The Beginning

The day started normal, Kevin, Joe, and Nick all sat around the breakfast table, munching on delicious toast and butter, when their dad entered the room.

"There is to be a meeting in ten minutes in the living room." He clapped his hands together and turned on his heels to leave when Nick let out a slight cough. This stopped their dad dead in his tracks. He spun back around, and his gaze could have borne a hole through a steel barrier. "Did someone just….cough?" He asked all dramatic. Nick looked at his brothers, who were staring directly at him. He let out a little laugh before turning back to his toast, but too late, his dad was now hovering over him.

"Dad, it was a cough. Not a hack, not a stroke, a cough." Nick reassured them. Joe put his hand on Nick's forehead, much to Nick's dismay.

"Don't worry dad, he feels fine." Joe reported. Their dad patted him on the head.

"Thank you son." He applauded the good behavior. Nick just rolled his eyes and got up from his chair. A wave of dizziness exploded in Nick's head, but he stayed standing straight up, hoping the others would not notice. They didn't. He sighed and walked toward his bedroom, where he proceeded to flop down on the bed. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep.

What felt like to short of a time, someone came and jumped on Nick's back, waking him up from his slumber.

"Nick come on, you slept right through the family meeting." Kevin's voice whined.

"Yeah bro, it is time to go practice for our set for the concert." Joe hit Nick's boot hard, making his whole leg vibrate. Nick coughed loudly.

"Nick?" Joe asked, leaning in toward Nick's face. Nick stared him right back in the face.

"Can I please have five more minutes?" Nick begged loudly, rolling over. This made his stomach do a flip, and he knew he was about to vomit. "EXCUSE ME" he yelled as he barreled past his brothers, out the door, and down the hallway to the bathroom. He leaned over the toilet and all the contents of his stomach poured out. No one came after him, so he sat on the floor for a minute, then flushed the toilet and washed his mouth out. He emerged from the bathroom to see Joe and Kevin discussing their brother's odd behavior.

"You know, if you wanted to pee that bad, you could have just walked out." Kevin retorted, as he pushed past Nick to get into the bathroom.

"Yeah bro" Joe reassured. He was looking at Nick strange though, and Nick realized he was. He changed the subject fast,

"Don't we have to be getting to that set soon?" He began climbing down the stairs, feeling Joe's eyes on him.

The car ride to the set absolutely made Nick's stomach upset, it was cramping, and it was churning. Nick thought to himself, there can't be more in my stomach to puke. But sure enough he felt it welling up in his throat. He ran back to the bathroom of the large tour bus, shutting the big heavy door, he flung himself over the toilet and puked up stomach acid, burning his throat. There was a knock, followed by a very concerned sigh,

"Nick, are you all right?" Joe questioned. Nick heard him lean against the door, like he was trying to be quite asking about it.

"Yeah, Joe, I am fine, I just had to pee." He laughed a little, even though it burned bad to do so. He climbed off the cool tile floor, washed out his mouth, and opened the door to Joe standing there with a worried look on his face. "What are you still standing out here for; you are starting to make me uneasy." Nick retorted. But with every word, he felt the burning getting stronger in his throat. On top of that, a headache had begun to set in.

"Well I am just trying to make sure everything is good, I mean, everyone has to be in top shape to do this concert." Joe patted Nick on the shoulder, who realized he was actually very sore. He let out a little peep of a laugh. Rolling his eyes, he turned away from Joe and went to sit back in his seat. He lowered himself slowly because vertigo began to set in. He felt like his entire chair was turning upside down, he clenched his hand hard around the arm, his knuckles were white. He closed his eyes and laid his head back, hoping the feeling would pass. It did, but just in time.

The Moment

They arrived at the arena where they would be performing. Nick's headache had gotten so bad, the sound of the brakes made him feel sick. He began to descend the four stairs leading to the ground, only for his legs to give out on him. He felt himself falling, but his body was so weak, he could do nothing about it. He let himself fall to the ground, chin first. He heard a blood curdling scream behind him, recognizing it as his set manager Andrea. She ran to his side and put her hand on his back,

"Oh my god, Nick are you ok?" She asked, still yelling. "Joe, Kevin." She yelled at the bus. Nick heard their boots hitting the steps, and they were quickly at Nick's side, asking what had happened. As Andrea recounted the story Nick found his bearing on the ground, and rose slowly. Only to feel something warm on his face.

"Nick" he heard Joe say sadly. He grabbed a rag out of his back pocket and pressed it against Nick's face. Only then did Nick feel a burning, making his lips numb.

"What is it?" Nick asked stupidly.

"Well, Nick, you busted your chin open." Kevin retorted slowly. Nick stared at him, to Nick, all he could hear was, Well Nick..sfjdfndjngfjbgahalbg. Nick shook his head slightly and tried to focus.

"Guys, stop freaking out, I only tripped on the stairs, it happens often." Nick tried to convince them, but from the look on Joe's face, he knew he wasn't very good about lying. He rose from the ground, Joe removed the rag from his chin, and looked at it carefully.

"Well, it doesn't look like you need stitches, but you will feel that in the morning for sure." Joe joked, Nick was less than amused as he pushed past the two brothers through the big double doors. As he entered he saw his dad standing there, and he began to approach him, when a metallic smell wafted past his nose. This made Nick's stomach turn to jelly, he grabbed his mouth, and ducked into the bathroom he was passing. He jumped into the closest stall and puked. He laid back on the tile, touching his chin slightly. Only to hear the door opening up. He shot up to a sitting position.

"Nick, are you in here?" Kevin asked. He didn't round the corner, so Nick got to his feet as quickly as he could, being overcome with a sense of dizziness, he just leaned against the wall. Kevin came around the door, only to find Nick leaning on the wall. "Nick, are you ok?" He asked, joining Nick in the tiny stall.

"Yeah, my stomach is just upset, I think I ate something bad before I left the hotel." Nick reassured him, while he got his vision straightened out. He removed himself from the wall and walked to the little sink, splashing water on his face. He saw Kevin looking at him through the mirror. He just looked back down to his hands, he could no longer feel them, and the skin was completely dead. He pinched them, and found nothing. He looked back at Kevin through the mirror that read his worried face and approached him.

"Nick, is something wrong?" Kevin asked in his serious big brother way.

"Um, no, just thought I saw a bug is all. Well, we should be getting out there; they are all probably waiting for us." Nick walked toward the door, but he couldn't get the handle in his hand, he couldn't close his hand around it. Luckily Kevin came up and opened it to leave; Nick thanked him, and brushed past. Not mentioning anything else about it. He found everyone setting up the stage, not really taking notice to the two missing brothers. But once Joe saw Nick, he stalked toward him.

"Nick, a word please." He did his finger in the follow me motion, and Nick slowly and quietly followed him to the curtain stage right. Once there, Joe turned on his heels and grabbed Nick in for a tight hug. Nick was startled at first, but just enjoyed the embrace. Then Joe let go of him with that he is sure what he knows look.

"What?" Nick asked stupidly.

"I knew you had a fever." Joe said with accomplishment in his voice. He completely stepped back from Nick. "The minute I tell dad, we can get you out of here, and back home to sleep off whatever is ailing you." Joe began to walk past Nick. He grabbed him by the shirt, his eyes turned to the ground.

"Don't do that Joe." Nick said in a very scary tone of voice. He felt the vomit rising in his throat, but he didn't want to throw up right here, in front of everyone. He tried to hold it down, but it came into his mouth, and before he knew it, he was spewing vomit all across the side of the stage. Nick fell to his knees still clutching on his brothers shirt. Joe got on a knee beside him, and rubbed his back. When Nick was finally done, he looked up, only to see he collected an audience, including his producer, his father. Who was looking more upset by the second.

"Dad…" Nick began, but he couldn't catch his breath. He just gasped for air. He grasped his shirt over his chest and made retching noises. His body slumped over to the ground, and Joe held his head.

"Nick, Nick?" Joe kept repeating his name, but Nick couldn't catch his breath to say much of anything. He heard his dad order someone to call an ambulance. Nick managed to lift his arm to grab onto his brother, he tried hard to squeeze, but his fingers would not move for him. He just couldn't do it.

"Nick, its dad, hang in there, help is on the way." Nick's dad was now bent over him. Nick finally got enough air,

"I'm sorry." He wheezed weakly. His dad just stood over him and shook his head.

"No son, I'm sorry for pushing you so hard." He grabbed Nick's hand and squeezed tight. Nick let out a slight whimper.

"Nick, what's wrong?" Kevin yelled, now next to Joe, holding onto his hand. Nick managed to yell something no one could understand, it came out as a slightly jumbled mess.

"Nick, we can't understand you." Kevin said, "speak slower." He was now leaning in near Nick's mouth.

"My body…." Nick managed to slur out, "it hurts so much." He had to breath very deeply to keep enough oxygen to keep him alive. Nick began to hack and cough loudly. He heard the doors to the stage sling open and a woman telling people to move aside. Before Nick knew it, Kevin was dropping his hand to the ground. A woman, about Nick's height got to his side, and slipped a mask over Nick's face, giving him a little support to breath.

"My name is Anna, Nick, I am going to need you to breathe as deep as you can, that mask will help get oxygen flowing to your body." She smiled a big smile at him. Trying to keep him calm. She put these two things on his arm and looked at the monitor in her hand.

"Anna, do we have a clear reading yet?" A big burly man asked who was on the right side of Nick, starting an IV in his arm.

"It says, 104.5" the woman named Anna read back to him.

"Ok, we need to load this kid in the ambulance; he needs to be taken for an ice bath. I will call the E.R. and have them prepped and ready when we get there." The man stated, putting something under Nick's back. They strapped his head and legs to the thing, and lifted him up into the waiting ambulance. Joe jumped in next to him, and grabbed his hand.

"Nick, its Joe, I am not going to let you go anywhere without me." Joe began to sob. That was the last thing Nick heard before passing out.

Finding out

The day had just begun to come to an end when Nick woke up in a comfy bed. His muscles ached badly, and he didn't know where he was. When his eyes finally burst open, he saw his mom and dad, asleep on the chair in the corner. His brothers were in two chairs at the end of his bed, watching cartoons and eating cheese munchies.

"Guys?" Nick asked. They both turned quickly to look at him. At this they jumped out of their chairs and next to the very confused brother.

"Man, did you scare us!" Joe yelled at his brother. Nick just looked at him with a confused stare.

"What do you mean? Where am I" Nick asked. Getting angry his brothers wouldn't tell him.

"Bro, you're in the hospital." Kevin said letting out a little laugh and glancing at Joe, who was staring at Nick. "You don't remember collapsing next to the stage, not being able to breathe?" He asked, putting his hand on Nick's shoulder. Nick just looked at his hand and shook it off.

"No, I remember the bus ride to the stadium to prep for our…"Nick's voice faded off. "OUR CONCERT" He yelled, beginning to get out of bed. Joe grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him back down.

"Don't worry about the concert, we handled it." Joe reassured him. But Nick sat pouting for a minute.

"What did you guys do?" Nick asked causally.

"Well, we performed the concert and told the audience you were very sick, too sick to perform on the stage tonight." Joe said, sounding very proud of himself, Nick just glared at him.

"Why did you have to tell em' that?" Nick pouted, lowering his back to the bed. Just as he did, he noticed him mom and dad stirring in the chair.

"OH NICK." His mother yelled, she ran over and grabbed his face kissing him multiple times. "How are you feeling honey?" She ran her hands up and down his face, feeling for any sign of a fever.

"I'm feeling much better mom." Nick lied. His head was still spinning, and his lungs felt like he was drowning. "Did they say what was wrong with me?" Nick pressed. His eyes hopeful on his mom.

"No honey, I'm sorry, they don't know. But they said since they got your fever down, and you oxygen levels up, they will release you in the morning." She smiled, and rubbed his shoulder. Nick's dad walked up next to him, and smiled.

"Well son, the concert went well, it was ok you weren't there. The audience understood. Even rock stars get sick." His dad let out a slight chuckle.

"I am so tired." Nick said, he rolled over to his side and shut his eyes, and before anyone knew it, he had fallen asleep.

Released

The morning came fast and before he knew it, his mom was signing the release to let him go home. He smiled as they undid his IV and rolling him down to the front double doors in his wheelchair. He was happy to see Joe and Kevin waiting by the tour bus. Nick rose from the wheelchair feeling really good, almost back to his old self. He thanked the nurse and he climbed the stairs with Kevin and Joe on each side of him, supporting him. Nick took a seat in the bucket chair near the front of the bus, and his mom soon followed sitting right next to him. She stroked his hair all the way to the firehouse. Kevin and Joe helped Nick up the winding stairs to his giant waterbed. They brought water bottles, a trash can (just in case), and plenty of soup. But all Nick wanted to do was sleep.

He woke up, in his own bed, and the room was pitch black. He looked around for a minute and heard the heavy breathing of his two brothers, so he climbed out of bed and to the bathroom. When he turned on the light, he noticed how pale he looked. He turned to the side and pulled up his nightshirt, exposing his stomach. All the muscle tone that was once there, was now nonexistent. He shrugged his shoulders and proceeded to use the bathroom. But as he was washing his hands, he realized his hands hurt, not just a muscle ache, but burning of the skin. He also began to go into a coughing fit. He held onto the side of the sink to try to keep his balance. But it being unsuccessful, he fell to the floor, hacking away. The door was closed, so he was hoping his brothers would not hear him. Outside though, Joe was stirring at the commotion going on in the bathroom. He glanced at Kevin's bed and saw the curtain pulled closed, making him realize Kevin was still sound asleep. But, Joe rose from his bed and glanced into the empty water bed and made a bee-line for the bathroom. He knocked hard on the door.

"Nick, are you in there? Are you ok?" He yelled it louder than he meant to, because before he knew it, the light downstairs flipped on.

"Joe, what's going on?" His mother's worried expression appeared at the top of the stairs. She flipped on the light that illuminated the whole room. Joe heard Kevin waking up behind him.

"Nick is in the bathroom, and I heard him coughing loudly. The door is locked, and he hasn't answered me yet." Joe looked at his mom worried, who shared his worried glance. Just then the door opened, and the weakened Nick came out.

"There is no reason for the watchful eye" Nick croaked. He couldn't stop coughing for more than a couple of seconds. When he started again, his mom rubbed his back and walked him back to his bed. As Nick laid down, the skin on his back burned, he tried to switch sides, but, the same thing happened again. When Nick looked settled in, Joe and his mom disappeared from his side. The light flipped off, and Nick just lay looking at the wall where his picture was. He stared at how happy and healthy he looked. Before closing his eyes, his mind began to wander around. He wished he was better, but he knew something far worse was going to come.

Far Worse

The sun shone through the window and Nick got into another coughing fit. He opened his eyes to no one in the room with him. So, he opened his water bottle and began to drink as much as he could. He attempted to get out of his bed, only to fall to the floor. His legs hurt so much, he whimpered, but it soon grew to a pretty loud yell. When no one came to his aid, he knew he was home alone. He tried once again to get to his feet, but his knees buckled under him, and he hit the floor, chin first, suddenly feeling the effects of falling on the concrete. He managed to get his very sore arms underneath him. He then willed his arms to move him, and he made it to the top of the stairs.

"Someone" he yelled. Just to check if he was right. He began to drag himself down the stairs, he needed to make it to the phone on the counter. His legs began to cramp and he yelled out loudly. Grabbing onto them. The landing was only a step away, and when he made it there. He needed to take a break, he leaned against the wall, and steadied his breathing. But this just made him cough. He put his hand up to his mouth, only to pull it away with it covered in blood. He thought he busted his chin open again, so he wiped. But there was no blood coming from his chin. He began to freak out, and cough even more. More blood came up into his mouth, he spit on the floor. He began the second set of stairs, only to lose the feeling in his arms. He tumbled forward and hit the bottom of the steps. Hitting his forehead on the floor, he just laid there for a minute. Admiring the coolness of the floor. But he knew he had to make it to the phone. He once again managed to get his arms under him, even though he could no longer feel them, he could still use them. He reached the counter, only to release there was no one way to reach all the way up there. At that very moment, he heard a faint sound come from down the hall.

"Is someone here?" He yelled as loud as he could manage. At that moment, Frankie leaned his head out of the movie room and saw Nick on the floor, the front of his shirt covered in blood. He sprinted to his brothers side.

"Nick, what's wrong?" Frankie cried, falling to his knees at his brother's side.

"You need to call mom Frankie." Nick managed to say before he broke into a coughing fit. "Tell her I can't feel my legs or my arms. I am coughing up…" Nick stopped to catch his breath. He realized his chest was getting tight again. I am going to die here on my kitchen floor. I am going to die in front of my little brother. Nick thought to himself. He coughed and he felt a familiar feeling welling up inside of him. Oh crap. Nick thought. He knew this feeling, and before he could control it, he vomited a mix between water and blood all over Frankie's feet, who was frantically dialing his mom's number on the phone.

"Mom?" Frankie cried. "Mom, Nick is really sick, his legs and his arms, and all the blood." Frankie was crying hysterically. His tears were falling and hitting Nick's face, who was slowly passing out.

"Frankie." Nick whispered. "Mom" Nick said before he finally passed out. Frankie put the phone on the counter and dropped to his knees beside Nick, stroking his forehead.

"Nick don't die." Frankie sobbed into his brothers bloody white tee. Before he knew it the front door was flying open.

"FRANKIE?" His mom's voice flew through the house. He heard his brother's shoes approaching the kitchen. When they saw Nick on the floor, Joe stopped in his tracks and took a second to catch his breath.

"Frankie, dial 911, then go to your room." Joe and Kevin dropped next to Nick. Joe smacked Nick's face and arouse him.

"Hm?" Nick slowly awakened. "My stomach." Nick curled up and held onto his stomach. Joe realized his knees were soaking up the vomit on the floor.

"Ok Nick, we are going to need you to stay awake." Joe coaxed, trying to hold Nick's eyes open.

"Joe, the ambulance is on the way." Kevin reported. He was rubbing Nick's curls down. Their mother was leaning against the wall in a shocked state; she couldn't do much of anything. Just sit there, and cry. The sirens got louder and louder as they approached the house. Kevin went out to the front to wave the ambulance in. He gave the paramedics the run-down of what happened from Frankie's view. They reached Nick's side, only to notice the blood on the floor. The bigger male paramedic stalked past Mrs. Jonas and reached the landing.

"There is a puddle here." He reported. He ran back down to the other paramedic who was taking Nick's temperature.

"His temperature is 105.1. We need to get him some help immediately. Call the hospital and report what we have." They lifted him off the floor, and carried him out to the ambulance, and as soon as everything had started, it was over. Joe rode along in the ambulance, and Kevin followed behind with Frankie and his mom. They called Mr. Jonas from the car telling him what had happened.

This is so warm Nick thought to himself. I don't remember every being this comfortable. But wait, the last thing I remember was Frankie standing over me, for some reason I feel like he was…crying. Why was he crying? Nick couldn't remember where he was now. He began to freak out. Why is it so dark in here? Someone help me. Nick yelled but no one answered. His eyes shot open, and he heard the familiar beeping noise next to his head. He looked around to see his brother's and his mom and dad talking with the doctor.

"Mom?" Nick asked weakly. His mom turned around, tears in her eyes. She grabbed onto Nick tightly. His brothers had big tears in their eyes as well.

"Oh Nick, we didn't know what was happening." His mother cried into his hospital gown.

"Did they figure out what is wrong with me?" Nick asked. His mother looked to his brothers and looked back to Nick and nodded her head.

"They said that you have a bacterial pneumonia honey." She stroked his cheek. "Once they are done administering the drugs tonight to treat you, they are going to keep you for two or so more days to observe, then you can go home." Nick smiled weakly. He yawned and turned over in his bed, knowing that everything was now going to be ok.