Forget Me Not
Joe was thirteen years old and was sitting alone on the hospital bed, a bandage covering half his face and several smaller ones all over his body. He tugged at his pajamas and listened to the conversation the nurses were having on the other side of the room.
“He’s the survivor of that family suicide… the company his father used to manage went bankrupt. You hear that kind of story a lot. His older brother is already out of the hospital, but his younger brother is in the intensive care unit right now.”
Joe put his hands together and prayed that Nick would be alright.
My family may be no more, but I’m still waiting for Nick. He’s a crybaby. He needs me or he can’t do anything, Joe thought.
The nurses left the room and a group of men came inside. They were dressed in suits and carried briefcases and didn’t even try to whisper as the nurses had.
“It’s him - Kevin Jonas Sr.’s kid! That old man died with millions of dollars in our debt! What should we do with him?”
One of the men walked over to Joe and grabbed him by the chin, peering at him behind expensive looking glasses. “… Top quality. Looks like we can get a high price for him. We’ll have him pay back the money.”
Joe blinked his eyes open and realized he had dozed off on the couch. He rubbed his eyes and his knuckles came back black and glittery. He looked around and saw that Nick was in his usual spot next to him.
Nick turned his head when he saw that his brother had awakened. He smiled warmly. “You slept like the dead,” he said, “Joey.”
Joe’s cheeks flushed at the affectionate nickname and he smiled shyly, straightening up. “What time is it?” he asked.
“Dinner time,” Nick answered.
Joe laughed softly. “You’re finally hungry! What would you like to eat for dinner?” he asked.
Nick thought about it. “Pizza,” he finally answered.
Joe sat there and basked in the atmosphere of his little brother for a moment; He sometimes seemed child-like, or, at least, more so than Joe could ever be. Yet he knew he wasn’t innocent in the slightest.
The drugs and bullet in his side were thoughts too painful for Joe, so he ignored them and jumped up. “Pizza it is!”
Joe ordered a large pizza pie with pepperoni and sausage and fifteen minutes later there was a knock on the door.
“That was fast,” Joe observed, standing up and grabbing his money. He opened the door but there was no pizza man.
“Kevin!” Joe greeted. “Hi, what are you doing here?”
Kevin seemed surprised at Joe’s enthusiasm and said, “I was just in the neighborhood and thought I’d drop by to check how you were doing. How is everything?”
“Everything is good,” Joe answered. “Please, come in. The pizza should be here any minute. Do you want to stay for dinner?”
Joe stepped aside and let Kevin enter the apartment. “Sure, sure,” he answered, unbuttoning his coat.
Nick turned around in his seat, his expression set somewhere between confusion and agitation.
“Hey, Nick. I hope you don’t mind me hanging around tonight,” Kevin said.
“’Course not,” Nick replied simply, “Brother.” The word sounded odd on his tongue.
“I guess I’ll set the table, then,” Joe said, walking toward the kitchen.
“I’ll help you,” Kevin offered, following him.
“No, that’s okay, I can help him,” Nick argued, standing up.
“No, Nick,” Joe argued, moving back toward him. “That’s okay, you just rest. You don’t need to do any work.”
Nick shrugged and dropped back onto the couch, folding his arms over his chest and putting a foot up on the coffee table.
Joe passed the plates to Kevin and they set the table quietly. A few minutes later, the pizza guy knocked on the door. Joe and Kevin split the money and everyone sat down at the table.
“So, Nick, how’s that wound of yours healing?” Kevin asked pleasantly over his slice of pizza.
Nick shrugged. “It’s only been three days. Not much healing has happened yet.”
Kevin nodded. “Right. It should start to look better in a few more days,” he added.
“Kevin is studying to become a doctor,” Joe noted, chewing at the crust of his pizza. “A surgeon, right?”
Kevin nodded, clearly proud.
Joe sighed. “Kevin is so lucky. I wish I could have scored a scholarship to University,” he said.
“What kind of profession do you have now?” Nick asked conversationally.
Kevin and Joe immediately glanced at each other nervously.
“Oh…” Nick started, “is this some kind of secret that only the two of you know? Well, whatever. You don’t have to tell me.”
“Nick…” Joe said sadly, looking over at his brother. Nick didn’t answer and was concentrating on eating. Joe looked down at his pizza, suddenly lacking an appetite.
Kevin frowned. “Joe works with me,” he lied. “He’s the receptionist at the hospital I have an internship at.”
Joe looked up, confused.
Nick chuckled a little and set his slice down on the plate. “It’s okay, you don’t have to lie on Joe’s behalf,” he said. “I know you live in another city.”
Kevin frowned again. “You shouldn’t be so rude,” he warned him.
Nick snorted. “Please. You’re not so much older than me. You can’t tell me what to do.”
Kevin stared in silence at the young boy for a moment before Joe cleared his throat and said, “Come on, guys. Let’s just finish our food.”
Everyone ate quietly for the rest of the meal. Kevin kept looking over at Joe, who was staring bleakly into his food, and glaring at Nick, the one who had made Joe sad when he was just starting to be happy again. Nick didn’t look at either of them as he ate.
“Do you guys want some dessert?” Joe asked when all the pizza was gone. He stood up and walked over to his fridge. “I think I have some ice cream in here…”
“Sure, Joe. That’d be great. Thanks,” Kevin said, smiling at him, trying to lighten the mood again and ignoring Nick’s dirty looks.
Joe got out the tub of ice cream and three bowls. He waited for a moment for the ice cream to melt slightly and then began serving everyone. He scraped the carton clean to make sure everyone had enough.
“This is good,” Kevin said. Joe smiled faintly. Kevin looked around the room and saw that many pictures of himself and his two brothers as children were held by magnets on the fridge and in picture frames around the house. The three of them smiling up at the camera with their front teeth missing made Kevin smile and he decided to try and befriend Nick again. “So, Nick, do you still like baseball? I remember you were on the baseball team in middle school.”
Nick looked up from his ice cream, surprised. “Oh, um… not really,” he said.
“Oh,” Kevin replied. “Then do you do any other sports? If I recall, you were always better in gym class than either of us,” he said, grinning and gesturing to himself and Joe.
Nick shrugged. “I’m good at basketball I guess,” he answered.
“Oh, okay,” Kevin said after a while, deciding that he wasn’t going to get anywhere trying to have a conversation with Nick. After he finished his ice cream, he said, “Well, I think I’d better go now. I have a shift at the hospital soon.”
They all stood up and Joe got Kevin’s coat from the hanger. “You already get to work in a real hospital?” he asked in awe.
Kevin shrugged on his coat and nodded. “For no pay, though!” he said, laughing. “It’s just for experience so I can get a real job.”
Joe and Nick walked Kevin to the door.
“’Bye, Nick. It was nice to see you again,” he said. Nick waved in response. “And, Joe, thank you for the food.” He and Joe exchanged a brief, one-arm hug, and Kevin added, “If there’s anything you want to talk about, anything, just give me a call.” Then he left and Joe closed the door after him.
When Kevin got to his job at the hospital, he found himself distracted and he stared out the window instead of working beside his mentor, Nurse Julie.
“Mr. Jonas!” she complained at his daydreaming. “How do you expect to keep this internship if you stare into space?”
“Oh, sorry, Julie,” he replied. “I’m just thinking.”
“There are a lot of customers outside, you know! Aren’t you going to help me start the examinations?”
Kevin turned toward her and smirked. “You mean patients, right, Julie?”
She blushed and stammered, “O-oh… yes.”
Kevin turned back and continued to stare out at the city. He leaned against the wall and rested his head in his hand.
Was that really Nick Jonas? He thought. Didn’t he always have more of a gentle face, like Joe? He didn’t seem to recognize me when he first saw me at the hospital, either. And that bullet in his side…
“Mr. Jonas!” Julie exclaimed again.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not feeling very well today. I think I might have to go back home and rest,” Kevin said, straightening and walking toward the door.
“You don’t look sick,” Julie argued. Kevin smiled cheerfully and waved at her as he left the room.
… and the old Nick Jonas wasn’t a rude little prick.