How to Save A Life (Anthony Rizzo)

13- Lost Your Mind

Anthony

"How do I look" Clara asks as she pulls my jersey over her head. Her short curls pour out from the Cubs baseball cap I had given to her a few moments before. She completes her outfit and turns to me for approval.

"Beautiful, as always" I assure her and she starts to blush. She turns away so I wouldn't see it but I did, I always did.

"Are you sure that me going to the game is a good idea? I've been dying to come watch you play but it's a little risky. I haven't been in Wrigleyville in months and what if someone recognizes me" she asks.

"You're going to be in good hands. Farrah and Jess will be with you the whole time and they have strict orders that if you ever feel unsafe that they are to get you out of there as soon as possible" I assure her and she nods.

"Okay... I'm trusting you on this" she insists. 

"I need you to listen to me" I say walking over to her. I grab her face so she has to look at me and I know she is listening. "I will never... ever... consciously let anything bad happen to you, okay" I ask and she nods her head in my hands. I place a light kiss on her forehead before letting her go.

We head over to Wrigley and I don't leave her side until I had to. But by the time I needed to depart she was with Farrah and Jess and a bunch of the other strong women that hold us guys down so I know she was in good hands. Eventually they kick me out of their little group and I head to the locker room to get changed for the game. I get my uniform on and apply my eye black in peace before the room falls silent. The silence is broken as Jon briskfully stomps his way over to my stall, and he did not look happy.

"Have you lost your fucking mind" he whisper yells and my eyes go big. I look around to see if anyone else was paying attention to our conversation but they all returned to whatever it is they were doing already.

"What? What did I do" I ask.

"You brought her here" he accuses and I let out a
sigh.

"Yes, I brought her here. She wanted to come and it's been killing her being stuck inside the apartment all day every day" I defend.

"You have no clue what you're doing. Not a clue of the dangerous position you just put her in or the repercussions that you could have just created. He has people patrolling the city looking for her. People in this very stadium work with him and if they see her they will tell him she's here" he insists.

"She cut and dyed her hair. She's wearing a baseball cap and looks like just about everyone else in this building. He could identify her but unless you've been looking at her the way I have..." I trail off. Once I realize what I said and that there's no taking it back I knew I had to finish anyway. "Unless you have been looking at her the way I have... there is no way of knowing it's her."

"I get that you like her. I get that you want to be the reason she's happy and I get you would never do anything to hurt her. But he's going to find her eventually, she can't live the rest of her life here hiding from him. If she's staying around town then he is going to confront her sooner or later and if it happens here in front of everyone while she's wearing your jersey you would not be able to live with yourself. He doesn't care how or where he gets her back, he just wants her back. You're playing with fire here Anthony" he warns.

"I know that. She's been opening up, telling me these things. Who this guy is and what he's done to her. I have a idea who I'm dealing with and even though I don't like it I'm not going to stop her from being whoever it is she wants to be. She's tired of sitting around and waiting for something bad to happen. She wants to spend her time at the children's hospital and paint the kids as whatever it is their little hearts desires. She wants to come watch you at baseball games and hang out with your kids in the stands. She wants to be free and even if it's fake freedom, the least I can do is let her out of her cage for a few hours" I sigh.

"I know it's hard Tony. What you've done for Clara is nothing short of incredible, but I'm afraid your feelings for her is going to get her hurt" he says.

I stare at him as I mess around with the glove on my hand. I knew he was right, that my feelings for her could mess this all up. I knew that I would do something incredibly stupid for her just to fall in love with me and it wouldn't be worth it. I don't want to hurt her, that's the last thing I wanted to do. But I could do that without even knowing I was doing that if I wasn't careful.

"I'll be more cautious, I promise" I say.

"Please" he begs. I nod my head so he knows I understand and he nods back. "I'm sorry it has to be this way, you're a great guy and you're good for her. It's just not a good time to be blinded by things. She's going to need all the help she can get. And for what it's worth, she looks really good with your name across her back" he smirks and I smile.

"That does help a little" I tease and he laughs.

"Alright man. You ready for game day" he asks and I throw a fist into my glove.

"I'm ready."

We take the field for batting practice and I lean up against the net. We don't usually do batting practice but the wind was blowing out so it was a perfect time to take some practice hacks and see who could hit the ball the farthest. Kris and I go back and fourth for a while before calling it quits. We let everyone else take some swings and chill out on the side of the cage.

I look up and see Clara sitting up kind of hidden, but her beauty was still shining through the shadows of the bleachers. I couldn't help but smile at the sight of her. I know I was bad for her at this moment, but the thought of her and I felt so right.