Chapter 3
3
The Sports City Blood Drive was the biggest blood drive of its kind in the country. It started as a request from the Crusaders Football Team for fans to go to a local blood bank to donate blood for one of the team coaches, who had to have surgery and needed several units of blood. The response was overwhelming, and the Crusaders turned it into a yearly thing and invited the other teams to join in. Every professional sports team in San Diego turned out, as well as the athletes from the Olympic training center, with every athlete signing autographs, taking pictures, and every team contributing prizes to the donor giveaways. Even the minor league and semi-pro teams joined in. It turned into a friendly rivalry, with every team inviting their fanbase to come, donate blood, and vote for their favorite team by choosing the team blood drive shirt. The team that gave out the most of their shirts won a perpetual trophy from the blood bank.
The rookies always appeared with at least one veteran, and it was an hour before Nando stood up from the table to stretch, arching his back after signing autographs and greeting fans. The signing group would take a short break before heading over to the donation stations to give blood.
Nando loved the whole idea of pro athletes coming together and supporting the city for such a worthy cause. His own abuela took ten units of blood during her last surgery due to complications. She pulled through and once she was healthy, she encouraged everyone in the family to donate blood.
But Nando hated needles.
He put up with them for blood tests and vaccinations because he had to but avoided needles whenever possible. When he was in the minors, he was able to avoid donations because he either had the flu or gotten a tattoo. This would be his first blood drive with no excuses.
He wanted to throw up.
Seeing Nando’s nervousness, Nate Paul, one of his teammates, nudged his knee.
“Hey, Vargas, you gonna be ok?” Nate asked.
“Yeah, I’m good.” Nando took deep breaths.
“You look like you’re gonna puke or pass out.”
“Nah,” Nando shook his head. “I’m good.”
“Ok, rookie,” Brooks said, taking the chair next to him. “But if you pass out, you’re not living it down.”
“I’m cool, dude.” Nando snorted with false bravado, grabbing a bottle of water and a marshmallow square, trying to settle his nerves to face the needle. They’d already done all the pre-qualification things, so all he needed to do was go to the donor stations and find a bed.
Brooks went first, winking at the leggy blond who led him to her draw station. Nando gave him a shaky smile and checked his phone.
“Hey, you’re up.”
Nando looked up, startled by the soft feminine voice. “Huh?”
“My station’s open if you’re ready.”
Five foot three-ish, with black hair and brown eyes, like his mother. But that’s where the comparison ended. She was slim, but not like those underwear models. More like a dancer or a swimmer, with strong legs and arms. Probably a runner or one of those hard-core yoga ladies. Curvy where a woman should be curvy, with a dimple when she smiled.
Nando gave her a cocky smile in return and nodded. “Lead on.”
She turned, walking over to the table. Patting the cushion, she said, “Hop on up.”
He pulled himself onto the bed and turned, trying to get comfortable. He took a deep breath, trying to slow his heart rate. She must have noticed something because she gave him another look. “You ok?”
“Yeah,” he said, a bit too quickly.
“You sure?” she asked. “It’s ok if you don’t want to do this.”
Across the room, Jake Francis, one of the football players, nodded to him and smiled. He gave him a shaky thumbs up. “Nah, I’m good.”
Her hands were gentle as she took his, turning his wrist face-up before running her fingers up his arm. Her eyes turned back to his. “Have you donated before?”
“Nah, it’s my first time.” Her soft giggle made his cheeks heat up and he wished he could eat his words. “I mean--”
She had a soft throaty laugh. “Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle.” Focused on the bend of his elbow, she ran her fingers over the crease and the veins she found. “I’m Lila.”
Feeling himself begin to relax, “Nando.”
“What position do you play?” she asked, pulling over her supply tray.
“Catcher.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Don’t you watch the games?”
“Sometimes,” she replied, swabbing his arm with iodine. “You’re new to the team, aren’t you?”
“Got called up in April.”
“You were probably over the moon…” The tourniquet wound tightly around his bicep.
“Yeah,” he said, thinking back. “Probably the best day of my life.” He watched her prepare the blood bag, tubes and other things and he tensed up again.
She looked up at him again. “Hey, you sure you want to do this?”
“Yeah,” he said quietly, glancing over at Nate. His blond was smiling at whatever he was saying. Nate looked over and gave him a questioning look. Nando turned back to Lila. “Let’s just get it over with.”
Lila studied him for a moment. “Is it the blood?”
Nando looked over at Nate again and gave him a half smile and a nod. “It’s the needle.”
Her laugh made his cheeks warm again. “I saw your tattoo, Nando. How can it be the needle?”
His expression was sheepish. “That’s like a little tiny needle and it’s not like I can see it when they do it. This one is huge, and I can see it go in.”
“Not that huge,” Lila said. “Besides if I used a smaller one, it would take a lot longer.”
“How much longer?” he asked.
“Tell you what,” she whispered. “I promise you’ll be out of here in less than ten minutes. A quick pinch, a few minutes, and done.”
He looked at her, doubt very evident, then saw Brooks watching him from his own bed. Taking a deep breath, he nodded quickly, then flinched again when she swabbed his arm again. “Sorry.”
“Nando, it’ll be fine. Just relax.” Giving him a wicked smile. “I haven’t had a virgin in a while.”
Nando looked scandalized. She just laughed. “You’re a first-time donor, sweetie, I haven’t had one of those in a while.”
He closed his eyes, feeling the heat rush up his neck. “You promised to be gentle, Lila.”
“I will be.” She set the swab aside and unwrapped the needle. “Ready?”
He took a deep breath and nodded.
She met his gaze and gave another wicked smile. “It will only hurt a little. Just when it goes in.”
“That’s what he said,” he mumbled. He started to blush again at her giggle and cleared his throat. “I trust you.”
It was quick, just like she promised. And to be fair, it barely stung. “You’re very good.”
Putting tape on all the tubes and fixing the blood bag in the side tray. “So I’ve been told.”
“I barely felt it.”
“That’s what she said.”
Nando shook his head and chuckled. “I walked right in to that one.”
She just grinned, taking the clamps off the tubes. Blood started to flow into the collection bag. She noticed his attention was on the tubes and his breathing started to get shallower. “Hey,” she said, tapping his leg. “You ok?”
“Huh?” He flinched and turned his gaze to her.
She’d seen that look before and knew he was close to a panic attack or worse. “Nando, you’re ok. Talk to me.”
Nando swallowed hard. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Tell me about yourself,” she said. “Why baseball? Why not soccer or football?”
“I like baseball. The first time I played, I was hooked.” He gave her a shaky smile.
“How old were you when you started?”
“Seven.” Shifting on the cushions, he tried to relax. “My abuelo took me to little league tryouts, thinking I needed to get outside more. I played lots of video games back then, and my mom thought I was in front of a screen too often.”
“I was a gamer when I was younger too.” Her voice was soothing. “Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy, and Zelda were my jams.”
“Gran Turismo was good, but I love first-person shooters. Call of Duty, Time Splitters, Wolfenstein…
She nodded. “Metroid Prime was the bomb. So was Half-life. But did you ever play sports games, like Madden?”
“Nah, not like that, but I liked that snowboarding game, SSX.”
“Oh man,” she gushed, “I love that game. I still play Tricky on freeride mode after a long day at work.”
“Playstation or Xbox?”
She frowned at him. “Playstation of course.” She glanced down at the collection bag then started to prep her bandages and gauze. “Kaori is my girl,” she drawled.
He gave her another more confident smile. “I should challenge you to a game. I tore it up with Brodi.”
She took the hand grip from him and placed the gauze pad over the needle. “I’ll take you up on that any time you like.” Her hands were quick, her technique flawless. Before he knew it, she was wrapping the tape around his arm and removing the rest of the tape and tubes. “And you are done, sweetie.”
His smile was wide and genuine, filled with relief. “You are an angel, Lila. Thanks for doing this.” The bed creaked as he shifted, getting to his feet. She stood close, anticipating his being a bit wobbly.
“I’m just doing this to hang all over a cute ball player, Nando.” She took his arm and led him to the recovery area, where they had snacks, water, and juice. “You need to sit here for at least fifteen minutes, ok? I don’t want you to be one of those stupid, macho jocks that try to leave once my back is turned. You need to steady up.”
Nando lowered himself into the chair and reached for a bottle of water while another volunteer poured him some orange juice. “Yes, ma’am.”
Lila glanced back at the donor area. “I need to get back in there. But it was really nice chatting with you.”
“You too, Lila,” he said. As she turned to leave, he called out, “Just let me know when I can take you up on that challenge.”
“Loser buys dinner? At the winner’s choice?” she teased.
“I don’t know,” he said, feeling more himself. “I’m not a cheap date.”
“That’s cool, neither am I.” She handed him her phone. “Put in your number, we can set something up.”
He put in his digits and handed it back. She hit call, setting his phone off. He answered it, his eyes still on hers. “You’ve reached Nando, please leave a message.”
She just shook her head. “Hi Nando, it’s Lila. I’ll let you know when I’m free to wipe the floor with you on SSX.” Ending the call, she started backing up to the donor area. “You can call too. The phone works both ways.”
“I’ll remember that,” he replied.
Lila gave him one more smile before returning to her station. Brooks watched her walk away before joining Nando at his table. “Not bad, rookie. Not bad at all.”