The Hitting Zone

We stuck near Kyle throughout lifting, dinner, and so on. Even when it was time for showers, we took shifts waiting, keeping an eye on Zeke and Dave, making sure Kyle didn't have the chance to talk to either of them alone.

A problem came up as we got ready for bed...how were we supposed to follow him when we have our own room to sleep in? We tried keeping Kyle up in the living room, hoping that Dave and Zeke would fall asleep before us, but it was no use. Mrs. Atkins ordered everyone to get to bed before 11pm.

"But it's spring break!" Noah puffed out his lower lip to pout.

"You still have practice tomorrow morning." She reminded him.

"I'll take a nap after lunch!" He argued.

"Then you won't be able to go to the cages in the afternoon." Mr. Atkins smiled. "Okay, that's enough of you. Get to bed. Zeke said your practice is at 9am?"

Noah nodded weakly and up we went, back to our own room to sleep. "Dang. I really thought this would be our chance."

I yawned. "Yea, but now we get to go to the cages after lunch."

"Do you think that was a trick to distract us? Do they know that we know that they're hiding something?"

I flipped in my bed, lying on my stomach. "Who knows. I'm too tired." I mumbled. We had a game and weightlifting today...my body was exhausted.

The next morning, Noah woke me up and tried to pull me out of bed. I immediately started to cry. Not because I didn't want to get out of bed, but because I couldn't. Every part of my body was screaming at me to not move.

"Jake??" Noah froze and just held me in place. "What's wrong?"

"Everything hurts." I groaned.

"Oh." Noah resumes his tugging. "You're fine. I hurt too after the first time I ever lifted. Come on. Get up. Let's go. We need to make a move on Kyle."

"Nooo." I pulled myself back into bed and curled into a ball. "I refuse."

"You know...we still have practice."

"Not going."

"You can't just skip practice."

"Sick day." I mumbled, letting my eyes close and my muscles go back into a relaxed position.

I heard Noah run out and soon came back with extra footsteps behind him. "Look! He's dying!"

"Stop joking like that." Mrs. Atkins scolded. She moved closer to the bed. "Jake? Honey? Are you okay?"

"No." I gave a crystal clear reply, hoping they would all go away. My body hurts like it was stretched out, washed, then tossed in the dryer. It was similar to how I felt during rehab.

"Should we go to a hospital? Take him to a doctor?" Mrs. Atkins sounded worried.

"Hold on." Mr. Atkins said. "Jake? Is it painful or sore? You know what the difference is right? Does it hurt or is it an injury?"

"Just...super sore." I grumbled. "Everything hurts. My neck, all the way down to my feet."

"Okay, I'll call your coach first to see what we should do. Maybe he'll want you to stay at home and rest."

Ah. That would be great.

It sounded like he left the room to make the call. Mrs. Atkins was questioning Noah on what we did in the gym yesterday and why he had pushed me so hard.

"I didn't mom, I swear." Noah stated. "We even had Kyle with us to make sure he was learning properly. But, it was Jake's first time. Maybe we went overboard, getting him to try everything."

Maybe? Definitely. I didn't even want to clench a fist because all my forearm muscles would hurt. This can't be okay.

Mr. Atkins soon came back. "Okay Jake, I spoke with Coach. He suggested I put you in an ice bath before you go to practice."

"I don't want to go anywhere." I forced out.

"Don't say that Jake! It's baseball!" Noah exclaimed.

"Trust me, the ice bath will help." Mr. Atkins explained. "Then, at practice, the coach said he would ask Drew to come by."

I groaned some more. What part of not practicing did they not understand? Drew would just make things harder.

"Don't forget that Drew is an athletic trainer. He'll know how to give you a massage and how to help with the soreness." Mr. Atkins started to pull the comforter off of me. "Let's go. Noah, have your brothers bring up some bags of ice so we can fill the tub."

"Okay!" Noah took off.

Mr. Atkins lifted me up and let my feet dangle so I could stand on my own two feet. "I'll leave you to change into something lightweight so you can wear it in the tub." He let go of me and then him and his wife left the room, closing the door behind them.

At this point, I was wide awake and already forced to move. I couldn't go on fighting with them so I did what was suggested and found some clothes to wear in the ice bath. Then I took extremely small steps towards the bathroom. I shuffled my feet all the way there, finding the whole household filling the little bit of space.

"Make some room boys." Mr. Atkins told his kids.

"Why don't the rest of us go finish breakfast?" Mrs. Atkins suggested to the four boys. "We'll give Jake some alone time to wake up and to feel refreshed." She smiled at me. "I'll pack you a breakfast to-go." She then ushered all four of them out before they could protest or anything, leaving me alone with Mr. Atkins.

Mr. Atkins finished filling up the tub with cold water, then started to fill it up with all the ice the boys brought up from the freezer. "That should do it. Go ahead and get in. I'll time you."

I nodded and took a deep breath before placing a foot in. Hsss. So cold. So freakin cold. I forced the other heavy leg in, then slowly lowered my whole body in.

"There you go." Mr. Atkins smiled as the only part that remained dry was my head. "Keep like that for a few minutes and you'll feel as good as new."

My lips twitched. "I highly doubt it."

Mr. Atkins looked surprise before letting out a light laugh. "Yea? We'll see. Coach won't make you do anything too difficult today."

"Will the team look down on me if I sit out?" I asked. "I don't mean to be a baby, but my body really hurts."

He waved his hand back and forth. "Some might be just as sore as you. Everyone, at one point or another, will need a day of rest for their body. That's just as important as practicing."

I shrugged my shoulders under the ice-cold water, but regretted the sting. Ohh. Stop moving, dummy.

With such a rare moment alone with Mr. Atkins, I thought about the witch hunt Noah and I were conducting. He knew I would be upset about something and hid it away. He didn't want the other boys to say anything either. Plus, they didn't tell Noah.

"Will we see Dr. Moore this week?" I asked, hoping that the answer was yes.

"Do you want to? Do you need to?"

I couldn't tell the difference when it came to Dr. Moore. I just went. I gave a firm nod. "I feel better after seeing him."

Mr. Atkins looked happy to hear that. "Great. Good. I'll make sure we can get an appointment either tonight or tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." I pushed it off. My body was already beat up. I didn't want to beat up my brain just yet.

"Sure, sure. Just me and you? Just you? Do you want to try going with Mary?" He asked eagerly.

"Me, you, and Noah." I decided. If I was going to use Dr. Moore to get answers, then I might as well invite my partner in crime. And, Noah was better at deflecting than I could ever be.

Mr. Atkins didn't find it weird or suspicious that Noah would be joining in. He just nodded along, oddly excited. "I'll make the call after you boys get going." A noise came from his cellphone. He checked it. "Time's up! You should come out now." He pulled a towel off the rack and held it out for me as I forced myself up and out. He wrapped the towel around my shoulders as I shivered. "Dry off properly and change into some warm athletic clothes. You won't have to play baseball, but you'll be stretching and might still work up a sweat."

I nodded at his instructions.