A few minutes later, an ambulance came by and took Brian and Nick to the hospital. AJ, Howie, and Tomi drove down to Kevin's apartment. On the way there, Tomi started to cry again. Then all of the sudden, she sobbed, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. It just started to hurt so much to be around him and not being able to tell him how I really felt. I'm so sorry." She burst out into tears and Howie hugged her.
"It's alright, that wasn't your fault," said Howie.
About ten minutes later, Kevin showed up. "Hey guys, I see Tomi's okay. Where's Nick and Brian?" asked Kevin.
"...Brian's in the hospital," said Howie.
"What?!" asked Kevin.
"He collapsed," said Howie, "Come on, we have to go up there."
"What happened?!" asked Kevin.
"We don't know, he just collapsed," said Tomi. All of them got into the car and drove down to the hospital. They ran to the emergency room and found Nick sitting down in the waiting room. He saw his friends and stood up.
"How's Brian doing?!" asked Kevin.
"I don't know," said Nick, as if he was about to cry, "He's been in there ever since and no one has come out yet."
Dr. Cooper came out of the room and Kevin asked him, "Is Brian alright?!"
Dr. Cooper sighed and said, "He's alright for now...but he has an infection and he's going to need the surgery as soon as possible. Has he been under a lot of stress lately?"
Kevin replied, "...Yes he has, and most of it is my fault. Is he awake?"
Dr. Cooper sighed again. "No, he's still unconcious. We're going to operate on him tomorrow night," he said.
"Can he have any visitors?" asked Tomi.
"Yes, but only during visiting hours. And please make sure you don't disturb him," said Dr. Cooper, "Brian will be taken up to the 7th floor. Here is the room number. But for right now, why don't you all get something to drink?"
"Thank you Dr. Cooper," said Kevin. About ten minutes later, they went up to the 7th floor and they all waited outside while Kevin went into the room. Brian was sleeping quietly on the bed. Kevin sat down next to his sleeping cousin and took his hand. "I'm so sorry Brian..." he said. He stood up and let Brian rest. He went back out and said, "I'm gonna go to a few places. I'll be back later, can you guys watch over Brian while I'm gone?"
"Sure Kev," said Nick.
"If anything happens, page me," said Kevin.
"We know, and same goes with you," said Howie.
"Alright, I'll talk to you guys later," said Kevin, running down the hallway.
About an hour passed by. Tomi was sitting outside of Brian's room. She was feeling tremendous guilt and confusion. Howie came out and sat next to her. "Are you going to be alright?" asked Howie.
"It's all my fault, I was so stupid," said Tomi, starting to cry again.
"It's not your fault. Brian has been under a lot of stress lately," said Howie. AJ also stepped out and joined them.
"But I didn't help either!" said Tomi.
"Why did you want a change so bad?" asked AJ.
Tomi took a little while to answer. "It just started to hurt so bad," said Tomi.
"What did?" asked Howie.
"Just being around Nick, it started to hurt to be around him. I just got so confused. I'm so sorry," said Tomi, tears rolling down her face.
"It's alright, just don't do anything like that again," said AJ.
"Come on, let's go back into the room while we can. Visiting hours are almost over," said Howie.
They joined Nick inside the room. Brian still was sleeping soundly in his bed. "He looks so harmless when he's asleep," said AJ. They stayed in the room for about another hour hoping that somehow he would open his eyes.
Finally a nurse came in and said, "I'm sorry, visiting hours are over."
"Alright, thank you," said Howie, "Come on, let's go." All of them except Nick stood up. AJ and Tomi left the room and as Howie was leaving, he said, "Nick, come on. We have to go. We'll come back first thing tomorrow morning, alright?" Nick silently got up and followed. They went down the silent hallway hearing only the sounds of their footsteps.
Right when they got to the elevator, AJ suddenly said, "I'll meet you guys downstairs. I gotta go to the bathroom."
"Alright, but we'll wait here. And hurry up," said Howie. AJ ran back down the hallway. He instead of going to the bathroom, went back to Brian's room.
He quietly shut the door and said, "Hey Bri." He sat down next to his sleeping friend. He took a moment just looking at him. "You know, you're so much less annoying when you're asleep." Silence.
Back by the elevator, Tomi realized something and said, "Why did he go down the hall when the bathroom is right here?"
Howie sighed, "Let's go find him."
They naturally went back to Brian's room and oppened the door slightly but didn't say anything. They saw their friend sitting next to Brian. AJ continued to joke with Brian, "Why can't you be this cute when you're awake?" Finally, there was an uncomfortable silence. AJ took off his glasses and set them on his brow. Something not familiar to his eyes started forming, tears. "I'm so sorry for all the fights I started. I've never been able to just have a normal conversation with you. We always ended up arguing or even fighting. Yet you along with the rest of the guys have always been there, no matter how annoying my ass was," said AJ. The three outside couldn't believe what they were seeing. AJ never cried, especially while showing his eyes. AJ took Brian's hand and held it gently. "I'm so sorry. You can't leave us man. Your life is just starting! What is Kev gonna do?! He just lost Angel, he ain't gonna survive if you leave him too! None of us will!! Nick's your best friend and the last thing I want to see is that boy cry. Who would I argue with?! You just can't go, Brian. You have to pull through!" Silence again. AJ gently put down Brian's hand, wiped the tears from his eyes. He put his shades back on and went towards the door. Howie, Nick, and Tomi scrambled down the hall back down to the elevators.
Once they got back down there, they tried not to look out of breath. AJ shortly appeared and said, "Let's go."
Meanwhile, Kevin was at home. He openned up the fridge and there was a can of beer. He thought about taking it. Right when his hand went for it, he remembered what got Brian in this mess to begin with. He still grabbed it but threw it away. Brian was strong in Kevin's time of need, now it was Kevin's turn to be strong for Brian. He checked his watch. The hospital visiting hours were over. He sat down on the couch and took a deep breath. He took out a reciept from a deposit he made into a savings account.
AJ first dropped off Nick first. Nick thanked him and said bye to his friends but he was totally out of it. Once Nick was in the house, AJ said, "Tomi."
"Yeah?" asked Tomi.
"Was that the only reason you did what you did?" asked AJ, "Because it started to hurt?"
"I guess, I thought if I was more like Misty, he'd notice me more," said Tomi, "He totally sees me differently from Misty."
"Is that really a bad thing? I mean, we all, including Nick, have more respect for you as a person," said Howie, "Who do you think he considers close to him? If you think Misty, you are terribly wrong."
"He just looks so happy when he gets a page from Misty," said Tomi.
AJ pulled up into Tomi's driveway and as Tomi got out, AJ said, "Hey, Tomi."
"Yeah?" asked Tomi.
"He has an even better smile when he's with you," said AJ. Before Tomi could say anything, AJ drove off. Tomi didn't know what to think of AJ's words, or if they were true or not, but they managed to make her smile.
While AJ was driving, a ringing came from his pocket. "Ooh, it's Kevy. I got a page from Kevin Richardson, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!!"
"AJ, just drive!" said Howie.
"Alright, alright, jeez. Lighten up, D," said AJ.
"It's so nice that someone can keep a sense of humor even in these times," said Howie.
They drove up to Kevin's apartment and he answered the door. "You rang?" asked AJ.
"Yeah, come in," said Kevin.
"What's wrong, Kevin?" asked Howie.
"I don't know what to do. I have the money for Brian's surgery, but," said Kevin.
"But?" asked AJ.
"But that means I would have to take out the money I've been saving up for him to go to the university," said Kevin. They recognized the problem. Brian had his heart set on going to a local university. He still didn't know if he got accepted or not but Kevin had been saving up just in case. Brian would have applied for some scholarships if he had only time during the Spring but too many things happened. Kevin was planning to use almost all of his life savings for Brian to go to the university. "He's been so excited to go to the university," said Kevin.
"Kev, I'm sure he'll understand. His life is more important. He can always transfer to the university," said Howie.
"I know, but," said Kevin.
"Kev, don't worry about the university. Let's just worry about getting Brian back onto his feet," said AJ.
"I guess you're right," said Kevin.
"Kevin, get some sleep. It's really late. We'll talk about this more tomorrow," said Howie.
"Alright, thanks. Sorry for calling you guys over this late," said Kevin.
"You know that's not a problem," said AJ, "Nite Kev."
"Nite AJ," said Kevin.
Howie followed AJ out and said, "Kevin, he'll be alright." Kevin replied with a simple smile.
The next day, all of them were at the hospital. Brian was undergoing surgery. Tomi and Nick were sitting quietly just waiting. AJ kept pacing back and forth impatiently. Howie and Kevin leaned against the wall. After several hours, the red light above the doors went out...