Chapter 8
~~A Week Later~~
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP......... Adri watched the little monitor beep on and on. It's been two days since Brian has had his operation and the media had told the fans all about it. There were cards and balloons all over the hospital room. Clutching his hand tighter, Adri ran her delicate finger over his restless and now coarse hand. Making sure she outlined every vein and crease on his hand with her soft touch.
"Brian?..I know you can hear be babe.....I just hope you get better soon.." she sighed. "Real soon..."
A knock was heard at the door and Adri looked up to see who it was. A middled-aged womans head poked through the door and a small grin formed on her face.
She casually made her way completely into the room and walked directly over to Brian. Running her hand over his forehead..she began to say a silent prayer. Sensing someone was watching her..the strange woman looked up and introduced herself.
"I'm sorry dear..I forgot my manners. I'm Mrs. Littrell, Brian's mom.." Adri smiled at her warmly and shook her hand.
"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Littrell..I'm Adrianna...Brian's girlfriend." she finished. Mrs. Litrell nodded..
"Yes..I've heard a lot about you.." she said with a slight Southern drawl. Adri blushed and chatted with her for a bit.
The Boys manager thought it would be best to stop the tour for a bit until Brian recovered. In the meantime, the guys and gurls would be sleeping in a hotel. The last week has been hellish for everyone in every which way. Fans were complaining yet were sad about the pausing of the tour and its reason behind it.
Kevin was having problems with coping with Brian's illness and blamed himself for it. De was patient with telling him constantly that he was not responsible but was slowly getting fed up. Howie and Nhi were doing just fine and visited Brian at the hospital daily. A.J and Annie has had some tension between them lately. Annie has seemed really distant for some reason and A.J was also. The sadness of Brians condition for some strange reason resurfaced the old feelings of hurt and betrayal between the two.
~~Back at the Hotel~~
De wandered around her's and Kevin's hotel room cleaning up the resulted mess of Kevin's temper. Once again they fought. De was on the verge of tears. She couldn't take it anymore. She understood that he was having a tough time dealing with Brian's condition but it was affecting their relationship in the worst possible way. De repeatedly tried to approach Kevin with the urge to talk but he pushed her away and always changed the topic of their conversation. Usually the alternate topic would always be about him blaming himself for Brian's mishap in his health.
Sighing and picking up the thrown phone, De set it down on the table and plopped down on the ruffled bed. She pushed her long, wavy brown hair out of her face and stared at the shadow that the light from the open door reflected. In the middle of his fury..Kevin harshly opened the door and stormed out. He claimed that De was being selfish and that she didn't care how hard it was for him to handle being responsible for his cousins illness.
De drew a breath and tried to explain to him that it wasn't his fault, but like always the result was negative. He either walked out or walked away.
"What am I gonna do now?" De asked herself while getting up close the door.
~~Nhi and Howies Room~~
Nhi winced as she recalled all the harsh words being said in the room next to theirs.
"They're falling apart hunny....." she sighed while watching Howie flip the T.V channels.
"Yea..it's sad....Kev is just too stubborn at times.." he replied.
Nhi nodded in agreement and laughed. Howie looked down at her surprised..
"What's so funny?" he asked while giving her a curious look. She shrugged and smiled..
"I know I'm not right to say this..but I feel like I'm living in a soap opera..hehehe. First we meet you guys and then start dating. Next is the cheating and heartbreak Annie and Bone went through." Nhi explained while catching her breath.
"Now it's Brians operation and Kev and De's relationship going through major shit.." she finished.
Howie looked up in deep concentration and reviewed the things his gurlfriend just said. Suddenly he erupted in laughter..
"I won't be surprised if even more stuff happens. I can see it now...' As the Tour Turns'...." Howie laughed. Nhi looked up at him in amusement and winked in agreement.
[Authorz Note: I know there is a story out there with the title of ' As the Tour Turns' and I don't mean to use it in an offensive way. I apologize if I do offend the author but it's just for my story...I'd like to give credit to her..the author.]
~~A.J & Annie's Room~~
Annie sat up in bed...fidgeting with her rings. A.J was sitting in the chair near the window. It was 11 in the daytime and they were still in their jammies.
Silence filled the room. Niether knew what to say or do. Annie stared up at the ceiling...visions and remeberance of her last hotel room expirience. She thought she was over it..but the implant of the incident was still fresh in her memory. After all..it's only been a month. The thought of A.J and another gurl sickened her. Shaking away the nasty feeling, Annie looked over to A.J who looked like he was deep in thought.
The tension between them was building and blocking out the usual communication between them. She sensed it. He sensed it. Still..niether knew what to do to resolve it. Fustrated with the silence..Annie got up out of bed and walked towards him. Moving up her tank top strap..Annie bent down infront of him. She positioned herself between his legs and took both of his hands. Startled and surprised, A.J looked down to see Annie grinning up at him.
"Hunnie?...You ok?" she asked. A.J grinned and lifted her up onto his lap. The smoothness of her legs aroused him greatly. She smelled of sweet rasberry.
"I'm aight...how bout you?" A.J asked in return. Annie looked away from him and grunted..
"Ok I guess...all this that has been happening to all of us are overwhelming." she explained.
He nodded in agreement and held her close. Annie responded to his sweet gesture and snuggled into his neck. A.J sensed her warm breathing into his neck and sighed in contentment.
"Tell me that nothing will ever come between us again baby.." Annie stated out of the blue. A.J ran his soft hands down her mid-thigh to her calves..
"I promise Annie..nothing will ever break us up..." he started. " Nothing.."
~~ The Hospital~~
Adri smiled and laughed as Mrs. Littrell reminised about Brian's life as a child and all through out his teenage years.
"...So the doctor told me that after that surgery in May..everything would be ok.." Mrs. Littrell sighed.
"So..they must of not gotten all of the murmur.." Adri suggested. They were discussing Brian's heart condition and the surgery he went through before. Mrs. Littrell nodded..
"Yes....they must have made of mistake of some sort.." she said. Another knock was heard at the door and both women looked up to the sudden visitor.
"Allisa!! Hunnie!! What took you so long?" Mrs. Litrell cried out while rushing towards a pretty blonde. She was average height and had peircing blue eyes. The gurl smiled and nodded..
"I'm sorry Mrs. Litrell...the flight was an hour late." she said in a small and perky voice. Allisa looked over to Adri and looked her over..
"Oh Allisa dear..this is Brian's gurlfriend, Adri..." Mrs. Litrell interrupted after sensing a sort of tension between the two gurls. Adri smiled and waved a little.
"Adri..this is Brians longtime friend and ex-gurlfriend, Allisa.." Mrs. Littrell said while taking her usual seat in the chair next to Adri's. Allisa grinned and turned towards Brians bed.
"Gosh..he looks awful.." Allisa squealed. Adri rolled her eyes at her insensitivity and walked over to the other side of Brian.
"He's just really restless after the surgery he had two days ago.." Adri explained.
Allisa looked up casually and shrugged. "He looked worst last time.."
Adri's eyes grew wide at the cruelty of her to say such a thing. Brian actually dated her? was all that Adri could ask herself as Allisa roamed the room and reading the little cards and gifts the fans sent.
After awhile..Mrs. Littrell excused herself to go to get something to eat and the gurls nodded. Allisa sat down in an empty chair and flipped through a magazine that was placed on the little table infront on the chairs. Adri stalked to a chair next to her and tried to make small talk..
"So Allisa..how long were you and Brian together?". Adri felt stupid to ask such a typical question but waited for her to answer anyways. Allisa licked her fingers and flapped the pages of the magazines calmly..
"A little over 2 years." she finally stated.
Adri sat back in surprise at the length of their past relationship and felt somewhat intimidated at her presence there in the time of Brians vulnerability.
"Oh..that's a long time..hehehe." Adri giggled nervously.
Allisa grinned and sensed her uneasiness.."Yea..we were deeply inlove.."
Adri looked over at her and sighed..."I would suppose you were if you guys were together for that long of a time. So why did you guys break up?"
Throwing the magazine onto the table, Allisa looked over to meet Adri's longing gaze and snickered.."He never had the time for me after he joined the Backstreet Boys so I guess I stopped talking to him. So officially..I dunno if we're really broken up yet."
Adri's stomach churned at the haughtiness of her words and got up to sit by Brian. Allisa smiled....It actually worked.