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They had won!
Laurie let out a squeal as she jumped up and down with her teammates, the rush of their victory still pumping through her veins. Disgruntled parents and members of the opposing team filtered out, dazed by all the bizarre events that had happened throughout the course of the last hour.
To be fair, it was all a blur to Laurie herself. Taylor ditching, Rochelle arriving late, her father blowing up…. She wasn’t sure she understood any of it, really.
But! They had all come together at the end. After the “incident”, something had clicked, and they had all played their best. Laurie didn’t bat again but she found herself feeling comfortable in cheering on and directing her teammates in her dad’s absence. She watched as Frank and Rochelle’s mom chatted (flirted?) by home base, Taylor and her younger brother hugged while heading out to the parking lot, and Yuwen celebrated loudly, seeming to have gotten his fire back.
Off to the side on the bleachers, Kai was being swarmed by her dad, grandma, and Laurie’s father. After the game Kai had shyly admitted she had hurt her ankle, and she had been quickly whisked away to go take a seat and elevate her leg. Laurie watched as Coach Dan held an ice bag on Kai’s ankle, his mouth moving fast with concerned words.
A small pang of jealousy struck her heart, her sweat weighing down heavily on her.
It… it was fine. Kai was one part of his team, it was his responsibility to take care of her.
“Hey girl! You did it! You made a run!”
The air was forced out of Laurie’s chest as she was slapped on the back, but it turned into a breathy chuckle when she felt Rochelle’s arm drape around her shoulders.
“Yeah! It… it all worked out!” she said, rubbing her arm. The moment of making it to home base was one she would not soon forget, one of the first bursts of pure joy she had felt all week.
She stole another glance over at her dad. He was proud of her… right? Maybe now that she had done something good, she could talk to him about how she has been really feeling…
Laurie unconsciously reached up a hand to scratch at an itch above her eye, but quickly realized that was a big mistake. The dull throb on the left side of her face that she has nearly forgotten about suddenly blazed to life, causing her to hiss loudly in pain.
Oh yeah. She had taken a softball to the face.
“…Laur…?” Rochelle asked, but Laurie turned away from her friend to hide her wince of pain.
“I’m good! I’m… I’m fine.”
She should have known it was never any use hiding from Rochelle. Immediately, a gentle hand grabbed her chin and tilted her face towards the light. Rochelle sucked in a gasp, brushing her hand around the bruised skin.
“Girl… what happened?? Did you get hit?”
Laurie blinked in confusion at Rochelle’s surprise, but then remembered Rochelle hadn’t been there when it had happened.
She tried for an awkward smile. “I, uh…. I got on base, at least?”
Rochelle scowled. “The pitcher got you?? Ugh, that dude is lucky he already dragged his loser butt home, I want to knock a ball in his own eye.”
Laurie chuckled, but it quickly turned into a small groan as another throb of pain forced her to close her swollen eye. The earth beneath her began to sway a little bit, her weight shifting from foot to foot.
“I… I think you need to sit down, Laurie.” Rochelle mumbled, her voice strained a little with concern.
Not having the energy to protest, she shrugged, then let herself be led to the dugout. They made their way through the celebrating crowd, Rochelle assertively pushing people out of the way. The harsh lights of the field beamed down on them, making Laurie squint, her head pounding harder.
When they finally made it to the dugout, Laurie sank onto the bench in exhaustion, all the adrenaline and excitement of the game leaving her like a deflating balloon.
“Stop being a baby. We got to be low maintenance!!” the familiar voice of her imaginary sweat blob squawked in her ear, making Laurie shudder.
As if pushing the voice aside, Rochelle got down on her knees in front of her, brushing a hand over her hair.
“Hey. It’s going to be ok, alright? I’m going to go get your dad.”
“No, no you don’t need to…” she whimpered, but Rochelle was already gone, leaving Laurie alone with her throbbing eyeball.
She groaned again, doubling over and putting her head in her hands. She was fine!! Rochelle should just go back to celebrating, and her dad could take care of Kai…
Curiosity caused her to peek through her fingers and through the fence links to the bleachers. She watched Rochelle run up to her dad, who was currently in conversation with James, and frantically tug on his arm. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she watched her dad’s face morph into one of fear, urgency, and shame.
When they both turned to look at her she quickly went back to covering her face, her cheeks warm with embarrassment. Honestly, it was just a bruise… she didn’t need to bother anyone about it…
A few moments later, a gentle hand was on her shoulder. The scent of her father’s favorite type of Old Spice filled her nose.
“Hey there, Lare-bear…. can you look at me?”
She hesitated, but eventually curled her fingers down over her face, peering over her hands. Her father’s anxious face hovered close to hers, his eyebrows scrunched together. Over his shoulder she saw some of her teammates looking curiously through the fence, their uniforms still smeared with dust from the game. Whispers of “Is Laurie alright?” reached her ears.
“Yup, we’re the center of attention now…” Sweaty mumbled. ”Which is a good thing and a bad thing. We want attention but not too much attention, you know?”
“There ya are…” her dad said as she met his eyes, some form of strained smile turning up the edges of his mustache. Gently, he reached up and helped peel her hands the rest of the way from her face, taking a close look at her left eye.
“Rochelle told me you were getting dizzy. That was some hit you took, huh? It’s swelling up a bit…”
“I’m okay…” she mumbled uselessly, pressing her hands between her legs. She tried to ignore the skeptical look Rochelle was giving her. Her friend was currently standing in her “I’m-not-taking-your-bullcrap” pose with a hand on her hip, which Laurie was all too familiar with.
Coach Dan continued to examine Laurie’s face, humming with disapproval at what he saw. She tried not to wince as he used his thumb to lift her eyelid, gazing intently at her pupil. After a minute, he finally sat back on his heels, letting out a huff.
“It doesn’t look terrible, no bleeding or anything… but the fact that you’re feeling dizzy worries me. Let’s go to the urgent care and get you looked at by a professional, ok, Lare-bear?”
Laurie frowned.
“But what about pizza?” she blurted, then immediately cringed. Amidst all her anxieties about going to the doctor, she wasn’t sure why the Coach’s promised pizza party following a win was the thing that she chose to bring up.
“I just know the team was looking forward to it…” she quickly followed it up with, flushing.
Rochelle was the first to respond, shaking her head and placing a hand on Laurie’s shoulder.
“Girl, we care a lot more about you than we do pizza. Plus, we weren’t going to go without Kai, anyways. Let’s just worry about getting you taken care of, ok?”
The team members who were still watching the scene through the fence chorused their agreement, making the knot in Laurie’s chest loosen a little. Despite being dead weight on the team, it was nice to know they still cared about her.
“We‘ll get pizza tomorrow, ok honey?” her dad said, tipping her hat up playfully.
Finally, she nodded, trying to smile back in gratitude, but it quickly turned into another wince. Her head was starting to really get annoying…
Carefully, Rochelle and Coach Dan both took Laurie’s arms, helping her stand up. The blood rush caused her to stumble a bit, but the two held her steady, beginning to guide her to the parking lot.
Along the way, someone handed a bag of ice from the cooler to Rochelle, who thanked them, then handed it to Laurie to hold against her eye. Out of the corner of her vision she barely saw Yuwen walking away but… it couldn’t have been him who did that, could he? Since when was he ever nice to her?
“Rochie!!” A voice suddenly called out, and the three of them turned to see Vanessa running towards them, holding her babbling baby under her arm like a football.
She came up to their side, panting.
“Where do you think you’re going, young lady? Didn’t we just talk about….” Vanessa started, then trailed off when she saw Laurie.
Laurie reasoned her face must look really bad if it was enough to give Vanessa that horrified expression.
“Oh, poor baby… what happened?” Vanessa's tone softened in an instant, shifting from firm concern to maternal tenderness. The pink-haired woman leaned down, gently resting her hand over Laurie’s that was clutching the icebag. Laurie felt her shoulders drop as she was checked over. Something about the way she fussed made Laurie feel safe and relaxed.
“She got hit by the pitcher, mom. We’re taking her to the doctor,” Rochelle explained. “I want to go with them.”
Their eyes met, and Laurie watched a silent exchange unfold— Rochelle’s expression quietly pleading, her mother’s lined with worry.
Finally, Rochelle’s mom let out a breath of reluctant acceptance. “Ok, sure. You can go with them. I’ll meet you there to pick you up.” She looked up and pinched Rochelle’s cheek.
“Take care of your friend, ok?”
“Thank you mom!” she cried, throwing her arms around her mother in a heartfelt hug that felt unusually affectionate. Laurie couldn’t remember ever seeing Rochelle embrace her mother like that. Normally, she acted a little embarrassed by her mom’s coddling. But tonight felt different. What had they been doing that made Rochelle late? Where had this all come from?
After Rochelle and Vanessa parted, the three made their way towards Coach Dan’s car. Rochelle helped Laurie gingerly climb in, getting in first and offering a hand.
She felt a small surge of gratitude that Paula hadn’t been able to make it to the game tonight as her father climbed in and started the car. She loved her sister, but as the car started moving, she realized her head wouldn’t have survived any of Paula’s extreme swerves or bumps tonight.
She groaned when her dad braked for a yellow light, putting her head in her hands and elbows on her knees. Her head throbbed at each movement and change in pressure, no matter how small. She set aside the ice bag, not having the energy to hold it up anymore.
“Hanging in there, sweety?” Her father asked, his concerned eyes flicking towards her in the rear view mirror. Instead of responding she lifted a shaky thumbs up, hoping it got the message across.
She felt Rochelle put a hand on her back.
“I think it’s getting worse,” she heard her friend murmur.
Yup, Laurie could agree with that.
As she usually did when things felt like they were in a downward spiral, Laurie decided then to pray. Clasping her sweaty palms together, she leaned her forehead on her hands, attempting to stabilize herself further from the motion of the car.
Thank you we won the game and I got a point.
Turn.
Please bless that my head will feel better.
Swerve.
Please bless this will all blow over and we can get pizza.
Bump.
She didn’t know how much time passed, but at some point the car came to a stop, and a gentle hand nudged her shoulder.
“We’re here, Laur.” Rochelle whispered.
Feeling the same kind of gross grogginess she felt when her mom woke her up early for school, she hummed in response, lazily unbuckling her seatbelt.
Her dad had already opened the car door without her realizing, and she took his waiting hand to help her slide out. Despite the easy way her feet met the concrete, the impact seemed to send shockwaves throughout her body, rattling her pounding head.
“Want me to carry you?” her dad asked, ready hands hovering near her.
“Don’t do it. You’ll look like a fainting damsel in distress from some kind of Disney movie,” Sweaty hissed.
Fortunately, her exhaustion made it so she didn’t have the energy to really listen to the blob, too focused on the way the bright red light of the Urgent Care sign seemed to blur and swim in her vision.
Laurie found herself nodding, and her dad didn’t waste a second in scooping her up into his arms. She nuzzled into his hold, feeling like she was six again. His shirt was soft against her cheek, his Old Spice even stronger in her nose.
“Almost there….” he mumbled, his voice pitched a little with forced positivity.
She closed her eyes again to try to block out the annoying lights as they traveled the large parking lot. Rochelle’s footsteps scurried next to them, and she felt a familiar, warm hand grip her limp, dangling one.
It was a welcome comfort. But through it all, Sweaty was screaming in the back of her mind.
Hey, it’s not like you’re dying or anything! Plus, when are you going to tell the Coach that thing you’ve been thinking about…?
“Not now. Go away,” Laurie mumbled, her irritation rising along with her pounding headache.
“What was that, Laurie?” Her father asked.
Distracted by hearing the sound of automatic doors sliding shut behind them, Laurie finally opened her good eye, which was immediately assaulted by bright fluorescent lights.
When her vision adjusted, she saw they were in the Urgent Care waiting room. The last time Laurie had been to the hospital was when she had stuck a Lego in her ear canal at age 4, so she didn’t really know what they looked like.
It was… nicer than Laurie thought it would be. She was for some reason expecting it to be full of wailing patients, blood stained floors, and nurses streaking past with gurneys. Instead, it was a clean, simply decorated room, with rows of cushioned chairs on either side of a front desk. A soothing water feature gurgled in the corner.
There were 10 or so people sitting around, and Laurie tried not to stare. One man was holding a bloody rag tight around his finger. A woman held a crying child on her shoulder, his cheeks flushed with fever. An old man held his stomach, grimacing in pain. She felt people’s eyes as they flicked towards her, curious what the new medical emergency was.
“It’s really not that bad. Do you even deserve to be here? It’s just a headache and a bruise.”
“…Lare-bear?” Her dad asked, and Laurie realized she never answered his question.
“Nothing. Can I get down now?”
His mustache curled in some kind of croissant shaped frown, his face hovering close to her own.
“You sure? If you’re feeling dizzy, honey, I don’t think it’s the best idea…”
“I’m ok. I just… I want to get down.”
Her father sighed, then gently placed her on the ground, giving her shoulder a squeeze. Rochelle was immediately there, looping a supporting arm around Laurie’s waist.
They walked silently towards the front desk, where a middle aged receptionist sat, her hair falling out of a loose ponytail. She glanced up at them from her computer, taking the group in. A flash of sympathy crossed her expression when she landed on Laurie’s swollen eye, which Laurie was mildly impressed by. The woman probably saw all kinds of things; Laurie hadn’t expected her to have any sympathy left to give.
“Hello. Can I get a name and date of birth please?” she said with a slight southern accent.
Coach Dan opened his mouth but Rochelle spoke up first, her posture shifting confidently as she used her “adult voice”.
“Laurie May Foss, August 20th, 2012.”
The corner of the receptionist’s mouth twitched up in amusement. She typed something in.
“Ok, and what symptoms or medical issue is Laurie experienc—“
“She got hit in the face with a high speed softball pitch. Right in the eye. No bleeding, but she’s been dizzy and fatigued. We think it might be a concussion. She needs immediate attention”
The receptionist and Coach blinked at the 12-year-old for a moment, caught off guard, but the woman quickly recovered, clicking away at her keyboard once more. She glanced at Laurie again, her expression softening.
“Is that all correct, Laurie?”
Laurie nodded, rubbing her arm.
The receptionist hummed, and Laurie watched as she pulled out a strip of plastic and wrote some information on it.
“Ok, sweetheart, can you hold out your wrist for me?”
Laurie did as she was asked, and the receptionist clipped the plastic wristband around Laurie’s thin wrist, right next to her friendship bracelet. She then gestured over to the seats.
“Go ahead and have a seat. We will be with you as soon as we can, probably 10-20 minutes.”
Rochelle made a poorly hidden scowl when she heard the wait time, but Laurie grabbed her arm and steered her towards the seats, her father quietly following behind them.
“It’s fine, Rosh. They should get to the people who are bleeding and stuff first.”
“No, they should get to the girl who just got hit in the face with a softball first—”
Rochelle suddenly cut herself off with a gasp, her eyes landing on someone.
“Kai??” she shouted, and Laurie turned to see the star player herself, sitting in the corner with her ankle propped up on a chair in front of her. Both Kai and her dad, who was flipping through a clip board with some medical paperwork, looked up at the sound.
“Oh hey!” Kai said, waving a lazy hand. She looked tired, but a lot more relaxed than she had during the game. Back then, Laurie had been so in her own head she hadn’t really paid attention to everyone else. But taking in the exhaustion written on her friend's face, something told her Kai hadn’t exactly had a good day, either.
“Thought I might see you here, Laurie. That’s one nasty bruise you got there,” Kai said with a sad smile, cocking her chin up towards Laurie’s eye.
Laurie chuckled shyly, shrugging, then winced as another throb pulsed through her head. Kai wordlessly patted the empty seat next to her, and Laurie gratefully sank into it, starting to get dizzy from standing so long. The plastic cushion of the chair deflated beneath her, making it flat and uncomfortable, but Laurie was too pained to care.
To their left, she watched as Coach Dan and Kai’s dad, James, made awkward eye contact. There was a beat of silence, but after a moment James stood up, shuffling towards the coach.
He rubbed his hands together, looking ashamed.
“Hey, uh, Dan… we need to talk. Listen, I’m… I’m sorry about this past week…”
Dan nodded, “Same here, actually…” and the two stepped off to the side, beginning a hushed conversation.
Rochelle took a seat next to Laurie, starting to rub a comforting hand on her back, but it froze when her phone dinged. She pulled it out and scrolled through several texts, the screen’s light reflecting off her glasses.
“Oh… uh, sorry, Laur… gotta call my mom. She went to the wrong Urgent Care, heh heh…” she winked, then turned slightly away, holding her phone up to her ear.
That left Laurie and Kai, both injured and still in their dirty Pickles uniforms, sitting next to each other in silence. Laurie became aware of a smear of red dirt on her pant leg, and started to rub it absentmindedly, as if that alone could take the stain away.
She continued until a hand placed on top of hers, stilling her nervous fidgeting. She turned to look up at Kai, who was smiling, though her eyebrows were silently furrowed in concern.
“Hey… you doing ok?”
Laurie blinked, then shrugged. “I mean, my face hurts, but we won the game, so… I’m alright. I’m happy.”
Kai’s smile slowly shifted to a frown, and she raised an eyebrow skeptically.
“You can be real with me, girl. You know that, right?”
Laurie stared back at her, then looked down at her hands again. She felt Sweaty’s blobby little arms attach to the back of her neck like a leech, breathing heavily in her ear.
“I’m sorry, Laurie,” Kai suddenly said.
Surprised, she turned to look back up at her friend, who was sliding her hand up and down the plastic armrest, looking ashamed.
“Um… what— what for?” Laurie stuttered, baffled. Kai had helped them win the game, Laurie was the one who had hit her with her ball during practice. What on earth was she apologizing for?
Kai shook her head. “I saw how hard that ball hit you, and I just stood there and allowed you to drag yourself to first base just so we could get a shot at another point. I made softball more important than everything— my friends, my ankle, hanging out with my grandma…”
She let out a long breath, then placed her hands behind her head, stretching her back over her chair.
“Softball’s not worth hurting yourself, Laur. I learned that the hard way.” she gestured to her ankle. “And I hate that I let you do it, too. We should have stopped the game and both gotten help.”
Laurie opened then closed her mouth like a fish, at a loss for words. Wasn’t this the MVP of the team talking?
“But... we won,” she stated stupidly, blaming her foggy head for her lack of complex responses.
“It’s just a stupid game, Laurie. We’re middle schoolers. It’s just a thing designed to help kids like us get off the couch and have fun.”
For some reason, those words pierced Laurie’s soul, right in the sensitive spot where she was hiding her anxieties. The growing thing, the idea, the reality of how she felt— that was sitting there like a ticking time bomb that would go off if it ever left her tongue— was screaming inside of her.
“Are… are you having fun, Laurie?” Kai asked, taking her hand again and squeezing it.
Ah. There it was.
Like Kai had finally broken the crack in the dam of her insecurities, everything gushed out Laurie, all that was hidden coming out into the open.
“No, not really.” she said, her voice more stable than she thought it would be.
Kai’s eyes never left Laurie, and she leaned in a little, showing interest but not in a pressuring way.
“Why?”
Laurie shook her head. “I’m not… I’m not good at it. No one says anything, but I know everyone knows it. I’m not athletic, and I feel like a burden on the team. The only real reason I’ve stayed is since…”
She swallowed a lump in her throat. “…since my parents split, I’ve been wanting to spend more time with my dad. I thought softball was the only way. So I’ve been training all day every day this last week. And now, I don’t… I don’t think what I was doing was healthy. It’s been hurting me.”
Laurie squeezed her eyes shut. “I love you guys, and I want to stay friends, but I also want to… I think I want…”
The last couple words got stuck in her throat, her rambling halted.
“You want to quit?” Kai guessed, now rubbing soothing circles on Laurie’s back.
Laurie nodded silently, ashamed.
“Are you scared to tell your dad? You think he’ll be mad at you?”
Laurie nodded again. Kai was really good at reading her mind, it turned out.
Unable to move that much because of the ice bags perched atop her elevated ankle, Kai carefully shifted until she was able to put an arm around Laurie, gently coaxing her to rest her throbbing, heavy head on Kai’s shoulder.
“Your dad loves you. You know that, right?” she said after a moment.
Laurie shrugged a little. “I mean, yeah, I know that…”
She felt Kai’s cheek rest on top of her hair. “I love you, Laurie, but sometimes you get so worried about things you don’t see how much people care about you. Whenever I’ve seen you dad, his eyes are always glued on you with the most tender expression… he’s always huggin’ you, pattin’ your head… if he’s ever kept his distance, it’s just because of people’s stupid nepotism crap they throw his way. But even then, people would have to be blind to see how proud he is of you. And I don’t think it has much to do with you being on the Pickles team.”
Laurie glanced over at her dad, who was now shaking hands with James, seeming to have come to an agreement. He was smiling, even laughing a little. It reminded her of the time they had tried making that human pyramid, and she had tumbled off the top into his arms, the two laughing and rolling around on the ground.
“If you think quitting is what’s healthy for you, Laurie, then you should do it. Tell your dad. He’ll understand.”
“Ok… I’ll think about it,” she finally managed, closing her eyes to ride through another pulsing pain that seized her temples.
“Maybe you can pray about it too, hm?” Kai added, making Laurie smile. She always appreciated when her friends were supportive of her faith, knowing Laurie inside and out.
“Kai Williams?” a voice suddenly called out, and the two girls both sat up straight and turned to see a doctor standing in the entrance to the medical area.
A nurse soon approached with a wheelchair, and James was immediately there at Kai’s side, helping the nurse ease her into it from her seat. As she moved, Kai gave Laurie’s hand one last squeeze.
“We’ll still have sleepovers and stuff even if you leave, ok? You can’t get rid of us that easily,” she whispered, flashing her winning smile.
Laurie smiled back, feeling gratitude for her friend swelling in her chest.
“Thank you, Kai. I hope they help you feel better.”
“You too, girl. Take it easy, ok?”
Then, she was gone, finally wheeled away to get her ankle looked at.
Laurie’s father took the chair that Kai had just left, his arm coming to occupy the same place on her shoulders where Kai’s had just been.
“Doing okay, Lare-bear? How’s your head feeling?”
Laurie shrugged, still mulling over her conversation with her friend. Here her dad was. Was now a good time to talk? …No, probably not, maybe she should wait until she could actually think straight and choose her thoughts carefully.
The area around her eye had been throbbing so consistently she was almost desensitized to it, but her head itself was being especially annoying, aching and spinning, now almost making her feel nauseous. The brightness of the fluorescent lights were getting increasingly bothersome, and she squinted up at her dad.
“...I have a headache,” is what she landed on saying.
Coach Dan made a noise of sympathy, rubbing her arm.
“Just a few minutes longer. They’ll get you looked over to make sure everything is ok, then you can go home and rest. Alright? It’s… it's been a long day.”
“You could say that again,” she mumbled, causing her dad to chuckle. The sound made a small smile of her own appear.
Finally done with her phone call, Rochelle turned towards Laurie, letting out a long breath.
“That woman and directions….” she sighed, rolling her eyes with a smile. She fully faced Laurie, her eyes scanning her up and down. The catcher hovered a hand over Laurie’s face, her brow furrowed.
“Hmmm… I think it’s more swollen than before. Is your vision out of that eye ok? Any blurriness?”
Laurie puckered her lips with curiosity, closing her good eye. She peered around the room, testing her ability to read small print on signs and small details with clothing. She noticed with gratitude that almost every person who had been there before them had been taken in at this point.
“Everything seems ok. You think they’ll give me an eyepatch?”
Rochelle smirked. “If they did, you know you’d rock that look.”
Laurie giggled, feeling a little lighter than she had when they had first entered the waiting room. Their light conversation was soon interrupted, though, when a voice called her name.
“Laurie Foss?”
She turned, and saw a kind-looking Asian woman standing at the doorway.
“Uh… here?” she called awkwardly, raising a hand like she did when Mr. Brown called her name.
Rochelle nudged her playfully. “That means they're calling you to come follow the doctor, genius. It’s not a roll call.”
“Yeah, genius,” Sweaty added, but the blob quickly fell off as Laurie stood up. Rochelle moved to support her, but at that moment, Vanessa burst through the sliding doors, out of breath, her baby latched onto her upper arm like a sloth on a tree branch.
“I’m here! I’m here!” She called out, frantically looking around until her eyes landed on Rochelle and Laurie. She ran up to them, her hands hovering like she wasn’t sure if she should hug them or check them over.
“Oh, my babies… Laurie, have they looked you over yet?”
“We are just about to,” the doctor lady said, walking up to them with a patient smile on her face, though her eyes looked tired.
“Unfortunately, I can only allow Laurie’s guardian to come back with her. Are you this other girl’s mother?”
Vanessa nodded aggressively. “Yes. I can stay with her while you look at Laurie. Get this girl’s face looked at.”
Rochelle immediately looked like she was about to protest, but Laurie gripped her hand.
“It’s fine, Rosh. Thanks for coming with me, it means a lot to me that you stayed. But you can go home now. I’ll text you when we get home, ok?”
Her friend stuck out a lip in a pout, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked between Dan, the doctor, and her mother, then finally let out a sigh of defeat.
She squeezed Laurie’s hand.
“Fine. Choose a cute eyepatch, ok?”
Laurie rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless.
“Ok.”
She felt her dad’s large hand rest on her shoulder. “Thanks Vanessa. I’ll make sure Laurie gets taken care of, no need to worry.”
Vanessa nodded, seemingly relieved to have her daughter in her sight again.
“Right this way, Laurie,” the doctor said, gesturing for them to follow her through the doors. “I’m Dr. Haven, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you,” she automatically said, trying not to wring her hands as they stepped through the doors. The lady must be having a long, tiring night, Laurie reasoned. It was only right that she be treated with politeness and respect.
Dr. Haven smiled, continuing to lead them down the hallway. This new area felt much more like the stereotypical hospitals Laurie saw on TV; white tile, nurses in turquoise scrubs moving with bustling urgency, the occasional gurney being pushed past.
Laurie tried not to stare at the other patients, but something in her chest squeezed when she heard someone cry out in pain from a room nearby.
This place is scary. Is it going to hurt? I bet they’re going to stick you full of needles, Sweaty rambled, who had reappeared on her shoulder.
“It’s ok. Things are alright, they’ll help you feel better,” her dad quickly soothed, almost as if he could hear her anxious thoughts.
They turned a corner, brushing past a few more nurses and doctors, then followed Dr. Haven into a small room with a hospital bench.
“Go ahead and have a seat, Laurie. Let’s give you a little check up, ok?”
Laurie nodded, then hopped up on the bench, paper crinkling underneath her.
Dr. Haven then proceeded to ask Laurie a lot of questions about her dizziness, fatigue and headache. She shined bright lights in her eye, asking her to read small letters, and smoothed her rubber-gloved fingers over Laurie’s bruised skin. They did a few more tests that Laurie didn’t quite understand involving her balance and movement, but Dr. Haven’s face never looked worried so Laurie took that as a good sign.
“It appears to be a mild concussion,” Dr. Haven concluded, smiling as she sat down on her stool. “The good news is that I don’t think things are severe enough to warrant a CT scan, and your eyeball is undamaged. I’ll prescribe you some pain killers, and for the next couple days I recommend you rest in dark or dim rooms with nothing that will strain your eyes like screens or reading. Make sure to keep icing that bruise and avoid any risky activities. I’ll write you a note for school absences this week, if you’d like.”
“That would be great,” Laurie’s dad said, relieved, but Laurie immediately started thinking of all the homework she would need to catch up on and how bored she would be without her phone or books.
“Can I listen to audiobooks and music, at least?” she said quietly, hoping she wasn’t crossing a line by asking.
Dr. Haven smiled, her eyes kind and understanding. “Yes, that’s alright. As long as it doesn’t aggravate your headaches.”
Laurie smiled back, finally feeling some relief from her anxiety over her injury. Just a mild concussion. Everything was fine.
Just like I’ve been trying to tell you. We’ve been making a big deal over nothing, Sweaty said, exasperated.
Laurie zoned out for the rest of the conversation, which was mainly her dad asking questions and clarifying medical instructions. Sleepiness was really starting to hit her now, and she barely registered it as her dad guided her out the room, checking them out and picking up her meds.
Laurie felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Then again. And again. She pulled it out to see the Pickles group chat spammed with messages.
__
Taylor: LAURIE AND KAI R U ALIVE
Hannah: ANSWER US
Tom: Plz be ok we’re worried 😭
Rochelle: They’re both with the doctor rn stop bugging them!!
Taylor: KAI IF YOU BROKE YOUR ANKLE IM GONNA KILL U
Yuwen: Dibs on killing the pitcher who hurt Laurie 😈
Rochelle: NOPE I already called dibs on that, little boy 😤
Yuwen: Together, then 😈😈
Kai: im good just a sprained ankle. Gonna be in a boot for 2 weeks tho 😩
Taylor: UR ALIVE
Hannah: Sorry Kai :( glad it’s not too serious
Tom: Kaaaiiiii 😭😭hope you feel better <3
Terrence: Laurie r u ok??
Rochelle: ^^^^
Taylor: LAURIE PLEASE WE’RE SO SCARED FOR YOUR EYE ASLDFKJAS
__
Laurie couldn’t help but smile down at the messages, feeling a surge of affection for her team. Despite her worries, she knew that they would stay her friends, on or off the team.
“Hey. No screens, remember?” Her dad chided, catching her.
Panicked, Laurie quickly typed and pressed send on her message saying: “mild concussion, im fine. staying home frm school to rest but plz come visit me since I’ll be bored,” before pocketing her phone again, already feeling the buzzes of people’s immediate reactions.
“Sorry.”
They were silent as they walked out, her dad’s supportive grip always staying on her shoulder as if worried she would fall. She had popped a few painkillers when they picked them up at the hospital pharmacy so her headache had thankfully started to dull, but it hadn’t helped a ton with the dizziness.
As they walked, Laurie kept thinking over and over about the events of the last week. About the awful stress of wanting to impress her dad, her self-inflicted and exhausting training regiment, Sweaty’s constant presence.
“…are you having fun, Laurie?"
"No, not really."
As they got in the car, this time with Laurie in the passenger seat, she thought of her conversation with Kai. Deciding to take her advice, she closed her eyes and said a brief prayer, asking if she was making the right decision. As her silent prayer concluded, she felt a warm spark of clarity clear her mind, and suddenly felt the confidence she had so desperately been longing for.
Now pulling out of the hospital parking lot, her dad had awkwardly starting fiddling with the radio dial.
“Go ahead and rest, sweety. I’m going to find a relaxing music station to listen to, let me see if I can find—”
“I think I want to quit softball.”
Her father’s hand froze on the dial, leaving it on radio static.
After a beat, he slowly turned it off, then silently pulled the car over onto the side of a neighborhood street.
Laurie braced herself, not daring to look at his face. She again became fixated on the dirt smudge on her pant leg, rubbing it over and over again. She couldn’t risk seeing his disappointment, his anger, his dreams crushed—
“Why’s that, sweetheart?”
His tone was much softer than she was expecting, and she finally forced herself to glance up at his face. He wasn’t mad, but he did look a little sad. A little confused.
It made guilt swell in her chest, but she was surprised to find Sweaty still hadn’t appeared.
She swallowed, then tried to say words that made sense. That expressed what she was feeling. It felt slightly easier after having voiced them to Kai.
“I… I feel like it doesn’t make me happy. This week I was really anxious about the game… even more than usual… It was really bad. I’m not good at it and I just… I don’t think it’s for me.”
Laurie watched her father’s face carefully. He was listening intently, his expression not revealing much.
Finally, he closed his eyes, let out a breathy sigh, then opened them, revealing a soft smile illuminated by the street lamps.
“Okay,” he said.
Laurie felt her clenched hands slowly relax. “Okay?” she repeated, her voice squeaking a little.
He nodded. “It’s okay, Lare-bear. If you feel like softball isn’t making you happy, that’s enough for me. I saw how stressed you were back there when you were batting, I don’t want to keep putting you through that.”
His eyebrows then scrunched in concern, an expression she had become familiar with in the last couple hours. “Were you worried I would be mad? Laurie, you know I could never be mad at you.”
"Your dad loves you. You know that, right?"
Laurie looked down at the smudge again. “I don’t know… I guess I was a little worried. I just… I thought this is what you wanted for me. That’s why I stayed on the team even though I’m bad at it. I…” she swallowed. “I wanted to spend more time with you.”
Her dad let out another breath, this one sounding sad. “Oh, Laurie… come here.”
Though slightly awkward with a car compartment between them, Laurie unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over as much as she could so her head was resting on his side, his arm coming to wrap around her.
“I’m so sorry that you felt that way, Laurie,” he mumbled, his voice sounding pained. “I’m sorry for a lot of things, actually. I’m sorry that I left you alone on the field that night. I’m sorry that I blew up at the game. I’m sorry I didn’t rush you to a doctor the moment you got hit. It’s no excuse at all, but… I’ve been dealing with a few things of my own and let myself get too preoccupied with them.”
He stroked a hand over Laurie’s fuzzy hair, smoothing down a few frizzies.
“We don’t need softball as an excuse to hang out. In fact, I’m going to insert myself in your life so much you’re going to be embarrassed about it.”
“Daaaad,” she chuckled, slapping his arm weakly.
He shook his head, “But Laurie, the most important thing is that I love you no matter what. The Pickles love you no matter what. I’m sure you’re going to find so many fulfilling, good ways to spend your time outside of softball. And I’m so excited to watch you grow through all of it.”
Laurie felt warm tears start to stream down her cheeks, tears that were long overdue. Her father held her as she cried, kissing her head and whispering how proud he was of her, promising he would get them rootbeer floats later.
After a while, when her sobs died down to hiccups and sleepiness tugged on her eyelids, he started driving them again, one hand on the wheel, the other on Laurie’s shoulder. Halfway through the drive back, Laurie couldn’t help but laugh at her father’s horrified expression when he suddenly realized he had forgotten to call her mother throughout all of this.
She fell asleep leaning her head back on the headrest, a smile pushing into her tear-crusted cheeks.
Sweaty was nowhere to be found, and would be for a long while.