Protecting Salvation: A Shadow Elite Novel

The first match was against Fortis and was pretty evenly matched for skill. Smithy scored a try and Jace converted it. Then Bein followed it up with two more tries, which Bás converted. Hurricane blinked hard, trying to clear the fog and the sudden dizziness, silently chanting not now in his head. They were halfway through the first half and it was neck and neck, eighteen points each. Running, he saw the ball go up from a throw made by Reaper. Jumping, he went to catch it and the world seemed to go dark around him. His body tingled, his vision blurred, and he couldn’t control his limbs as he sank to the ground, out cold.

Hurricane blinked and tried to move as concerned voices surrounded him. He opened his eyes and closed them before trying again.

“Hurricane, can you hear me?”

He recognised that voice, it was Decker’s wife Savannah. “Yeah.”

He heard more voices, hushed but close, his boss and Val, and knew that Bás would be revealing his secret to the doc beside him. “No.”

He opened his eyes and tried to sit, up but Savannah kept a firm hand on his shoulder.

“Give yourself a second. You passed out and I don’t want you going down again.”

Hurricane felt a wave of dizziness overwhelm him, and it was the only thing that made him listen and do as he was told instead of running from the questions he knew were coming.

He spied his teammates and the other two teams on the other side of the field. Thankfully, only Bás and Val remained and it gave him hope that he could keep this a secret for longer. He wasn’t ready for people to look at him differently. Not yet.

“How you feeling?”

Savannah was crouched beside him, watching his reaction closely. As a neuro doc, she didn’t miss a fucking trick. “I’m fine.” She gave him a stop with the bullshit look and he sighed. “I got dizzy.”

“You more than got dizzy, big guy. You hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.”

“He told you didn’t he?”

To her credit, she didn’t even pretend like she didn’t know what he meant. “Yes. A benign brain tumour pressing on your optic nerve.”

Hurricane nodded and moved to stand. Savannah stepped back knowing he wouldn’t accept her help, and Bás moved to grip his shoulder.

“You okay? You hit the ground hard. Might have to charge you for the dent in my fucking lawn.”

Hurricane smiled at his boss and friend for trying to make light of an embarrassing situation. “If this is a fucking lawn, I’m glad I don’t have to mow the thing.”

Bás quirked his lips and Val settled in under his arm, their bodies pressed close. He loved that these two had finally got their shit together.

“Seriously, though, you good?”

Hurricane nodded. He still felt a little wobbly, but he knew it would pass. “Yeah, I just need to sit this one out.” He scratched the back of his head. “Does the team know?”

Bás shook his head. “No, but you need to tell them. They’re worried and, honestly, I’m not sure how much more they can take right now. Knowing will be better than whatever they might make up in their over-active brains.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Hurricane.”

He smiled at Val but didn’t respond. He loved her like a sister but she didn’t get it. Everyone knowing would make them look at him differently and this team was the first time in his life when he’d felt completely accepted for who he was. “I know.”

“Can I have a minute of your time alone?”

He nodded at Savannah and tried a half smile that just wouldn’t come.

“Thanks, but can we go inside and grab a hot chocolate or something? Freezing my lady balls off is not my idea of fun.”

This time his grin was real as he followed her up to the house Bás and Val shared. It was warm and homey inside with a bright, open living area and large windows and a million miles from the base where they spent so much of their time. Savannah poured two hot chocolates from a large carafe that was already made up and ready for halftime and came to sit opposite him at the large oak kitchen table.

He took the drink and sipped it, knowing the sugar would be good for him.

“How long have you known about the tumour?”

Her face held an easy expression and he could see why she was so good at her job. Her patients must love her. She was calm and confident and easy to talk to. “About a year.”

She nodded and took a sip of her drink, closing her eyes and sighing in pleasure. When she opened them she cocked her head. “Type?”

“Craniopharyngioma.” He said calmly like it wasn’t the thing blowing up his whole life.

Savannah nodded once. “That explains the fainting. Low blood pressure?”

Hurricane nodded. “Yep. Headaches, blurry vision, and a few other symptoms.”

“Can I ask why you didn’t come to me? Not to blow my own horn, but I’m pretty good.”

Hurricane snorted. “Yeah, I know.” He paused, trying to figure out how much he wanted to say but then figured it was out now or was about to be. He might as well be honest about it all. “Because you can’t help me.”

“I might. Most tumours are operable in that area.”

He shook his head, stopping her. “It’s not that. Brain surgery can cause a lot of blood loss, right? And my surgeon said it would involve an open craniotomy.” He knew it did but wanted her to confirm it.

Savannah furrowed her brow. “Well, yes, blood loss is always an issue with any surgery but does it have to be an open surgery? There are other ways, and we can always have blood on hand.”

“No, you can’t. Not my blood.”

Savannah watched him, assessing him. “You have a rare blood type?”

Hurricane wiped his hand down his face in frustration, before pinning her with a steady look. “You heard of golden blood, doc?”

Savannah’s eyes went wide. “Yes, of course, but I’ve never met anyone with it. It’s extremely rare. Like only fifty people in the world have it.”

“Well, now you have.”

“Okaaay.” She spoke slowly but he knew enough to know her brain was working a thousand miles a minute. “That doesn’t make it impossible. There are special registers for rare types. We could find you a match. Or we could bank your blood?”

“Doc, I don’t exist on paper anymore. I’m a ghost, remember? Plus, I have mild anaemia, so we can’t bank my blood.”

“Are you on anything to help with that?”

“Yes, I take a supplement.”

“Good, that should help.” Savannah pursed her lips. “It might be tricky but not impossible and let’s not rule out other treatment options just yet. Who’s your doctor? I assume you’re seeing someone under a fake name.”

“Dr Marston at St Luke’s.” He felt his lips pull at her wrinkled nose. “You’re not a fan, doc?”

“He’s okay, but I’m better.”

“That’s quite the ego there, doc.”

Savannah laughed at herself. “Have you met my husband? If I didn’t have an ego, his would overshadow us both.”

Hurricane found himself laughing at that. “True.”

They both sobered and she finished her drink, standing to place her mug and his in the sink.

“Will you at least let me look at the scans?”

Hurricane wasn’t sure he wanted that. It would give him hope and he’d given up on that, but he found himself nodding. “Sure, but it won’t make a difference.”

“Maybe not, but I’d still like to look.”

He liked how she didn’t give him any false bullshit or platitudes. Now he had to go back out there and tell his team what was going on.

Savannah wagged her finger at him. “No rugby for the rest of the day.”

He smiled as he gave her a cheeky salute.

He watched her walk back to her husband and kiss his cheek and knew that the conversation they’d just had would be completely confidential. He was showered and changed and moving to slip away when Titan jogged towards him.

“Hey, you headed back to base?”

“Yeah, you need a lift?”

“Yeah, if you’re okay to drive or I can drive.”

Hurricane gave his friend a glare. “You babying me, bruh?”

“Nah, asshole, I’m being a friend, but you can drive just for that.”

Hurricane considered that and if he’d act any differently if the roles were reversed and knew he wouldn’t. “Fine, you drive, but none of that shit music you like.”

“Man, it’s old school garage. How can you not enjoy that?”

“Whatever, just drive the damn car.”

The drive back was quiet and thankfully Titan didn’t ask any uncomfortable questions. But the man was very much like him in that he liked his privacy so he’d never invade someone else’s. He headed to his apartment and Hurricane threw down his sports bag, knowing he’d need to clean it out before it stunk up the place. But first, he needed to take his meds and change into some shorts. He hated wearing jeans when he was home.

He’d barely pulled on clean shorts when there was a bang on the door.

“Hurricane, open this damn door before I kick it in.”

He smiled before opening the door to reveal Lotus, who was glaring and looked more exhausted than he could ever remember seeing her. Rykov’s death had hit them all hard but especially Lotus because of their history. “What’s up?”

Lotus folded her arms across her chest and stared him down and he tried not to chuckle. She was mean when she was mad and right now she was mad, even if it was out of fear.

“You gonna explain or what?”

A sigh fell from him and he nodded. “Let me grab a shirt and I’ll come talk to you. Are the others back?”

“Yeah, getting food. Val is cooking her Mexican chilli recipe.”

His mouth watered at that and he grinned as he stepped past Lotus and bopped her in the nose, drawing a growl from her as she fell in step beside him.

He slung an arm over her shoulders and the fact she let him showed just how off his friend was. “Stop worrying, Lotus.”

“Then start talking.”

The main kitchen, where they ate as a group when they wanted company, was full of his team, including those who had homes outside of the compound, all except Watchdog. His big personality left a huge hole he wasn’t sure would ever be filled if his friend didn’t recover from the trauma of his kidnapping and the things they’d done to him. The noise was loud but it comforted him and he moved to sit beside Bein, who had Aoife on his lap.

“Can you get them to shut it for a second? I want to say something and I only want to do it once.”

Bein stood and whistled loud enough to make Scout and Monty raise their furry heads in attention. “Hey, wind yer necks in. Hurricane wants to say something.”

The room quieted and sweat broke out on his brow as all eyes came to him. He was used to people staring, being the only black kid in his school and his size, it was something he was familiar with. These were his friends though, his chosen family and he needed to be honest. “Listen, I know I scared the crap out of you all earlier, but I don’t want you to worry.”

“What happened, mate?” Reaper was watching him from behind the island where he had an arm hooked over Lucía’s shoulder.

“I fainted. I have something called a Craniopharyngioma.”

Aoife sucked in a breath and he glanced at her, knowing she’d most likely learned about it at her job as a student nurse.

“Want to elaborate, big guy?”

“It’s a benign brain tumour.”

“Ah, fuck.”

“Shit.”

He let them voice their feelings and then went on. “Symptoms include headaches, low blood pressure, hence the fainting, blurry vision, and some other stuff.”

“You can have surgery and get it removed though, right?”

He glanced at Lotus who was biting her lip. “It’s tricky. I have a rare blood type.”

Bishop looked at Bás who was watching him with arms folded. “How rare?”

“Only fifty people in the world.”

“Well, shit,” Bein spat and Hurricane tried not to smile.

“It’s called golden blood because of some of the properties but it makes any kind of surgery very tricky, and that’s without the fact I don’t exist on paper.”

“I told you we can make it work, Hurricane,” Bás stated.

He dipped his head to acknowledge it. The truth was that doing so would risk the entire team and he wouldn’t allow that. “I know and Savannah is going to look into some options for me.” He knew that was probably a dead end but if it gave his friends hope, he was good with it. “Until then, I’ll be stepping back from my role here. I can’t, in good conscience, fly you guys around when my vision isn’t perfect and I might pass out at any given moment.”

“You’re not leaving?” Snow looked distraught as Sebastian held her back to his front and whispered something to her.

“No, I’m just going to stick around here doing more desk-type work.”

Bás had agreed with him about flying and while it killed him to admit it, he couldn’t risk the people he cared about. Bás was going to ask Santa to step in as he flew Apache helicopters. Hurricane didn’t know the new guys well but he knew enough to trust that they were a good fit for this team. He’d also be keeping Watchdog company so that he didn’t slide so far into a pit that nobody would be able to reach him.

“Right. If that’s it, can we eat? I’m fucking starving.”

Duchess smirked. “When aren’t you hungry, Hurricane?”

And just like that it was back to normal. His chest relaxed as Val handed him a heaping bowl of chilli and cornbread. The sky hadn’t fallen, the world hadn’t ended, and nobody was looking at him differently. They laughed, they teased each other, and life went on just how he’d wanted it, yet he still felt an emptiness in his gut. No, loneliness. Especially when all the couples began to disappear to their own rooms.

He’d never been one to dream of a wife and kids, flying had always been his life. Perhaps it was losing that part of himself that shone a spotlight on the rest of his life. He didn’t know and he didn’t want to wallow.

“Hey, Hurricane, you want to see who can do a hundred sit-ups on the bars the fastest or are you too chicken?”

His eyes widened and a big grin split his face as Lotus challenged him. “Oh, you’re gonna be sorry, little girl.”

“Yeah, we’ll see, loser.”

As she raced ahead of him, his worries were forgotten. For now.