Chelsea hung up the phone, tears stinging her eyes. Dr. Stewarts had just called her with the results of her spinal tap, and Brent stared at her, waiting on her to reveal what the test had determined. “Chels?” he asked when she sat there silently. He wasn’t sure if the tears were happy ones or sad ones, but he feared for the worst.
 
“It’s spread,” she said just above a whisper before she broke down in tears. She always knew there was a chance that the cancer had already spread to her brain and spinal cord, but she had convinced herself that it hadn’t actually happened yet. She believed that the doctors had caught it early enough and that she was going to be okay. But, after Dr. Stewarts had told her that the cancer cells had reached her spinal cord, she realized she had been living in a fantasy world.
 
“Chelsea, I’m so sorry,” Brent said as she leaned into him, her tears soaking his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry, as he stroked her hair. “Baby, I’m so sorry,” he kept repeating, not knowing what else to say.
 
“He said it hasn’t spread to my brain yet, but there’s cancer cells in my spinal cord,” she told him, sniffling. “He wants me to start chemo on Friday.”
 
Brent mentally counted the days until Friday. “In three days?” he asked. “That’s pretty quick.”
 
“He says the sooner that I start the chemo, the better chance I have of going into remission. He said that this first set of chemo will last about a month, and I’m going to have to stay in the hospital for the beginning of it. I’m supposed to go in there tomorrow so he can talk to me about it so I know all the facts before I start. I don’t know if you want to go or not,” she said, wiping at her eyes.
 
“Of course I want to go. Just tell me the time, and I’ll be there.”
 
“Five tomorrow afternoon,” she replied.
 
“I’ll go there straight from practice. I’ll meet you there,” he promised, and Chelsea nodded her head.
 
“I want to tell the guys,” she spoke suddenly. Brent glanced down at her to see if he had heard her correctly. “I want to tell the guys,” she repeated. “Can you invite them over to dinner tonight or something? I can make dinner, and then we can tell them. I mean, I think we’ve kept them in the dark long enough, and they’re going to find out anyways, especially if I’m starting chemo on Friday. I want them to know.”
 
“I’ll text them right now. But, don’t worry about making dinner. I can do that,” Brent told her, pulling out his cell phone.
 
“Brent, I’m not dead yet,” she told him, and he looked up at her, wondering why she had said that. He didn’t want to hear her talking like that. She needed to stay optimistic throughout this whole ordeal. “I can cook dinner. You don’t have to treat me as this fragile little thing,” she told him. “I want to cook dinner.”
 
“Okay,” Brent said, sending out the text message. “Give me a couple of minutes, and I’ll let you know who’s free for tonight so you know how many people to cook for.” His phone began beeping, indicating he was receiving text messages moments later. After he had received all the replies, he turned to look at Chelsea. “Bur, Eager, Sharpie, Brouwer, and Bolsy are coming. And, you can count Abby, Julia, and Carmen in, too,” he added, referring to Patrick’s fiancée, Abby, Dave’s girlfriend, Julia, and Troy’s wife, Carmen.
 
“I’ll get started right now. You want to tell them to come over in like an hour or so?” she asked him, standing up and walking towards the kitchen.
 
“I’m doing that right now,” he told her as he began texting them all back.
 
***
 
Everyone sat around the table, laughing and joking as Chelsea set all the food on the table. “Go ahead and dig in, you guys,” she told him as she sat the enormous bowl of pasta on the table.
 
“Not until you tell us what’s going on,” Adam said as everyone nodded, no one touching any of the food.
 
Chelsea was quiet for a minute, glancing at Brent. She was planning on telling everyone what was wrong, but she thought she’d at least have dinner to prepare what she was going to say. “Okay,” she said quietly. “Umm…well, you guys know that I’ve been sick recently, losing a bunch of weight and stuff like that. And, I went to see a doctor a few days ago.”
 
“Chels, what’s wrong?” Dave asked, realizing that she was avoiding answering the question. “You can tell us,” he added, and everyone nodded their heads.
 
“I guess I’ll just come right out and say it,” Chelsea said, and everyone waited for her to continue. “I have leukemia.”
 
Everyone started talking at once. She heard Ben ask how much the cancer had spread. Adam asked what kind of treatment they were going to give her. Abby asked how she was dealing with the news. And, everyone else was offering their condolences and asking what they could do for her. “Guys, one at a time,” Brent told them.
 
“How bad is the cancer?” Ben asked. “How much has it spread?” Everyone turned to look at Chelsea, waiting on her answer.
 
“They said they caught it early. But, I had a spinal tap done, and apparently, the cancer has spread to my spinal cord,” she answered.
 
“You had a spinal tap?” Troy asked, his eyes going wide. “When?”
 
“You know that day that I came into practice with like fifteen minutes until it started? I was with Chels at the spinal tap beforehand,” Brent answered for her.
 
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Carmen asked.
 
“I’m sorry,” Chelsea apologized. “I just found out a few days ago that it was cancer. And, they still had to do some more tests, like the spinal tap, before they knew exactly what I was up against. And, I wanted to know everything before I told you guys about it. I’m sorry for keeping it from you guys, but I just wanted to know everything first,” she explained.
 
“Don’t apologize,” Dave told her. “We understand that you wanted to wait to tell us.”
 
“Thanks,” Chelsea said, giving him a small smile.
 
“What are they going to do?” Adam asked. “As far as treatment?”
 
“I’m starting chemotherapy on Friday,” she answered. “And, they say I might need a bone marrow transplant. But, I won’t know that until after the chemo’s started and they see if it works or not,” she told them.
 
“How are you two taking all of this?” Abby asked.
 
“I’m doing the best I can given the circumstances. I’m trying not to think about it too much. But, honestly, I don’t know what to do. I mean, what do you do when someone tells you that you have cancer? That you could die any day?” she asked, tears stinging her eyes. Brent put his arm around her, rubbing up and down her arm. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, wiping at the tears that were spilling out of her eyes. “But to answer your question, I’m doing okay,” she repeated.
 
“How are you doing, Brent,” Abby asked, looking over at him. He looked up at her, surprised by her question. “This has to be hard on you, too,” she continued.
 
“It is,” he admitted. “But, Chels is strong, and I know she’s going to beat this.”
 
“I know she will, too,” Patrick said, and everyone else echoed his sentiments.
 
“Thanks, you guys. That means a lot to me to know that you guys have faith in me.”
 
“Of course we have faith in you,” Ben told her.
 
“And, we’ll be there for you the entire time,” Adam added.
 
“Thanks,” Chelsea smiled.
 
***
 
“So, that went better than I was expecting,” Chelsea admitted after everyone had left and she and Brent were washing dishes in the kitchen.
 
“What?” Brent asked. “You were expecting them not to take the news so well?” he asked, handing her a plate that he had just washed for her to dry.
 
“I didn’t know what to expect,” she told him. “I wasn’t sure if they were going to freak when I told them I had cancer or what. But, I was happy to hear that they’re going to support me.”
 
“Of course they’ll support you. Chels, they’re our friends.”
 
“I know,” Chelsea told him. “I was just scared,” she said as she dried the last dish and put it away in the cabinet above her. “So, what do you want to do?” she asked him. “Are you tired now?”
 
“No, I’m good. And, I don’t care what you want to do,” he told her.
 
“Can we just watch some tv or something?” she asked him. “I’m not tired right now, but I’m sure I will be at any minute. It always seems like as soon as I start doing something I get really tired. I think it’s the cancer,” she told him.
 
“Watching tv sounds good to me,” he told her, making his way out to the living room. “What do you want to watch?” he asked, handing her the remote control so she could choose what she wanted to watch, as he laid down on the couch. Chelsea followed suit, curling up next to him on the couch.
 
“I don’t know. Let’s see what’s on,” she said, flipping through the channels. She stopped when she found some hockey on one of the channels. She started laughing when she realized it was one of the Blackhawks games from the last postseason. “Would you like to watch yourself lose?” she asked, remembering the game vividly as one that the Blackhawks had lost terribly.
 
“Not at all,” he said, grabbing the remote out of her hands.
 
“Hey!” she exclaimed. “I thought I got to choose what to watch.”
 
“Not when you choose a game that we lost six to one,” he replied.
 
“Maybe I just like watching you on tv,” she argued.
 
“Why watch me on tv when you have me right here?” he questioned.
 
“Good point,” she said, turning over and kissing him passionately. Brent’s hands instinctively went to the small of Chelsea’s back, slipping just underneath her shirt. He flipped her over so that he was hovering over her, and she pulled his head down so that his lips were once again on hers. Chelsea pulled at his shirt until he got the hint and pulled it up and over his head, tossing it on the floor next to them. He swiftly picked her up, carrying her back to their bedroom and setting her gently on the bed.
 
He looked at her, wanting to make sure she was feeling up to having sex right now. He knew that she had been getting tired easily, and he didn’t want to do anything that she didn’t want to right now. “Brent, I’ll be fine,” she told him, noticing his hesitation. “I have cancer. It doesn’t mean I can’t have sex.”
 
Brent smiled at her as he knelt over her, kissing her neck. He grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulling it over her head and throwing it to the side. Chelsea reached for his belt as she quickly undid it and then worked on the button and zipper of his jeans. Before long, he was left in nothing but his boxers as he reached for the button of her pants. She shimmied out of her pants, and he quickly discarded her bra and underwear. “You are gorgeous,” he told her, looking over her body.
 
“Are you kidding me?” she asked him. “Brent, I weigh like a hundred pounds right now,” she exaggerated. “I am disgustingly thin.”
 
“That’s because you’re sick,” he reminded her. “And, believe me, Chelsea, you are beautiful,” he said, kissing her deeply.
 
Chelsea pulled on the waistband of his boxers until she had gotten them off of him. “I love you, Brent,” she told him, looking up at him.
 
“I love you, too, Chelsea,” he said as he swiftly entered her. Chelsea gasped as she reveled in the new feeling, and he began thrusting into her.
 
As she could feel she was on the brink of an orgasm, she moaned his name, and he smothered her mouth with his as she felt her muscles clench and she went over the edge, digging her nails into his back. Brent continued thrusting until moments later, he had reached his climax and he collapsed next to her. He looked over at Chelsea, moving her hair out of her eyes and realized she was still breathing extremely hard. “Baby, are you okay?” he asked her.
 
Chelsea nodded her head, a smile forming across her face. “I’m great. I’m just a little out of breath. You can thank both you and the cancer for that,” she said with a laugh as she rolled over and curled up into his body.
 
He pulled a blanket overtop the two of them and kissed the top of her head. “I love you, Chels.”
 
“I love you, too,” she replied as she slowly drifted off to sleep.