Nick Jonas

551

As we walk to Maverick, the roller coaster closest to Steel Vengeance, Nick has to stop a few times to catch his breath. He's going extremely pale as well, and he's starting to worry me a little bit.

"Dude, you're white as a sheet. What's wrong?" Kevin asks him as he stops for the third time in the short distance between rides.

"I-I don't know," he says weakly.

Then it hits me. "Nick, check your blood sugar," I say.

Joe and Kevin's eyes widen as they realize what I just said. He was just on a roller coaster, scared, which can raise his sugars-

"Oh, my God."

Nick pulls out his kit and checks his numbers, and when he sees the number blinking back at him, he looks at us with terror-filled eyes. 551. Way higher than it's supposed to be. His hands shake as he fumbles around, looking for insulin, but he wavers on his feet before he can find any, dropping the kit.

"Hey! Hey, Nick, dude," Joe catches him before he hits the ground, but Nick's already unconscious.

"Nicky! Nicky...HELP! Someone, help, please!" I yell to the people walking by, already hysterical. Tears pool in my eyes as I stand helpless.

Kevin grabs the kit, injects some insulin into Nick's side, but it's already too late. He needs a hospital. Joe lowers him down and calls 911, practically screaming into the phone.

"I'm at Cedar Point, I need an ambulance! Between Maverick and Steel Vengeance! My brother has Type 1 Diabetes, his sugars are too high, he passed out, help! Please," he says, hanging up and lowering himself to Nick's side.

Kevin grabs me by the shoulders and holds me tight as a crowd forms around us and Nick. The tears release from my eyes as the ambulance pulls up and the passerby scatter. The paramedics force Joe out of the way and he comes to stand by us, tears rolling down his cheeks as Kevin wraps an arm around him and Nick is put on a stretcher. The three of us clamber into the ambulance with him as we ride to the front of the park, and they drop us off outside the front gate.

"We're going to Firelands. Meet us there," one of the paramedics says, and they take Nick out of the parking lot and down the causeway with lights and sirens blaring.

The three of us run to the car, not even bothering to buckle before Kevin throws it in drive. He takes on an intensity I've never seen before, going about twenty over the speed limit, as Joe and I sit in the back seat consoling each other. I sob into his chest and he wraps his arms around me, silent tears streaming down his face and into my hair.

Within two minutes we reach Firelands medical center, where the ambulance is parked and Nick has already been taken into the Emergency unit. The three of us are directed into the waiting room and told someone will be out to update us when they know more. That's when I feel it.

Tightness in my chest.

Shallow, dry breaths. Then...

I can't breathe.

I start shaking uncontrollably. I'm having another panic attack, even worse than the ones from yesterday. There's nothing I can do to stop it. I can't deal with this, I just can't, I-

"Harper. Harper!" Joe shouts, noticing the state I'm in.

"Hey, can you hear me? Look at me, Harper." Kevin says, bending down in front of my chair.

I try to look at him, but I can't breathe. I clutch my chest, eyes wide and the tears starting to flow again.

Kevin hugs me tight, making me feel secure as Joe plays with my hair.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Harper. Try to take some breaths, there you go. Nick wouldn't want you to be like this," says Joe, trying to be soothing.

"I-I know. I just-"

"It's okay."

"But it's my fault that this happened in the first place," I say.

"No it's not, Harper, it's no one's fault," says Kevin.

"Yes it is. It's my fault because I pressured Nick into going on that ride," I wail.

"But we wanted him to go on too. And we were giving him shit for it the whole time. It's no one's fault, it's just a freak accident," Joe says.

"I guess," I say quietly.

Joe dries my eyes and Kevin calls Priyanka to tell her where we are and what happened. Kevin returns, saying that she's on her way. We sit in silence until she arrives, and we all wait hand in hand, heads down in a silent wish, until a doctor walks in our direction with a grim look on his face.

"Family of Nick Jonas?" he asks, and we stand.