“Would you like me to stay while you have your treatment? If it will help, I’ll do it. If you want to spend time alone with your mom, I understand and I won’t be mad.”
Nolan’s brows knitted together. “You can stay if you want. My mom tries to get me to sleep sometimes.”
“Does sleeping make it easier?”
“A little. Sometimes I throw up, so I have to sleep sitting up.”
“That’s not fun.”
“No.” Nolan took another pull on the straw.
“Okay, then. If you don’t mind, I’ll ask your mom.”
Nolan nibbled at his cheeseburger and played a little with the food still on the napkin. Drew took a sip of his own shake. He was musing on whether or not he wanted another cheeseburger when he heard Nolan’s voice again.
“Drew, am I going to die?”
Drew felt that like a fist to the gut. Any Shark that visited kids in the hospital braced himself for the unexpected, but he hadn’t faced this question before. He sat up in his chair and leaned forward.
There were a million things he could have told Nolan at that moment, but the truth was always best.
“I hope not, Nolan. You have great doctors and nurses who care about you, and they’re doing everything they can to help you get well.”
“My mom cries sometimes.”
“I know she does, buddy. She’s just scared.”
“Are you scared?”
He looked into Nolan’s eyes. “No. Do you know why?”
Nolan shook his head.
“You can do this. You’re brave, and you’re tough.” Drew took a deep breath. “Do you know what we do every day before we go out on the field to practice?”
“No.”
“There’s a sign over the door that leads onto the practice field. Every day, I pass that sign. It reads ‘Always Win.’ I tap it before I go outside, because I’m in. I’m on the team, and I want my teammates to know that. I’m on your team. The other Sharks that visit here are on your team too. Your mom is on your team. So are all the doctors and nurses. We all want you to get better.”
Nolan’s eyes were huge. Drew was up off of the chair, looking for paper and markers in the small stack of items Nolan’s mom must have brought for him to do while he was in the hospital. He found a big piece of blank white paper and a black felt-tip marker, found an old magazine to blot the ink, and wrote in block letters: NOLAN WINS.
“Nolan, ring the nurse, will you?”
Nolan looked on in amazement.
“I’m going to hang this up by the door and every time someone goes in or out, you ask them if they’ll tap it. I’ll tap it. We’re your team. We want you to win. Will you do that for me, buddy?”
Nolan’s face lit up. His fist shot up in the air. “Yeah!”
The nurse arrived on the run. “Is something wrong?”
“No. Do you have a couple of pieces of tape we could use?”
She glanced at the sign. She started to shake her head, but she smiled. “I think I can find some. I’ll be right back.”
Nolan’s mom arrived twenty minutes later, and Nolan asked her to tap the new sign. She stared at Drew in amazement. Several of Drew’s teammates stopped in for a few minutes while Nolan had his treatment. They tapped the sign.
Derrick bumped fists with him and said, “You’re part of the team, Nolan. Don’t let us down.”
Nolan was a little drowsy, but managed to say, “I won’t.”
Derrick and Seth tapped the sign as they went out the door.
Nolan was falling asleep due to the medications and exhaustion. It had been a big day for him. Drew reached out to squeeze his hand.
“I’ll be back next Tuesday.”
“See you then,” Nolan said. “Tap the sign.”
“You know I will.”
Drew ran into Seth and Derrick in the hallway outside of Nolan’s room. The three men were silent until they got outside the hospital doors.
Seth turned to face them. “I need a beer.”
Twenty minutes later, they grabbed a table in a local pub. Seth held up his pint glass. “To Nolan.”
They toasted. Drew took a sip of his beer. “He asked me today if he was going to die,” he said.
Three men looked down at the table as they struggled for words. The kids they met at Children’s grabbed their hearts and didn’t let go. Most recovered and went home with their parents. Some would never leave. Visiting every week was a double-edged sword. They got to know the kids. They also grieved the kids that lost the fight.
Seth slapped Drew on the back. “He’s going to make it.”
Derrick’s voice was fierce. “That kid’s running out on the field with us,” he said. “Just you wait.”