Page 1 of Brax (Voodoo Guardians #36)

Braxton Pechkin and his twin stared at the strange fish swimming in the tank in the lobby of the clinic. They were all different colors and sizes, so much so that they didn’t seem real. Used to seeing fish from the bayous, strange and often delicious, the tropical fish felt a bit out of place.

The brothers had come in several days before for their annual check-ups for school, hoping for the all-clear to play football this season. It was still early, but they liked to get things over with so they could make their plans, begin their training, and move on.

Paxton had been given a thumbs up, but there was something about Braxton’s physical that had Wilson concerned. He’d brought Brax back to the clinic four times for follow-up work.

“What if I’m sick?” he frowned.

“Don’t be crazy. You’re healthy as a horse. We’re the same. Same weight, same height, same everything. You’re good,” said his brother with a positive tone and smile.

“What if I’m not, Pax? I mean, I’ve lost a few pounds, and I’m six pounds lighter than you now. I’ve never lost weight. Not even when I puked for three days after eating too much cotton candy at the parish fair.”

“We’ll fight it together. Whatever it is, it’s going to be okay,” he said, gripping his brother’s arm. “I won’t leave you, Brax. We have plans. Together. Brothers. Twins.”

“You don’t have to remind me that we’re twins,” smirked Brax, nudging his brother’s shoulder. He looked up to see Wilson coming toward him, and for some reason, his stomach dropped, bottoming out somewhere near his knees. On a good day Wilson generally had a serious expression making his silvery blonde hair and intense eyes appear intimidating.

“Brax, come on back, son,” said Wilson.

“I want Pax to come,” he said, standing, feeling his knees shake.

“Of course,” smiled Wilson.

Wilson hated this part of his job. Absolutely hated it. They’d been spoiled with their equipment, people, and pond. They’d been given access to cure-alls and disappearing diseases. But some things couldn’t be treated that way.

They followed Wilson down the long, sterile hallway of the clinic to the small conference room where Riley, Gabi, Cruz, and their parents, Annie and Benji, were seated.

“God, what’s wrong?” whispered Brax, seeing his parents’ faces.

“Brax, have a seat,” smiled Riley. The brothers sat down together at exactly the same moment. Riley could see that they were holding hands beneath the table. “Brax, when we did your physical, we noticed that your testosterone and hormone levels were off. That’s not generally something we see in a young man like yourself.”

“Okay. What does that mean?”

“If you remember, Cruz had to do a prostate exam,” she said, smiling at him.

“Don’t remind me,” he frowned, turning flame red. Cruz chuckled, shaking his head. He then looked at Brax, hoping to make him feel better by getting the news from a man.

“Brax, it’s highly unusual for a young man such as yourself. In fact, I don’t think any of us have ever seen anyone with this at your age, but you have prostate cancer.”

He stared at their faces, waiting for the punchline, except it never came. He noticed the red-rimmed eyes of his mother, his father’s gray face void of expression, his eyes filled with worry and fear. Benji Pechkin was never short for words, and he was never afraid. Never.

“I’m going to die,” he whispered.

“No!” said Gabi and Riley in unison. Gabi smiled at her colleague. “No, Brax. You will not die. You’re young, strong, and we’ve caught this in time.”

“I can just go to the pond then. I can just jump in for a swim and this will all go away, right? I mean, everything goes away in the pond or gets healed. Isn’t that right?”

“The pond won’t work for this, son,” said Wilson. “For some reason, it didn’t work for you. You’ve been going every week, and it’s still there. Brax, the usual treatment is radiation, possibly chemotherapy, and a prostatectomy.”

“Prosta- You mean remove my balls,” he frowned.

“Yes.” Riley stared at the young boy and wondered if he truly understood.

“Mr. Harrison, our world history teacher, he had that done. He couldn’t have children after that, and he had trouble getting an erection and sometimes he struggled just taking a pee. Will that happen to me?”

“That’s true. That does happen for some people. Mr. Harrison is also sixty-five years old. He’s not a young man,” nodded Cruz. “You won’t be able to have children, but you’ll be alive and you’ll live a normal, healthy life just like you planned.”

“What about the Navy?” he asked, his face paling further.

“It won’t affect your ability to join the Navy. If the cancer is cleared, it won’t matter. We’ll write letters explaining what was done,” said Wilson.

“You mean you’ll ask for favors,” he grimaced.

“No, that is not what I mean,” said Wilson firmly. “We will inform them that you are healthy and cancer-free. Nothing else matters. It won’t affect your physical abilities, mental abilities, or anything else. It will not matter to them.”

“Will I be able to play ball this year? I-I mean, it’s my senior year. I want to be able to play my final year,” he asked.

“Brax, football seems like the last thing to worry about right now,” said Annie.

“Maybe to you, Mom, but it’s part of what makes me feel normal. Playing sports, going to school, being with my friends here and at school and definitely being with my twin. That’s what will make me feel like everything is okay,” he frowned. She nodded.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“Brax, if we do the surgery right away and deem it successful, which we fully expect it to be, you should be able to get into the pond within a week and be cleared. It’s only July, so you’ll be good to practice mid-August,” said Riley.

“But I’ll be okay?”

“Yes, son, you’ll be better than okay,” smiled Wilson. “You’re young, healthy, strong, and there is nothing else wrong with you. This form of prostate cancer is rare and unusual in someone your age. That’s why we’re being so aggressive with it.”

“No one will know unless they see me, right? I mean you’re not going to tell everyone are you?” he blushed.

“That’s right,” nodded Cruz. “We can even write a note to your coaches letting them know that you’ll need a private shower space to a medical condition. They won’t ask any questions. One day, when you have a sexual partner, you’ll have to explain it, but it will all work down there if you know what I mean.”

“I know what you mean,” he said, turning away toward his brother. Pax’s face was white as a sheet and he realized that his panicked expression was for him, but also for himself. “What about Pax? Is he okay? Did I give this to him?”

“Honey, it’s not something that is contagious. You can’t pass cancer from one person to the other,” smiled Gabi. “You didn’t give anything to anyone. It was just shit luck of the draw. Pax is okay.”

“It should be me,” said Pax softly. “Not Brax.”

“Pax, you can’t think like that,” said Benji. “You heard Riley and the others. He’ll be perfectly fine once this is all done.”

“Do you promise? Can you guarantee that I will have my brother back, like he is right now, minus his balls?” The room chuckled, nodding, and Brax laughed at his brother, shoving him.

“I promise,” said Riley.

Brax was in surgery the next morning and, by noon, had been wheeled into recovery and was doing well. For the next week, he was poked, prodded, scanned, and rescanned all to determine that they’d gotten all of the cancer, and he was a normal, relatively normal, healthy teenage boy.

By the end of the week, he was healed enough to go to the pond for a swim. Extremely sore but feeling alright, he was lowered into the pond with his twin, and they swam around for a few minutes.

“How do you feel?” asked Pax.

“Like a woman,” frowned Brax.

“Shut up! You do not,” laughed his brother.

“Actually, I don’t. I thought I would for some stupid reason. I feel like me. A little lighter and hairless right now, but I feel okay.”

“That’s because the testosterone and hormones you’re getting are balancing everything out,” said Cruz. “We want to watch your levels for a while because we suspect that the pond will help those to balance out as well. You’re going to feel like the man that you are.”

“I feel good,” smiled Brax. “I’m not hurting, and it looks like the wounds have healed. Can I get out now?”

“A few more minutes,” smiled Wilson. He turned to Cruz and frowned. “I damn sure hope we did the right thing here.”

“You know that Riley and Gabi wouldn’t have recommended this if it weren’t the right thing to do. He’s alive, he’s cancer-free, and he’s still a strong young man.”

“I know you’re right,” nodded Wilson. “I’ll never understand why dudes are so tied to their balls and dick. He handled this shit a lot better than I would have, and I’ve had the chance to have children. He’s been robbed of that.”

“Dudes are tied to their balls and dick for the same reason women are tied to their breasts and uterus,” said Cruz. “We’ve conditioned people to believe those things make you men or women. Your equipment is there to procreate. It’s ridiculous.”

With Brax out of the pond and dressed once again, they returned to the clinic for another round of tests and examinations.

“Well, young man,” smiled Riley, “I’d say that you’re about as healthy as your brother. You can practice with the team now.”

“Really?” he smiled.

“I never lie to my patients,” said Riley. “You’re good, Brax. We’ll need to check your hormone and testosterone levels on a regular basis to be sure you’re getting the right dosage. When you leave for the Navy, they’ll have to do the same.”

“Maybe by then, G.R.I.P. could invent something that lets me do that myself,” he grimaced.

“You know what?” smiled Gabi. “That’s not a bad idea. But I bet that Suzette could figure that out for you. Then you wouldn’t have to tell anyone about this because you could manage it on your own. You could adjust your medications as necessary, just like a diabetic would.”

“But the military wouldn’t accept a diabetic,” frowned Brax.

“I know, Brax. I didn’t mean to imply you were the same,” she smiled. “You’re good. You’re alive, you’re healthy, and everything will work out.” She walked out of the room with the others, leaving Brax to wait for his medications. Brax looked at his brother and frowned.

“Brax, it’s going to be okay,” said Pax. “You heard her. You’re healthy, you’re normal, and it’s all going to be fine. We’re going to join the Navy and become SEALs just like we planned when we were kids. It’s all going to work out and be just fine.”

“Yeah. It will all work out until a woman doesn’t see balls and realizes I can’t have kids.”