Chapter 25
MITCHELL
This was dangerous. At least I felt it was dangerous.
Sam had been weird all week. It seemed to be a trend.
We fucked around and she ghosted me for a couple of weeks.
I thought we had worked all that shit out.
I thought we established we were seeing each other on the down low, and after the season, it was the real deal.
I wasn’t sure if I had done it wrong. Maybe she was looking for some kind of question.
Was I supposed to ask her to go out with me?
I thought that seemed a little juvenile, but maybe I was wrong.
Clearly, I wasn’t doing something right.
I had tried to talk to her several times over the last week.
I was still wondering what the hell was up with the little blowup last weekend.
Her dig about me running into a burning plane was harsh.
I was just glad no one else picked up on it.
I knew Honcho knew about it. It was part of my file.
I’d been in medical for months after the incident.
But it wasn’t something I told anyone else.
I knew there were rumors and stories, but I had never actually talked to anyone besides the required shrink to get back to work.
So today, I was going to try again. I was going to try and get her to warm back up. I knocked on her hotel-room door. I’d had to do a little flirting to find out what room she was in. I wasn’t going to apologize for using those tactics to get the information I needed.
She pulled open the door but only about halfway. “Yes?”
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” she said with guilt all over her face.
I frowned, but instead of giving her the third degree, I dismissed it. “I’ve got a thing today at the children’s hospital. I was wondering if you’d like to come along.”
“A thing?” she asked.
“It’s a meet and greet,” I explained. “We’re all going. We sign autographs, take pictures, and shake hands.”
“I’d like that,” she said. “When?”
“I was heading down to meet the rest of the team,” I said.
“Oh. Will they mind if I tag along?”
“Of course not,” I assured her.
“Can I have five minutes?”
“I’ll meet you down there,” I told her.
The rest of the team, dressed in flight suits, was already drinking coffee downstairs and chatting with other guests.
Congregating together in the lobby attracted a lot of attention.
We posed for pictures and shook hands like we were expected to do.
Sam appeared in her Blue Angels polo and a pair of khaki capris.
“Hey,” Medusa said when she saw her. “Are you coming with us?”
“Yes, if that’s okay,” Sam answered and looked around.
“We’d love to have you along,” Honcho told her.
We extracted ourselves from the crowd and made our way onto the shuttle.
When we arrived at the hospital, it felt very Hollywood.
Several of the hospital admins greeted us at the front.
There were a few signs welcoming us and a small crowd that gathered prior to our arrival.
We shook hands and were led up to the pediatric ward.
There, families were waiting for us in a large rec room.
The moment we walked in, everything changed.
I remembered why I did what I did. Flying with the Blue Angels was pretty damn amazing, but this part of the gig was awesome.
I loved the looks on the kids’ faces when we walked in.
Sam and I naturally split off from the group and sat at a low table with a few kids that were obviously very ill. Most of them had IV poles beside them.
“Hi, guys,” I greeted. “I’m Mitch, but everyone calls me Dice.”
Some looked a little shy. Sam sat down at the table. “I’m Sam,” she greeted.
“Are you a pilot?” a little girl sitting to her right asked.
“No. I travel with the squadron. I make sure the jets are in good shape and ready to fly.”
“Sam here keeps us safe in the sky,” I said.
“You’re a mechanic?” one of the older kids at the table asked.
“I can be,” Sam explained. “But I’m the person that inspects the work the mechanics do. These days, I don’t get to work on the aircraft. I just get to watch.”
“But you’re a girl,” a little boy said. He looked to be four or five and was bald as could be. Deep circles under his eyes told his story.
“I am a girl,” Sam said.
“But you have a boy name and you do a boy job,” he said with confusion.
“Girls can do boy jobs,” one of the girls shot back.
“Yes, they can,” Sam said. “It’s all about doing what you want and working hard to get it.”
She handled them like a pro. There was a boy at our table that was very quiet and withdrawn. He had a gray pallor and didn’t look happy at all. A woman standing a few feet away was watching him with tears in her eyes. It was clear she was his mom.
“How are you?” I asked the young man.
He shrugged. “Sick. We’re all sick.”
I nodded and understood his bitterness. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to get dealt such a shitty hand in life. If anyone ever said life was unfair, this was a prime example. This was so, so unfair. “What’s your name?” I asked.
“Trevor,” he answered.
“How old are you?”
“Twelve,” he said. “My birthday is next week.”
“Oh man! A teenager!”
I had learned not to ask questions about what grade they were in or what their plans were.
If they offered it, I talked about it. A lot of these kids weren’t in school because they couldn’t go.
It was something they had to deal with and another reminder they weren’t living the typical life of a child.
“I see you guys have a PS4 in here,” I said. “Do you guys play Fortnite?”
Trevor perked up a bit. “I do. Most of them don’t like it.”
“Let me guess, Minecraft is the game everyone wants to play?” I said.
That got some noise. They all started talking at once.
To my surprise, Sam knew a little about the game.
I only knew about it from my past visits to hospitals and other charity events with kids.
I had made it a point to learn as much as I could about the game.
I couldn’t play it worth shit, but I knew the lingo.
“Do you want to play Fortnite?” Trevor asked.
“Let’s do it,” I said. “But I’ll warn you, I’m pretty good. I’ll take it easy on you.”
The boy cracked a smile. “I play all day, every day,” he said. “I don’t have anything else to do. I’m really good. When I get older, I’m going to be a gamer.”
“That sounds like a great job,” I told him.
With his mother’s help, we moved to the corner where a TV was mounted on the wall.
One of the nurses quickly got the system set up.
I settled in on one of the beanbags and we got busy with the game.
He was good. I wasn’t really all that good, but I could hold my own.
He was laughing and seemed to be enjoying himself.
I couldn’t cure what ailed him, but I could make him smile.
That was our goal when we did these visits.
I glanced around the room and saw Sam sitting on the floor with a small group of kids sitting in front of her.
She was reading them a story and was being very animated.
The kids were loving it. Medusa and Watch Dog were in a heated ping-pong battle, with the kids picking sides and cheering them on.
Honcho was in a conversation with some parents.
Even PitA looked like he was having a good time playing Battleship with a young man wearing a Blue Angels baseball hat.
Cooper, Number Six and just a little rough around the edges, was playing with Barbies.
He caught me watching and flashed me a grin.
The guy looked like a wrestler. He was bulky, bald, and just had the look of a guy that kicked ass for breakfast.
After a while, Trevor grew tired and had to quit playing. “I’ll walk you guys to your room,” I said to his mom.
“Thank you,” she said. It wasn’t a real smile. It didn’t meet her eyes. “Do you mind if we get a picture? I’d like Trevor to remember this.”
“Absolutely!” I said. “We have someone that can take it.”
She shook her head. “No, thank you. I’ll just use my phone.”
“Okay.”
A nurse helped get Trevor into bed and hooked him up to a few more machines. I very carefully moved close to him. We both gave a thumbs-up for the camera. “Thank you,” his mom said. “I’m going to have this printed.”
“Trevor, I’ll let you get some rest,” I said and gently touched his hand. “Thanks for hanging with me and showing me some new moves in the game.”
He looked at me with tired eyes. “Sure,” he said.
I nodded at his mother before walking out of the room.
These visits were good and bad. I loved cheering the kids up, but it was mentally exhausting as well.
Seeing kids sick and dying was nothing to enjoy.
It sucked. I hated it. I wished I had the power to fix them all.
When I walked back into the rec room, I immediately looked for Sam.
She was playing a board game with a few kids.
I watched her smiling and being herself.
The kids loved her. I was pretty sure she was more popular than those of us in the flight suits.
There was a warmth about her the kids were drawn to.
“Do you have any kids?”
I looked over to see one of the nurses. “No,” I answered.
“I imagine it’s hard when you do what you do,” she said.
“Being with the squadron keeps us on the road a lot, but we only do a couple years,” I explained.
“You’re good with the kids,” she said with a smile. “These visits give them all something to look forward to. After you leave, they are going to be talking about it for days.”
“Can you guys see the show from here?” I asked.
“If we’re on the roof.” She laughed. “Most of these kids aren’t able to get up there. We do put on the TV though. They’ll be excited to watch that way. They got to meet the real deal.”
“Can I ask a question I have no business asking?” I said.
“Trevor,” she said. “He’s terminal.”
“Damn,” I sighed.
“You just gave him a bright spot in what has been a very hard month. That’s all you can do.” She walked away and I was left alone with my thoughts.
I ended up watching Sam. She was giving a group of kids a bright spot.
She was my bright spot. That was when I realized I had fallen for her.
I had fallen hard. When had that happened?
We’d barely had time to talk and get to know each other, but there was something about her that had gotten a grip on me and I couldn’t get away. I didn’t want to get away.
“How’s it going?” Watch Dog asked.
“Good. You?”
He held up a hand. “Think I have a blister from holding that paddle.”
I laughed. “Guess you won’t be flying.”
“The hell I won’t.” He nudged my arm. “You’re in a room full of kids. Maybe save those looks for the bedroom.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You look like you want to swallow the woman whole,” he said.
I glanced at him. “Maybe I do.”
He curled his lip. “Gross. Is she even talking to you? Last I heard, she was still pissed at you.”
“I’ll talk to her,” I said. “Actually, I think I’ll take her to lunch before going back to the hotel.”
“Honcho wants us at six for a meeting,” he said.
“I’ll be there.”