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Thomas Valles was the toughest, bravest kid Jim White had ever met. And that was saying a lot, every kid in McFarland was tough as nails and hard working. The night Jim had found Thomas sitting on the bridge was the night he realized he loved those boys. If anyone knew Thomas Valles they knew he was as stubborn as he was tough, and nothing brought out his stubbornness like the thought that he may be weak. So this of course meant that anytime the boy got sick he became incredibly defensive at any mention that something may be wrong. His friends knew this, but no one knew this more than Damacio, he had once had to drag an unconscious Thomas off the field after his friend had collapsed while helping them pick in the field. Damacio had also known Thomas long enough to know when he was getting sick, so when his friend showed up to cross country practice with dark circles under his eyes and a quiet and standoffish demeanor Damacio knew Thomas was sick, so he subtly went to each of the teammates, “Danny, Johnny, Victor, Jose!” He got the attention of the three of them standing together, “what’s up?” Jose asked, while Victor finished what he was saying to Danny before he turned to Damacio, “Thomas is sick”
“How sick?” Danny asked, peeking over his brother’s shoulder to the team captain, who was sitting on the bench with his head cradled in his hands, “I don’t think he’s gonna pass out-“
“Again” victor interjected, “but he’s definitely sick”
“We should tell coach” Johnny said as he glanced at Thomas, “Thomas will kill us” Danny said, “Thomas will kill himself if he keeps doing stuff while he’s sick” Victor said as he ran his hand through his hair, he glanced again at Thomas, who had stood up and was walking towards them, “he’s coming, act natural” Damacio said, he elbowed Victor and Jose, “have you guys seen David?” Thomas asked as he approached the group, the team was quick to pick up on his raspy voice and the red around his nose, “he was getting help from a teacher, he told me he was gonna be late” Damacio explained, “what about Blanco?”
“Thomas, practice doesn’t start for 15 more minutes, calm yourself bro” Victor said as he threw an arm around Thomas’s shoulder, “sorry, lost track of time” Thomas said, he shrugged Victor’s arm off, both the time and rejection of Victor was sure signs that something was wrong, Thomas was never on to shove his friends off, he also wasn’t one to admit losing track of time. Before anyone else could say anything Thomas turned away from the group and coughed, the others exchanged a look of concern, while Damacio thought about how bad his lungs must be if his cough was that deep. “Sorry” Thomas said, his voice was rough and scratchy, the others weren’t sure what to say, knowing the second the word ‘sick’ came out of any of their mouths they would face an angry Thomas, something none of them wanted. “Need some water?” Danny asked, “nah I’m good” Thomas said, he rubbed at his nose with the back of his hand, the team was grateful for a distraction in the form of their coach arriving, Thomas became even more closed off when the coach stepped out of his cars, and he stepped back more into the group, Damacio took the chance to go to the coach, roping Jose into helping him, “coach Blanco!”
“What’s up Damacio?”
“We wanted to let you know that Thomas is sick, we think he has a bad cold, but we can’t say anything around him
“I understand, I’ll keep an eye out, thank you for letting me know” “No problem”
“Damacio, where’s your brother?”
“He’s coming, he was meeting with a teacher, something about needing to keep his grade up so he could stay on the team” the coach smiled to himself, feeling a surge of pride for the boys. Right as practice was starting David ran into the field, “sorry coach”
“It’s alright, your brother let me know you’d be coming” The coach took a look over the team, his eyes settled on Thomas, the tan Mexican boy looked pale, his nose was red and his eyes looked worn and shadowed. “Alright, today we’re doing 8 miles, you’ll be paired up to run in groups, to work on running as a team” the coach explained, before he could say anything else he was interrupted by a cough from Thomas, then “hh-tchhu heh-tchu snf heh-ketchu ‘scuse me”
“salud” the team said in unison, “snf gracias” Thomas said, he sniffles and rubbed his nose with his fist, Jose took a bandana out of his pocket and passed it to Thomas, who nodded and whispered a soft muchas gracias, seeing how embarrassed Thomas seemed, the coach was quick to bring the attention off of him with explanation of practice for the day. “Thomas you’re with Damacio, Johnny and Victor you’re together, David and Jose you’re together, but I want you to stick close to Johnny and Victor. Danny, you’re with me. Thomas, I want you to stay with Damacio, don’t go ahead” “But coach-“
“No, I want you to stay together. Work on being a team” Blanco made eye contact with Damacio who gave a nod, understanding his job.
The coach sent the team out to run, “Ready Thomas?” Damacio asked, Thomas was distracted, Damacio waved a hand in front of Thomas’s face, “bro, you awake?”
”hh-ktchu htChu kit-ChU”
”salud, te sientes bien?” (Trans: bless you, are you okay?)
”ugh, si, gracias”
”are you ready to go?” Damacio asked Thomas, hoping that he would say no and accept the fact that he’s sick, Damacio wasn’t surprised when Thomas nodded, “let’s go” Thomas started running, Damacio was appreciative that the coach had instructed Thomas to stay with him because Damacio was able to subtly manipulate Thomas to run slower, after about two miles Thomas paused, “you okay?” Thomas nodded, but he leaned against a tree with a harsh cough, his cough was forceful and sounded like it reached the base of his lungs, Damacio patted Thomas on the back, “you alright?”
“dust in the lungs” Thomas explained, as he sniffled, his breath hitched, “hktcHhu! Ktchu hh-tchu”
“salud, let me guess, you got dust in your nose too” Damacio said, he crossed his arms and made a face at Thomas, who rolled his eyes, but looked embarrassed. “Thomas, you’re sick. I know it, you know it, coach knows it, everyone knows, you just need to accept it”
”I’m not sick” Thomas said as he began running away, Damacio rolled his eyes, getting really annoyed, he began following Thomas, who had begun to speed up, to say Damacio was getting annoyed was putting it nicely, once he caught up to Thomas he grabbed onto his friend’s shoulder, “dude, stop” Damacio held Thomas still as he coughed a few times, suddenly becoming his main support when Thomas stumbled, and his knees began to give out, “dude Thomas, I am not about to have a repeat of that day in the field” Thomas glared at Damacio and if looks could kill he would be a dead man. “Thomas, there’s nothing wrong with being sick, and with how sick you are, you both literally and metaphorically can’t run from me” Thomas cracked a half smile at Damacio’s comment, “cmon, I’ll walk with you back”
“I don’t want coach to know htchhu ktchhu that I’m sick”
”Thomas he already knows, as I said before, you’re the only one who can’t accept it” Damacio explained as he helped Thomas walk back to the school, Damacio helped the obviously sick boy to the bench next to their coach, “brought you something Blanco”
“thank you Damacio, now go catch up with Johnny and Victor”
“yes coach” once Damacio was out of ear shot Thomas mumbled “sorry coach” Jim was surprised, “what are you sorry for Thomas”
”getting sick”
“there’s nothing wrong with being sick, I’m just glad you didn’t pass out” the coach said, he gave Thomas a water bottle, “thanks” he mumbled under his breath, “I’m worried about you kid, first the bridge now this, I fear that someday I am gonna find out you’re gone” Thomas looked at the ground, “you mean a lot to me, my daughter, this team, and your parents” Thomas sniffled, he wasn’t crying, he definitely wasn’t, (he was) “I’m sorry White, I just snf hate being someone’s problem”
”Thomas, you’re no one’s problem, we’re worried about you” the two of them sat in silence until the team returned, Jose had a bag in his hand, he came and sat next to Thomas, “here” he handed Thomas the bag, inside was a small bottle of cold medicine and a clean bandana, along with a water bottle, “a gift from the team” Thomas smiled, “thank you”
”you’re welcome”