Page 2 of Brax

“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.”

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