The Hitting Zone

~~~~~NOAH~~~~~

Jake looked like he was shutting down. I felt helpless to stop it.

"Roberts! Get on that field! Noah, Zeke, you both get out there too. I'll keep an eye on Jake." Coach's yelled at us to take the field.

I didn't want to go, but Zeke grabbed me by my collar and dragged me onto the field as we followed John.

"Zeke, something's happening to him. We can't just leave him with Coach. He's going to feel scared and get agitated. He might run if I'm not watching." I swatted him hand off my jersey.

Zeke glanced at the dugout then back at me. "Jake isn't feeling anything. He's despondent. What he needs is a therapist, not some kid who might make him feel worse."

I frowned. "Let me go tell dad then." I thought about what we overheard the other night. "Dad would know what to do."

Zeke sighed. "Fine, but don't waste anymore time. The umpire is already giving us looks." He left me to get to his position.

I jogged to the fence behind home plate, trying to look for my parents.

"What do you think you're doing?" The umpire approached me. "It's time to get back to the game. Get in position or get in the dugout."

"My teammate has a medical emergency." I didn't spare him a glance. I spotted my mom and dad in the middle row, near the steps. I waved at them. "Hey! Hey! Dad!"

The crowd started to point at laugh, but I didn't care. My dad looked embarrassed as he made his way down the stands to me. He towered over me, making me feel a little more calm. "What is it? Why are you stopping the game like this?"

"Dad. It's not me. It's Jake." I quickly explained. "Something happened and now he's not responding to anyone. Even me! No talking, no eye contact, barely any movement. Coach is taking him out of the game."

"That's strange. Did you guys accidentally trigger him?"

"What? I don't know. I don't think so."

"I'm giving you ten seconds to get back to your position." The umpire said from beside me.

"Just get to the dugout." I pleaded to my dad one last time before running to my spot.

Garret made sure I was ready before turning back to Jordan. He got the first guy to fly out to Mahki in left field. The next guy struck out looking. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, I couldn't wait to get back to the dugout. By now, I could see that my dad was sitting by Jake and Coach was standing near, not even watching the game.

A loud ping grabbed my attention. I caught a glimpse of the ball soaring above me. I turned and watched it go over the right field fence. A homerun. 7-3.

I turned back to Garret to try and make sense of what had happened. But he didn't look like he believed it either. He examined his fingers like they would have the answer.

"Don't mind! It's only one! Let's get the next batter!" I slapped my glove a few times, trying to sound tough. Garret clenched his hand and gave a nod before facing the next batter. Internally, I wanted to freak out. Jake wasn't being his normal self and neither is Garret. He's never given up a homerun before. Hopefully he can hold them here.

The following batter was the cleanup hitter. He had a double last time. I wiggled my shoulders and got loose. Garret faced him with less strength than normal. The guy was able to get ahold of his high fastball and sent it high and away. I turned and watched it as it went over my head. Luckily he hit it towards center where the distance is longest. Zeke caught the fly at the fence. Warning track power. I sighed with relief and then bolted back to the dugout.

My dad was sitting next to Jake with a few inches between them. "Well? Is he better?"

My dads lips pulled up. "It's a process Noah. You can't really define better. Is he better than where he started? Maybe. Is he better than half an hour ago? Maybe not. Don't worry so much. I'll watch him. We'll take him home. And then after a good nights sleep, we'll take him to see Dr. Moore."

"His therapist?" I furrowed my brows. "You can't fix him?"

"Jake doesn't need fixing." My dad corrected. "He just needs to know how to face things head on. He needs to know that we'll be there for him." He looked past me. "Do you guys know when this started? It'd help to know the trigger."

I turned to see Zeke right behind me. "Somewhere between his hit and Sean's flyout. Normally he would at least look nervous about missing cues on what he should do like tagging and scoring. He didn't even look my way. But he looked normal when he was batting."

Dad got up and started to pack Jakes bag. "Well I'm going to guide him to the car. Maybe some quiet will do him good."

I held out my arm. "No. Let him stay for the rest of the game. So he'll know we won. That might cheer him up. He's more talkative when baseball is involved."

Dad looked skeptical.

"I think so as well." Zeke nodded. "Jake was rather talkative today compared to normal. He was asking questions and that's why it's so surprising that he would clam up so suddenly."

Dad set Jakes bag on the ground, all packed up. "Okay. It's only another inning. Hopefully the win will cheer him up."

I nodded. Then I went to my bag to grab my bat and helmet. I was supposed to be on the on deck circle already.