"Alright sweetheart, are you going to be okay? I'm sorry I
can't stay, but if I could you know I would. It's just the-"
"The job," concluded Mariah. "I know mom. It's
okay. I'll be fine."
"Okay, well, I'll call as often as I can. See you in a couple
of weeks." said her mother. She kissed Mariah on the head and left. Mariah
sighed and started to unpack, looking at everything carefully as if it was all
she had in the world. In a way it was, her old life. She felt so lonely.
Finally she got to the duffel bag that she brought with her. She
looked in and found at the top was the picture of her parents and her.
'Dad,' thought Mariah and started to cry. She thought back to all
the things that they had done together, the times when everything was happy and
normal. She longed for those days and would give just about anything to have it
back. Mariah had been much closer to her father than her mother. Her mother
always worked. Her father was a landscaper so he could stay home more often.
Her mother was always off to other places showing people houses.
Unfortunately, one winter her father had a heart attack and died.
That time Mariah was 7. Now, all grown at the age of 20, she worked hard to be
close to her mother. At times that was a hard thing to do, but through
determination, it was all worth it.
Mariah wiped her tears and went on sorting through her things. She
brought out her CD player and popped in her favorite group, the Spice Girls.
She felt that she could relate to the Spice Girl's songs. Mariah lay on her bed
and listened while thinking about her life and all the hardships that she had
to endure, and soon, fell asleep.
* * *
"Code blue, code blue!" someone called over the P.A.
system. Mariah woke with a start. She heard the commotion outside and wondered
what it was all about.
A nurse walked in and put her dinner on the table.
"Here you go," said the nurse cheerfully. "Go on
and eat up. It's roast beef and mashed potatoes today."
Mariah looked up and wondered how this nurse could be so cheerful,
but then again, nurses have to be. It's their job.
"Excuse me, but what's going on outside?"
The nurse looked up with pity in her eyes. "Oh it's so sad.
He was doing so well. I simply don't know what happened."
"What?" asked Mariah.
"The boy's name is Brian Littrell," replied the nurse.
"He just had a cardiac arrest. He's been in this hospital for 6 months
practically. He was gonna be released next week, but...I don't know." said
the nurse with a sigh. "It's so sad. Such a nice kid." The nurse
shook her head and walked away.
'Brian Littrell?' thought Mariah. 'Isn't he part of-' and then it
hit her. The Backstreet Boys. They weren't too popular in the States yet, but
they were successful overseas. Mariah had been following them ever since they
sang at her school. It wasn't that she was obsessed, just interested, but she
hadn't been following them recently.
'Maybe they're not doing as well as I thought.' Mariah sighed and
began to eat her dinner.