Chapter six
Loco Hot Coco
The next night found Nick in his room, well his and Kevin's room. He had been picking at his guitar for over two hours working on a new song, or trying to work on a new song. He couldn't get his mind off the surgery, he was going to be heading to the hospital at 8:00am and his surgery was scheduled for 9:00am. He looked over at the digital clock that sat on the night stand between his and Kevin's beds, 7pm, thirteen hours and counting.
Nick sighed and sat up, he unhooked the shoulder strap on his guitar and put it back on its stand knowing that if he couldn't even get through a the first two lines of a song in two hours, there was no way he was going through anymore at the moment, he just couldn't concentrate. He looked over at his desk where his math and science books sat, he could spend the next two hours doing homework-no he was just going to spend it sitting on his bed dreading the next day, yeah that sounds right.
Nick laid back down his bed and started thinking, "What if something does go wrong tomorrow, What will guys do, maybe Frankie could take over for me, but I don't want Frankie to take over, singing is my life, and singing with my brothers just makes it all the better. What will happen if I can't even talk after the surgery, no I got to stop thinking this way, everything will be fine, wait- what if-," Nick's thoughts were interrupted when there was a light knock on the door and then the door slowly began to open and two brown heads looked passed it.
"Hey Nick you've been up here for over two hours, we thought we would come up and check on you, are you okay?" Kevin asked as he sat down on the side of his own bed across from Nick.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Nick said his voice cracking as usual.
"Nick we're your older brothers, we've know you forever, we can tell when you're not telling the truth, come on talk to us," Joe said sitting down beside Nick.
"Yeah that's what we're here for Nick," Kevin said looking at his brother with caring eyes and added, "Miley called, she knows you can't talk very well so just told us to tell you that everything is going to be okay, and that she will be at the hospital when you wake up."
"If I wake up," Nick said looking down.
"Nick, that's not funny, you're having your tonsils out, not open heart surgery," Kevin said trying to lighten the mood.
"By the way, Kevin and I made up a batch of our loco hot coco we thought you might like some," Joe said handing Nick the mug he had brought in with him.
"Thanks guys," Nick said as he took the mug from his brother's hands.
"We even put in a little extra coco, and put in small marshmallows so you don't chocko," Joe said with a smile, "Get it, loco hot coco, chocko?"
Nick just rolled his eyes at his brother's joke.
"Come on Nick, chocko," Joe said again and Kevin caught on with what Joe was trying to do.
"Yeah Nick, we're keep saying it until you laugh, chocko," Kevin said with a smile.
Nick didn't feel like laughing but his brothers sounded so goofy that he had to crack a smile.
"Okay very funny guys," Nick said as he took a sip of the coco, Kevin and Joe weren't very good cooks but he had to admit that he loved their hot coco.
"Hey, what this," Kevin asked picking up Nick's abandoned song writing notebook.
"Oh that's nothing-, just something I was working on but I couldn't really focus on it," Nick said trying to take the notebook from Kevin but Kevin stood up, keeping him from reaching it.
Kevin read some of the first words:
"It's just another morning glory,
another twist inside of this wild ride,
another chapter in the story
but I can't hide the way I feel inside."
"This sounds great Nick, you're going to have a week to finish it after your surgery, then maybe you'll be able to focus on it more," Kevin said handing the notebook back to his brother.
"Thanks, I think I just got my focus back, I think I know how to finish it now," Nick said smiling at his brothers, "Thanks for being there for me guys."
"What are older brothers for," Kevin said and Joe nodded in agreement.
Just then there was a knock on the door and their mom popped her head into the room, "Hey here the three of you are, you guys should probably think about getting ready for bed, it's passed 9:30 and Nick needs to be at the hospital by 8am, Nick remember you can't eat or drink anything after midnight alright," their mom said the three of them nodded and kissed their mom good night before she left the room.
"Wow, I can't believe we talked that long," Joe said rubbing the back of his head.
"I know, I guess we had a lot to talk about," Kevin said as he shoved one of his ringlets out of his face, he knew he straightened his hair for a reason.
"Thanks for giving up your Friday night guys, it meant a lot to me," Nick said as he stood up and went to his closet.
"Hey, any time Nick J. just ask us, we're always there for you, remember that," Kevin said Joe nodded again.
"Thanks," Nick said with a smile, his first real smile in two days.
"Well I better get to my room, good night guys, see you in the morning," Joe said as he headed for his and Frankie's room across the hall.
"Good night Joe," Kevin said.
Nick lay for a few minutes before Kevin turned out the light just thinking. Kevin got into bed and looked over at Nick.
"Get some sleep Nick, just relax, everything will be fine," Kevin said as he turned out the light.
The room was quiet for a few minutes then Nick broke it, "Hey Kevin?"
"Yeah," Kevin asked turning to look in the direction of Nick's bed.
"If I can't sleep or I wake up in the middle of the night, can I wake you if I need to?" Nick asked turning towards Kevin.
"Always Nick, always," Kevin said even though he knew Nick couldn't see it, he smiled.