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Chapter 7
"It's Nick. Baby, where are you?"
"I'm on my way to the hospital. I'm gonna be taking care of my brother."
"Tell him I hope he gets better real soon. I really hope he's gonna be OK, Linds." He said sympathetically.
"Nick, he'll be fine. I have this feeling, but I can't really talk right now. There's so many things I hafta do." I said turning into the parking lot.
"OK, well don't wear yourself out. I know how you get. I love you." He said in a lingering tone. I knew he really meant it.
"I love you too. Bye." I hung up the phone and grabbed the bags I needed to take into the hospital.
~The Next Day~
I left my brother in the hospital for a little while so I could check up on my mother. I walked into the house and towards her bedroom. She was sound asleep. I cleaned up the dishes that were left in her room from the snack I prepared yesterday. I walked upstairs and saw my answering machine light blinking. I pressed the button and sat down on my bed.
"Hi Lindsay, it's Lou. I heard about what happened. I hope everything turns out well. Now, I have some news. Your album is doing phenomenal on the charts and people don't want to see you as an opening act. Turns out you won't be on the Backstreet tour anymore and when this emergency is through, you will tour for a month with your own opening acts. Call me so we can get everything worked out. Talk to you later." Oh my god, my own tour! I can't believe this! This is great. But, now I have to leave the Backstreet tour. I really don't wanna do that.
~Three Weeks Later~
"Mom, I gotta go now. Watch out for my little bro here." I said messing with my brother's hair.
"Be careful from now on, Nick." I said hugging my brother who had pretty much recovered from his injury. He was on crutches for a little while longer because his left patella(knee cap) is shattered. "Bye Sammy."
I was leaving to start my tour. I was gonna start pretty much where I left off. My first show would be in PA and I would do one last show here in Florida. I know it's only been three weeks, but a lot has happened. First of all, I have really changed. I'm not the same person I was. I'm not as strong as I used to be. I wind up pushing myself, but I break down. I pretty much cry myself to sleep every night. I'm not such a happy person anymore. Because of my brother's accident, I now keep to myself. I am more worried about other people than myself. I make sure everyone else is happy first. I have also changed appearance wise. I have recently dyed the tips of my long blonde hair, blue. I really like it and I felt I needed a change. I have also lost maybe 15 pounds. To be honest, I haven't been taking care of myself. I'm lucky if I eat one meal a day. I've been too busy taking care of everyone else to worry about myself. I know it's not healthy, but I'm not really trying to hurt myself or anything.
Another thing, y'all are probably wondering about is Nick and the guys. Truth is, I haven't talked to Nick since that day when he called on my cell. I really miss him, but I also don't want to see him. I'm kinda worried 'cuz when I'm playing a my first show in California, the guys are gonna be there. I haven't really made an effort to call any of the guys 'cuz it's too hard to talk to them. I've changed so much and I know it's gonna be really hard for Nick and I to speak to each other after so long. I really miss my Backstreet Family.
~Practice (Two Days Later)~
"And 5, 6, 7, 8..." Fatima counted as all the dancers practiced. "Stop, stop, stop! Todd, you gotta wrap your arms around Lindsay like this." Fatima instructed.
"OK, got it." He replied.
"One more time."
An hour later we finished practicing the routines to 3 of my songs.
Fatima was choreographing my entire tour. We pulled her away from the Backstreet Tour for a while so we could at least get started. I haven't really gotten a chance to sit down and talk with Fatima. This has been the first day and all we did was work. I was standing in the practice room drinking some bottled water. "Linds, come here. I didn't get my hug." Fatima said walking towards me. I stopped drinking my water and hugged her tightly. I really missed her. She was such a great person to talk to and what a great dancer too. She pulled away and looked at me. "God, you've changed. Look at your hair, AJ has rubbed off on ya. And look at you, you're skinny." She said patting my stomach. "How's everything going?"
"Pretty good." I said drinking more of the water.
"Linds, don't lie. You're eyes give it all away. I think we need to talk." We sat down at two of the folding metal chairs situated near my duffel bag. "You're hurting aren't ya?"
"What do you mean?" I asked seriously.
"You know, the guys really miss ya. All they can talk about is you. Every time we're dancing I know they think of you. Remember how you and Brian used to come up with those freaky-ass dance moves? They remember. And you would not believe the group on tour with them now. I can't stand them. A group of girls called Innosense. They cannot dance if they tried." I laughed at Fatima's comment. After a moment of silence, Fatima spoke. "You need to call them. You need to speak to them. At least Brian, I mean the poor kid is missing his dance partner." She said lightly laughing. Fatima left me to sit there and think about the guys. I really missed hanging out with them. Without thinking, I grabbed my cell phone and dialed Brian's number. One ring, two rings...
"Hello?"
"Brian? It's Lindsay." I said quietly.
"Lindsay? The only Lindsay I know is loud and obnoxious."
"Brian!" I said shocked he said that.
"Just kidding. I can't believe it's you. How's everything? How's the tour? I see you stole Fatima from us..." That's the Brian I miss!
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