by Sara Daniell
He nodded and grabbed a ball. “Get warmed up.” He looked past me. “Brink’s here.”
“Where’d you go last night, kiddo?” Brink asked as he came over dressed in a suit.
“With my no-good brother,” Coach mumbled before walking off.
Brink shook his head. “Give him time. He’ll come around.”
“You’re not dressed for practice.” I didn’t want to talk about Zach and me.
“Yeah. You don’t think I can play in my suit?” He teased.
“Can you play at all?” I smirked a little.
He loosened his tie. “Well, let’s see.”
He took off his jacket and grabbed a glove. His tie hung loosely. He waited for me to throw the ball and when I did, missed it completely.
I laughed. “Try again. I’ll go easy on ya.”
He rolled his eyes. “I know that look.” He pointed to my face. “It’s the same look Zach gave me when he was trying to teach me.”
I smiled and watched as the rest of the guys show up.
Dane ran over, picked me up, and spun me around. “You’re back!”
I laughed. “I only missed one practice!”
“One too many!” Trevor said as he took me from Dane and hugged me tight.
All the guys huddled around me as high fives and hugs were passed around. Coach Elliot blew his whistle.
“Okay. Let’s get to work, and don’t forget: my house, Saturday for team-bonding time.”
Trevor looked around. “Coach, where’s Zach?”
Coach Elliot didn’t answer. He blew his whistle again, and we began.
Brink was utterly useless when it came to baseball. He tried and tried and tried, but he sucked. I looked over at Dane as practice came to an end.
“Zach has to come back,” Dane said quietly so Coach Elliot wouldn’t hear.
“Well I fucked that up.” And I was going to put my damn foot down about it. I stomped over to Coach. “This practice was bullshit!” I yelled. I looked at Brink. “No offense.”
“None taken,” he said with a smile. He looked at Elliot. “Dude, I suck at baseball. You know this. I mean, while you and Zach played sports, I went to college.”
“What do you expect me to do about it?” Coach asked as he started packing up.
“Let Zach help,” I said.
“That would be a no.”
“You’re being a dick!” I yelled.
All the guys had been talking to one another, but now it was super quiet.
Coach Elliot looked at me. “I can’t trust him,” he said softly. “I trusted him with my team, and he took advantage.”
“He did not! You act like he had everything to do with this, and I had no fault in it! I’m not some wimpy little girl that just falls at the hands of some hot guy! I have a fucking head on my shoulders!”
“What’s going on?” Gabe asked, and Coach shushed him.
Coach grabbed the bags from Brink. “Yes, I can tell by how you’re handling this situation that you have a head on your shoulders,” he said sarcastically. “Before him, you had goals and a plan. Now what, Hales? Because that guy is going nowhere fast!” He snapped then walked away from all of us.
What the hell did that even mean? I still had goals. I chased after him, completely bawling at this point. I walked in front of him so he had to stop.
“Are you fucking kidding me? Before him? I have goals, and that hasn’t changed! The only thing that has changed is that I finally realized that my dad is an abusive asshole when it comes to baseball and that you’re a jerk!”
He started to walk around me, but I blocked him.
“But here I am! I’m back and on my terms! Your brother is amazing, and if you can’t see that, then you’re the one with the problem, not him!”
Dane came over and moved me away from Elliot. “Come on, you need to calm down.”
“Elliot, go home and calm down before you regret what—” Brink stopped talking as Coach got in his car door and drove off.
I was shaking I was so mad.
“Why don’t you head to the house? Get cleaned up, and I’ll come hang out with you,” Dane said, trying to cheer me up.
“I don’t want to be anywhere near Coach right now. I’ll be with Zach. Be sure to tell him I’m letting his hot brother fuck my brains out, and we’re doing drugs too.” I opened my trunk, threw my stuff in, and slammed it shut.
Brink looked so uncomfortable.
“Hales.” Dane stood in front of my door. “Calm down before you get behind the wheel.”
Brink looked at me. “Hales, he will come around eventually. He just needs to—” Brink stopped talking when his phone dinged. He cursed. “Umm, Dane I need your help with Zach.”
“What now?” Dane asked.
He handed Dane his phone.
“Oh shit.” He handed Brink’s phone back to him. “Hales, I’m not letting you drive right now. Just come with us.”
I got in the truck with Brink and Dane. Brink drove until we got to the restaurant. Quinn was waiting for us at the back door.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I got out.
“Elliot’s having a rather heated, one-sided discussion with Zach. They’re in Zach’s office.” Quinn looked nervously at Brink. “I don’t think Hales and Dane should be here.”
Brink cocked an eyebrow at her. “Dane can calm him down, and Hales is in the middle of all this.”
I walked past all of them. When I neared the office, Elliot came out. He didn’t say a word to any of us as he left the restaurant. Zach was sitting in his chair with his head in his hands. I went in and shut the door behind me. I locked it so everyone would leave us alone.
“Zach?”
He slowly looked up at me. “Hey. How was practice?” He asked, trying to give me a smile.
I came around and sat down in his lap. I hugged him tightly. “I’m so sorry.” Tears started to fall.
He hugged me tightly for a moment then had me stand up. He stood and ran his hands through his hair. “I’m sorry too, Hales.” He wiped my tears. “We can’t—” He stopped talking as his voice shook. “I can’t do this anymore.” He picked up his keys and took a key off his keychain. “I know you don’t want to go home, so the cabin is yours.” His voice was shaking more than before.
“Wait.” My heart stopped beating for a second. “What?” I took a step back and refused to take the key. “Are you ending things with me?” My heart started pounding. I felt instantly sick.
“Yes.” He sat back down. He avoided looking at me.
“Zach.”
He shook his head. “No, Hales, this is what’s best for you.”
“How do you know that!”
“Look around, Hales! I run a damn pizza place. I’m going nowhere, where you... You have an amazing future ahead of you. I’m a dead end.” He stood and walked past me to the door. His hands shook as he unlocked the door.
I shook my head as tears poured. “I don’t see you as a dead end.”
“But I am. Just ask anyone in this town.” He looked at me. “The cabin is yours.” He opened the door and walked out, leaving me alone in the office.
I went to chase after him, but Dane stopped me. “I heard everything. Hales, don’t. Once Zach’s mind is made up, that’s it. You’re just going to make it worse.”
I tried to fight against him, but he hugged me so tight I couldn’t move. I crumbled against him as I bawled against his shoulder.
“He’s not thinking straight, Dane! Let me go talk to him, please!” I’d get on my knees and beg if I had to. This was insane! Things couldn’t be over just like that. “Please, Dane! Let me go!”
Dane shook his head. “It won’t do any good. Not while Zach thinks he’s nothing, and you deserve better. In his head, he’s doing what’s best for you.”
“But he’s not, and I have to go tell him!”
“Do you think after his brother just told him he was shit, he’s going to listen to anyone right now? He won’t. He’
s confused, hurting, and feeling worthless. He needs time to think.”
I fought against him again, but he just took it as he held me close. I gave up when I realized I wasn’t going to win this.
“Will you take me to get my car? I’ll just go home.”
“No. Home is the last place you need to go right now. You’ll just fight with your parents. I’m sorry, Hales. I really am.”
I didn’t argue. I couldn’t. I felt like my whole world had just exploded.
Dane drove me to the cabin. We walked in, and he looked at me. “Want me to stay with you?” I nodded. I sat down on the couch and put my head in my heads. My head was throbbing.
“Hailey, it’s going to be okay.” Dane sat next to me. He rubbed my back slowly. “Elliot is right in some ways, but he’s wrong in a lot too. The fact that Zach is serious about a girl and she’s eighteen does look kind of bad. But just focus on you, okay? Don’t let this slow you down. We have a big, important season. We’re seniors.”
“He’s not a screw up, Dane. He’s running a pizza place for his friend. He hates the pizza place. He’s doing it because he must care a whole hell of a lot for Quinn. That shows me that he is a good person. Success isn’t some big degree and a six-figure salary. Success is how you treat people.” I groaned. “I sound like a Hallmark card, but it’s true.”
He kept rubbing my back. “He’s a great person with a reputation that haunts him every day.”
I sat up straight and looked at Dane with swollen eyes. I ran my fingers through my hair that had fallen out of my ponytail. Thunder crashed, and lightning filled the cabin, making both of us jump.
“I’m going to take a shower.” I stood. “There’s another bathroom if you need one too. “
After our showers, we crawled into bed, and Dane put his arm around me while we watched a movie. I could smell Zach’s cologne on the sheets, and it made my heart ache so badly. My whole body was tense.
“Hales, try to rest,” Dane said with a yawn.
I nodded and barely made it halfway through the movie before falling asleep.
Four days passed with no word from Zach. Dane made me stay away from Quinn’s Pizza, to focus on practice and strengthening my arm. We practiced in the gym the last few times because it had been storming all week. The weekend team-bonding thing at Coach’s was canceled. Flash flood warnings were in effect everywhere.
I heard from both of my parents everyday, just letting me know they love me. I appreciated their support, and I missed them, but with everything going on with Zach, I wasn’t ready to work on anything with them.
I laid down on the purple yoga mat next to Dane and Trevor. “I hate abs.”
Trevor lifted his shirt to show off his six-pack. “Yeah, the work out’s suck, but damn, I’m hot!”
Dane and I both laughed.
Brink hadn’t been at the last couple of practices, but he came running into the gym, soaking wet, looking around frantically. He spotted Elliot and hurried over to him. Elliot turned pale and slowly sat down. Brink put his hand on his shoulder as he quietly talked to him.
“Dane, go find out what’s going on,” I said as I sat up. I still wasn’t talking to Coach.
Before he could go, Coach Elliot stood. “Practice is cancelled!” he said in a panic.
Dane went over to ask him, and I gathered up my things. Elliot talked to Dane quickly. I watched as Dane’s face paled as well. He came back over to me.
“Hales,” he said his voice quivering as he came to stand in front of me.
“What?” I started shaking. They were freaking me out.
“It’s Zach. They’ve found his truck off the road. The water is moving swiftly so it has it pinned to a tree. They’re trying to get to the truck to see if Zach’s in there, but they’re having difficulties.”
My legs turned to jello. I steadied myself by grabbing Coach Elliot’s arm when he came over to me.
“Have you talked to him today?” Coach asked as he looked at me.
“No. He’s been avoiding me,” I snapped out at him.
Coach cursed. “I’m heading over there. You guys go home. The roads aren’t safe right now.”
It was getting hard to breathe.
He had to be okay.
He had to be.
Brink’s phone rang. He quickly answered it. “What’d you find out?” He listened for a bit. “We’re on our way.” He looked at us. “Elliot, we need to go. Now.”
I followed them out. “I’m coming too!”
“Hales, it’s not safe,” Brink said over the roar of the storm and got in his truck. Coach looked at Dane and me then at the rest of the team.
“Get in, you two.”
We both got in.
Brink drove the best he could in the storm. It seemed to take hours before we arrived. Flashing lights filled the area. As soon as the truck was parked, Coach jumped out. We all followed until the cops made us stop. My heart ached when I saw Zach’s truck pinned to a tree.
“No!” Elliot yelled as he tried to get past the cops, but they held onto him. “That’s my brother’s truck!” he screamed.
Brink helped the cops keep Elliot from doing anything stupid as they slowly worked on getting Zach’s truck. It took a while before they finally pulled it out of the rushing water, back toward the road. We were all soaked and shaking, watching the process. Elliot stopped fighting to get to the truck, and it finally made it to safety. We all froze as one of the firemen looked in.
“I need a paramedic, now!” The fireman yelled.
Elliot screamed as we all realized Zach was in the truck. Brink held Elliot as he fought to get to the truck. Everyone was so focused on keeping Elliot from getting to the truck; no one noticed when I took off running. I made it to the truck, and I lost it.
They were putting Zach on a stretcher. He was deathly pale and had blood on the side of his head. I struggled to stay standing in the water that was flooding the road. The paramedics slowly made their way to the ambulance. Dane hurried over to me to keep me from getting in the ambulance with Zach.
“Let them work!” he yelled over the rain. “Let them focus on him!”
The doors to the ambulance closed, and they drove off, leaving all of us staring after them.
“Let’s go! Get in the truck!” Brink yelled.
We all got in the truck and followed the ambulance. Elliot had his head in his hands.
“Why was he even out here?” Brink asked quietly.
I was so numb. I couldn’t fully process the severity of the situation. I was empty. Dane put his arm around me.
“Because of me. He was out here because of me,” Elliot whispered, his voice breaking. “We got in a fight.”
We followed the ambulance to the hospital and got out. We all stood in the waiting room, shivering and dripping wet.
“Elliot, you need to go home and get dry. This isn’t healthy for you,”
Brink said as he watched Elliot pace.
Elliot shook his head and kept pacing.
Brink stepped in front of him. “You won’t do Zach any good if you collapse.”
Elliot ran his hands through his wet hair and looked at all of us. “I will be right back.” He took Brink’s keys and left quickly.
Quinn came rushing in. “Millie is with Aunt Millie.”
Brink nodded. “Baby, can you go with Elliot and get all of us dry clothes?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Keep me updated.” She looked at all of us and then left.
Brink plopped down in a chair and looked at us. “I’m sure he’s going to be fine.”
Dane looked at me. “Hales, you’re scaring me. Say something.”
I looked at him without a word. Brink stood when a nurse came out.
“Are you the family of—” She looked down at the name. “Zachary James Shaw?”
He nodded. “Yes. Can we see him? Is—”
“I need someone named, Hales.” She said as she looked back down at the chart.
She looked strai
ght at me. “Is that you, dear?” Brink and Dane looked at me in confusion. I nodded.
“He’s delirious and asking for you. We’ve given him something to calm down, but it’s not helping.”
“He’s awake?” I asked through relieved tears. I was shivering because I was so cold and drenched.
“He’s in and out. Come on. I will get you some scrubs then take you to him.” She took me back and grabbed a pair of scrubs. She pointed to the bathroom. “Go change. I will wait for you here.”
I got changed and put my wet things in a trash bag she had given me. I hurried out and followed her. We came into the room, and Zach was fighting against the doctor and nurses. They had started to secure him to the bed but hadn’t been able to finish. He was saying my name repeatedly.
“We need you to talk to him. Try and calm him down,” the nurse said softly.
I hurried over and held his face in my hands. “Zach! It’s me! Calm down!”
I broke out in tears seeing him like this. He was so scared.
“It’s me, Zach. I’m right here,” I said more calmly as he started to focus on my face.
His breathing calmed down as his eyes focused on mine. “Hales?”
“It’s me. You have to listen to the nurses so they can help you.” He kept his eyes on me as the nurse injected him with something.
As he calmed down, I moved out of the way so they could do everything they needed to. I sat down in a chair in the corner and rested my chin on my fists as I watched. As the medicine took effect, he drifted off to sleep.
“I want to get a CAT scan and a MRI while he’s still under.” The doctor ordered.
The nurses nodded and got Zach’s bed ready to be moved.
“Thank you,” the doctor said as he looked down at me.
“You can go back to the waiting room. Once I have the results, a nurse will come talk to all of you.”
I nodded and walked out to the waiting room. Everyone stood when I came out.
Elliot was back and spoke first. “What’s going on? Is he okay?”
I glared at Coach Elliot. I couldn’t look at him. This was his fault.
I looked at Brink. “He’s getting tests run. He was awake and freaking out.”