The Hitting Zone
chapter-638

Jeremy's laugh didn't mean 'no'. He really took us to the official training room of the A's and we saw some of the players getting worked on. He found someone that was free and Noah got a massage.

"He must be feeling sore from the lifting." Jeremy laughed and told me in a low voice so Noah couldn't hear him.

"I've only seen him in the weight room once and..." My lips twitched. "Let's just say his focus wasn't in lifting." It was to get information out of Kyle way back when. Ha.

"Do you have your coach's number?" Jeremy asked. "I really do want to help you guys."

"I don't have it, but it's not a big deal."

"No, it is. I like to help out schools when I can. I wish I could give every kid a chance by supplying good equipment and quality coaching. Your coach is good at baseball, but it would help to have some in the weight room."

I shrugged. "I'm sure Noah has his number."

When Noah was done with his massage, he joined us, and gave Coach's number when Jeremy asked. Jeremy saved it to his phone and then we moved on. Jeremy gave us a more in-depth tour than last time since we were so early. We got to peek at the coaches chatting with players about scouting reports and were able to grab some snacks off the catering table.

Then it was time for Jeremy to hit the field. We got to go out with him, walking through the dugout, but had to stop at the edges of the grass like normal. He had to go warmup so Rose showed up and took over. She had even brought me a small stool to sit on as we watch Jeremy shag balls from others batting practice, and then watch him take his own turn batting.

Eventually it was the other team's turn to take the field for batting practice, plus Jeremy had to go change in his uniform. He said a few words to us before hurrying back with his team. Halfway through the other team's warmup, fans started to appear. Including the Atkins.

Mom, Dad, Zeke, and the twins. Everyone was here.

"Jake! How dare you get hurt!" Kyle started to scold me as we joined them behind the rope. "Don't you know how important you are to my career?"

I stared up at him blankly.

Dave laughed. "We were talking to some of the other guys at this camp and they were surprised how few losses we have under our belt. As a team we only had two losses during the season and one was from a tournament so it doesn't really count."

"It was against a great school. It counts." Zeke told him.

Dave made a face. "Anyways. Only one season loss and one tournament loss. And it wasn't just thanks to our excellent pitching. But with the help of your hitting."

Kyle grabbed onto me and pretended to cry. "And if you were hurt, we would have an even more difficult time scoring runs. You have to stay healthy!"

"Can you not touch me?" I asked politely.

"Oops." Kyle let go and took a step back.

Dad looked at us. "Give it a rest. We already told you guys that it's just a bruise." He looked at me. "I think we'll have to put off your other treatment until August. Is that okay?"

I nodded. It was fine by me. I don't plan to go to the pool anytime soon. Or undress in front of others.

"Make it for after the baseball camp, but before school starts." Noah suggested. "I don't want him to be all stiff during the camp. I don't think Coach would take his spot off the team that easily, but I don't want others talking about Jake in a negative way."

Dave laughed. "Who would dare? Jake is the Freshman of the Year in our whole division in CIF. That means he's the best freshman."

Noah looked me right in the eye. "Next year, I'm going to be the best sophomore in our division."

I smiled and nodded.

Yet the twins laughed.

"No way." Kyle told him. "Besides Jake as your competition, there'll be more sophomores on varsity teams than freshmen."

Dave nodded in agreement. "It would be hard to compete against Jake though. His near perfect batting average. I don't know how you can top that."

"An excellent pitcher could!" Kyle said.

"True." Dave agreed.

We talked more about baseball and took a few more pictures while waiting for Jeremy to come back out. He was dressed in his uniform when he came jogging out. Fans screamed his name to try and get his attention. He gave a wave, but came straight to us.

He greeted Mom and Dad first, updating them on what Dr. Shanfield had told him. "Oh, I left the papers in the car. I'll scan them and email them to you later tonight."

"No rush." Mom told him. "Sounds like Jake needs to focus more on resting these next few days." She glanced at me. "Tomorrow we'll ice for twenty minutes every hour. I'll stay home with you."

"We could do that, Mom." Dave told her. "We invited Mitchell over to play in the backyard so we'll be home the entire time."

"Noah and I will be back for lunch." Zeke told Mom. "You don't have to stay home from work. Aren't Saturdays for open houses?"

"I can take a day off when I'm needed." Mom turned them all down. "Your father can go and I'll do some work from home."

"So Jake isn't coming to the softball field with us?" Noah asked.

Mom shook her head. "No, not tomorrow. I think it's best if he stays home. He's been moving around too much and that's probably why he isn't healing as fast." She looked at Zeke. "You've been going too hard on him."

Zeke gave a small smile and shrugged helplessly. "He really hasn't been walking all that much."

"He walks around the house, back and forth at school, and don't think that I don't know you've been making him do some kind of ab workout." Mom stressed.

"What do you want him to do then? Just sit on the couch all day?" Dave asked.

Mom nodded. "That's a great idea. A few complete days off. Just laying on the couch, icing his leg."

"And elevating." Jeremy reminded her.

She nodded. "And elevating it. Healing is a number one priority. For any of you." She looked around.

"Well, I'll send you the exercises by the end of the weekend then." Jeremy told her. "I also have their suitcase in my car, but I told them I would just bring it by on Wednesday if you guys don't mind me stopping by for dinner."

"That's fine with us." Dad told him. "Another plate at the table is never a problem with us. It must be hard on you to make the constant trips to our place during the season."

Jeremy shook his head. "Not at all. We have an early flight the next morning so it'll be fine. I like to see Jake when I can." He smiled down at me. "We missed out on a lot of time, huh?"

I shrugged, feeling a little shy. "It's no biggie. There'll be more opportunities in the future."

Jeremy reached out and rested his hand on my shoulder. "It's a big deal to me."