The Hitting Zone

After a few minutes, I felt the surroundings get quieter and was almost lulled to sleep if it wasn't for the fact that I felt someone was touching me. My eyes burst open and I started to struggle.

"Woah! Calm down! Steady!" A warm voice tried to soothe me as his arms tightened around my shoulders and under my knees. It was then I realized that I was being carried. By Mr. Atkins. I looked around frantically, trying to figure where I was and what was going on. "Jake? Jake, it's okay."

I looked up at him, squinting. "Where are we?" We we're no longer at the baseball field, or even at Porterville High School. We were in a long hallway, with a light brown on the walls. "Where's my shoes? My hat?" I started to notice things that were missing. I didn't fall asleep. Or...did I? I thought I didn't, but nothing was familiar right now. Except for the man that was carrying me.

"We're at a doctors office." Mr. Atkins squatted and put me down on my feet, which were only covered by socks. "You fell asleep right after the game when the trainer was administering the oxygen. How are you feeling?"

"I fell asleep..?" I mumbled, still not believing him. It didn't feel like I slept at all. More like a blink. I merely rested my eyes.

Mr. Atkins looked concerned. "Yep, dead to the world. Scared Noah, but we explained that you were probably exhausted from the intense activity at a high elevation. Come, let gets to the doctors office and get you checked in. Mary had called ahead."

"Called ahead? When? Where is she? Where are the boys?" I looked around still in that empty hall but I was expecting them to show up any minute.

Mr. Atkins gave me a strange look. "They're already home, I believe. I took you straight to our family physician from the field. Noah packed up your cleats and hat for you, but I forgot about your regular shoes."

"So...it's been a few hours..?" I paused, trying to calculate the time it would take to drive all the way back to Watsonville.

"Yes, it's almost 9pm." He put his hand on my back and started to guide me towards this supposed doctors office. "We should mention this lost of time to Dr. Walker. He sees all the boys so don't be too nervous."

"Doctors don't make me nervous." I replied, still trying to piece together the afternoon and evening that have now disappeared. "I spent almost half a year with them. Women doctors and nurses just give me the creeps though. It was weird to go from a woman, who would beat me for no reason, to then suddenly have a woman around my mom's age to change my bandages."

We arrived at an office door, and walked into a little lobby. An older woman was seated behind the glass. She looked up and smiled at the sight of us. Slightly creeping me out. "Hello, Wayne. We were just wondering when you would get here. You can head on back to examination room number one. I'll let him know you both made it."

Mr. Atkins returned her smile with one of his own. "Thanks Anna. As you can guess, this is Jake. Jake, this is Anna May. She's the receptionist and nurse for Dr. Walker."

I nodded at her.

Mr. Atkins guided me through another door, and we came to a small hallway of multiple doors. We entered through one labeled 'Exam One' and he sat down on a side chair, leaving me the exam table. I sighed and hopped up.

We didn't even wait a full minute before an older gentleman walked in with a white lab coat on. He shook Mr. Atkins hand immediately. "Hello, Wayne. Good to see you. How are the boys doing? Baseball going well?"

Mr. Atkins smiled. "Yes, everything is great with the four. Here, this is Jake. Our foster son. He's the one we called you about."

"Right." He faced me and the wrinkles by his eyes multiples when he smiled at me. "Jake. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand for me to shake, so I did so. "I'm Dr. Darien Walker, a family physician. Wayne called my office earlier to ask of I could stay in late to see you. What brings you in tonight?"

"We just came from a game in the mountains and I think he may have had altitude sickness. The game was up in Porterville. He had trouble breathing and right after the game, even with an oxygen mask it seems like he passed out. I say this because he just woke up in the hallways and had some mild confusion as if he didn't know he fell asleep."

Dr. Walker looked at Mr. Atkins. "Wayne. I know you like to be involved, but you should know that I like to hear it from my patients."

Mr. Atkins' smile started to look forced. "Well, Jake is a little bit special. I was able to have his medical records sent over before we arrived, but not his psyche records. He suffers from social anxiety and selective mutism."

"Ah." He looked at me. "Do you mind answering my questions? If not, we can figure out something else to do to help you. But for a more accurate diagnosis, it's always best to hear it from the patient and for the patient to be honest."

I swallowed. "It's okay. I'm okay with just us."

He smiled. "Okay. Let's start with when you started to feel unwell."

"I didn't feel sick at first. I was just having trouble breathing after running around the bases. It got easier after the athletic trainer brought an oxygen thingy to help me. And then after the game I started to feel sick to my stomach. Then I woke up here."

"Okay." He pulled up to a computer and started to type, probably inputting my information. "Let's talk about your medical history first."

Ahhh. This is gonna take awhile then. I let out a dejected sigh.