Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion, the only sound Kim could hear was the sound of her heart pounding in her chest, she watched as Adam scaled the rows of bleachers, stepping over people with ease.
She wanted to follow him, but her legs felt heavy, she felt like she was stuck to the metal bench, she felt a hand land on her shoulder.
The woman it belonged to whispered words of comfort, Kim wasn't quite sure what she had said.
She didn't really care, not when her entire world was lying motionless on the field, one of the trainers furiously performing chest compressions.
Her son's tiny frame being assaulted with each compression, she knew from experience that his ribs would end up broken. CPR was violent but it was life saving, they had to save his life.
Adam wasn't sure how he made it down from the top of the bleachers so quickly, he fought to get to the front of field.
"Let me through!" He yelled, "I need to get to my son" his requests falling on deaf ears, as the onlookers refused to budge.
Alex could hear the frantic screams, he looked over his shoulder and immediately recognized that it was Adam, Nick's father.
He ran from the dugout and to the players only entrance, throwing the gate open, "Mr.Ruzek, over here!" Alex had never been so scared, Nick was tiny and the thud of the ball hitting his chest was sickening. He watched helplessly as Nick crumbled in a heap, the bat falling from his hands and slowly rolling towards the on deck circle.
The head trainer had sweat dripping from his brow as he worked on Nicky, "AED?" He shouted between compressions, "someone needs to get it!"
"On it!" One of the younger men yelled, taking off in a sprint.
"Down here!" Alex directed Adam, "an ambulance has been called" he told Adam who didn't seem to be listening.
Adam dropped to his knees, and reached out to touch Nicky, nothing but the whites of his eyes visible, "My boy..." He mumbled, a pair of arms pulling him from Nicky's side, "let go of me" he struggled against the arms attempting to restrain him.
"Let him work..."
Adam relented, as much as it hurt to leave his son's side he knew he was only in the way. The AED machine had finally arrived, along with Kim who was suddenly in his arms. He wasn't even sure when she had arrived or how long she'd been his arms he was glad she was, he needed her.
"Adam.." She sobbed.
"I know baby" was all he could say as he held her, knowing she was the only thing keeping him on his feet.
"Get his shirt off" the trainer yelled as he prepared the pads for the AED machine, once his shirt was removed and the pads were placed on the lower left of his chest and the upper right, a button was pushed and the machine analyzed the situation before directing everyone to be clear of Nick's body just seconds before he was shocked.
Kim and Adam watched in horror as Nicholas' body was jolted and his back lifted off the ground, they waited with bated breath as the machine analyzed the rhythm of his heart a second time.
Once more it commanded them to stand clear before shocking him again.
The second time corrected his heart rhythm, the paramedics arriving to take over care, "Whose riding with us?" He asked quickly as he transferred Nicholas from the ground to the stretcher.
"His mom is" Adam answered, "go on Darlin', I'll be right behind you" he said through tears, the last thing he wanted to do was let his son out of his sight.
