Pitcher (Aaron Nola Phillies)

Family

I looked at Aaron, there was no way to tell what his family would think of me. The only way I could vaguely figure out is  by asking Aaron. Since he was pretty awake, I figured that I ask him now. Of course the key was to not let him now that I was worried about them liking me

"So Aaron, you have any siblings?" 

"Yeah an older brother named Austin."

"What's he like?"

"Well older siblings are the worst so he's super annoying and loves to tease me. So if he says anything weird don't listen. But he's nice so don't worry."

"Hey, I'm a older sibling!" He laughed for the first time since the injury. 

"You have a younger sister or brother?"

"Brother named Ethan." 

"He play baseball?"

"It's not really his thing, he likes to stick with science and stuff."

"Austin plays for the Marlins triple a team in New Orleans." 

"Cool."

"My parents are both nice. My mom takes my playing really seriously so be ready. My dad's pretty nice and he basically taught me all of my skills so he's pretty important." 

"Think they'll like me?" Why on earth did I ask that? Now he's gonna know I like him.

"Of course they will! What's not to like about you? Besides if since I like you they don't have a choice!" Wait did he seriously just say he liked me? Is this real?

"You like me?"

"Yeah I like you! I mean we've been spending most of our time together. You're my best friend of course I like you! What did you think? That I pretended to be your friend?" I sighed, he clearly didn't understand.

"No I just thought something else." 

"Anyway my family should be here soon so..." 

"I'm ready don't worry." 

"Good."

Austin POV

Once I got home from my game my parents turned Aaron's game on. I sat on the couch next to them watching carefully. He was doing pretty decently until he had to bat. He had never been as good at hitting. Aaron stepped up to the plate, my mom leaned closer to the tv anxiously watching. The first three pitches were balls and I had begun to wonder if Aaron was gonna get walked. The next pitch looked to be coming to his face. Problem is, it was. 

"Aaron!" We all screamed, my mom looked horrified. He fell to the ground clutching his eye. One of his teammates yelled something at the top of the dugout steps and came rushing out of the dugout but there something odd about him. But when I saw his face that it was because he wasn't a guy she was a girl. Then I remembered Aaron mentioning something about a female teammate. Whatever her name was, she seemed to be running at the pitcher and looked furious. Suddenly she punched him and he fell backwards, his mouth was all bloody. This girl seriously had a good punch. That's when I heard her last name.

"And Smith looks to be running to help Nola. That's her second fight over these two games." The girls last name appeared to be smith. She ran over to Aaron almost immediately after the fight. I watched her treat my brother with kindness and worry. 

"Well she and Nola have formed a bond this season and since Nola's gotten into these fights the past two days she's really been helping."

"Well I wouldn't say he got himself into the fights the pitchers have been throwing at him and smith a ton these two games." I didn't pay more attention to the broadcasters after that. She held his hand and as soon as he trainer came out to take him off the field he said something to smith and she picked him up. This girl is strong. Smith carried him off the field and I just watched amazed by this strange girl. She was ejected but she didn't even care which impressed me. While I tried to stay calm and hope that Aaron would be ok my parents panicked. They both had a feeling he had a concussion. How could my little brother have a concussion. Suddenly I got the feeling that I wanted to punch that pitcher too. Anyone who hurts my little brother deserves to be punished. 

"Austin!" My parents called me over to the table where we waited for news about him. They'd probably call when they knew what was wrong. It had been about half an hour when my moms phone started ringing, she immediately picked up. She nodded blankly to whatever the person on the other end said and eventually hung up. 

"He's in the hospital in Philly, they said that he has a concussion. We have an early morning flight at 6 am. The team got the tickets." 

"What about me, I have a game tomorrow?" I asked, my voice sounded shaky with worry.

"Your coach knows he said you can miss as much time as needed." I nodded and went to bed. We got up early to pack quickly for the plane. As soon as we were ready we drove to the airport. My mom and dad were both sick with worry, I tried to stay strong but it was hard. We barely got to the plane before it left and as soon as we were seated, I learned that the team was very generous  since we were in first class. It would be a three hour flight. After the flight, a driver picked us up and drove to the hospital. A nurse came out to greet us.

"You must be Aaron's family."

"Yes. Can you show us where he is?" I said strongly, she nodded and walked us through the hospital. It was hard to imagine my brother in the hospital but he was here. 

"He has a bad concussion but the doctor said he's lucky it could've been a lot worse."  I knew worse meant death and that caused me to go weak. The nurse stopped at a door and spoke one more time.

"Also one of his teammates has been amazingly helpful and is still here helping." She opened the door and there lay my little brother Aaron on a bed. Next to him, sat a girl that looked to be close to Aaron's age. She help his hand and kept petting his hair. When she stood and greeted us, I realized she was the girl from the game. Her hair was a mess and she was still wearing her uniform which lead me to believe she had stayed overnight. I wished I could know more about this strange girl who helped my brother. 

"Hi, I'm Abigail Smith, Aaron's teammate." She shook our hands and smiled sweetly. Abigail a rather good looking smile with dimples and it was hard to tell now but she seemed to be a good looking girl, I wondered if Aaron had thought that before.