They all stared at this very hyper and healthy looking girl. "Whoa," Brian said softly. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah, it's no big deal though."
"But what if...," Nick began.
"Let's talk about it some other time," said AJ, looking at Nick square in the eyes. Nick nodded and shut his mouth. They all sat and talked and laughed until the show had to begin. Max wished them all good luck and watched them from backstage. Max was very happy at the moment, her dream had finally come true.
Finally, the time came to say good-bye. The show had ended and Max had to return to the hospital where she would stay until her last moment.
"Thank you so much for letting me have such a great time," she beamed.
"It's our treat!" Brian piped up, although he was so exhausted.
"Hey, can we visit you sometime?" AJ asked. Max looked at him with wide eyes. But a smile crept across her face.
"Sure! I'm staying at Scottish Rite Children's hospital. But you don't have to," she said.
"It's ok," interrupted Howie. "We would love to." They agreed they would stop by the hospital tomorrow afternoon. They watched and waved as Sally and Max got into Sally's Lexus and drive off. AJ sighed as they all walked backstage.
"Hey man," said Kevin worriedly, "you ok?" AJ just nodded.
Nick made a little groaning sound. "Bone, do you have a crush on a 12-year old?"
AJ glared at Nick, clenching his teeth. "NO! I do not!"
Nick backed away. "Whoa. What's your problem?"
AJ shook his head and softened his voice. "Nothing, nothing. Listen, I'm just tired. I'm gonna go to the hotel, ok?"
Brian patted his friend's shoulder. "Sure, Buddy. We're going out dancing, but we'll be back before 2, k? Sleep tight, man." They all said good-night and Howie gave an extra long stare at AJ before leaving with the other guys. After watching until the Boys' official van (with Brian, Kevin, Howie, and Nick inside) was gone, AJ walked around with his head down. He wasn't really tired, he was just very upset about the little girl with cancer. 'She's too young to die,' he thought to himself. 'Too innocent.'
"Hey, Dude!" called out a taxi driver. AJ was surprised to see himself walking on the sidewalk and never even noticed the yellow taxi drive up next to him. "Need a ride somewhere?"
"Uhh...," AJ couldn't talk.
The driver laughed cheerfully. "You don't look like you belong in the street's. Get in, Pal. I'll drive ya where you wanna go." AJ jumped in. "So, where DO you wanna go?"
AJ hesitated and thought for a second while the driver patiently waited. "Um, can you go to the Scottish Rite Children's hospital?"
The driver looked at him kind of strange but smiled again. "Sure, got a kid there or just visiting someone?"
"Um. Yeah, I'm just visiting someone."
The driver chuckled to himself and started the engine of the old, worn down taxi cab. 'Man, this guy is whack,' the driver thought.