Slugger (Sequel to 'The Jet') Benny Rodriguez

Chapter 41

You woke up before Benny, untangling yourself from his arms and getting to your feet after standing from the side of the bed. In this situation under normal circumstances he would have shot up behind you, never leaving your side... but he was exhausted. He barely slept last night, trying to be of comfort but also overthinking absolutely everything this entailed.

You had done your fair share of overthinking, but you were wanting to be optimistic about this... with the new technology they have nowadays, perhaps there could be a cure. A way to avert the disaster at hand and find a way out. You didn't want to succumb to the idea that this would be the end of you... you had so much in this life that was of value to you. Your family, your home, your friends, and your favorite sport, which had been apart of your life before any of those other things.

You loved your life, and of course that meant something had to be done to screw it up again. You learned soon enough that life didn't want to be kind to you, no matter what you did. It tried to make you miserable at every turn... but you were too stubborn to let it be completely cruel. Despite life's challenges you found benny, and grew an entire family with him. You made your way in your career, even though it was on pause for now. You pushed through all the bad and managed to find the good. Life now decided it would take away the opportunity for you to find anymore loop holes. It decided you'd had enough happiness. It decided to try and revoke you of living completely.

Your thinking was interrupted by the spluge of coffee in the white mug, letting you know it was finished and ready to drink.

You took a sip and allowed yourself a few deep inhales after, trying to get a clean and clear mindset. Today was day one. Every day after this would increase the severity of your situation, and you needed to focus on how to get out of it, how to find another loop hole. You were always good at loop holes, but now your life would depend on it. You needed to cheat death.

You sat down on your chair by the living room window, opening the blinds to see the backyard in the light or the morning sun. Ruthie was prancing around the grass happily, opening her mouth every so often and trying to snap her jaws around a moth she was chasing.

There were no expectations of you today. You knew that. You didn't have to make breakfast for your kids, you didn't have to entertain them for the afternoon, or take Eva to ball practice. You didn't have to fold tiny shirts and run the laundry. You were free of all your normal chores and daily activities.... But yet you wanted nothing more than to do them, and act as if nothing had happened, as if life would be going on the same way for years and years to come. You craved the normalcy you knew you'd never see again.

You felt a pair of arms around you, and a face in your neck, releasing hot breaths onto the skin there. The breathing pattern was shaky and uneven, giving off the anxiety and stress from the person that released it.

No words were said for a long time, there was just peaceful silence and comfort with the moments that fled by.

He was unmoving, and refused to let go, even when you gave him a nudge to try and get him to sit in his own chair he usually would occupy. He'd been standing the whole time, and you thought he might like to relax and get off his feet, but even now he was still.

"Just let me hold you, please."

You nodded gently and scooted aside to make room for him behind you. He gratefully took the seat, but never let go of you. His arms were like a great wall that was built around you to keep you safe and out of harm. It did no favors to the harm that was already inside of you.

"Angel we can't sit like this all day," you carefully turned yourself around to face him and saw his tear streaked face. He was being tormented.

"I know... I just-"

"We have to talk about this. I know I wasn't doing you any favors yesterday, but now I've had some time to think...."

He leaned his forehead against yours and closed his eyes shut, moving his hands from around you to lay on your chest. He felt the deep breaths, and the steady thump of your beating heart.

"If I could take it for you I would." He admitted. He felt so guilty for ever putting you here in the first place. He knew it was his fault and that he couldn't change it. He wanted to so badly.

"I don't want you to take it for me. If it had to be one of us... it's better this way."

"Don't say that. I was the one who did this, it should be me," he pulled back away from you and put his hands on either side of your face. His emotions were so strong, as they always were when he was dealing with issues over you.

"Benny, stop. We won't get anywhere if we just keep going back and forth like this," You paused, taking the time to compose yourself and think rationally. "What's happening now isn't going to change. It's done, and I'm stuck with it."

He nodded in agreement and tried to calm down, knowing his hysterics weren't helping anything. Bless his heart, the kid couldn't help himself when it came to you. He could cry for days just over something you said simply because it was you.

"What's next?"

You shrugged, but tried to give an answer anyway, figuring there must be something you can do.

"I'm supposed to go back to my doctor on Monday to set up a treatment plan."

"I'm coming with you."

You furrowed your brows and smiled with tight lips.

"You can't, you have practice."

"Screw practice, it's not a priority."

He was thinking irrationally as of now. You knew his emotions could get the better of him, but it was your job to bring him back to reality.

"Your job is not a priority? Benny, I know you want to be there with me, but you have to think of your team. You have upcoming games as apart of the greatest franchise in baseball. Don't start forgetting about that, now."

"I can miss one day, it won't make much difference. Like you said, we won't get anywhere if we keep going back and forth like this. I'm going with you."

He pulled you tightly to him, kissing the side of your head with his nose nestled amonst your hair. His hands moved back down your waist and over your stomach.

"What about this? Do you know what'll happen to him?" He asked, the fear was evident on his face, but for the position he was in, you couldn't see it.

"I don't..."

He just squeezed you tighter, mentally praying to God that if he could hear him he would make all this go away. That's all he wanted. He no longer cared about being a hotshot baseball star for the best team in the country. He didn't care that he was the greatest runner in the entire league. He didn't care that his picture was about to be hung in the stadium's hall of legends.

All he cared about was the well being of his wife, whom he loved more than all the stars in the sky.

A/n: my family is in a stressful move between houses right now, so just a heads up I won't be updating until we're all settled