Love Prevails (Kris Bryant)

21| Back To Life

Kris

McKayla was taken off the machine earlier today and now we wait. It's been six days since I last saw her beautiful eyes. Six days since I heard her laugh at my terrible joke, since I got to hold her in my arms and listen to all the reasons she loves me. It feels like a eternity really.

I sit in the chair next to her bed and watch whatever is on TV. She's been off the breathing machine for about 9 hours now and could wake up at any time. I flip past a channel showing my picture and I flip back out of pure curiosity. They were doing a segment of me missing the last five games and what it meant to the team. The boys come by often, usually they bring something each time so it's a bit crowded in here. A picture of us from high school pops up and I wonder how they got that. It was from junior year when she pitched a no hitter and I celebrated with her on the mound. I was beyond proud of her.

"That girl is pretty hot huh" a voice asks causing me to laugh.

"I like to think s..." I trail off. I turn around to meet the same pair of green eyes I've become so accustomed to and a smile crosses my face. I rush over to her side and kiss her lips, how I missed how she tasted.

"I've missed you so much" I say touching her face. She runs her hand along my jawline and I lean into her touch, it was addicting.

"Is there water around here? I feel as if I swallowed a box of nails" she says and I hand her a cup of water the nurse left out.

"How do you feel" I ask.

"Like I was shot" she jokes and I glare at her.

"I'm serious Mac" I warn.

"I don't remember much, all I remember is seeing their finger on the trigger and all the pressure falling on it. I wasn't about to let your career get ruined by this, but from what I can tell you haven't played for a while anyway" she says pointing to the TV. It was the stats of the Cubs with and without me and needless to say the guys will be excited she's awake for more than one reason.

"How long was I out" she wonders.

"Four years" I joke and her eyes nearly pop out her head.

"I'm kidding, it's been six days. All you've missed was David trying to wake you up with a rain dance. While it did not wake you, it did start raining" I laugh.

"I'm sad I missed that. Who is all this stuff from" she asks pointing around.

"The boys and their families, some of it is from the organization. Honestly most is it from mom and dad" I laugh.

"Well that's sweet, and I have a lot of thank you notes to make" she giggles. I look at her as she smiles up at me. Going a whole week without hearing her voice or seeing that smile, it's been hell. This whole experience has changed me a lot, but I still needed to know once thing.

"Why did you do it" I ask and she looks down at her hands in her lap.

"Some people are worth dying for. The world need you Kris, you're going to do great things beyond baseball. If this were you, sitting in this bed, things would be so different. I wasn't about to watch you and everything you worked so hard for disappear. You have so much going for you in your life" she explains.

"No life is worth living without you. I watched you die in that ambulance and have never felt such a pain in my life. You've worked your ass off to get here too, don't think I haven't realized that. But I came so close to losing you again and I've been losing my mind without you" I admit.

"I'm sorry, but I don't regret what I did. It wasn't the heat of the moment or reflexes that made me jump. I made a conscious decision to step in front of you" she says. Sometimes I hate how stubborn she is. I lay in bed and pull her locket out of my pocket then place it around her neck.

"Thanks" she smiles as she wraps her hand around it.

"Open it" I say and she does. I had my parents put a new picture in there of her and I at the bean from a few months back.

"I never thought this locket would get any better, but it just did" she smiles.

"Glad you like it" I reply kissing her head. I catch her up on what's been going on and what she missed the last six days. I honestly was just excited she was awake.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you" I state.

"Well I'm awake now and can take good care of you. So what do you need" she asks.

"All I need is you" I admit.

"I can do that" she laughs placing a kiss on my lips. That did help actually. I get the doctor and he runs tests on her to make sure the stitches are holding up and the hole is all the way closed. They want to keep her for another week to make sure all is well and she can live a happy life.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

The next morning I get her some breakfast and my parents come over to see her. No one had the heart to tell her that her parents refused to come see her but if she didn't ask we weren't going to say anything. My parents were just as happy as I was to see her up again, they did practically raise her after all. We catch up and have a nice morning, as nice as a morning that you can have in a hospital.

Eventually the boys come over bringing even more flowers and cards, it was really crowded in that room.

"You know you're not supposed to bring something every time you visit, right" McKayla asks.

"I mean, now I do" Addison shrugs and she rolls her eyes.

"We miss having you around, we've been going crazy without you" Dexter chuckles.

"Yeah, and they seem to come to me with their problems now, not sure how that happened" David grumbles.

"I've missed you guys too. Now that I'm up I'm more than happy to talk over any problems you might have" she suggests. The room breaks out into insanity as they try to decide who gets to talk with her first.

"Alright boys, Kayla needs some rest and you guys have a game to prepare for. Out you go" my dad says guiding them to the door.

"You too mister" McKayla says pointing to me.

"I'm not leaving you" I claim.

"I appreciate what you're trying to do here, but your parents have taken care of me before and they can do it now. You're team needs you, I promise after the game I'll still be here, don't really have a choice. But I can tell you miss the guys and playing for the best fans out there, you were born to do this Kris" she says.

"I know... it's just that I just got you back then almost lost you again. I can't let you go again" I explain.

"I'm here to stay, I promise. And you're here to play baseball, which you haven't don't in a while. It's time" she encourages.

"Plus I called Joe while you were getting me breakfast and he took you off bereavement upon my request so you have to play tonight" she informs me with a smile.

"You're something else, you know that" I ask.

"I've been told. Now go out there and make me proud" she insists. I give her a kiss before heading straight to the clubhouse. I was welcomed nicely by the guys and the Cubs organization themselves.

"Good to have you back" Joe says happily, patting my back.

"Feels good to be back" I admit looking at my uniform. It was nice and white with my last name and the number seventeen in big blue lettering. I didn't realize how much I've missed being here until now, but it was truly nice to be back. I take the field to a huge round of applause and smile to myself, thank god McKayla made me come.