Summer Swing

by Delia Delaney

  Someone else saw who did it too, and Tyse was right there in his face. At the same time the two guys that had been fighting at my car were dragged away from each other, and lights and sirens arrived on the scene to break up most of the crowd.

  “Oh, Ellie, holy crap,” Dawn exclaimed, looking over my hand. “That jerk!” she growled.

  “Ellie, are you okay?” Gage said, coming to my aid.

  “I think my hand is broken,” was all I said.

  “I’m going to get some ice and we can take you to the ER,” Dawn said, and she disappeared.

  “What the hell happened?” Gage asked me.

  “Uh, some guy pitched that at me,” I said, motioning to the can that had rolled to the car next to mine and stopped behind the tire. “Or maybe he was throwing it at someone else…”

  Gage seemed to follow my gaze across the aisle of the parking lot where Tyse was looking pretty upset with the guy he was talking to. “That guy?” Gage asked me, just as the guy shoved Tyse in the chest and said something pretty vulgar to him.

  “Oh gosh,” I said, right when Tyse pulled back and plowed his fist into his face. The guy went down to the ground, but it provoked another onset of wannabe brawlers and another fight ensued.

  Gage made a move toward the scuffle but I grabbed his arm. “Gage, no.”

  “Someone’s gonna get arrested if it continues,” was all he said, and then he left me standing there.

  The police really did intercede, but by then friends had already stepped in and separated everyone. All I could do was groan when one officer took Tyse by the arm and led him away from the group.

  “Here,” Dawn said, arriving with the ice. She had it wrapped with a paper towel and immediately put it on my hand. “Come on, let’s get you taken care of.”

  “No, I need to see what’s going to happen,” I said.

  “What do you mean?” She looked across the parking aisle and took everything in for a few seconds. “Oh man, is someone getting arrested?”

  Gage had just been talking to the officer that had taken Tyse aside, and a few other people were being questioned too. I knew I would be next when several different fingers pointed my way, and sure enough, the officer that had been talking to Tyse came over to us.

  “What’s your name?” he asked me.

  “Ellie Abbott.”

  “Can you tell me what happened?” He glanced down at my hand and added, “Are you okay?”

  “Her hand is broken,” my sister told him angrily. “She needs to go to the emergency room.”

  Another officer joined the first and they both took a quick look at it.

  “How did that happen?” the second officer asked.

  “That guy threw a solid can of beer across the parking lot and it hit my hand.” After I’d pointed to the moron rubbing his face, I motioned to the can that was still lying on the ground.

  The first officer picked it up and held onto it.

  “And then what happened?”

  “Well we were trying to move away from the two guys that were fighting. Those two right there,” I pointed.

  “So how did that guy get involved?” he asked, pointing to Tyse.

  I was kind of scared to tell the account because I didn’t want Tyse to get in trouble. But I had no choice when the second officer asked, “He decked the guy that threw the can?”

  “He went over there to talk to him, and then the guy ended up shoving him in the chest and told him some pretty offensive things.”

  Gage came up to me just then and completely ignored the officers that were speaking to me. “How’s your hand? You need to get it taken care of, Ellie.”

  “Who is she to you?” the first officer asked Gage.

  He looked at them and said, “She’s my girlfriend. Look, we were just trying to get to our bus. The girls were about to get in their car when the fight started, and we were only trying to keep everyone else from getting in on it. We just got caught in the middle of it.”

  The one officer nodded, but the other one didn’t look convinced. However, they decided to return to the other officers that were present and seemed to deliberate for a few minutes. I felt bad for Tyse because he was just standing with one of the officers by himself. Gage must have read my mind because he said, “Leave him alone, Ellie. It’s better if you don’t go over there to talk to him.”

  “What’s going to happen to him?” I asked. “I mean does it look worse for him because…” I glanced at my sister because I didn’t want her to know that Tyse already had a record. But Gage knew what I meant and I didn’t have to finish the sentence.

  “I don’t think so,” he replied. “I guess it just depends on how all of this is handled, but it just looks like everyone might be sent on their way.”

  One of the officers returned to me and, motioning to the guy that had thrown the beer, said, “Do you want to press charges? He says he wasn’t meaning to hit you.”

  “I just want everyone to go home. Please just let 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. It 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 here 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 asleep 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 on
e 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?”

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

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

  “Drugged or not, I definitely 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 knew 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 face-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—well, 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 that 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.”

  “What are you wearing right now?”

  “What? Just Gage’s t-shirt and some shorts from my car. I’m not wearing that to the event today.”

  She clicked her tongue. “That’s not what I was leading up to.”

  “You mean you wanted to know if I was just walking around the house in my bra and underwear?”

  “Ambrielle Christine.”

  “Well your worry seems a little silly. You think I’d be doing that in a house full of guys?”

  “Yes, about that. I don’t like the idea of you staying the night at a house with four boys in it.”

  “But Dawn can do it and you don’t have a problem with it?”

  She paused for a few seconds. “Dawn is at a different stage in her relationship with Wyatt. And no, I don’t approve, so I don’t want to talk about what your sister is doing; this is about you and the good choices I want you to make. Why should Gage have to buy the cow if he gets the milk for free?” she had to add.

  Wow, like I hadn’t heard that one before.

  “Well I’m keeping my udders fully clothed, so you don’t have to worry about my free milk.”

  I heard someone choke from the kitchen and I whipped my head around to see Tyse sitting at the counter eating a bowl of cereal. He was coughing and trying not to laugh at the same time.

  “Ambri—”

  “Uh, I gotta go, Mom. Love you.”

  I hung up and watched Tyse take a drink of orange juice, and as I made my way into the kitchen, he followed me with his eyes as he continued to drink. I leaned against the opposite counter with my arms folded across my chest just as he finished the last drop.

  “How much of that conversation did you hear?” I asked, feigning a sweet smile.

  He cleared his throat and smiled back. “Uh, I believe all of it. There are four guys in the house that could appear at any time, you know.”