Baseball's in My Blood

"Come on Hunter, no one's even gonna notice you!" I groaned trying to pull him into the stadium. "That doesn't mean that I, um, oh Maddie, I just don't want to." He replied in defeat. "I win! No come on!" I smiled pulling him in.

If you're wondering what's going on right now... Well six days have gone by, and now I'm in LA, Bryce's team was starting a series with the Dodgers. I finally got to see Hunter again, and right now I was literally pulling him into Dodger Stadium...
"Come on Hunter, just please come sit down with me. You'll be fine." I groaned pulling him by the hand to our seats in the outfield. "As much as I like seeing you struggle... I'll stop." He grinned before he stopped resisting and came by my side, locking his fingers in between mine. "Thank you." I gave him a sweet smile, moving closer to his side.

We got to our seats, in the middle of right field, and sat down. I leaned into Hunter's side, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "So, who answered the phone when I called last week?" I asked trying to start a conversation. "That was Buster, he's the man behind the mask." He replied as I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "The catcher Maddie, the catcher." He grinned squeezing my shoulder. "He seems nice, I think I want to meet him." I smiled. "Yeah, maybe you can meet his wife to. I think they've got two kids, twins." He replied. "Aww! That's so adorable!" I smiled brightly. "I'll have to take you to his place sometime." He grinned leaning in so his lips could match mine.

We kissed until the sound of a bat tore us apart. AJ Ellis had hit a shot out to Bryce, and he kept running, straight into the wall. He fell to the ground, and the ball dropped beside him. The breath got caught in my throat, and I felt tears start to sting my eyes as I gripped onto Hunter's arm. "Oh my gosh Hunter, he's not getting up." I whispered getting out my phone, texting Kayla: 'Where are you?' I hit send and then quickly got a reply. 'On my way to the locker room.' I looked up and saw that Bryce was being walked off the field. 'I'll be right down.' I hit send before I turned to Hunter. "I have to go down with Kayla. She's with Bryce. I'm sorry babe." I stated before Hunter placed his hand on my cheek. "It's alright Madeline. Go 'head." He smiled at me before I leaned in and quickly kissed his lips.

I stood and moved into the aisle, running up the steps, making my way to the visiting team's clubhouse entrance. Once I got there, a guard stopped me and asked for my name. "Madeline Harper. I'm Bryce's sister." I stated quickly as he moved aside and let me in. I found Kayla quickly, she was sitting in the trainer's office with Bryce, who was on the table. He was laying down with his knees up, and his forearm over his eyes, probably blocking out the light that was shinning brightly over his head. "Is he alright?" I mouthed to Kayla, who gave me the hand gesture to say that he was so-so. I sighed lightly and then found a seat as a guy with a red polo that had the Washington logo on it came in.
"Are you Harper's family?" He questioned as Bryce moved his arm quickly, and groaned from the pain that was caused by the sudden movement. Kayla grabbed his left hand and squeezed it, and I cringed at the sight of seeing my brother in pain. "Yes, sister and girlfriend." Kayla answered. "Well, we're going to have to take him to the hospital." He explained. "What? I'm not going back in the game? I'm completely fine!" Bryce objected. "Bryce, you're not fine. You're going to the hospital." Kayla said in a stern voice making him huff and put his arm back over his eyes again. I smiled at the fact that she had complete control over him. "Would you ladies like to come in the ambulance?" He questioned as I looked up at Kayla. "Um, I actually brought my car, can I follow you?" She asked. "Sure." The trainer nodded.

He left us in the room for a bit until 2 paramedics came in with a stretcher, and helped Bryce on it before they wheeled him out to the waiting ambulance. Kayla and I got into her car and waited for the ambulance to pull out. It was then that I realized that I had left Hunter back at our seats. I got my phone out and searched for Hunter's number. Once I found it, I made a new conversation and then typed: 'Hunter... Sorry for leaving you there. I'm on my way to the hospital with Bryce.' Hitting send, I pushed my phone back into my pocket as Kayla pulled into the hospital parking lot.

Bryce was taken right into the ER, and Kayla and I waited in the lobby. Kayla looked extremely worried, and I felt bad for her. I knew that if that was Hunter, I would be acting the same way... Speaking of Hunter, he texted me back saying that it was alright, and that we could possibly meet up some time...
At about 9:00, a doctor come into the lobby. "Bryce Harper?" He questioned. I heard a couple gasps, and I tried to contain my smile as Kayla and I stood. "He's in room 472, he should still be a little, um, out of it." He smiled. "Thank you." Kayla smiled before we went back to find his room. After searching for a bit, we came to Room 472, and went inside. Bryce was laying on the bed with the covers pulled half way up his body. He had bandages across the bottom of his chin, and he hardly looked like the same person because they had to shave his beard. When he noticed us, he gave a half smile.
"Hi guys." His voice was groggy. "Hey Bryce." I smiled softly as Kayla went to his side. "Are you ok? What did the doctor say? When are you gonna be able to play again?" "Calm down babe, I'm fine." He chuckled cutting Kayla's rambling session short. "Doc said that I just needed to get a couple stitches and that I'm gonna be able to return when ever I'm ready, which will probably be on Monday." He grinned up at her. "He also said that I've gotta stay over night for some tests or something." "I'll stay with you. Maddie, you got some way to get back to the hotel?" Kayla looked in my direction. "I'll find one. Take it easy Bryce, Kayla, you know what that means." I grinned at them as they both turned a shade of bright red. "Maddie! We weren't gonna!" Kayla exclaimed in protest. "Yeah yeah, sure you weren't. Besides, I don't think the bed would hold you two." I grinned walking out of the room.

I made my way back to the lobby, pulling out my phone and dialing Hunter's number along the way. He picked up after 2 rings. "Maddie?" He questioned. "Hey Hunter." I smiled just hearing his voice. "Babe, what's wrong? Is Bryce ok?" He asked. "Bryce is fine, he just needs to stay overnight, so I was wondering if you could come and pick me up." I replied. "Sure babe, where at?" He asked. "The hospital. I think it's on 15th street." I replied looking out the door for the street sign. "Ok, I'll be there in a couple minutes." He stated. "Ok, bye." I smiled hanging up the phone.

Hunter pulled up in front of the building short after. "Hey babe." He greeted once I opened the passenger side door. "Hi Hunter." I smiled making sure my seatbelt was hooked before he started to drive. "How's Bryce?" He questioned. "He's alright, and he only needed a couple stitches under his chin." I answered spotting his iPhone that was plugged into the CD player. "Can I pick a song?!" I questioned giving him the puppy dog look. "Sure." He smiled pinching my chin with his fingers. I unlocked his phone, and then went to the music app.
He had all the typical rap and rock songs that any guy would have, but he also had some Ed Sheeran and OneRepublic... Two of my favorite artists. "Ed Sheeran?" I questioned raising my eyebrows. "Yeah, my niece KJ likes him." He replied. "I just fell more in love with you." I grinned putting on 'Lego House', nodding my head as the song started.

I listened to a couple more songs before Hunter pulled the car into his usual parking spot. We both got out and Hunter grabbed onto my hand, his phone still in my other. "What are you doing Maddie?" He questioned pushing the front door open, giving the lobby attendant an absent minded wave. I ignored his question and went to his photos. I scrolled through them and found some with a little girl. "Is this KJ?" I questioned holding the phone out for him to look at. "That'd be her." She smiled.
I fell down on the couch and watched as he went into a room down the hallway. I sat there for a bit until he came back and wrapped his arms around my shoulders from behind. "We should go to bed. It's almost midnight, and I asked Buster yesterday, he said that we could go over to his place tomorrow." He stated helping me up from the couch. "That's great. I can't wait to meet his two kids." I smiled brightly before I followed Hunter up to the steps to his room.