49. Braden
Chapter 49
Braden
I hold the door to the elevator open at University Hospital as my teammates file in behind me.
“Such a gentleman to get the door for me,” Xander says as he claps a hand on my shoulder.
I laugh and squeeze in. Del bumps into me and frowns at whoever is at the front of the elevator. I can’t see since I’m wedged against the side.
“I don’t think we can fit more in here, guys,” Del says.
A few more people squeeze in anyway before the doors slide closed and we glide up to the tenth floor, where the pediatric ward is.
Every year, the Bashers visit the patients on the pediatric floor of University Hospital. We hold a big fundraiser to raise money for the hospital every year too, which is cool, but I honestly like doing this more. It’s nice to visit the kids and take their minds off of the medical issues they’re dealing with.
I’m in the elevator with Del, Theo, Xander, and a few other guys from the team.
Del grumbles about how crowded the elevator is .
“Dude, you are right up against my ass,” Xander says to Del before chuckling. “At least buy me a drink first.”
We al burst out laughing. Del rolls his eyes.
“Come on, it’s not that bad,” I say to him.
He turns to me. “You’re in a good mood. Still riding the high from your latest shutout?”
I chuckle. “You could say that.”
We’ve been on a winning streak for the past three games, and I managed another shutout at our most recent home game in Denver.
I think about how Bella was there at all of those games, wearing my jersey, cheering me on.
I grin wider. I can’t help it. Just thinking about her puts me in the best mood. I’m kicking ass in the net and I have my dream girl.
“Do you think we brought enough jerseys?” Theo asks, looking around. We’re all carrying a few Bashers jerseys each to give to the kids.
I nod. “Alanna brought a bunch of extra ones just in case we run out.”
“Ingrid has some too,” Del says. She came along to film for social media content.
The elevator halts at our floor and we walk out. We break off into groups of three or four and head down the hallway. Theo, Del, Xander, and I stop by a room to the left and knock on the open door.
“Is it okay if we come say hi?” Xander asks with a smile.
“Yeah!” a small voice answers.
We walk in and see a boy who looks like he’s around seven years old, smiling wide as we walk in. His entire left leg and left arm are in casts.
“Let me guess: hockey fight?” Xander jokes.
The boy laughs. So does the woman sitting next to his bed, who I assume is his mom.
“What’s your name, dude?” Xander asks.
“Connor.”
“And this lovely lady is your older sister, I’m guessing?” Xander says. The woman blushes and smiles.
Del rolls his eyes and I chuckle. Xander always makes that comment to the moms.
Connor laughs. “No, that’s my mom.”
She smiles at us. “I’m Heidi. Thanks so much for stopping by. Connor’s been so excited about this. It’s all he’s been talking about this whole week.”
We move to shake their hands. We introduce ourselves.
The kid laughs. “I know who you guys are.” He turns to Xander. “You’re my favorite player.”
Xander grins wide.
“Ouch. I guess we’re chopped liver, huh?” Theo jokes. We all laugh.
“Connor, honey. It’s rude to say things like that,” Heidi says in a soft voice.
“It’s okay,” I say. I pat Xander on the shoulder. “He’s the star of the team, we all know it.”
Everyone chuckles. Xander grabs a children’s sized jersey and asks if Connor if he’d like us to sign it. He nods excitedly. We chat with him and his mom for the next few minutes, take some photos, and head out to visit more kids.
We walk into a room with a kid who looks like he’s about fourteen. I notice his bald head and how skinny he is. He probably has cancer.
Sadness hits me like a freight train, but I push it aside and walk over to his bed with the rest of my teammates, smiling. I don’t want to upset this kid. We’re here to be a happy distraction in the middle of whatever medical issue they’re going through.
He offers a tired smile to the guys. But when he sees me, his face lights up.
“Braden Blomdahl. You’re my favorite goalie in the league.”
The guys move out of the way so I can walk up to him. I shake his hand, heartened by his reaction.
“Thanks. It’s really nice to meet you. What’s your name?”
“Lucas.”
He tries to sit up in his bed, but he winces like he’s in pain. His dad, who’s sitting in the chair next to his hospital bed, reaches over and touches his arm. “Careful, buddy.”
I notice the pained, watchful look in his dad’s eyes as he watches his son.
A lump lodges in my throat. I don’t have kids, but I can’t imagine what it must be like for this guy to see his son in so much pain, fighting something like cancer. It must be horrible.
For a split second, I think of my own dad. What would he do if I were too sick to play hockey?
I immediately shove away the thought. That’s such a selfish thing to think about when I should be focusing on this kid.
I clear my throat and try to keep smiling as I move closer to the side of Lucas’s bed. “It’s okay, I can come closer. Hey, I’ve got a jersey. Want me to sign it for you?”
Lucas offers a tired smile and nods. I sign it and hand it to him.
“Thanks a lot. This is really cool.”
“It’s no problem. I’m pretty pumped to be your favorite. Most people say Andreev or Sokolov is their favorite goalie in the league.”
Lucas shakes his head. “You’re way better than both of them.”
I chuckle. “Lucas, you’re my new best friend.”
The guys and Lucas’s dad laugh softly.
Lucas’s smile falters. “I was a goalie before I got sick with leukemia.” Sadness flashes in his bright green eyes.
Pain throttles my insides. The urge to cry hits me straight in the chest, but I fight it off. Not because I’m ashamed to cry. I’m not. But I don’t want to cry in front of this kid. I bet he’s seen a lot of people cry around him. His friends, his family.
I don’t want to make him sad. I want to make him smile.
I clear my throat. “I bet you kicked ass when you played.” The second I realize I cursed, my eyes go wide.
“Shoot, uh, sorry about my language,” I say quickly to his dad. He chuckles. Lucas starts to smile.
“It’s okay. He’s heard worse.” He looks at his son. “Lucas is really good on the ice.”
Lucas looks down at the jersey. “I’m okay.”
“More than okay. He helped his team win the state championship last year. He had a heck of a save in the last few minutes of the game,” his dad says.
I grin at Lucas. “Dude. Stop being modest. It sounds like you’re great.”
A proper grin appears on Lucas’s face. “Okay, I guess I’m pretty good.”
“You have any advice you wanna give me? I could always use some pointers when I’m in the net.”
Lucas laughs. “Me? Give you advice? No way.”
“Come on. You saw how I sucked at the beginning of this season. ”
“Yeah, but you’re better now,” Lucas says. “Besides, even when you sucked, you were still better than Sokolov. He’s all flash, no substance. You’re way more skilled.”
My teammates and I burst out laughing. We spend the next few minutes talking and joking with him. Before we leave, we take a photo with Lucas.
I reach my fist down and bump his. “When you’re better, we should have a training session together.”
He grins, his blue eyes big and bright. Then it fades. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get better. I need a bone marrow transplant and no one I know is a match.”
I look up and see the stricken look on his dad’s face. “He’s an only child, and his mom and I aren’t matches.”
“I-I’m sorry…” My chest feels like it’s about to crack in half. Fuck. This poor kid…this poor family.
I feel like such an asshole for not being able to say something more, something helpful. But I can’t think of a single comforting thing to say or do.
Lucas offers a sad smile. “It’s okay. Thanks for hanging out with me. And thanks for the jersey.”
I swallow back the boulder in my throat and nod. “Would it be okay if I came to visit you again sometime?”
His eyes are bright again. “Yeah, that would be awesome.”
When we leave the room, my eyes are burning with tears. The guys are quiet as we make our way back to the elevator. I hit the button for the lobby. The whole ride down is silent. I notice all the guys’ eyes are red.
“Fuck,” I mutter. “That poor kid.”
“Yeah,” Del says. Xander and Theo nod quietly.
The elevator doors glide open. We walk out and wait in the lobby for the rest of our teammates to finish up their visits.
An uneasy feeling drags through my gut. I wish I could do something, anything to help Lucas.
The elevator across from us dings. The doors glide open and out walks Sophie. She came to help out with the hospital visit today. She’s smiling at first, but when she sees the four of us, her expression sobers.
“What happened?” she asks. Xander tells her about Lucas and his leukemia diagnosis.
Her expression turns pained. “Oh god, that’s awful. Pediatric cancer is heartbreaking.” Her eyes turn misty. “That rotation in med school was so hard. It was wrenching seeing kids that young fight cancer. I’d go home and cry after almost every day.”
Xander hugs her.
“Lucas’s dad said that he needs a bone marrow transplant, but his parents aren’t matches and he’s an only child,” Xander says.
Sophie lets out a heavy sigh. “That’s so tough. Usually in cases like that, your best hope is to receive a bone marrow transplant from a relative.”
“So if your parents or siblings aren’t a match, you’re screwed?” I ask, feeling defeated.
She shakes her head. “Not necessarily. Sometimes a stranger can be a match. There’s a National Bone Marrow registry that I’m sure Lucas’s doctors looked through to try and find a donor for him. There are millions of donors on there. Right around nine million, I think, which sounds like a lot, but it can still be so hard to find a match. I mean, there are more than three hundred million people in this country. In comparison, the registry really isn’t that big.”
I nod as I process everything she’s said. And then a light bulb goes off in my head.
“Could I be a match?”
Sophie, Xander, Theo, and Del all look at me.
“Theoretically, yeah. You could,” Sophie says. “Statistically it’s pretty low though. You’re not a blood relative.”
“But could I get tested and see if I’m a match?”
Sophie nods. “Yeah. You absolutely could.”
“What would I need to do?” I ask her.
“It’s pretty quick and simple, you’d just do a cheek swab.”
Determination rockets through me. “I wanna do that.”
Sophie looks at me for a moment. “If you’re a match, donating bone barrow is a different story. It’s a surgical procedure. It’s straightforward and relatively quick, but recovery would be around a week, maybe two. There can be complications too. It’s rare, but not unheard of.”
“That’s fine. I’ll do it.”
Everyone stares at me.
After a second, Del nods. “I’ll do it too.”
“Yeah, me too,” Xander says.
“I’m in too,” Theo says.
Sophie smiles at us. “Okay. I’ll set it up.”
I tell her thanks, hoping against all odds that one of us is a match for Lucas.