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“It’s just routine stuff,” Coach said. “She went to get checked out. That was it. It wasn’t like she found anything or something happened, you know? She went for her yearly stuff and then got a call. It feels so anticlimactic. The look on her face though. Those first few seconds of pure fear. I can’t stop seeing it. Carrie is tough though. She went from scared to determined in seconds. She’s diving headfirst into this. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have her right now.”
“You have her forever,” Lay said. “Unless she makes a move at me. I can’t help myself. You know that, right, Coach?”
“May I, Coach?” Remi asked.
“Please,” Coach said.
Remi threw an elbow and hit Lay in the chest.
Lay left his feet for a second and hit the wall.
Lay then coughed and stumbled forward.
Reid caught him and kept him standing.
“I… can’t… feel… my lungs…” Lay said.
“Good,” Coach said.
“They’re going to treat her, right?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Coach said. “They’re going to attack it hard. You know what that means, right?”
“What?” Abel asked.
“The treatments,” Coach said.
“You’re worried about what happens to her,” I said. “Being sick and losing her hair.”
Coach nodded. “I’m going to have to watch my wife suffer and there’s nothing I can do. I’m going to have to keep my kids strong.”
“I’m sure she’ll be strong too,” Remi said. “She puts up with you, right? That takes strength.”
“Are you going to have someone hit Remi now?” Lay coughed. “He insulted your wife!”
“I like Remi,” Coach said. “I don’t like you, Lay.”
That made all of us chuckle for a few seconds.
Coach stood from his desk. “She wants to turn this into something.”
“Something?” I asked.
“She wants to go public,” Coach said.
“That’s bad?” Reid asked.
“Not bad,” Coach said. “I just don’t want the attention. To myself. The team. My wife. My kids. It feels like a lot.”
“That’s a fair point,” Riff said. “But it’s Carrie’s choice, right?”
“Of course it is,” Coach said. “I would never get in her way. She’s got the fire in her right now. There’s no time for wallowing. She wants to create awareness for it. She wants to be visible as she fights. She doesn’t just want the happy pictures and whatnot out there. She wants to show it all. Not to scare anyone. Just for awareness. To make sure women are taking care of themselves. Getting checked out. Checking themselves out.” Coach snapped his fingers and pointed at Lay. “Don’t say a word.”
“About what?” Lay asked as he was still rubbing his chest.
“About what I said,” Coach said. “Women checking themselves out.”
“Oh,” Lay said. “I would never say anything about that. Even though I’d do it for free…”
