Mother of Magic

Hospital

"So what is his story?" Stephanie asked her tour guide, the senior oncology specialist at Fort Collins General.

"Le? 19 years old. a form of Leukemia. Second time. He beat it once as a kid, but it reoccured. Full Chemo and we are looking for a bone marrow donor this time." The doctor explained without looking at the clipboard he held. He obviously was very familiar with Le's case.

The pair were looking into a common area of the cancer ward. This facility was dedicated to children. Le was by far the oldest patient in the room and was playing with a younger child at a table that he did not fit at.

"I thought this was a kid's ward." Stephanie cocked her head, watching the man and the gentle way he was talking to the young, bald little girl.

"Le is super good with the kids, and this is where he was last time. Also, Doctor Abdul is a specialist in his form of cancer, and he is dedicated to treating children. Also? He treated Le before, so we made an exception and put him here."

"Poor kid. He looks pretty skinny."

"Chemo. It's really rough on the body, as I know you know from your father's cancer. In Le's case, it has stunted his growth a little too. We are having a problem finding a good tissue match for the bone marrow donor. Probably at least in part his ethnicity."

"Why would that matter?" Stephanie asked, surprised.

"His mother is of pure Chinese descent, and his father is Norwegian. Normally mixed ethnicities would be a boon. The farther apart genetically one's parents are, the healthier the offspring tend to be. We are thinking that Le was exposed to carcinogenic compounds as a child. His father was military. As a child, he was in a military camp near a burn pit. Lots of toxins. His parents both passed young. Both with cancer too."

"Oh, Jesus! Poor kid. How can I help?"

The Doctor held up halting and protesting hands, one also equipped with the clipboard. "Please, Ms. Santiago! You are donating twenty-five million dollars to the children's hospital! You are helping every one of those kids in there!"

Stephanie looked at the older man with a raised eyebrow. "Be that as it may, Doctor, I want to do more. My father died of cancer, as you know. Why I have chosen to endow this hospital and this wing. The season is over. We didn't make the Series, but we had a good season. Now I have a little time off before I have to start training for next season. What can I do?"

The Doctor looked at Stephanie Santiago, starstruck. "You had the best rookie season of any player. Evverr!" The Doctor leaned into the last word. "You took Colorado from the pits to the pinnacle in one season. A season we thought was going to be a rebuilding season. We may have been beaten in seven games in the playoffs but still! It was a great year. Also... as a. Farn... I need to say that you have not signed for next year yet! You are killing me! As a fan!"

"Don't worry Doc. Between you and me, I'll sign. They are trying to lock me into a multi-year deal, with the right to trade me, and I won't do it. I'll sign up, same as before. Base Salary. All bonuses for performance. If I play well, I get paid. And this hospital gets another endowment. But that is neither here nor there..." Stephanie looked back at the common area with all the sick kids, and the oddly out-of-place young man. "I'll tell you what. You need donors. You need people to come in and get tissue matched. Right?"

"Yes.."

"Donors are always a problem. Right?"

"Again, Yes." The non-plussed man agreed.

Stephanie nodded knowingly, the idea bubbling in her mind. "Good. Right. Let's use my fame for something good. More than just money. We'll do a commercial. A video of me being tissue-matched here. Part of a public service announcement. Get them to play it on the sportscasts. I'm pretty sure I can talk the promo people into it, especially since I have not signed up for next year yet. Doing it for charity will be a big win for the back office kiddie troopers too. Let's see if we can get some donors in here!"

"You, Stephanie Santiago, are a gift! I wish every ball player worked out in the community the way you do!" The Doctor was trying very hard not to gush and was not succeeding very well.