Although I would never admit it, I was probably more nervous than Parker that day. I really had no reason to be. I guess just the thought of meeting anyone famous made me a little antsy, even if it wasn’t someone I particularly cared for. I would have much rather meet Jessica Simpson or Michelle Branch. But this wasn’t my wish. I wasn’t dying of leukemia. Parker was. Parker, my precious little brother, who I never fully appreciated until he was diagnosed four years ago. Now I was losing him.

“So, are ya nervous?” I asked, nudging his shoulder a bit.

“No. Why should I be? They’re just coming to hang out.”

“Yeah, but you love them,” I insisted, giving him a wide grin.

“But I’m a boy. I don’t love them like a twelve-year-old girl would love them,” Parker retorted. “I think you’re more excited than I am, Shay.”

“Nope. Definitely not. You should be more excited...They’re never gonna believe you’re their biggest fan.”

“I’m probably not. I’m sure there’s some teenage girl who’s just dying to be in my place right now. I mean, think about it. Hanson will be walking through that door any minute now...What if I act stupid? Do you think they’ll laugh about my head?”

I felt an immediate pang in my chest. Parker was so self-conscious about his absence of hair. He always complained of how alien-esque it made him look. “Of course they won’t, Parker. Why would you even be concerned about that?”

“But how do you know?”

“I don’t, but if they do, I’ll personally beat their pretty boy asses.”

Parker smiled. “Let’s be nice now.”

“Well, nobody hurts my kid brother and gets away with it.”

“Shay...” Parker suddenly grabbed my wrist and squeezed it.

“What-”

“Shhh!” he whispered loudly. “Listen...”

Through the closed door, I could hear my mother speaking, a note of happiness in her voice. “I’m so glad you could make it. Parker’s been so excited all day. He couldn’t wait to meet the three of you. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I’m sure you’ll make his day.”

“We were happy to do it, Mrs. Hurst,” came a second voice, deep and smooth.

Parker let my wrist fall limply to the bed, using his own hands to push him up into a sitting position. Just as the door began to swing open, he grabbed his black baseball cap from the nightstand beside his bed and plunked it down on his head. The first one to enter the room was my mother, a smile across her face bigger than any one I’ve ever seen on a person...until I looked back at my brother. As Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson entered the hospital room, Parker’s face lit up like a ten thousand watt light bulb had just been flicked on behind his eyes, and his grin was stretched literally from ear to ear. My mother stepped back, and I could see her eyes brimming with tears. The three boys stepped up to the hospital bed with brilliant smiles on their faces, looking genuinely pleased to be there. Each shook Parker’s hand, and I could see the vividness of Parker’s happiness grow with each introduction. Seeing he wasn’t thinking too much about me, I decided to introduce myself so I wouldn’t seem rude before letting Parker take over the talking. I rose from my chair before the guys had a chance to sit down and stretched my arm across Parker. “Hi. I’m Parker’s sister Shay,” I said with a smile, shaking each of their hands. “He was so excited about meeting you guys.” Each of them in turn smiled and shook my hand.

“Shay...“ Parker said quickly through clenched teeth.

Isaac laughed as they took their seats.

“Well, I guess I’ll leave you guys alone. Wouldn’t wanna embarrass Parker anymore.”

“No. Stay.” Parker was pleading with his eyes when he looked at me. Poor thing. He was nervous.

“All right then.” I returned to my chair as my mother slipped from the room, presumably to cry her eyes out at seeing her son so happy. It had been awhile.

“So we haven’t gotten to hear much about you, Parker,” Zac said first. “How old are you?”

“Eleven,” Parker said softly. “I’ll be twelve in four months.”

“Awesome. That’s how old I was when we started out.”

“I know.”

“How long have you been a fan?” Taylor questioned.

“Since the beginning...”

“Why did you want to meet us? I mean, I can think of so many other people cooler than us to meet...We’re just dorks,” Isaac said.

Parker smiled. “Nah, you guys are cool. I guess I wanted to meet you guys ‘cause you helped me through a lot of hard times. When I was in and out of the hospital, I would listen to your CD’s to keep myself preoccupied so I wouldn’t think about what was happening and I wouldn’t have time to be scared. Shay used to laugh at me because I always pretended I was Zac and I would hit everything like they were drums, even though I didn’t know how to do it the right way.”

Zac laughed. “Don’t worry. I still don’t know how to do it right. Maybe you could give me lessons before we leave.”

I could see Parker starting to relax. I sat back as they continued to talk back and forth. Even though I wasn’t a big fan of these guys, I couldn’t help the great amount of respect I now had for them. They were making my brother the happiest eleven-year-old kid in the world, and it wasn’t because they were getting paid or getting publicity for it, because they weren’t getting any of that. They were doing it because they were nice people who were willing to take time out of their busy schedule to make my brother happy before, God forbid, anything happens to him to make him leave us forever. The shine in their eyes told me they were sincere about it, too. They weren’t just pretending to be pleased about being there.

I returned my attention to the conversation after my little space trip. “I used to play basketball. I was really good too! I have three trophies. And I used to take Karate. I was all the way up to brown belt, but I had to stop when I got too sick.”

“Well, when you get better and get that black belt, you’ll have to let us know, okay?” Taylor said, his bright eyes sparkling.

I was loving it more than I’d ever admit. Isaac, Taylor and Zac spent the next hour and a half, talking with my brother, and the conversation never once dulled. I had tears in my eyes when it was time for them to go. I didn’t want the day to end. I didn’t want my brother to return to the self-conscious, introverted boy he was. I wanted Parker to stay the lively and talkative boy he had been since the second the Hansons walked through the door.

They signed Parker’s CD and his red Starter cap laying on the unoccupied bed in the room before they had to leave. The told Parker good-bye and expressed their gratitude for picking them as his “One Wish”. Parker thanked them for coming. “I wish I could walk you guys out, but...”

“I’ll do it,” I volunteered. I had something to tell them anyway.

They told him good bye once more, then headed out of the room. I followed close behind. Once the door was shut behind me and we were a little ways away from it to where I was sure Parker couldn’t hear me, I turned to the three boys with tears shining in my eyes. “Listen...I know we’ve all said this a lot today, but I just really really want to tell you three how grateful I am for agreeing to do this. You have no idea how happy you made my brother, and I’ll never forget you for this. I just wanted you to know that. I’ve been pretty cynical ever since he was diagnosed, and I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical about today. I assumed you guys were gonna rush in there, spend five minutes, and be gone as soon as you appeared...but you were different. And I just want you to know that all of you have my utmost respect.”

“It was no problem,” Zac said.

“We were happy to do it.”

“And I was serious about that whole letting us know thing,” Taylor said, staring me dead in the eyes. “Maybe not so much about the Karate, but I hope you’ll keep in touch with us and let us know how Parker’s doing and stuff. He’s a real sweet kid.”

“I’ll be sure to do that.”

Taylor hastily scribbled down information as to how I could reach them. And then they were gone.