The Hitting Zone

The drive home was rather quiet. Dad asked me if I wanted anything to eat for lunch, but I wasn't feeling it. My body ached to the point where it was comparable to baseball training. I just wanted to lay down. When we got home, no one was there to greet us. It was completely quiet.

"They probably went out for lunch." Dad said. "Let's set you up in the living room so you can watch tv and rest."

I nodded.

Dad went up to my room and got my pillow and comforter. He then helped me lay down, put the blanket on me, and turned the tv on. "Any special requests?"

"Is there a baseball game on?" I asked, feeling a little drowsy from the pain. It didn't help that Dad tucked me in. I feel like it really is bed time.

"I'm sure there's an east coast game I can find." He told me, flipping through the channels. He settled on the Atlanta Braves playing the New York Mets. He placed the remote near me on the armrest. "I'll be in the office if you need anything."

I fell asleep soon after he left. The sleep wasn't good with my whole torso hurting, but I didn't really wake up until I heard the doorbell ring. I could hear a bunch of people whispering and slowly opened my eyes. Only to find out that I wasn't alone in the room.

"Dang it." Noah muttered. "You guys woke him up."

"It wasn't me." Dave said defensively. "I told Mitchell in the text not to ring the doorbell."

I looked around at all the people currently in our living room. It felt like everyone I knew from baseball was here.

"Hey Bambi, how ya feeling?" Garret squatted down to be eye level with me.

I rubbed my eyes, making sure that I wasn't dreaming. When I confirmed I was awake, I looked around at everyone. "What are you guys doing here..?"

"Sending you some well wishes!" Garret grinned. "You didn't tell us that you were having a procedure today. We had to find out from Dave's Instagram."

I looked at Dave.

He looked away, seemingly guilty. "I didn't share anything. Just said good luck to you on your procedure today. I didn't mean to invite everyone over."

"Oh." I said. Then did another look around. A few faces were missing, but there was some surprising appearances. "And...you guys...were just watching me sleep..?"

They all started to laugh.

"No!" Garret told me. "We were watching the game quietly so you could rest." He pointed at Mitchell who stood in the doorway with Kyle. "It's his fault that you woke up. So if you're cranky, blame him."

Mitchell scratched his chin. "Sorry, I didn't check my phone. I came over in a hurry."

I pursed my lips. "I'm okay. Just sore and tired."

"What did you have done?" Garret asked. "The twins and Noah wouldn't say."

They came all this way...it would be rude not to say. I cleared my throat. "Scar removal treatment." It's not like the guys didn't know I had issues. "I had a lot of uneven, ugly scars. The laser treatment supposedly will make it smooth and more uniform. Best case scenario, they'll be small and white, not standing out so much."

"Did it hurt?" Jason asked, sitting on the floor in front of the tv.

I shrugged. "A bit. My torso aches. I should be good to go in a couple of days."

"I'm glad it's nothing serious." Andy spoke up. "I hope you feel better soon."

"Me too." A lot of the guys echoed.

The doorbell rang again as the guys were speaking all at once. Kyle was the closest so he left, then came back with Alisha. She was holding a bunch of different balloons and a tray of cookies.

She awkwardly stood in the doorway looking around at everyone. She shifted from foot to foot. She made eye contact with me. "Jake! How are you?" She started to tiptoe around the guys spread out on the floor. She reached me, almost elbowing Garret out of the way. "I brought you some cookies and balloons. I hope you like them."

Helpless, I looked to Noah, who was seated by my feet.

Noah got up. "I'll take the cookies!"

"Boo!"

"You better be sharing with the rest of us!"

"Noah won't."

"Agreed."

"Just pass them around." I waved my hand at Noah lightly.

Noah took the tray of cookies from Alisha and opened it. He offered me one first, but I shook my head. I was still feeling a little queasy. Noah took one for himself then passed it around to the others.

Alisha then made him take the balloons as she took over the spot he was originally in.

Noah rolled his eyes and took the balloons out of the room. I pulled my legs up to make room for him before he got back.

Everyone just sort of hung out and watched baseball together, eating the cookies Alisha brought. It was an unexpected surprise seeing the guys show up to make sure I was alright.

"I really appreciate it, you guys." I whispered before falling back asleep.

The next time I woke up, it was just me and Noah on the couch, baseball still playing in the background.

"Where'd everyone go..?" I mumbled.

"Mom kicked them out." Noah explained. "She was mad that we let them come over while you were resting. Make sure to tell her that it was okay." He got up and looked me over. "Are you sure you're okay? You've been sleeping all day. You didn't even wake up when Mom came to take your temperature."

I slowly sat up, grimacing. "I'm just really sore. Like someone beat me up. Which...I think the laser did."

Noah looked at me, worried. "I told you, you didn't have to do this. No one is going to judge you for your scars."

"It's something I really wanted to do though." I told him. "I don't like how insecure it makes me feel. I want to learn how to swim without worrying about the stares."

Noah sighed. "If you think it helps then okay..."

I looked around. "Where's Mom and Dad? The twins? Zeke?"

"The twins are playing in the backyard with Mitchell and Garret. The two of them invited themselves over for dinner." He told me. "Zeke and Dad are looking over the cubbie they built in our closet. Zeke said he would clean your bats for you and start putting them away. Mom should be in the kitchen."

I slowly got up from the couch and stretched.

"Do you want to go to the kitchen table?" Noah asked.

I nodded. "Yea, I'm finally getting hungry."

He walked beside me as I slowly shuffled my feet to the kitchen. When I sat down in my usual seat, he went to tell Mom that I was hungry.

Mom came out with a bowl of soup immediately with Noah trailing behind her. "I just started on the grilled cheese sandwiches so you'll have to wait a few more minutes."

"I think I'm okay with just soup." I told her. "Thanks."

"Okay, honey. Just let me know if you need anything else." She looked to Noah. "Go around and tell everyone that dinner will be soon."

Noah took off, heading upstairs first.

The table started to fill up quickly. Everyone that sat down asked me how I was and I responded that I was just sore. It was a good night and very comforting to know that so many people cared about me. It's something I didn't have until these last couple of months.