A Saint for Life (16 page)

{35}

Zoe

I looked at my phone. It was almost game time. So far I’ve answered the phone once. Wrong number. Of course. I couldn’t be any more bored. By now all of my nail polish was chipped off into a small pile on the desk in front of me. I had my grocery list and my to-do list for school written out, and I read through today’s paper.

I don’t even know why it’s necessary that I am up here. Who is going to call during the game? Why wouldn’t they just go to the customer service booth or call the box office? What was the point of me being here?

My cell phone rang.

“Ugh, it’s so boring up here. Please tell me you’re coming up here!”

“No, but we need you down here by the locker room, like, ASAP.” Emily said frantically.

“I don’t think I can leave.” I was confused.

“Yes, you can. I was given specific orders to tell you.”

“Oh, that’s weird. What do you need me for?”

“I’m not exactly sure, but I’m headed there now. She said that gray door by the bathroom in the office leads to a hallway that will bring you down here. It’s a quicker way, so just go down those stairs, I guess.”

“Okay, I’ll hang up and be right down.”

“Okay, hurry!”

By the locker room. Does this mean I’ll see Christian?

My hands were trembling, and my entire original plan of what I wanted to say to him went flying out the window. I wouldn’t be able to talk to him now anyway. But even if I was, even if for some odd chance I would be able to, I would probably be too nervous. I should have written it all down to give to him instead.

Rushing through the office, I found the gray door she was talking about. It really was a much quicker way. I wonder why I've never noticed this before. I was going down the stairs so fast I almost slipped and fell. It sounded urgent, and I didn't want to make my boss mad. Turning around the corner toward the locker room, I stood still. I couldn’t breathe. It felt like my chest was going to explode. I closed my eyes.

My feet were stuck to the ground beneath me. I was frozen. Re-opening my eyes slowly, I confirmed that I was indeed really seeing this. It wasn't just a hallucination from being dehydrated. I wasn't going crazy.

“What are you doing here?” I yelled to Gabe, and I walked, well, ran toward him and Christian.

In that moment I forgot Christian was standing there with Gabe. The look on Gabe’s face said it all. I have never seen him this way before. Happiness was drawn all over his face.

I got anxious, and it hit me.
What is going on?
I thought.

“I’m a Saint for the day! How awesome is this? Best birthday ever!” Gabe exclaimed loudly.

I knelt down next to him and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

“I love you, buddy.” I was teary eyed. I know how I’m feeling right now, so I can’t even begin to imagine how he is feeling, but I have a pretty good guess.

“Look at this!” Gabe held up a chain that laid on his chest. “He gave this to me too. His brother gave this to him. His brother is in heaven with Daddy.”

I stood up and made eye contact with Christian for the first time in weeks.

“What is all of this? Is this what you couldn’t tell me?” I whispered.

“Sort of, yeah. We aren’t finished yet.” Christian smirked and looked over at Danielle.

“You knew about this too?”

“Yes, I did. The entire staff did, actually!” she smiled.

“It’s good to see you,” I said to Christian.

“You too, but we can talk later. Gabe, are you ready?”

“Ready for…” He looked up at Christian with a huge grin.

“For the game! Let’s go!” Christian pushed Gabe toward the tunnel to get onto the court. The team was jumping up and down to their entrance music that was playing.

“Zoe, follow us.” He looked back at me. I stood there in shock, still trying to process what was going on. I couldn’t even get a word in before the team ran out, and before I knew it, we were on the edge of the court.

The arena was packed. I don’t think there was an empty seat, and we haven’t had a sell-out game all season. Before I was finished looking around at my surroundings, the lights went out.

“Okay, so they’re going to call me out there, and then you’ll know what to do.” He whispered in my ear.

Christian proceeded to go out to the center of the court where he met his parents for Senior Recognition Day. Coach Higgins recognized him along with the Director of Athletics for all of the success he has brought to the Saints during his career on the team. The announcer handed him a microphone and everyone but Christian walked off of the court.

Is this all a dream?
I couldn’t figure out how this all happened right under my nose.

“Thank you, Siena fans, for all of the support these last four years. It’s been an amazing ride, and I couldn’t do it without all of you. As much as I appreciate everyone coming here for senior night, tonight is not my night. We’re all here tonight for a special friend of mine.”

Christian looked over at us. Even though he was far away, I could see how much he cared for Gabe. The love radiated off of him and was visible in his voice.

“My buddy Gabe is here, and today is his birthday. At just nine years old, he’s been suffering from an aggressive form of leukemia for a few years now. So today, we are all here to give him the biggest birthday party he’s ever had. I want to thank everyone who helped plan this or came out to celebrate with us! Up until right now, he and his sister—my girlfriend,”

Girlfriend. He said girlfriend
. I can’t even breathe right now. Staring over at Christian, the only thoughts going through my mind right now is how could I have gotten this lucky to have him in my life…
how were Gabe and I so lucky?

“They had no idea about any of this. So today, Gabe is not only getting the biggest surprise party of his life, but he’s going to be a Saint for the day. So come on, everyone! Let’s all cheer him on! Everyone, welcome Gabe Gingras!”

The crowd went insane. Everything remained dark, and a spotlight was the only form of light. Soon the quiet arena filled with a booming applause and cheers. Lacey walked over to center court, and Christian handed her the microphone.

“Hi, everyone! If anyone doesn’t know me, my name is Lacey, and I’m the cheer captain for the Saints. When Chris came to me with this idea and asked to get me on board to present it to Athletics, I couldn’t refuse. I met a lot of you at the doors today, and I want to thank each and every one of you for your support. In conjunction to this being his party, we also decided to help his family. As most of you know, medical treatments can be very costly. Everything we’ve raised will go directly toward Gabe’s medical care. We don’t have an exact total yet, but we are estimating that from tonight and in the weeks prior we’ve raised a total of over $100,000!”

“Did she just say…” I almost lost my balance. Danielle grabbed my hand and gripped it tighter.

“Yes, I think she did,” Danielle replied.

“Holy shit.” I gasped. My heart was racing.

Lacey continued.

“If you gave a donation before the event or at the door, you were given a glow stick. If you have one, it’s now time to break it. Can we turn the spotlight off, please? Let’s light up Gabe’s world.”

All at once, green and yellow lights lit up until it appeared to be that the entire arena was lit. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. Danielle handed me a tissue out of her purse. Spinning around to take this all in, I watched the continuous lights appear. This is unreal.

I bent down next to Gabe and noticed that he was now crying.

“Are you okay, buddy?”

“This is all for me? Everyone here did this for me? All for me?”

“Yes, buddy, it is.” I held his hand and watched him look around at the lit up arena. To see how much support we had in the Siena community was unimaginable, especially since they don’t even know us. Then I thought,
how did I not hear about any of this?

“Zoe. This is the best day of my life.” Gabe’s words nearly broke my heart.

I looked up on the court where Christian was motioning for me to bring Gabe out. The team lined up on either side, making a tunnel for him to go through, and I watched him signal to the desk.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment we have all been waiting for. Let me introduce to you the newest Siena Saint, number 3, Gabe Gingras!”

The crowd went wild. The lights spiraled around the arena and all of the glow sticks were dancing around in the air. I swear the arena was rocking from people’s feet that were stomping the ground forcefully. Endless cheering and clapping surrounded us. The pep band played “When the Saints Go Marching In” loudly. I pushed Gabe through the tunnel, and each teammate high fived him and followed us out to center court where we met Christian.

He grabbed my hand when I approached him. I looked around as the lights came on and everyone stood up. His parents, standing at the edge of the court, waved to me and smiled. His mom was crying, and his dad held her closely. Lacey stood beside him, and I didn’t know what else to do but hug her. It was evident I was wrong about her and about Christian’s intentions with her.

“Thank you,” I whispered to her.

We were about to head off of the court, but through the dark I could make out that a man was slowly approaching us. I thought the surprises were all over. From the looks of it, Christian did too.

The Director of Athletics met us out on the court and grabbed the microphone.

“When Christian and Lacey came to me with this idea, I wanted to be a part of it. I knew about Gabe’s condition because his sister Zoe works for our department. I, however, wasn’t aware of how severe it was until a few weeks ago. I’m here to present Gabe with two things. One, Gabe, it’s nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Gabe shyly said. I don’t think he knew how to react since he was so overwhelmed.

“Tonight you are a Saint for the day. But, if you accept, I want to offer you a permanent spot on the team. How would you like to be a Saint for life?”

I held Christian's hand tighter.

“I didn’t know about this part,” he whispered in my ear and kissed my cheek.

“I love you,” I responded and looked down at Gabe. He looked like he was about to jump out of his skin. He turned to me.

“Don’t get mad at me or try and stop me. Please.”

“What—”

Before I could ask, Gabe rose from the wheelchair. Christian instinctively stood beside him to offer to help him up, but he didn’t want it. He pushed his hand out of the way and stood up with both feet on the ground. He shook the Director’s hand.

“Where do I sign the contract?” He said right into the microphone.

The crowd laughed and all applauded as he handed Gabe a certificate, which stated that he was a Saint for life.

“Second, Zoe, our department did a little fundraising on our own, and we want to thank our major sponsors for coming together to support this cause. We are going to be able to match what they’ve raised.”

Oh my God.
For the last ten minutes, all I wanted to do was pinch myself. I thought if I did I would wake up, find that this was all a dream. This was too good to be true. This couldn’t be real. But it was. I don’t know how it happened, and I never expected that the community, my friends, and the school would put time and effort in to help save my little brothers life.

Right then, God answered so many of my prayers. I’d never felt more loved. I had all I could ever need. With all this money, Gabe was going to be able to get his full treatment and anything else necessary to help him recover. Gabe would have a much greater chance of surviving this. He could beat his battle.

The game was about to start, and we had to exit the court. Christian showed us to our seats that were right behind the team bench. I turned to Christian.

“Now it’s your night. Kick ass.”

He smiled at me, pulled me in tight, and gave me a quick kiss. In those three seconds, I knew that I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life.

{36}

Christian

“Son, I am so very proud of you. You have grown up into such an amazing man, and to see what you did tonight—”

My dad choked up on his words. I have never seen him like this before. The only time I’ve seen him cry was at James’ funeral.

I walked my parents out to their car as they were leaving the hospital to head to the hotel. After meeting Zoe and Gabe, they decided they were going to stick around for a few days and booked a hotel room.

My mom grabbed me and hugged me tight. “Your brother would have been so proud. You are such a caring person, and you just helped to save a child’s life.”

“I’m hoping I will actually be able to save his life.”

“What do you mean?” My dad asked.

“They think I might be a match for bone marrow. I’ve been undergoing tests for weeks now to see if I would be a good donor.”

My parents stared at me.

“Zoe doesn’t know. I didn’t want to say anything until I know for sure. I don’t want to get her hopes up.”

My mom latched onto my dad’s hand. It was evident that tonight was an emotional rollercoaster for them as well.

“I really like her. Zoe, I mean. She is so strong for what she has gone through, and she’s so in love with you. She looks at you like the way I looked at your father.”

The tears were streaming down my mom’s face. I couldn’t keep myself composed either.

“I love her. So much. So, so much, Mom. I don’t want to see her go through any more pain. I don’t want her to lose Gabe.”

“I know, honey. I know.”

“You’re doing amazing things for them. You’re doing the right thing,” My dad whispered in agreement.

“We’re going to stick around for a while. I want to help too.” My mom wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that.”

“But we want to—or at least I will, for as long as you or Zoe need. Even if it’s just to cook a dinner once in a while or keep her company.”

“You just want to get to know Zoe, don’t you?” I threw in some humor to lighten the mood.

“Well of course! But you know what I mean.”

“I do. Thank you, Mom. I’m sure she is going to appreciate it.” I leaned in to give her a hug goodbye.

Waving goodbye to my parents as they drove off into the darkness, I walked back into the hospital to get Zoe.

“Almost ready to go?” I popped into Gabe’s room.

“Yeah. Gabe, you have had quite the day today! You need to get some rest now. Christian is going to take me home, but—”

“I’m going to stay here with you tonight, so I’ll be back!”

“Best birthday ever,” Gabe shouted again with excitement.

“We know.” Zoe and I both laughed. He’d been repeating that statement all day. She gave him a kiss on the forehead, and we headed toward the exit. Her hand in mine, life couldn’t get much better than this.

“I really missed you,” she said.

I quickly turned my head to get a glimpse of the happiness that I could hear in her voice.

“I missed that smile.”

“So Lacey really helped? That was why you were meeting with her? I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions. I just never thought—”

“I know. I’m sorry I lied. I just didn’t know what to tell you if I told you I was meeting her in the first place. I wanted to keep this night a surprise. So that’s why I didn’t tell you.”

“I understand now. Really. I just wish we could make up for the lost time.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I reassured her.

Pulling into her driveway, I put the car in park. Silence filled the air. I came clean about lying to her, but not entirely.

“You sure you don’t want to come in?” she asked.

“It’s tempting, but I’m sure. I want to get back to the hospital and catch Gabe before he falls asleep. He’s definitely had a long day.”

“You are my hero. You know that?” Zoe smiled. She was so beautiful when she smiled. I placed my hand on her cheek.

Definitely don’t tell her tonight.
I thought to myself.

“You are beautiful. You know that?” I couldn’t stop smiling either.

“I can’t believe we’ve gone this long without talking.”

“Honestly, it’s probably better we didn’t talk throughout all this planning. I don’t know if I could have pulled it off, even though every day I didn’t talk to you or see you it killed me on the inside.”

“Oh I’m sure you were just fine.”

“I’m never going to leave you. I made a promise to you, and I am making that to you again right now.”

“I know. I’m never going to leave you either.”

“I love you, Zoe Elizabeth Gingras.”

“I love you, Christian Ryan Michaels.” I loved the way she gazed into my eyes while those words rolled off of her tongue.

Life was perfect. A little too perfect. I felt as if things couldn’t be this right in the world for long.