises, which showed any sign of injury on Brian. Everything else was either minor or hidden under clothes. Happily, Brian was allowed to wear his own clothes now, though he did restrict himself to button up shirts to make them easier to put on. Nick had his own clothes too; shirts and shorts that Jackie and Harold had brought over for him. Shorts were the only thing that easily went over the cast on his leg. In contrast, AJ was still stuck in hospital clothes. Just another thing he absolutely hated.
Shaking his head, Nick brought himself back to the present. “Huh? Sorry guys, what?”
A smile curved Brian’s lips. “Spacing off again, kid?”
“Me? Never.” He grinned back. “What’s up?”
“Just wanted to let you know that the guys text to say they just pulled in. They’ll be up shortly to take you to the hotel.”
Nodding, Nick shifted his gaze to AJ. “Try not to bitch too hard at them, Age. Things have been rough for everyone. They deserve a little leeway.”
Innocently, AJ raised a hand and held it over his heart. ‘Me?’ he mouthed. ‘I am very nice, Nick.’ He switched to signing, giving them a grin as he fumbled his way through it.
“Sure you are.” Nick taunted him. “You argue just for the sake of arguing.”
‘I don’t argue.’ AJ signed to them both, faking a glare. ‘I just have competitive conversations.’
They were all chuckling when the door opened and Kevin and Howie came walking in. They both wore worried, apologetic expressions that had Nick’s chuckle turning into a full blown laugh. They looked like kids forced to come see their parents when they’d done something wrong!
As quickly as Nick started to laugh, though, AJ’s smile cut away until his expression was stern. Brian wasn’t far behind him. They stared at Kevin and Howie, who stared back for a moment before dropping their gazes. It was everything Nick could do not to sigh at them. Sometimes they all took the protectiveness to an extreme. There was no stopping Kevin when he was on a roll, but Nick had learned to zone him out years ago. Howie was easy to cut off if you knew how to make him laugh, which Nick did. Brian, well, that was the benefit of being best friends. Brian would stop if Nick asked him. That was all it took. Simply asking him. AJ…if he got on a roll, there was no stopping or ignoring him. Nick was very much afraid that AJ was about to get on a roll.
He tried to cut it off at the pass. “Well, guys, I’m ready to go. Why don’t we go down and fill out the paperwork.”
The look on Brian’s face said that he clearly caught the hint and was battling between wanting to honor his friend’s wishes and wanting to speak his mind. AJ had no such qualms. His face was a thunderhead. He brought his hands up, signing something at Kevin and Howie. When he saw that Nick and Brian weren’t translating it, he glared at the both of them. Brian wasn’t looking at him. He was biting on his lip, still obviously trying to figure out what to do. Realizing that, AJ turned his look to Nick. ‘Translate for me.’ He mouthed.
Nick shook his head. He didn’t want to translate for AJ, knowing what might come out of his mouth. His denial made AJ even angrier. ‘That’s not fair, kid!’ he mouthed angrily.
“What?” Nick exclaimed. Not fair?
‘You may not like what I have to say, but I have the right to say it. If you won’t translate for me, you’re deliberately muting me. How is that fair?’
It took Nick a moment to understand all of what AJ said. He’d missed a word here or there and had to stop to think about what it was. But when he finally got it, he flushed. AJ was right. For the moment, Nick was the only one who could tell the others what AJ was saying and if he didn’t, he was taking away AJ’s only ability for speech right then. He couldn’t do that, not to someone he cared about. Hell, not even to someone he didn’t care about! He’d gone with Jackie and Brian before to help work with the deaf children. Would he ignore what they said? Hell no. So how was it right to ignore what AJ said?
He gave AJ a small nod of acknowledgement before moving to take a seat on the bed. It was more comfortable to sit and prop his leg up. Then he looked over to Howie and Kevin. “AJ wants to say something and he’s not that great at signing yet. He’s learning really, really fast. Faster than I did, that’s for sure. Guess not being able to talk is a big motivation.” Shrugging it off, Nick kept going. “But I can read lips. Like, really well. He wants to talk to you two but since you can’t read lips, I’m going to act as an interpreter, I guess you’d call me. So please, keep in mind, what I have to say isn’t my own words. It’s his.”
“I doubt I really want to hear this, but go ahead you two.” Kevin said wryly.
AJ lifted his chin, shooting Kevin a glare. Then he looked over at Nick and mouthed what he wanted to say. Nick sighed, reminding himself that he’d warned them. They would know this wasn’t what he felt. “What the hell were you two thinking, leaving him down there like that?”
“We didn’t stop to think about it.” Kevin said apologetically. “We got wrapped up in everything. Aunt Jackie and Uncle Harold were here and we were talking with them and signing papers and the next thing we knew we were at the hotel. We never really thought about the fact that it left Nick alone. If we had, we would have done something about it.”
“You think that makes it sound any better? You didn’t think about it? That makes it worse!”
Howie held his hands out in a pleading gesture. “AJ, it wasn’t intentional! You know we’d never do anything to hurt any of you guys on purpose.”
What AJ mouthed next had Nick wincing. “Age, really?” he asked quietly. “Come on.” When AJ just gave him a firm look, Nick sighed. “Fine, fine. He says it doesn’t matter if it was intentional or not, he still thinks you’re both assholes.”
“Hey now!” Kevin exclaimed. For the first time, his expression was serious and slightly annoyed. “We made a mistake, AJ. We didn’t murder the kid!”
“There are other ways to hurt someone than killing them.” Nick translated. “You think it makes you less of an asshole because all you did was scare him instead of physically hurting him?”
Kevin flung a hand out, gesturing as he spoke. “He slept alone for a few nights! It’s not like it was a huge crime. So he lost a little sleep. We’ll take him back with us and he’ll survive. He’s an adult, AJ! Not your kid. If he was upset enough about it, he could have said something to us at any time!”
To everyone’s surprise, AJ dropped his feet down and pushed himself up from the chair. He was a little shaky, but his legs held firm underneath him. The words he said were obviously angry, even though no one could hear them. Nick sighed, but he translated anyway. “He shouldn’t have had to. You’re his friends; you’re supposed to give a damn about him. And I know he’s not my kid. He happens to be a friend I give a damn about. I actually care about his feelings.”
“You think we don’t?” Kevin snapped. It didn’t surprise Nick to see how heated Kevin was getting. It was well known that Kevin, just like AJ, tended to get angry when he felt guilty about something. Neither of them dealt well with guilt. Add on that AJ and Kevin always managed to be at odds over something. Sometimes the others swore that those two liked their fights. Kevin ignored Howie’s calming hand on his arm and glared even harder at AJ. “You’re not the only person in this group who gives a damn, Alexander James! So sit down and shut up!”
That comment sparked Brian’s temper. He had his hand on AJ’s shoulder, there to support and steady him, but he looked over at Kevin when he heard that. “Hey, watch it.” He snapped at his cousin. “Don’t shout at him.”
“I’ll stop shouting when he stops acting like he’s the only person who cares here. Just because he’s all up in arms about this doesn’t mean I have to stand here and be insulted! It’s about time you let him grow up, AJ, and stop trying to act like his parent! Just because his don’t give a damn about him doesn’t mean you need to step in and take their place!”
Nick blanched, his face draining of all color. He couldn’t believe Kevin had said that. Eyes wide, he stared at him, his mouth dropping open slightly. It was one thing for all of them to know it; it was another thing entirely to have Kevin announce it out loud like that.
Realizing what had come out of his mouth, Kevin paled as well. He turned toward Nick, one hand extended, his apology already written on his face. He never got a chance to say it.
They all heard a strange, deep raspy sound. It took a second for Nick to realize that it had come from AJ. By then, it was too late. AJ made to dart forward, hands balled into fists, but two steps into it and he stumbled. No one was fast enough, not even Brian, to catch him as he went down. By the time they reached him, AJ had hit the ground on his knees, one hand out to stop his head from connecting, one arm wrapped tightly around his waist.
Brian kept his calm better than anyone there. He pressed the call button for the nurses on his way to AJ. Still, he was the first one to reach AJ’s side, Nick right behind him. They hooked under AJ’s arms, trying to help him up, but AJ gasped and shied away from their hands. “AJ?” Nick asked him, worry lacing through his words. “What is it?”
One of Brian’s hands moved from AJ’s side, coming up where they could all see it. Blood glistened on Brian’s skin. “He tore his stitches.” Brian whispered.
A nurse poked his head in. one look and he stuck his head back out, calling out one of their codes. Then he was darting in, taking control of the scene. Soon the room was filled with nursing staff. They moved the others back out of the way, all except for Brian. Dr. Brand came running in, moving through the chaos straight to AJ’s side.
Nick had moved to sit on the bed that was Brian’s. He felt hands grip his and looked away from AJ long enough to see Kevin and Howie on either side of him. Together they stood, hands clasped, watching as AJ was loaded onto his bed and they were rushed form the room.
As the room emptied, Nick sent up a quick prayer. Please, God, let him be ok.