The Hitting Zone

The orthro surgeon showed up before Kaylee's parents. He asked us to leave so they could look over the arm and then go over the imaging one more time. We had to say our goodbyes to her and wished her all the luck. The vascular surgeon appeared with the anesthesiologist as we were ushered out. Drew stayed with Kaylee and we went down to the lobby to wait.

Marie and he head coach showed up first and Kyle gave the update. She was prepping for surgery now. Drew came down with the official notice that they put her under and took her in. Her parents showed up half an hour later, looking more concerned than I have ever seen them.

Drew greeted them first, explaining in detail what had happened so far. They went to Marie next, hugging her tightly like they were afraid that something like this could have happened to her. Kyle went over and spoke to them in low tones.

"I still don't like them." Noah muttered under his breath.

"At least they showed up." I whispered. "With their speed, they must have left as soon as they got the news."

"That's doing the bare minimum." Noah whispered back. "Don't be impressed."

It was a long waiting game out in the lobby. Noah sent a few texts out to friends of Kaylee's including Alisha. There wasn't much to be said until the surgeon came out.

"Family of Kaylee Akerman?" He scanned the waiting room, resting his eyes on our group which started to stand up. He came over. "Good news, the surgery was successful. She's in recovery right now and will be moved back to her room once she starts waking up."

"That's great. Thank you!" Marie's mom, Diana shook the doctor's hand.

"What went wrong? How could her arm break like this?" Their dad, Greg asked. "Kaylee has fallen so many times before. Even Marie. How long will her recovery be? Will she be able to play softball by next spring?"

"With any fall, there's a chance of things not going right. A freak accident." The doctor said. "What happened to Kaylee isn't super rare, but not exactly common either. She had something called a Galeazzi Fracture." He lifted his right arm and started to point. "It's when there's a fracture closer to the wrist with the dislocation of the radioulnar joint."

"She dislocated her wrist too?" Noah interrupted.

"Yes, but not to worry. She is young enough where we can try to let her heal with closed reduction and splinting. After she gets her stitches out and the open wound to heal up without infection, she'll be in a cast for a few weeks."

"So we can't put the cast on her now?" Diana asked.

The doctor shook his head. "Not yet. Let the swelling go down and the stitching to heal. When we clear the infection period, we can discuss her casting."

"Will we have to do this here?" Greg asked. "We're not local to the area."

The talk shifted to just her parents as they discussed post-operative care. Who they should contact. Where they should go. What about physical therapy and the recovery timeline.

Dave pulled me and Noah away. "Give them some space. This is out of our hands now."

Kyle left them alone too, following us. "I guess we should…start heading home? Grampa is probably waiting up for us."

"We aren't going to wait and stay until she wakes up?" Noah asked.

I looked at the twins too. Hopeful.

Kyle looked at Dave. And Dave looked at Kyle. Dave shrugged. Kyle sighed. We waited an extra half an hour until we were told that Kaylee was moved to her room.

Marie and her parents went in first to talk to her. Marie came out a few minutes later to wave us in. Noah and I went to her bedside immediately as the twins hung back.

Kaylee squinted at us like she couldn't see clearly. "You losers are still here?"

"Just wanted to make sure you didn't bail on us." Noah cracked a smile.

I could see her parents frowning, but I just avoided eye contact with them. I scooted closer so she could see me better. "Can I take a picture for Alisha? She's worried."

"Seriously?" Kaylee let out a sudden laugh. "Okay. Sure. But you have to be in it too."

"Me too." Noah took his phone out and handed it to Dave. "Here. Get a shot of us. Photographic evidence. The beginning of Kaylee's comeback."

"That has a good ring to it." Dave smiled. Noah got on the right side of her broken arm and leaned in. "Kaylee's comeback on three. One, two, three!"

"Kaylee's comeback!" Noah was the only one to say it.

"How's my hair?" Kaylee started to slur her words. "If it's ugly, I better not see it again. You hear me, Noah?"

"Sure, sure." Noah waved her worries away. "Who cares about your hair anyways?"

Kaylee looked at me. "Jake. Did it hurt this much?"

I was taken aback. "Did what hurt?"

"Your mom. She beat you with a baseball bat. I feel like I've been beaten with one too." Her eyes were slowly closing as she started to nod off.

I reached out to hold her good hand. "You'll be okay. It only hurts for a little while."

"I'm not going to be able to drive." She mumbled, losing coherency.

"I'll teach you to drive when you're better." Marie came over to reassure her. "You can have my car when I go to college."

"Your car's ugly." Kaylee said before she started letting out small snores.

Marie walked us out. "Thanks for sticking around." She hugged Kyle.

"No problem." Kyle kissed her on the top her head. "You did great today. Don't tire yourself out taking care of your sister. Your parents and the nurses are here to do that. Actually, do you want to just ride home with us? We can drop you off."

Marie shook her head. "No. I want to stay here with Kaylee. That injury was traumatic and I can't imagine how she must feel. I probably won't be in school tomorrow."

"We're going to head to the car while you guys say goodbye." Noah rolled his eyes. Dave and I were right behind him, not interested in the lovey-dovey scene between Kyle and Marie. "They always act like they aren't going to see each other for a long time. It's so gross."

"You dummy." Dave slapped him upside the head. "They aren't going to see each other for awhile when Kyle goes pro. And then she goes to college. They don't even know where in the country he'll end up."

"Still think it's lame." Noah defended.

"That's because you aren't in love with anyone." Dave laughed. "You just can't relate."

We got in the elevator and took it down to the first floor. We backtracked our steps to the main lobby and waited for Kyle there.

"Are you okay, Jake?" Noah glanced at me. "You've been kind of quiet. Did Kaylee bringing up your birth mother put you in a mood?"

I shook my head. "Not really. I mean, it was a surprise but-" I stopped and shrugged. "It sucks that she has to go through this though."

"All sport injuries suck." Dave said. "Anything that can take the game away from you; it takes the wind out of the sails. Hopefully she's back to throwing in a couple of months."

"She will be." Noah said confidently. "This is nothing. Kind of like when the season ends anyways. A bit of a break." He pulled out his phone and looked at the picture that was taken. "I'll send this to Alisha. She'll be happy to know that we stayed and talked with her after the surgery."