Page 1 of Brax

CHAPTER ONE

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.

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