CHAPTER TEN
“Nick!” she called as she raced down the stairs after him.
“It’s okay,” he choked. “We’ll be fine. I get it.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s Dale. We have to get to him to a hospital. I think he might have a brain tumor.”
“What?”
She dodged past him and kept running down the stairs. He kept pace easily, taking two steps at a time.
“Are you sure? I thought it was dehydration, or growing too fast.”
“No, I’m not a hundred percent sure until he gets an MRI. But all those clumsy accidents he keeps having? The balance issues are a sign. Now he’s vomiting. I did some research, that’s one of the reasons I came here today. I wanted to ask him if he’s been experiencing other symptoms. We need to get him to the emergency room right away. Run some tests. Please. Just…just believe me, okay?”
She shot him a pleading glance as he loped next to her. His face had gone stark white.
“Oh shit. Okay. Of course I believe you.” They reached the bottom of the stairs and dashed toward the gate that opened onto the field. “You call 9-1-1. I’ll get him off his feet so he doesn’t have another accident.” Nick picked up the pace as he reached the bottom of the stairs and launched himself across the field.
Peyton slowed down enough to pull out her phone and place the call to 9-1-1. Then she called the best neurologist in the Phoenix area, Dr. Steed, whose kids she used to babysit. Calling in all her emergency babysitting favors, she begged him to meet them at the hospital in Phoenix. Their little suburb of Everton didn’t have the facilities to deal with this.
By the time she was done, Nick was with Dale, one arm securely around his shoulder to guide him off the field. She ran across the grass, thinking of the many times she and Nick had raced each other around the Res. She reached Dale just as Nick was helping him down onto the bench. Pulling her penlight from her purse, she assessed his pupils. He couldn’t track the light; not a good sign.
“His parents might want to meet us at the hospital,” she told him in a low voice.
“That’s going to be tough. His mother works and has no transportation. I’ll go pick her up.”
“No.” Dale grabbed Nick’s arm. “Don’t leave me. I don’t even know what’s going on.”
“Okay, I won’t leave you. Let’s get you to the hospital first, then I’ll get your mom.”
Several of the players were now gathered around them. In their workout clothes and scared expressions, they looked much younger than high school age. “Practice is cancelled for the day, spread the word,” Nick told them. “But I expect you all here on time tomorrow, got it?”
“Is Dale going to be okay?” one of the players asked, no doubt speaking for them all. Nick glanced at Peyton.
“We’ll make sure of it,” she said, hoping she exuded something like confidence.
The next span of time sped by in a blur of paramedics, sirens, and an MRI.
Dr. Steed arrived at the hospital, took a look at the results of the scan, and confirmed Peyton’s fears. Out of Dale and Nick’s earshot, he delivered his diagnosis.
Juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma. A brain tumor. Benign, but growing. If it wasn’t removed, it would continue to cause damage, perhaps even permanent.
“So, what next?” she asked him.
“That’ll depend on his parents. I take it the man in there with him isn’t related?”
“No, that’s his coach. But he’s been talking to Dale’s mother. I think she’s on her way.”
“Good. We’ll present her with some options then. Page me when she gets here.”
Peyton slipped into Dale’s exam room and caught Nick’s attention. Dale had drifted to sleep, but even so, she knew he was reluctant to leave him alone. He was such a great guy. A caring human being.
In the hallway, Nick scrubbed a hand through his hair. “What’d the specialist say?”
“We have to talk to Dale’s mom first. How far out is she?”
“I called her a cab. She should be almost here by now.”
She ached to pull him into her arms and soothe that haunted look from his face. “He’ll be okay. Hang in there. You’re being amazing. Dale is so lucky you’re here.”
“He’s lucky you’re his doctor. What if you hadn’t figured it out?” His phone beeped just then. “Cindy’s here. Dale’s mom. Will you come with me? I won’t be able to explain the medical stuff.”
“Of course.”
They met Cindy Marks in the hospital lobby. She was nearly hysterical, her eye makeup smudged and eyes bloodshot. She was a young mother, still in her mid-thirties, with a tattoo snaking around her neck and piercings running up both ears.
Once again, Nick came through. First, he managed to calm her down just by maintaining his own rock-solid cool. He had her sit down, got her a glass of water.
“Dale’s sleeping right now, he’s fine. But when he wakes up, he’s going to be scared, okay? So let’s do our best for him.”
“Right, right.” She nodded, wiping the tears off her cheeks with the heels of her hand. “I’ll be okay. Just tell me what’s what.”
Peyton introduced herself and explained that she’d just paged the specialist to join them. “It’s best if he explains Dale’s condition. In the meantime, there’s some paperwork to fill out.” She offered Cindy the clipboard the charge nurse had left with her.
“I’ll try, but…” She looked doubtfully at her hands, which were shaking badly.
“Want me to do it?” asked Nick, taking the paperwork. “I won’t remember anything I write, I promise.”
She managed a wavering smile. “I trust you, Coach. You’re always there for us. Thanks.”
Peyton went to get coffee while Nick filled out the paperwork with Cindy. In case she’d ever doubted Nick’s kindness, she was getting up-close proof of it. Nick Kolanowski was the quiet hero, the one who saved you in the moments that snuck up and sandbagged you.
Dr. Steed arrived and laid out the options. Surgery would be necessary, but it didn’t have to be right away. However, since they didn’t know at what rate the tumor was growing, he didn’t recommend waiting too long.
“Can we do it…now? Today?” Cindy Marks twisted her hands together. “I don’t want something growing in my kid’s brain.”
“We can,” Dr. Steed said. “I’ve checked the schedule. But I would recommend discussing it thoroughly first. We need to decide soon, however.” He left them to discuss it.
Peyton stayed with Nick and Cindy while she wrestled with the decision, and it was a good thing she did. Nick came up with quite a few questions that Cindy would have asked, if she weren’t so rattled. Peyton answered everything that she could, based on her surgery rotations, though it wasn’t her specialty.
Finally, Dale’s mother fixed desperate eyes on her and asked, “What would you do?”
“You have to make the decision. No one else. What’s right for you might not be right for me.”
“I know all that blah blah! I’m asking as a friend. You’re Nick’s friend, and that makes you mine. What would you do if it was you?”
Peyton exchanged a quick glance with Nick. Offering her opinion as a friend would be okay, she supposed.
“I wouldn’t wait. Dr. Steed is the best, he’s available, and we’re here. I see no real reason to delay. We’re lucky…”
She cast a glance at Nick, looking for support. As always, he provided it. “We’re lucky Peyton caught it. She suspected something was wrong when I kept bringing Dale to the clinic. Someone up there is really watching out for him.”
“Okay. My poor baby. He’s been acting so funny, but I just figured it was him being a teenager, you know? When I was his age, I was gettin’ ready to have him. High school, you know. Crazy days. Do it. Tell them to do the surgery. Where’s that paper I need to sign?”
Nick held the clipboard for her so she could sign it. She clutched at his forearm, her long nails digging in, but he didn’t flinch. When she was done, she stood up and fished around in her purse. “I’m going for a smoke. I was going to quit, but guess maybe I’ll put that on hold for now.”
As she left, Nick handed Peyton the clipboard. “Will you take this to the nurse? I’m going to stay out here and keep an eye on her. Dale’s told me a little bit about the rough times she’s had. I don’t want to leave her alone.”
As she took the clipboard, Peyton’s heart swelled so much she thought it might burst. That was Nick—the rescuer. The rock. A rock with a rich vein of pure gold running through it. If anyone was lucky here, it was her, because Nick was part of her life.
“Yes,” she blurted. “Yes, let’s go on a date. Will you go out with me, Nick Kolanowski?”
His mouth fell open, and he stared at her blankly.
Great timing. Seriously? She had to do this in a hospital waiting room in the midst of a medical crisis?
“Hang on,” she told him, feeling her face go red. “I’ll be right back.”
She ran the clipboard back to the nurse, then exchanged a quick word with Dr. Steed.
Then, all her medical responsibilities fulfilled, she hurried back to Nick. He was standing at the glassed-in wall that looked out over the parking lot. Doing what he’d promised—keeping an eye on Dale’s mom.
She came close to him and took his hand, tugged him around to face her. His scent enveloped her, dry grass from the baseball field, clean sweat, soap from his morning shower. He looked down at her with dark, attentive eyes.
And she knew that she loved him.
She tilted her face up and rose onto her tiptoes. He bent his head to meet her, and their lips joined in a perfect, electric kiss. The slight brush of their mouths was dazzling, like a window into a whole new world. All this time, it had been waiting for her, a bright and beautiful secret.
He put his hands on her back and pulled her closer, the gentle pressure promising even more delights in the future. A dizzy array of images cascaded through her head. Nick running, his long, strong legs eating up the trail. Nick stripping off his shirt. Nick looking down at her with quiet eyes. She’d barely scratched the surface of Nick’s depth and strength, she realized. And doing so would be the adventure of a lifetime.
Finally, she drew back, her lips still tingling. “I’m sorry about before, Nick. I was afraid to lose your friendship. You mean so much to me, I didn’t even realize how much.”
“You won’t lose me, Peyton. If you could, it would have happened by now. I actually did try, you know. The night of the reunion. I was thinking I’d make a clean break.”
She swallowed hard. Had he really come that close to walking away? Had she come that close to blowing it?
“But then I saw you again, and I knew it would never happen,” he said. “At least not until I told you how I felt. Jack was right about that. I never put my heart on the line. I was always too afraid of Jack’s shadow.”
“And now?”
“Screw Jack.” He grinned and hugged her tighter. Their bodies pressed closer together, the intimate contact making her head spin. “I think I can take him. Give me a chance and I’ll make you forget all about him.”
“Honestly?” She wrapped her arms around him. Every part of her body that touched him tingled and clamored for more. “I already have.”