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Chapter 2
"Brian, come on in here," someone called. "We have some business to take care of."
Brian grumbled to himself as he stood up. "It's always business," he muttered.
He seated himself next to Nick, receiving a quick smile from his best friend.
"Okay, boys, just yesterday someone from the Make A Wish Foundation -"
"The what?"
"Make A Wish - "
"Isn't that when someone who's gonna die…"
"SHUT UP."
The table hushed. "Now, if I may go on without being interrupted, a spokesperson for the Make A Wish Foundation contacted us yesterday about a cancer patient. Her name is Tia Robinson, and her wish was to meet you guys.
The Foundation's job, obviously, is to grant this wish. So…"
"So we gotta do it?" Nick asked.
"Don't say it like that. You sound shallow."
"It sounds cool to me," Brian said.
"Good. Because you're her favorite."
"How old is she?" Kevin asked.
"Nineteen. Normally the program is for eighteen and under, but they made an exception for Tia because she's been in the hospital for so long."
"Right. Pity," Nick said.
"Would you stop?" Brian said. "You really do sound shallow."
Nick shrugged. "I'm not."
Brian shook his head once and looked away. "So, when is it?"
"Yeah, don't they have to be lenient to our schedule?" Kevin pointed out.
"They are. That's why we're here. We have to pick a date."
"For the next week, we're doing concerts," Howie said.
"So how 'bout the end of this week?" Brian asked. He couldn't wait, for some reason.
"Sounds good to me. Backstreet, you have to promise to be polite to this girl. She's been through a lot, and she definitely doesn't need your shallowness, Nick."
Nick opened his mouth to protest, and everyone laughed.
"I wish you guys would cut me some slack every once and a while." Nick pouted.
"Yeah, right," AJ said under his breath. Brian smirked.
"Okay, Backstreet, let it go. Meet here tomorrow at nine a.m. sharp for practice…we'll set a definite time then."
Brian remained seated as his fellow 'Backstreeters' stood up to leave. He looked at his watch and sighed. Only three o' clock…
Brian picked up his keys and pocketed them. He whistled on his way out to the parking lot, a familiar tune but no name.
*At the hospital*
"Hi, Tee," Megan said cheerfully. "Y'ready for the big day?"
Tia shrugged. "It's not a big deal." But really, her stomach was twisted
into little knots and she felt faint. What would she say? It wasn't as if
she'd be able to drop her act once they got here. The last thing she wanted
was for them to think she was some crazed teenager who, if asked, would saw
off her right foot to meet the Backstreet Boys. No, she thought dryly, I'd
rather use my excuse for dying to meet them.
"No big deal?" Megan's forehead creased and she impatiently pushed her long
blond hair back behind her ears. "Well then, if it's no big deal, you won't
care that they're outside in the hall, waiting…"
Tia took a deep breath and let it out slowly, concentrating on making sure
she breathed back in. "Let 'em in, already," she said, attempting nonchalance.
Megan's eyebrows shot up. "Yes, ma'am," she joked.
Tia tried not to wipe her sweaty palms on her jeans. She didn't want to look
nervous.
There was a knock on the door, and Tia called, "It's open."
Someone tentatively opened the door and Tia stifled a gasp when she saw that
it was HIM.
"Uh, hi, Tia," he offered helplessly. "We're…" he paused, and looked
behind him. "Oh, hold on a minute," he added sheepishly. He turned towards
the door and leaned out. "You guys," he hissed. "C'mon!"
Tia's heart sank. They didn't want to see her. They were stalling so they
wouldn't have to come in here and see her, a dying girl with no life, no
career to look forward to -
"Oh, gosh, Brian, sorry!" a male voice said. "We didn't even see you walk
away!"
A second guy walked in, one slightly shorter than Brian, with dark brown
sparkling eyes and a ponytail. Following him was a much taller man with
astonishingly black hair and a muscular build. In his shadow were two more,
a tall blonde with laughing blue eyes and a shorter one with a wild look
to him. The five assembled in a huddle around her bed. Tia was amazed at
how happy they looked, how sincere they were.
"'K," Brian began. "NOW we're the Backstreet Boys."
"Hi," Tia said weakly.
"Are you okay? Is it…?" Ponytail asked worriedly. Tia smiled in spite
of herself.
"Is it the cancer?" she finished for him. Blondie elbowed Ponytail in the
ribs without taking his eyes off of Tia. Her eyebrow rose, and he flushed.
"It's not the cancer, don't worry."
When she didn't offer any explanation of what it WAS, Brian jumped in. "Well,
I'm Brian, and this is Kevin, Nick, Howie, and AJ," he introduced, pointing
out each guy around the bed.
"Thanks for coming," she said, feeling uncharacteristically shy. "But, um,
I'm not like, paralyzed, so if you don't mind, I'll get up and get
changed…"
"Sure, sure," Howie said quickly, smiling and herding the rest of them out
of the room. "We'll be back."
Once they were gone, Tia put a hand to her racing heart and leaned against
the headboard of the bed. This was crazy! Since when did she get so worked
up over a few guys?
Tia stumbled out of bed and to the closet - or rather, the tall brown boxes
across from the bed. She opened it and stared. Nothing.
Groaning, Tia grabbed a new shirt and quickly changed into it. It wasn't
the best but it'd have to do.
In the hall, she shut the door behind her and looked at the guys. "How 'bout
a walk?" she suggested. "And you can tell me stories."
They agreed and the six started walking. Tia couldn't tell if they were avoiding
the subject of her illness or not. All they seemed to do was tell her funny
stories and treat her like they treated each other. She had obviously made
the right choice in agreeing to do the Foundation.
Then the subject changed and it came up.
"If I'm asking the wrong thing, just tell me," Brian began. "But, um…are
you, you know, going to, uh…"
Tia stared at him, confused.
"I think he means are you going to die?" Nick supplied for Brian.
Kevin began coughing loudly.
"Probably," Tia replied, shrugging. "Have you ever read those stories in
magazines? 'I survived Leukemia,' and all that? Those chances aren't that
great for me. I doubt I'll make it another year."
"How can you…just say that?" AJ asked. His eyes were wide behind his
Armani sunglasses.
"I've accepted it." She shrugged again.
She saw Brian gaze at her admiringly, but when she looked straight at him,
into his crystalline blue eyes, he averted them quickly, shuffling his feet.
That's odd, she thought, but shrugged it off.
"I don't know," Nick began. "I'd be scared spitless to die."
"Nick, you are so demented," Howie scolded. "Tia doesn't care about your
spit."
Tia giggled then covered her mouth quickly, her eyes wide. All five guys
stared at her, wondering about her strange behavior.
"You okay?" Kevin asked uncertainly.
She nodded, her brown eyes still wide.
They looked at each other, but each held in their thoughts.
They hour passed fairly quickly, and surprisingly, the Boys told Tia that
they'd like to have lunch with her.
"You would?" she asked lamely. "I mean, uh, sure…but, well, the hospital
food-"
"No, we want to take you out to lunch," AJ interjected. "Can we do that?"
"I guess." Tia caught a nurse walking past by the elbow. "Trina, can I go
out to lunch with the Backstreet Boys?"
The nurse did a double take then laughed. "I forgot they were going to be
here. Sure you can, Tee."
Tia smiled and hugged the woman. "Thanks, 'Rina."
And Tia found herself seated, surrounded by the guys, at a pizza joint twenty
minutes later.
They talked, they laughed, and even found time to eat in-between. Tia let
herself go without knowing it, and ended up sharing a lot of personal things
she never thought she'd share with anyone - things that even Megan didn't
know. And when it was over, she felt unexpected remorse, something she hadn't
felt in a long time since she'd basically given up her life a while ago.
Then she realized that she missed them after they were gone.
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