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“Excuse me if I’m not falling all over my bloody self that my man is now tied down by some woman claiming she has his child—”
My irritation was growing with each passing second. “Teagan does have my child. Trust me.”
“You believe her so easily, and yet, she betrayed you and lied to you for years”
“Thanks for the play-by-play of events, but no, when I look at Remi, there is no denying it.”
“Whatever. How long will you be out for this thing?”
“As long as it takes. I have to talk to the coaches and management staff. My plan is to make the games, except I might need a couple of weeks after the procedure to recover.”
“You could designate me your agent and I can take care of it all for you.” I had been with the same team for my entire career and hadn’t felt the need to hire an agent, though Bronwyn had been trying to convince me. She wanted to get out of training. I’d had many offers to move teams, but I hadn’t felt the need or the desire. A couple of offers came from stateside teams, but I’d liked the distance and the clean slate that London provided. London held no memories of Teagan or our relationship and I realized after a few months that it was the only thing that kept me sane. “I’ll still train you, too, but just you.”
“It’s not the right time to make changes.” I knew what she’d been trying to do and something kept me from allowing it. It would be another commitment, another tie, and I guess, my subconscious was weighing the pros and cons before I was even aware.
Bronwyn leaned forward, pressing down my bag as she reached across to wrap her fingers around my bicep. Her face softened. “We can discuss it another time. What’s involved with the transplant?”
“They stick a big ass needle into my pelvis and suck out some of the marrow. I’ll just be sore for a few days because the bone will be bruised but the marrow replaces within a month, similarly to blood after a blood donation.” I ran a hand through my hair wearily. “Remi has the hard part.”
Bronwyn began to knead the tense muscles of my arm. “You’re tense, lovie. Isn’t it just like a blood transfusion, and poof, she’s better?”
“No. First, they have to put her in a clean room and hit her with high doses of radiation to kill all of her own bone marrow, then she’s given the transplant, and we wait to see if it works.”
“How long?”
“It can take anywhere from ten to twenty-eight days before we know if it helps her.” My voice was flat and emotionless.
Her fingers paused and her brow furrowed. “Good God, that long? You have to stay there the entire time, then?”
My head snapped in her direction so I could look into her eyes at the same time I pulled my arm away from her ministrations. “This is a little girl who is barely five years old. She’s spent the better part of two years sicker than hell, being pumped up with chemicals and riddled with pain, unable to be a kid because she can’t get infections, knocks, or bumps and you’re concerned with how long I have to be away from the team? So, did you really just ask that?”
“I didn’t mean it like that, Chase.” She only called me Chase when I was upset or angry with her. “I just meant that you could keep playing, honor your contract, and work out seeing her some of the time, during breaks and such.”
“If the donation doesn’t take, she probably won’t survive. She’ll have no immune system. She doesn’t have much of one now, but after the radiation has killed her marrow, she’ll have none. They have to get rid of all of it to give the healthy marrow a chance to grow uninhibited and take over making the blood. If you think I’m not going to be there for every second of that, you’re crazy.”
“Chase, I understand that you feel an obligation, but do I need to remind you that you were kept in the dark for years? You don’t owe these people anything. I mean, yes, donate the marrow, but then we all go about our lives and get back to it.”
“I’m sure that’s the way you want it, but the fact is, she’s my kid! It doesn’t matter that she’s five years, or five seconds old, she’s mine, and I will never turn my back on her. She’s innocent in all of this. She was robbed of me just like I was robbed of her but I swear there won’t be one more day that she doesn’t have me in her life.” I paused as fear gripped me and I realized how my voice had risen and backed it down. “However long that life is.”
“But—”
I put a hand up to stop Bronwyn’s question. “I don’t want to discuss it. Just—give it a rest.”
She flopped back against the plush leather seat and crossed her arms angrily. “You’re going to have to discuss it. Like it or not.”
“Not today. I’ve gotta get some rest and get my head in the game.”
“Oh for goodness sake, it’s just an exhibition.”
I couldn’t believe she could reduce this event to so little considering she’d been with Arsenal longer than I had. The whole team went balls to the wall, and we went in owning the win before it happened. The truth was, I was looking forward to the physical exertion, the mental focus, and the brief reprieve being on the field would afford and it was just another reason to leave it all on the field. Not to mention, it was for charity.
I’d already called Coach Noonan to request a meeting either after the game or early morning the next day. I hoped it was the former so I’d be able to catch a late night flight back to Atlanta. Leaving tonight would also avoid more back and forth with Bronwyn. Obviously, she deserved to know what was going on, but I wasn’t going to ask permission and I wasn’t going to justify my decision to her or anyone else.
I knew where I needed to be, and it was the only place I wanted to be. I’d do my best for the team, but I was out of here the first chance I got. I glanced at my watch, hoping that by now Teagan was able to get Remi home. I pulled out my phone, noting Bronwyn’s curious glance, straining to see what I was doing as my thumbs typed out a message, flashing my eyes up to meet hers and then back at the screen.
Landed in Brazil. Do you have Remi out of the hospital?
I’ll call you guys later if I can. Will she be up?
