Shane hadn't wanted to leave camp the way he did, he wanted to spend a few hours with Mitchie, his girlfriend.
Mitchie was his girlfriend. That alone was enough to make his horrible night rememberable; in a good way. Right after the final jam his mother called. His sister Amy; needed a kidney transplant. She had been on dialysis for like three years, yesterday they received the news that the dialysis stopped working. If she didn't receive the transplant within a few months; well things would turn out the way they had been hoping.
But family comes first. As soon as he was informed to head to the hospital, he did what any brother would do, dropped everything and went. Nate and Jason had tagged along, not wanting him to travel alone in the state he was in. Shane was a mess, having never seen Shane acting so vulnerable — they were used to the screaming and outright rage that built up when any kind of emotion tried to take ahold of him. But this, this they weren't used to.
Running as fast as feet would carry them they flew through the camp at record speed. Breathlessly making it to Brown's cabin as the sky started brightening. 'I'm sorry, babe.' Shane silently apologized to the girl who had become one of the most important people to him. 'Please God, let Brown see the note and give Mitchie the letter.' He prayed quickly.
The last thing Shane wanted was for Mitchie to think he bailed on her. With a second thought, he pulled out his phone and sent a text knowing that it would be received. Smiling, somewhat satisfied that he would hear from his girl. Then, with a last glance around the camp, Shane climbed into the waiting limousine.
And they were off to Dallas, Texas. Not knowing what was in the store for little Amy, but prayed that things would turn out okay.
Mitchie POV:
I stretched my stiff muscles getting out of the van, we were still about 4 hours from home, but we needed gas and food. "I'm gonna go in and get some McDonald's. What do you want?"
Mom looked over at me, "Surprise me." Nodding my head, i jumped out of the van and made my way into the store.
Grabbing some drinks from the gas station store, I then made my way over to the restaurant side. There was four people already waiting in line. 'Great.' I made my way over and taking my place.
Hey, Mitch, glad you got my note from brown — SG
smiling, I hit the reply button. Me too pop star, for a minute I thought you abandoned ship. — MT
Slipping my phone back in my pocket, I took a few steps up in line. It probably didn't take as long as I thought it did — but I was pretty impatient. It seemed as if everyone ordered the entire menu.
I'm normally not an impatient person, but I was beyond ready to just be home. I finds was starting to regret not flying back earlier this morning with my dad. But then my mom would have had to make the drive back by herself.
I hopped back in the van, slamming my door. Handing my the bag with the drinks, opening the McDonald's bag pulling out the food.
"What took so long?" Mom laughed at the expression I made in response.
Laughing, we pulled out of the gas station, heading towards Tennessee.
Five long hours later, they pulled into the driveway of their middle class home. Smiling, Mitchie hopped out of the car, running into the house and up the stairs. One thing was on her mind, calling Shane. She hasn't heard from him since the text in McDonald's.
Throwing herself on the bed, she flipped her phone open and hit the call button, not able to keep her excitement from showing.
"Hello Beautiful," Shane's voice flooded from the phone, but something was off.
Her smile faltered slightly, "hey pop star."
What was wrong with Shane?
She heard Shane take a deep breath, "I'm sorry for leaving camp like I did. I didn't want to, but my mom called again and I was needed at home."
She nodded her head, forgetting that he couldn't see her through the phone. Upon realizing this, "oh." She responded, beating herself up for sounding so dang ridiculous. "Is everything okay?" She added, trying to save herself, and genuinely concerned for Shane's sister.
"It's not looking good, Mo," Shane shaking voice answered her. "Her dialysis has stopped working, they gave her a few weeks unless she gets a kidney."
Sympathy, coursed through her, as she made a mental note to add her to her prayer list. She would pray that God would do only what He could do, heal, or for her to receive a kidney. Either way, they needed God to do what doctors couldn't.
"I'll be praying for her." I told him with as much sincerity as i could, not wanting him to think that i was just saying it just to say it.
"Thanks," you could hear the smile that was on Shane's face, "we need all of them we can get."
They continued their talk for a few more hours — until Mitchie heard her mom call her down for supper.
"I have to go Shane, supper's ready." I said, sadly, not wanting to hang up the phone.
"Okay, babe." Shane said, "call me later?" He added, she smiled and promised that she would and hung up the phone.
Standing up from my bed, i slowly walked down the stairs — not being able to get Shane off my mind. He was struggling, which, was completely normal. But also, hard. It wasn't easy to hear him so broken sounding — especially when i was so far away. It hurt not being able to be there, to offer comfort beyond words.
His faith was shaking, he was questioning God. Which again, that was understandable, it's normal for us to question what we couldn't fathom or understand. Our human tendency is to want control and releasing it wasn't something that came easy.
I craved to be there — to hug him when he needed it. But I couldn't. It wasn't possible, all I could do is be there to listen when he needed to talk.
Making my way to the kitchen, I sighed shaking my head, clearing my mind. This was gonna eat at me. I wanted to help, but I didn't know how.
Sitting down at the table, I thanked my mom for the food — tonight we were having pasta and garlic bread. One of my favorites.
"Grace," my mom reminded us, before anyone dug into their food, we said the prayer and started eating.
Swallowing, "this is amazing, mom." I complemented her.
She smiled, "thanks, baby."
We chatted about camp after that, telling dad all the details that he missed, including my lie and the lesson that was learned from it. And also informed him of Shane and I's newfound relationship.
"I don't know, Michelle, I don't like this." My heart dropped.
Silence was thick, you could have cut it with a knife. I didn't know how to respond, my dad's approval was important to me. I looked over to my mom for help, begging her with my eyes to say something. To help me.
Dad needed to see that Shane was a good guy, that we wouldn't do anything he wouldn't approve of. I could be trusted, and in return Shane could be.
"Steve, you can trust Mitchie." My mom stated, voice firm as she stared my dad down. "You don't have to trust Shane at first, no one expects that of you. They have already agreed to that."
Crap. I had forgotten to let Shane on that detail.
Dad slowly nodded his head, "okay." He rocked back in his chair, making it squeak. "I trust you." He smiled a tight smile.
A bright, million dollar grin spread across my face, I stood up and ran over to wrapping my arms around him, "thanks, daddy!"
He laughed, hugging me back. "You're welcome, baby girl."
Later, after cleaning the kitchen for my mom, I ran up the stairs to my room. Opening the door, I smiled upon seeing my phone lit up and Shane's name was on the screen.
Running over to the bed, I plopped down hitting the button and bring the phone up to my ear.
"Hey," I said breathlessly, trying to catch my breath from running up the stairs.
Laughter came from the other end of the line, "hey, mo." I smiled. Hearing him being more upbeat than the last time we spoke filled me with joy.
"Sorry, I ran up the stairs." I explained, grinning like a fool. "Oh, I forgot to tell you something."
"What? Should I be nervous?" He asked, a nervousness entering his voice.
I laughed, "we can only be together if we agree to have a chaperoned dates, my dad doesn't want us alone with one another." I explained, "he just doesn't want us temped to do something we shouldn't. Plus the age gap. It makes him nervous." I added.
I waited, listening for Shane to respond. Silence filled the air, seconds passed, I started getting nervous. If Shane didn't agree, this wouldn't work.
"Okay. We can do that." I smiled, relief washing over me. "But I promise, he will grow to trust me." Shane assured me.
