Finding Jaime

Chapter 76

The basketball game was supposed to be special. I'd arranged for Jaime to meet LeBron James and I did get to see Jaime smile. And he was impressed we had court side seats. I think it definitely helped keep him distracted while we waited for that dreaded phone call.

We got to the arena early enough that Jaime was even allowed to try to shoot a couple free throws with the team. I could see his heart wasn't really in it.

I saw LeBron standing on the opposite sideline talking to Jaime. Both of them had serious looks on their faces. Jaime was looking down at the floor as LeBron spoke to him. He put his hand on Jaime's shoulder and Jaime looked up. I saw him nod. The two of them walked over to our seats.

"Pretty remarkable kid," LeBron said, shaking my hand, as Jaime sank into the seat beside me.

"Thanks," I smiled at LeBron and then over at Jaime, who was scrolling social media.

"I tried to tell him that until he has confirmed bad news, that he doesn't know for sure there's anything going on."

"That's kind of what I've been trying to convince him of," I said.

LeBron nodded.

"You're supposed to find out tonight?" He asked. I nodded.

"Give me a thumbs up if it's clear, a thumbs down if not. We'll be waiting to find out, too."

I was touched. I told LeBron I would let him know as soon as I got the call.

The teams returned to their locker rooms while fans streamed into the arena waiting for the start of the game. Jaime sat, slumped in his seat with his legs splayed out.

The arena filled in and the national anthem played. Jaime looked like he really was trying to keep himself distracted during the game. But occasionally, I'd look over at him and he wouldn't be paying attention to the game. He was staring ahead, as if he were watching, but the action would be at the other end of the court.

Halfway through the first quarter, my phone rang. It was Dr. Jansen. I looked over at Jaime who looked at me and looked away.

"Hello?" I said, answering the phone.

"Good evening, Mr. Wentz," Dr. Jansen said.

"Hi," I responded. Jaime was looking over at me.

"So, I got Jaime's blood work and imaging back. I had them run the blood twice to confirm our findings," the doctor was saying.

"Okay, and?" I asked.

"I'm happy to report the initial test must have gotten compromised or was run wrong but Jaime's blood work is clean. The tumor markers are in the normal limits that we would expect at this stage. The imaging is also clean. There is no new tumour growth. Jaime is in the clear."

I sat listening with my hand over my mouth and tears in my eyes.

"Okay," I said. "Okay. Thanks. I'll pass the information along to Jaime."

"Have fun on tour. I'll be checking in with you throughout, especially with the chemo. Call me if you have any problems with that."

"Okay, I will. Thank you," I said and hung up. Jaime was staring at me. He looked like he wanted to ask but didn't want to know.

I pulled him into a hug.

"What did he say?!" Jaime asked.

"You're fine. It was an anomaly. He ran it twice to make sure. And the imaging was clean."

"Really? I'm okay?"

I nodded.

"Yeah. You're okay," I smiled. Jaime hugged me. His demeanour and attitude changed immediately. He wasn't sullen anymore. He was smiling.

I wiped my eyes and looked over at the Lakers bench. LeBron was standing with the team and looked over at us. I grinned and gave him two thumbs up. He did a fist pump and smiled at us.

I called Meagan immediately.

"Did the doctor call? What did he say?" She said as she answered the phone.

"He's fine. It was an anomaly. They ran it twice and the imaging was clean. He's okay," I said, tearing up again.

"He is?  I'm so happy!  Can I talk to him?"

I handed the phone over to Jaime. He frowned at me and took the phone.

"Hello?" He said. I couldn't hear Meagan's side of the conversation.

"Okay. Yep. I will. I will. Okay, love you too," Jaime said and handed me my phone.

The buzzer went for the end of the first quarter. LeBron came over and shook my hand, went to shake Jaime's but pulled him up and into a hug instead.  He spoke to Jaime but I couldn't hear what he was saying. People were trying to get autographs, so LeBron walked away from our seats and took Jaime closer to centre court and security kept the fans back.

I saw Jaime nodding and smiling. LeBron fist bumped Jaime, gave him another hug and jogged off to the locker room. Jaime came and sat back down, smiling.

"Having a good time?" I asked him.

"I am now," he said. "Thanks, Dad."

"My pleasure," I said. "And I'm glad we can end on a high note."

"And if the Lakers win, it'll be even better," Jaime  said.

The teams came back to the court and LeBron came back over to us and pulled Jaime out of his seat. He walked him over to the team bench where I saw him shake hands with everyone on the team.

LeBron then went over to the announcer's table and spoke to someone there who then handed him a microphone.

He wrapped his arm around Jaime's shoulder and walked him out to centre court. The music stopped and LeBron made motions to get people to quiet down.

"Hey L.A.!" He said. "I want to introduce you all to a friend of mine. This is Jaime. He's had a bit of a rough year. He lost his mom a few months ago, met his dad for the first time, but most importantly, Jaime's been fighting cancer for the past few months.  Tonight, Jaime was waiting on some test results that would tell him if his cancer was back already. His dad thought a Lakers game was a good distraction. Can't disagree there, Pete. Well, Jaime just told me they got his test results and they were clean!  I thought maybe we could all give Jaime a Lakers cheer to congratulate him on his good news!"

The Laker Girls all surrounded Jaime while the arena erupted into a cacophony of cheers and whistles. Jaime's face was bright red. I know LeBron wouldn't have said anything so publicly if he hadn't asked Jaime first but I don't think Jaime knew what was coming.  I took pictures with my phone, but saw the team photographer as well as the other media outlets covering the game were taking photos.

I couldn't help but smile.

Finally, LeBron brought Jaime back to our seats and handed him a bag that someone had brought over to him.  Jaime looked inside and blinked. He pulled out a signed basketball and a Lakers jersey. One of LeBron's shirts.

"We signed that for you in the locker room. And the shirt is out of my locker. Don't worry. It's clean," LeBron laughed.

"Thanks!" Jaime said, clearly awestruck. I thanked LeBron and gave him a hug to thank him for making tonight even more special for Jaime.

We watched the rest of the game. Jaime put LeBron's jersey on over his t-shirt. It hung on his thin frame, but he was smiling and that's all I cared about.