Full Count (The Catcher Series Book 1) (42 page)

             “Not so tough,” she admits, moving her hand in a
circular motion, causing my hand to slither down to hers. I sense McCallum
’
s eyes on me holding Buzz
’
s hand, but I
honestly don
’
t fucking care. She needs me; she comes
first. He can fire me for all I care.

             “You
’
re taking this better than
I would
’
ve,”
I confess. I don’
t even
think she realizes how hard she hit the ground because she isn
’
t
even crying or trying to hold tears inside. She
’
s just
lying here in fear of increasing pain if she moves even the slightest bit. I
don
’
t know how she doesn
’
t feel tough
right now; she
’
s literally the strongest person I know. “You
got the third out, B.” I slide her glove off her hand and show her the softball
inside of it, and she smiles knowingly.

            The paramedics finally approach us with the
stretcher, and McCallum and I step back. Somehow they manage to sneak the
stretcher completely underneath her without moving her body seemingly at all.
When they lift her up, the crowd gently applauds, and to everyone
’
s
surprise, Buzz picks up her right arm and waves as if to say,
I
’
m okay.

            I watch as the paramedics place the stretcher on top
of the gurney and wheel her to the rear of the ambulance. As I follow them
about ten feet behind, Alex and Allen meet me on the other side of the fence.

             “One person. Who
’
s coming?” the
female paramedic asks the three of us.

            In reality, they both trump me. They
’
re
blood. So I look at them to see who is going, and they both give me approving
looks. “Go,” Allen orders me. “We
’
ll be right behind you.”

            With no time to spare, I hop up the step and climb in
to sit on the bench to the side of Buzz. Before they close the doors Alex and I
exchange a strong, hard, and slightly confusing look. I have no idea what he
means by it, but I know he
’
s worried about his sister so
hopefully it
’
s just that. Buzz is now connected to oxygen,
but her eyes are wide open as one of the paramedics is talking to her. She
almost looks too blissful to have just fallen so fucking hard from the sudden
impact of the ball and lying in the back of an ambulance.

            And then the ambulance starts driving away and the
siren sounds. I have never heard such a piercing groan in my entire life. No
one in the ambulance except for me understands why she suddenly drastically
switches moods, but there
’
s nothing I fucking can do. They
need the siren on so they can get her to the hospital as soon as possible.

            It
’
s in this moment of
witnessing my girl reach to cover her ears that I realize that ambulances aren
’
t always the best options in an emergency.

37 Bianca Ferrari

Holy shit is that siren annoying! It
’
s
apparently my first time ever riding in an ambulance, at least since my
accident, and man, I
’
m going to be deaf and stupid by the
time we get to the hospital. All I want to do is thank Skyler for always
driving me to the hospital in previous incidents because
oh my God
; it
’
s killing me! Skyler gives me his hand to squeeze, and I think
he realizes it
’
s a mistake the moment I grab it and his
hand probably turns blue. I can
’
t see it; I can only feel
it. The only thing that soothes me in this ambulance filled with jostling
medical equipment and paramedics is my boy
’
s lips next to
my ear and his voice coming from them.

             “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make
make happy when skies are gray. You
’
ll never know, dear,
how much I love you. Please don
’
t take my sunshine away.”

            He repeats this three times, and by halfway through
the first go around, I
’
m melting into a giant puddle on
the ambulance cot. Where he got that song from, I have no idea. I just try to
focus on the reassurance of him being here and doing whatever is in his power
to make me feel better - no matter how stupid the looks are that he receives
from the paramedics. Eventually closing my eyes helps me tunnel in on just him
and ignore the siren the best I can.

           
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

            He has never said those words to me before, but I
love it. He
’
s my Sky, and I
’
m his
Sunshine. I loosen my grip on his hand and then gently squeeze him again. By
then the siren stops completely and I
’
m being wheeled out
of the ambulance.

             “Hang tight, B! I
’
ll be right
there!” he calls after me, but I know I
’
m going to be
okay.

            The CT scans are standard protocol for my hospital
visits, but the x-ray is new. Apparently my cheek is slightly swollen, but I
can
’
t even feel it.
The x-ray shows a
fracture in my cheekbone. They think it may have cracked when the ball and my
glove hit it. Thankfully they
’
re letting me stay in my
softball uniform instead of putting me in a nasty hospital gown. Although they
are drafty in fun places, I
’
m never thrilled with wearing
them. My softball pants and jersey make me feel stronger than I ever feel in
anything else.

            When my nurse Patrice brings me back to my temporary
emergency room, Rex, my dad, and Skyler are waiting for me with the Cubs game
on the TV in the corner. My eyes mirror theirs as I check the score and inning.
Cubs up one on the Pirates in the bottom of the seventh at home.

            All three of them turn their attention on me the
second I
’
m wheeled into the room, but I don
’
t
acknowledge them until after I check the score of the game. At first I connect
eyes with Skyler, and he gives me an assuring look like this emergency room
visit is just a mediocre check-up. That
’
s when Rex comes
over and offers me a bro-type high-five hug like I have seen him give Skyler
and Benny countless times throughout my life. With both of their relaxed
attitudes, I feel confident I will be going home shortly and will not be
spending another night in a stupid hospital. I swear I
’
ve
spent more nights in a hospital bed in the last year than in my own bed. Okay,
that is
completely
true but only because I spend most nights at Skyler
’
s. My data is skewed.

             “You look good, B. How you feelin
’
?”
Rex asks me, casually glancing up at the Cubs game when the bat hits the ball.

             “Fine. I think Sky overreacted with the ambulance
and everything,” I admit. I can agree I should
’
ve been
done for the game, but just because it took me longer to recover from being
knocked out doesn
’
t mean I needed to be carted off the
field and into the dreadful emergency room.

             “No. He did the right thing. You went down hard,” he
argues. A protective expression covers his face, and it instantly hits me in
the gut. This is the first time he
’
s seen me in a hospital
since my accident. I feel so guilty for making him worry.

             “
I don’
t even know how my team
is doing now, though,” I complain, fidgeting on top of the bed sheets, dirty
cleats and all.

             “Benny is keeping me updated. I told him to stay and
come after if we were still here,” he informs me.

            Skyler hears our conversation and adds, “I’m sure
Ashton can hold them the rest of the game. Don’t worry.” We
’
re
such a sport-knit group that it
’
s almost disgusting how
much we all care about games. Softball and baseball are life, at least ours.

             “How you doin’, tough cookie?” my dad approaches us,
reaching to lightly squeeze my ankle. He hardly ever sees the effects of my
brain trauma. His hours at work make him go to bed early and wake up early, and
unlike me, he sleeps soundly. This is one of the few times he
’
s
seen me in a hospital. At least I
’
m actually not in pain
for once. I just have a headache, which is an every day occurrence.

             “I
’
m okay,” I answer with a
daddy
’
s girl smile.
My dad is the one
who taught me to be tough like the boys, but my smile is kept small because my
cheek’s sudden stinging stops me. “That hat is useless though.”

             “That hat probably saved your life,” he declares. It
’
s cute, so I let him have it. If I survived flying head first
into a stationary wooden block in the lake, I
’
m pretty
much invincible. No piece of fabric has anything on me.

            When we get home and I
’
m about
to leave for Skyler
’
s for the night, Rex isn
’
t
pleased with me. I leave before my parents or Rex can try to convince me to
stay home. I can
’
t worry about it. Skyler
’
s
house is my sanctuary; my house is a scare zone. I hate sleeping alone and
dislike waking up on my own even more. Skyler will take care of me, and
everyone in my house knows that. The next morning I wake up in Skyler
’
s bed, shower, change into the clothes I brought over, and grab
a pop tart before meeting him at his Jeep in the driveway.

            As we park at school, I notice everyone walking from
their cars into the building has on purple shirts. Like, literally everyone.
But I walk alongside Skyler like every other morning.

            When I see the garden of purple in the cafeteria, I
feel like I ran into an overwhelmingly humid greenhouse. I can feel my cheeks
turning into tomatoes.

             “Sky…” I try speaking but am at a total loss.

             “You okay?” Skyler asks me. He
’
s
acting as if he
’
s totally oblivious to everyone wearing
one of my two favorite colors.

            Then my other favorite color catches my attention
from his shirt and one table of girls in the cafeteria. He must
’
ve
planned to wear lime green with the rest of my teammates. I can
’
t
believe what I
’
m seeing. The figurative spotlight is completely
on me as the entire cafeteria of students silences when I walk through the
doors.

            Full tomato gardens are turning into boiling
spaghetti sauce on my face.

             “What the hell is happening?” I ask in a quiet voice
so only Skyler can hear me.

            I want Skyler to put his hand on me and whisk me away
from this, but he knows he can
’
t touch me at all while we
’
re at school. Instead, he just leans towards me and whispers, “Your
teammates and classmates wanted to show you their support.”

            Glancing around the room, I see that everyone, even
Chase and Leah, are wearing purple and staring at me. “I
’
m
not dying. You told them that, right?” The statement is true but it comes off
as sarcastic. Seeing my whole school in a mourning-like state makes me feel
like I
’
m at my own funeral. I don
’
t
want this.

             “Some of your teammates were scared when they saw
you fall last night. They all kind of know what you
’
re
going through, so they organized this. Just think of it as more for them than
for you if it makes you feel better,” Skyler explains. It
’
s
weird, but it actually helps me get over it. If they want to feel like they
’
re doing something, I can let them. Then Sky adds, “Also, I don
’
t know if you noticed, but the stands were a sell-out crowd
last night. Hence the whole fucking school in purple.”

             “Right,” I awkwardly chuckle.

             “Bianca!” I hear from across the cafeteria that
someone is calling for me. I look around and see Cara sporting her lime green
shirt coming towards me with open arms. Her short dirty blonde ponytail bounces
as she approaches me.

             “I kind of hate you,” I laugh at her as we exchange
a hug.

             “
Then we
’
re
even. ESPN is here to do a story on you. McCallum wants you in his office
pronto,” she announces to me and Sky.

             “What? Sky, did you know about this?”
I
wonder. I won
’
t be surprised if everyone was
keeping this from me so I wouldn
’
t stress out on the
pitching mound. Who knows how long they
’
ve been here
gathering footage?

             “No. What the fuck does ESPN want?” he snaps at both
of us girls. Shit. Guess he really is clueless.

            That
’
s when I notice a camera
currently filming from one end of the cafeteria. It just got my entire reaction
to this over the top gesture on tape. Great.

             “Come with me and find out,” I suggest instead of
him trying to kill the messenger with a worldwide audience. Literally.

            The athletic office is lined with camera crews all
displaying ESPN on the backs of their shirts. Their equipment is bulky, but
they grasp it like it
’
s their baby I
’
m
about to punch in the face. I internally question their possessiveness and
wonder if it
’
s just my scar that scares them.

             “Excuse me,” I reply as I lead Skyler through the
crowded hallway. They aren
’
t filming anything right now,
but they certainly are in my way.

             “Bianca?” McCallum
’
s voice
carries throughout the hallway.

            Before I can answer him, Skyler and I appear in his
office and Sky demands to know, “What the hell is going on?”

             “Hey,” I gently look at him. Whatever is going on
and is about to happen will probably be really cool. He
’
s
overreacting on account of me again.

             “What? Too loud? I
’
m sorry,” he
somberly asks me. I feel his hand stroke my back apologetically, and I try to
smile at him without making it seem flirty in front of my coach. But it
’
s hard. One moment Sky is angrily defending me to outsiders and
the next he
’
s comforting me.

             “Just relax. Let
’
s find out
what
’
s going on without yelling at Coach,” I nod as if I
’
m talking to a child, but I mean what I say.

            Giving McCallum our full attention, I pick up on his
overly father-like gaze.
Shit. He
’
s onto us. He
knows we
’
re dating. Damn it. There goes our season.

             “Swanson, close the door,” McCallum orders. I watch
as Skyler gets way too much pleasure out of slamming the door in ESPN
’
s face.

             “Coach, why is ESPN here?” I question him
innocently. For all I know, Cara could be joking that they
’
re
doing a story on me. McCallum takes his time in answering me, which makes me
fidget like a toddler in a timeout.
Just tell me already!

            After taking a sip of his coffee, McCallum finally says,
“They
’
re here to do a story on you, like a short
documentary.”

             “Really? Why? I thought Cara was joking,” I think
aloud.

             “They got in contact with me and your dad about a
month ago after we pitched your story to them via email,” he explains.

             “And you didn
’
t know about
this?” I ask Skyler again. He
’
s fuming. Like actual steam
is coming out of his nose. No way did he know about this.

             “No, I didn
’
t fucking know,” he
repeats himself from earlier. I
’
ve never wanted to hold
his hand so badly in my entire life. I know it would help him breathe, but I
can
’
t do it.