Summer Swing (16 page)

“I
just want everyone to go home. Please just l
et the guys get on the bus
so they can go.”

He slightly nodded his head and ended up joining
Coach Baxter
and
the officer that was standing with Tyse
. I
t appeared to be a pleasant conversation because both men were nodding, and then they shook hands. When the officer left them, the coach said something to Tyse and then Tyse headed for the bus.

“Gage,” Baxter called. “Let’s go.”

Gage was really hesitant to leave me but I said, “I’m fine, don’t worry about me.”

“Well what about the ER? Are you going to be in Corvallis all night? I don’t want to leave you here.”

“I’d rather not be h
ere either.
Can you just drive me back to Portland so I can get it taken care of there?” I asked my sister.

“That’s an hour-and-a-half away. Are you sure you want to wait that long?”

“What difference does it make? It’s not going to make my hand any worse, is it? I’m icing it, so that’s about all I can do. What will they do in the ER?”

“X-ray it and cast it
if it’s broken
.”

“And that will make it feel better?”

“No,” she smiled, seeing my point. “Get in the car. I’ll drug you and we can head to Portland.”

I kissed Gage goodbye and he said he’d meet me at the hospital when he could. I tried to tell him there wasn’t anything he could do about it and that he should just go home to bed, but I wasn’t good at convincing him.

It was another long night, and by the time my hand was in a cast and I was heading home with Gage, I swore that I was never going to attend one of his games again. He had laughed, but I knew he felt horrible.

I was
also
glad I decided to stay at his house that night, because as he held me close
while
I
was
falling
a
sleep he said, “Ellie, I love you.”

             
             
             
             
             
Chapter Nine

Waking up in the morning felt like coming out of sedation. I’d had surgeries before, and it was always weird when you first wake up. I remembered hearing the sounds in the room around me before I opened my eyes, and that was kind of the case when I woke up that morning. I heard sounds from the other room, but I didn’t really realize where I was until I finally opened my eyes. I hadn’t had surgery
this time
, but my mind felt kind of groggy from taking some serious pain medication
the night before
.

I
stayed
in Gage’s bed for a few minutes before I actually got up. My
right
hand was in a
purple
cast and I stared at it for quiet a while
. For the life of me I couldn’t remember which bone the doctor said was
fractured
, but it was the
outside edge of my hand. I was pretty sure the bones in your hand were metacarpal bones, so I suppose that’s the only name it had.

After I used the bathroom I made my way out to the kitchen where I heard Gage’s voice. I thought he said, “End your baseball career for good,” or something like that. Then I heard Tyse reply, “It doesn’t matter anyway.”

I’d made it to the kitchen by then and they both stopped talking when they saw me.

“What doesn’t matter anyway?” I asked.

Neither one replied
,
but Gage tried to change the subject by asking me how I slept.

“Well I had this horrible nightmare that someone broke my hand and then Tyse almost got arrested. Oh wait, that really did happen.”

Again no one said anything, and they just watched me pour myself a glass of juice.

“Can I make you something to eat?” Gage finally asked. “Some toast or eggs or something?”

I shook my head. “No thanks, I’m not even hungry.” I looked at Tyse and said, “I’m really sorry.”

He
tossed me a confused scowl
. “Sorry for what? Look at your hand. Did you forget that you were the only one that
ended up in the ER
last night
?”

“
Well I’m sorry you had to get involved.”

He kind of scoffed and then looked at Gage. “Is she one of those types that apologizes for things that aren’t even her fault?”

“Yeah, she is,”
Gage
replied.

He smiled at me and then gathered me in his arms to give me a hug. It felt good, especially after the lousy night that had just taken place.

Tyse removed himself from the kitchen and disappeared into his room.

“How are you feeling?
” Gage asked, taking my face in his hands. He lovingly touched my cheeks with his thumbs and then kissed me. I wrapped my arms around him and held myself close, and I suddenly remembered something
good
that had happened the night before.

I pulled back and looked into his eyes and asked, “Was I just dreaming last night or did you tell me something kind of important?”

A tiny smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, but he teased, “That you looked pretty sexy with a cast on your hand?”

I shook my head.

“That my bed had clean sheets on it?”

“Mm
m
, important, but I probably didn’t care at the time.”

“That Colorado won their seventh in a row yesterday?”

“D
rugged or not, I d
efinitely didn’t care about that one.”

He smiled at me and gently smoothed my hair back with his fingers. “Uh, this is a lot harder when you’re actually coherent.”

I playfully smacked his chest with my cast-free hand and he laughed.

“Okay, okay, it’s really not that hard because I do love you, Ellie.”

I took a moment to really let the words sink in and then I asked, “So
I wasn’t dreaming and
you
actually
did tell me that last night?”

He nodded.

“Did I respond?”

He paused for a second and replied, “You said, ‘
Mmmmmm
,’ and
then
fell asleep.”

I laughed at the way he imitated me. “Sorry about that. It was my ‘happy
to be right where I am’ moment,
and then you just kind of completed it with that
.
”
I
slid my good hand
around his neck and kissed him very passionately. There wasn’t anywhere that I’d rather be at that moment, and when I told him that I
loved him too, it felt even better
.

“Thanks for making something good come out of last night,” I said.

He kind of laughed. “Yep, that was my intent all along. I was thinking, ‘Man, I really need to think of something to counter all of this trauma.’ ” I already knew he was kidding, but
he made sure I knew that when he said,
“
Nah, I’m just joking.
I love you so much
in fact,
that
I think I’m gonna hire you a bodyguard.”

“
No
, I don’t need a bodyguard, remember? I told you I wasn’t going to any
more of your games ever again. As long as I avoid baseball parking lots
,
I think I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, if that’s how you really feel,” he replied, drawing out the disappointment in his voice. “But if you change your mind, I’ll be pitching again on Tuesday.”

“Okay, I think I could change my mind by then. Tyse is out of luck though because I don’t think I’m going to another game until then.”

His
expression
sort of changed, and at first I thought I’d offended him by wanting to see Tyse pitch again.

“Tyse won’t be playing for a while,” he informed me. “He’s been suspended.”

“What?
By who?
The league?”

“Coach Baxter. He doesn’t tolerate any kind of misconduct—especially fighting.”

I quietly considered that before I asked, “For how long?”

Gage shrugged. “I don’t know. Coach reassigned his spot in the rotation for now; I’m not sure for how many games.”

I
groaned
.
“Why did last night have to happen?”

“Ellie, I’m sorry you got hurt just from
being there
, but Tyse made a choice to get involved and it could have been a lot worse. I really hope you don’t feel sorry for him, and I
really
hope you don’t feel at fault for his suspension.”

He gave me a pretty stern look, and even though I
k
new he was only looking out for me, I was bothered that he didn’t seem to understand. I guess to
Gage
it was cut and dry, and there was no room for error. I wasn’t about to admit to him how good it actually felt to see that guy get clocked, whether Tyse was looking for trouble or not. The moron broke my hand by throwing a
solid
can of
beer
. What was the reason for it? Personally I felt a little better
because
Tyse had decked him, but I really didn’t want to explain to
Gage
why I felt that way.

“So what do you have planned for today?” I asked, deciding to change the subject.
“
You have a game at two; what time do you have to be there?”

He looked at the clock and said, “In about three hours. I don’t have any plans, do you?”

“Yes, actually I have that charity event I’m helping at, remember?”

“Oh, yeah,” he nodded. “When is that?”

“Well it’s all day, from ten to six, but I’m supposed to help with f
ace-painting from twelve to two.” I frowned and held
up my broken hand.

“Oh,” he smiled. “Probably won’t be the most popular artist, I’d say.”

I laughed. “No, probably not.”

“So are you still going to go?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there. I’m sure there’s something else I can help with.”

I could hear my cell phone ringing from somewhere in the house, so Gage went to retrieve it for me. It was my mom, and I was glad that I’d missed the call. I knew she would leave a voicemail insisting that I call her back, and sure enough she did.

“What’s the matter?” Gage asked after I’d listened to the message.

“Uh, nothing. Just my mom freaking out.”

“About what? Your hand?”

“Well
, yeah.
Dawn called her last night and told her what happened. But my mom thought I was staying at Dawn’s last night because of the event I was heading to today…”

Gage slowly nodded his understanding. “And now she knows you didn’t.”

I nodded.

“Here, let me have the phone,” he told me, holding out his hand.

“Why?”

“Because I want to call her.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to her later.”

“Give me the phone,” he insisted.

I gave it to him and sat down on the couch. He found my mom’s number and waited a few seconds until she picked up.

“No, Mrs. Abbott, it’s
Gage
… Yeah… I know, and I’m sorry you’re uncomfortable about that, but Dawn was leaving early for work this morning and I just wanted to make
sure Ellie had someone around. …
Yes, I realize that, but she was pretty doped up last night, Mrs. Abbott, and I figured it was best—…. No ma’am, I slept on the couch…
Yes—w
ell, for most of the night…
” He smiled at me and I had to chuckle. “Yes, here she is.”

He handed me the phone and motioned tha
t he was going to take a shower, so
I sat on the couch and spoke to my mom for about five minutes. I didn’t know if most twenty-year-olds had parents that
meddled in their personal lives like mine did, but my mom had always felt the need to lecture me on propriety when it came to boys. It wasn’t in my nature to go against such advice, but I had to wonder
how long she would feel the need to check on such things.

Eventually I said,
“Well I need to head over to Dawn’s, so I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“I thought Dawn was at work.”

“She is, but I have clothes and stuff over there, and anything else of hers that I can use if I need to.”