When Melissa walked into Consol she was more than nervous. She did everything imaginable to stay cool, calm, and collected, but inside she was breaking down. The walk from her condo was relaxing, but her senses heightened the closer she got. She was about to do something she didn’t believe in. She was about to, in her mind, commit murder for her own selfish reasons. Her career had become more important than a human life. She hated herself and she hadn’t even gone through with it yet. The glass doors of Consol seemed extra heavy and the elevator was painfully slow. When the doors slid open she was face to face with Sidney.

“Oh hey.” Sidney stopped quickly, attempting not to run into her. He was talking again even though he still had some missing teeth and tiny lisp.

“Hey. What are you doing here so early?” Melissa exited the elevator and crossed her arms uncomfortably.

“Just checking up with Doc. You?”

“Uh…same”

“Yeah? What’s wrong?”

Melissa hadn’t thought of that.

“Oh. Um…I just wanted to—“

“She just wanted to make sure her shoulder is better. You know after missing half of last season and all. I just told her to stop by before practice.” Dr. Harner, the team’s head physician said, saving her.

“Oh okay. Well, I’ll see you later.”

“See ya.” Mel forced a smile. Sid pushed the down button for the elevator as Dr. Harner walked Melissa to the training room.

“Oh my God, Thank you.” She smiled.

“Anytime. So I brought in Dr. Vesa to check you out in the training room.”

Thanks so much. When they reached the training room he opened the door for her. They had half of it sectioned off with white sheets. Harner departed and left Mel in the care of Dr. Vesa. The tall, indian OB/GYN shook her hand and asked her to sit on the table for the ultrasound.

“You’re right about 10 weeks, so we can get it done for you today. But you’re very close to the cutoff time in the state of Pennsylvania” Vesa said with a slight accent.

“Okay. I need to go talk to Dan.”

“Alright I’ll get everything ready. Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Melissa said leaving on her hunt for her coach. She soon found him in his office speaking with GM Ray Shero. She hesitantly knocked on the door.

“Hey Mel, come on in.” Shero motioned for her to sit next to him.

“What’s up?” Dan asked leaning back in his chair.

“Um….this is really awkward, but I’m um…I’m pregnant. But I’m having an abortion so it’s not really a big deal, but I’m going to have to miss a few games.” Mel rushed.

“Woah, slow down. You’re pregnant? I mean…wow” Dan replied, shocked.

“Yeah, I mean, I guess this is kind of a new issue for the league, but I’ll take care of it—“ she laughed.

“You don’t have to do that Mel. This is your life. If you want to have a baby, you can. I mean, we aren’t heartless, just…surprised. We’ve never seen you with a guy—“ Shero replied.

“No. This is what I want to do. I’m not ready to end my career.”

“You could always come back after if you want.” Ray insisted.

“I’ve thought about it, but I think this is the right choice for me right now. Thank you though. I just wanted to let you know because I’ll be out for a little while.” Mel forced a smile.

“Alright. Well, good luck.” Dan accepted.

Mel gave them a small smile and headed back towards the training room. When she arrived Dr. Vesa had all the tools out. It was 11:30 and Melissa was starting to wonder where James was. She sent him a text and asked Dr. Vesa to wait a few minutes.

Time ticked by slowly and it was nearly 12 when Mel didn’t get a response to her text or the following phone call.

“I’m sorry Ms. Quaye, but I need to get started. I have a few more patients to see later today.”

“Uh okay” she said taking a break from pacing. She didn’t want to do it without James there, but she needed to get it over with. She sat on the table and put her legs in the stirrups Dr. Vesa had added to the usual treatment bench. Then she put a dividing sheet over her legs. Mel couldn’t help but send a few more texts to James while she was being prepped, in hopes that he’d still show in time.

“Hey Doc, are you still here? I was just wondering if I can eat bananas and softer foo-” Mel heard Sid’s voice as he entered the room, but couldn’t speak. Dr. Vesa had given her a small dosage of quick releasing hormones and Melissa just started crying.

“Mel?” he asked walking across the room and opening the makeshift curtain. His eyes went wide.

“Woah! What’s going on?” he asked after closing his dropped, screw-hinged jaw.

“I’m getting an abortion because Nealer knocked me up, and I’m probably going to hell and the fucking asshole didn’t even have the decency to show up for it!” she screamed, letting it all out.

Sid just stood there in awe, trying to process all that he’d heard.

So she and James did in fact have sex. Now she’s pregnant, but she’s getting an abortion. But she’s not happy because she thinks she’s going to hell because of it. And he’s not here to support her.

Mel sobbed into her hands as Dr. Vesa, who was seated, put a hand on her knee reassuringly.

“Mel. I’m sorry” he walked to her side and put an arm around her. She leaned into him and sobbed more. Sid gave her a squeeze and a kiss on the forehead.

“Her estrogen is elevated right now. She’s told me earlier that this is what she wants to do so I’m going to proceed with the procedure. The hormones will wear off in a few hours, but I’d suggest getting it all off her mind for a while.” Dr. Vesa spoke to Sidney as if he was her partner of sorts. Mel wasn’t exactly in the mental state to deal with all the information.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked looking deep into her eyes. She nodded and he held her hand.

“Alright Ms. Quaye, you’re going to feel a tiny pinch.”

Melissa squeezed his hand and forced her head back into the table. Sid leaned over her and pushed her hair back from the beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

“It’s going to be okay.” He said.

She continued to wince and began to cry again. Sid stayed by her while she continued to squeeze his soft hands for nearly thirty minutes.


“Almost done, Melissa.”


After it was finished, Dr. Vesa injected her again. This time with pain medication so she wouldn’t have too much trouble walking.

“Alright Melissa. You’re all done. I’ve given you some pain medication and you can pick up your prescription at the front office tomorrow. “ Dr. Vesa smiled.

She nodded and got up slowly. Sid held her up while she tried to regain her balance.

“You feel okay?”

“Yeah. I just want to go home.”

“Want me to drive you?” She nodded again as he put his arm around her and walked her down to his car. He opened the door for her before jogging back to the driver’s side.

“Can you do me a favor Sid?”

“Anything.”

“Can we stop by Nealers’?” she asked teary-eyed.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

Mel looked out the window silently for most of the ride. Sid was still trying to think over everything. He also didn’t believe in abortion, but maybe it was the right thing for Mel at that point in her life. Nealer’s kid though. It was all just so weird to him. He did wonder why he wouldn’t be there for her. He could see it hurt Mel a lot and even though he didn’t know they were really together, if they weren’t he didn’t think Mel would be so upset.

They got out of the car in front of James’ house and walked up to the front door.

Melissa knocked angrily on James’ door. She heard footsteps running down the stairs before the large oak door swung open.

“Where the hell have you been?”

“I…uh” his hair was spikier than usual and he was out of breath.

“If you had a radio show at 8, why couldn’t you have been to the arena at 11?”

“Jamesssss come back to bed!” Mel heard a voice from upstairs call. A little blonde girl came bounding down the steps wrapped in James’ sheets.

“Ah, that’s why.” Mel gritted her teeth and took a step back. Sid stood behind her and tried not to gawk.

“Mel, I just. It’s not what it looks like.”

“Nope, forget it. God, it sucks that you’d cheat on be to begin with, but while I was out aborting OUR baby? That’s just low.” Mel basically laughed in shock and turned around towards Sid’s Range Rover.

“Dude, you should have at least been there today.” Sid said turning away in disgust at James.

When he got back in the car Sid took Mel’s hand.

“I told him I loved him. This is why I don’t fucking fall for anyone. They just hurt me. I don’t know, is this like fun for you guys?”

Sid leaned over and gave her a big hug.

Sid felt disgusting, but now that James wasn’t in the picture he could be there for Mel. Maybe she’d see how much he cared and she’d love him the same way he loved her.

Instead of driving her back to her condo he drove them back to his place. She didn’t even bother to say a word on opposition. He came around to open the door for her and she smiled, the first time since before the procedure. She walked inside and sat on the couch. She tucked her legs close to her body and clasped her hands around them. He sat next to her and hugged her gently. He reached back for the remote and put on some food network. He knew it would cheer her up.