Page 248 of The Locker Room
that he could summon a hopeful grin and some enthusiasm.
“A little dramatic, you think?” His dark eyes were sparkling a little,
and he looked like the pain might be worth it to get to see Xander play.
“Baby, you have no idea. What about it, Pete—you think he can
make it?”
Pete-the-straight-male-nurse looked at Chris thoughtfully. “I think
we can do that,” he said after a moment. “I need to consult the doc, and
we"ll have to come up with a plan. I don"t recommend doing it a lot, but,
you know. One game, right?”
“Unless you make it to the finals!” Chris crowed, looking excited
about getting out of his medical prison.
“Yeah,” Xander said, looking at him with his heart in his eyes.
“Chris, um… don"t plan on going to those games, okay? Even if we do
make it there, right?”
Chris looked a little hurt. “What—I can"t travel to LA?” Because
the championship series was at Staples Center that year.
The Locker Room 215
Xander shrugged, and hoped Chris would forgive him for what he
had planned. “You can if they let you,” he said after a moment, but he
didn"t say who “they” might be.
SIX games. Six games, and Xander playedevery gameas though it were
his last. He"d told Chris he was playing with Chris"s heart. Well, Chris"s
heart had been his own heart since they were fourteen years old—Xander
was playing for them both. Every lunge down the court, every thud of
the ball on the boards, every shot, every rebound, every swish through
the net, that was for both of them.
For six games, Xander played as though fear was the family
lapdog: old, blind, and toothless.
For five of those games, Chris watched on television, and asked
anybody listening if Xan looked like a god, or was it just Chris?
