Season 4

Chapter 33

After Miguel left the prison, he walked down the street, his father's words still echoing through his head.

"You. Have you ever considered that you might be the problem, Miguel?"

NO! That couldn't be true, could it? Could all of this actually be his fault? His dad had a point. Johnny and his dad were literally opposite in every way, and yet they had both stabbed him in the back. The only similarity in both situations... him! It was his fault!

Miguel was pulled out of his train of thought when he stepped into a Starbucks. He was absolutely starving as he hadn't eaten breakfast and lunch that day. The cafe was practically empty so he quickly bought himself a drink and a bagel and he was sitting down until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see a young man, no more than 7 years older than him, sitting in a wheelchair.

"Excuse me. I'm really sorry to bother you but would you mind helping me tie my laces?" The man asked, tentatively. Noticing that he was in a motorised wheelchair and his movement was extremely restricted, Miguel nodded and did so. The man smiled at him after he did so. "Thank you so much."

"No problem." Miguel replied. The man sighed.

"Five years ago, I was lacing up my cleats and preparing for the NCAA Sugar Bowl football game. Now I need help tying my fucking shoes. Life can be a real bitch, huh?"

Miguel chuckled and nodded.

"Tell me about it. Do you mind if I ask what happened?" Miguel asked. The two of them then exchanged stories. Miguel told him all about his back injury and his paralysis after. After he did, the man, a guy named Garrick, told Miguel his horror story. Apparently, Garrick had been a wide receiver playing college football in Ohio State. However, in his junior year, he had developed a rare disease called...

"Motor Neurone Disease." Garrick explained. "My neurons in my spine and brain have slowly started to deteriorate. I was put in this stupid wheelchair six months ago and I'm definitely never getting out of it. There's no cure. I'm just going to get worse and worse, until..."

"Man, I'm really sorry." Miguel murmured. He felt so stupid for making such a big deal out of his issues. This man was going through a nightmare that was far worse than anything Miguel could ever have imagined. "Are you at least surrounded by your family?"

Garrick chuckled mirthlessly.

"I wish. My mom passed away when I was really young, and I never see my dad because he's always working to pay for hospital fees." Garrick replied. Miguel put his head in his hands. He now felt even more monumentally dumb. He had been sulking around at Carmen and Johnny, making himself into a victim, when he had two parents (well, one parent and one step-parent) who both cared a LOT about him.

"Man, I really don't know what to say." Miguel murmured. "That really sucks."

Garrick nodded.

"Yeah, yeah it does." He sighed. "You know, there's a 1/3 chance I don't live to see next year."

"There's a 2/3 chance you do." Miguel commently simply in reply. He then reached into his wallet and pulled out a blank cheque. He quickly scribbled down the required information on it and then handed it to Garrick. When Garrick read it, his eyes widened.

"This is... this is a cheque for 5000 dollars." He stammered. "I can't accept this!"

"Look, this isn't charity." Miguel stated. "If anything, this is for your dad. Hopefully, with this, you and him can spend a bit more time together as he'll get to work a little less. I know a thing or two about shitty dads, but I know a thing or two about good ones too, and from the sound of things, yours sounds like a pretty damn good one."