Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as Jace fell directly to the ground in a heap.
The crowd fell silent when Jace hit the ground. I held my breath willing him to stand up. A few more seconds passed before the other outfielders rushed to his side. The batter was called out when Jace put up his glove that contained the ball. Pence waved over to the dugout signaling they needed a trainer.
"Come on, Jace. Just get up," I whispered so only Isabelle could hear me. She squeezed my hand as I tried to stop the tears from falling and failed. "He has to get up."
The trainer was able to get him into a sitting position, but I couldn't really see him with the other players blocking him. After what seemed like an eternity, Jace was being carried off the field by several trainers and the other players were patting him on the back. The crowd clapped as he was taken off the field, but I couldn't hear any of it. All I could pay attention to was the fact that he was in so much pain he couldn't walk. I was finally brought back to reality when I felt someone shaking my shoulders.
"Clary, you need to go down to the locker room," Kristen told me. "They're probably doing X-rays, but they'll let you in, just show your badge."
She, more than anyone, knew what this felt like. Her husband shattered his leg during a game and ended his season a few years ago. I looked at her and could see the sympathy she had written all over her face. Izzy squeezed me in a hug and told me to go to him.
I ran up the stairs of the stands and followed the intricate tunnels that led to the locker room. When I came to the door, a guard was standing outside and I showed him my badge that basically told him I was Jace's wife and I was allowed to be down there. He started to hesitate, but I cut him off.
"Please, my husband was just hurt and I just want to make sure he's okay," I pleaded.
He stepped to the side and opened the door for me. I stepped into the empty locker room and saw all the players' individual lockers. Some had pictures of their wives and families, while others just simply had their street clothes. Jace's caught my eye as I saw our wedding photo hung next to his name and his wedding ring sitting on the shelf. It made me smile, but then I remembered why I was here. A trainer came out into the main locker room to find me.
"Oh, I assume you're Jace's wife," he asked as I shook his hand.
"I am. Can I see him?"
"He's in X-ray right now, but he'll be done in a few minutes. Just wait out here and I'll come and find you when he's done."
"Thank you, so much." I sat down on the bench in front of the lockers in the eerie silence. When you think of a locker room, you think of a bunch of smelly boys being rowdy and getting amped for a game. You don't think about an empty room and someone getting treated for an injury in the next room.
I felt my phone vibrate and realized I had six text messages, all from Jace's and my family. His mom and dad said they saw what happened on TV and wanted to know if they should fly in to see him. I told them I would update them when I knew exactly what was going on. My mom simply gave her condolences and hoped he wasn't hurt too badly. The one message that made me break down and cry was a video Alec sent me. He had been watching the game with Max and filmed him watching the game. Afterward, Max recorded a message for Jace. I could tell he had been crying and was scared, but told him he was still his hero and that he loved him. As I was wiping away my tears, the trainer came back into the room.
"He's asking for you," he said simply.
"Is he okay?"
He didn't answer. He just walked out of the room expecting me to follow him. I jumped up from the bench and ran to catch up with him. We walked down a series of hallways until we came to a room with an open door.
"I'll let you two be alone for a minute."
"Thank you." I stepped into the room as quietly as I could and just stared at Jace for a moment. His eyes were closed and he didn't have a shirt on. He was still dressed in his baseball pants, but his cleats were removed. There was an Ace bandage wrapped around his torso. That's when I noticed the angry looking purple and green bruise peeking out from underneath the bandage. I tried to stifle my gasp, but Jace heard me and turned to face me wincing in the process.
"It looks worse than it is," he said giving me a small smile.
"Somehow, I don't believe that," I said as I sat down in the chair next to his bed and took his hand. I brought his hand to my lips and held it there for a moment. He reached over to brush the hair out of my eyes. "How are you?"
"Other than the fact that I just ran into a brick wall, I'm doing great." I gave a small laugh and his eyes brightened at the sound. "I have two broken ribs. It's not that big of a deal. Nothing a little rest won't fix, but my season is over."
"Jace, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. You're not the one who wasn't paying attention to where the ball was going. I should have looked down and seen that the ball was getting dangerously close to the wall, but I didn't. It was stupid and now I'm laying in a bed with two broken ribs."
"So, what does this mean?"
"It means I'll be sitting in the dugout watching my team win the World Series. We're a good team, Clary, with or without me."
"How long until you're healed?"
"Six weeks until I can even think about training again and even then I'll have to be careful. They can't cast it, so I basically have to lay in bed all day, except for games."
"Oh, great, now I'm going to be stuck with you for a whole six weeks." I feigned disappointment and Jace pulled me closer to him as he winced. "Jace, stop doing that. You're just causing yourself pain."
He looked at me in annoyance. Jace had never been the type of person to let an injury keep him down and this was no different. I leaned up to kiss Jace knowing he was going to be just fine. He would get through this and come out a better player on the other side. We didn't even notice that a trainer had walked into the room.
"Jace, you're all set to go," he said. "If you want to return to the dugout, you can, or if you want to stay here, there's a TV you can watch the rest of the game from in the main locker room."
"Thank you," Jace replied giving the trainer a smile. "Let's go watch the Giants win game one of the NLDS."
I helped him from his bed and lightly wrapped an arm around his waist to support him. It took us a few minutes to get back to the main locker room and I could tell Jace was in a lot of pain.
"Jace, did they give you anything for the pain," I asked as he sat down with his eyes closed.
"Um, they might have put something in my locker. Could you go check? This hurts like a bitch."
I went back to his locker and saw a bottle of painkillers. I grabbed the bottle along with his wedding ring and went to the couch in front of the TV.
"Here you go, babe." I took his hand and put the ring on his finger just like I had three months ago in a gazebo. "I thought you might want this, too."
"You know me so well. Now come on, it's the ninth inning."
I sat down on the couch and looked up at the TV. Bottom of the ninth. Giants are up by one with two on and two out. The count is full. Simon took a deep breath in preparation to throw the last possible pitch of the at bat. With a fling of his arm, the ball flew past the batter watching the ball go straight into the catcher's glove.
"Strike three!"
Jace began clapping and a smile crept onto his face as he pulled me into his side. I could feel him tense and knew I was causing him pain. This was definitely going to take some getting used to.
"I want to stay for a little while to congratulate everyone on a great game," he said before the rest of team came into the locker room after the game.
"We can stay as long as you want," I told him.
"I think you should go back to the hotel with Izzy. Simon can get me back in tact, I promise."
"I'm sure he can, but I would rather stay here with you until you're ready to leave and I'm sure your sister wants to see you."
"Clary, I don't want to make a big deal about this. I'm trying to be calm and put together for my team and for you, but my heart is breaking right now."
"Jace, you don't have to be strong for me, that's my job, remember? Why don't we say hi to the team and then I'll take you back to the hotel. We don't need to talk about your ribs and you aren't in a position to do any interviews. Let's just go back to the hotel, baby."
"Okay," he whispered into my hair.
The players started to trickle in a little at a time. They all basically said they were sorry to see this happen and that they couldn't wait for him to get back on the field. Somehow, Isabelle managed to get in with Simon and they came in to see Jace.
When Jace looked up, he could see tears in Isabelle's eyes. He held up a hand and said, "Don't, Iz. I'm fine."
"Pregnancy hormones," I whispered in his ear. He took a deep breath.
"Come here." He opened his arms to receive her in a hug and I could see that he was putting on a brave face for his sister. "I'm fine," he kept repeating trying to assure her that he was, in fact, going to be fine. Simon finally pulled her off of Jace.
"I'm really sorry, man, but that was one hell of a catch," Simon said as he shook Jace's hand.
"Thanks. I'll be back on the field in no time. Don't worry about me, just bring home that ring."
"I think I speak for all of the guys when I say we're getting that ring."
Jace nodded and looked over to me signaling it was time to go. I stood and helped him up from the couch. As we walked out of the locker room, there were shouts of praise and applause coming from behind us. Jace smiled and kissed my forehead as we exited.
When I had Jace safely in bed back at the hotel, I insisted on Jace icing his bruise, but he was being stubborn, as usual.
"Jace, you need to ice," I scolded after the fourth time he pushed my hand away. "The swelling and bruising aren't going to go down if you don't ice."
Jace just sat on the bed and pouted. I decided to just do it and get it over with. If he was going to act like a child, I was going to treat him like a child. I didn't need his permission. He was hurt and I was trying to help. I reached for the Ace bandage to take it off partly and wrap the ice pack in it when Jace cried out in pain. I immediately pulled away.
"Okay, how about if I just hold the ice pack there and you can just stay still."
"I'm sorry you have all of the sudden had to become my nurse."
"Hey, we're in this together, for better or worse, remember?" I held the ice pack against his left side and studied his face. His eyes were closed as he got used to the light pressure I was putting on his wound. After a few minutes, his face relaxed and his eyes opened. "Your parents called. They asked if they should fly out to see you. I told them not to worry and we'd see them as soon as the season was over."
"Thank you. Like I said, I don't want to make a bigger deal of this than it is. I'm not dying or in critical condition. It's just a broken rib and they don't need to worry."
"I do think you should call Max, though. Alec sent you a video of him, do you want to watch it?" Jace nodded and I took his hand and placed it where mine was holding the ice pack. I grabbed my phone and opened the message with the video and hit play.
I watched Jace as he listened to Max sing his praises. I saw a tear trickle down his cheek before the video stopped. Instead of giving me the phone back, Jace hit dial and put the phone on speaker.
"Hello," Alec answered.
"Hey, bro," Jace said to his brother.
"Jace, how are you? That looked like one hell of a hit. I thought baseball was a no-contact sport." Jace chuckled. He could always count on Alec to be level headed in situations like this and just treat Jace like a normal person.
"I'm fine, just a couple broken ribs. I'll be back on the field next season. Clary just showed me the video Max made."
"Yeah, he's pretty shaken up. He's spending the night at my place tonight while Mom and Dad have a date night."
"Can you put him on the phone please?"
"Yeah, sure." There was some ruffling and switching of hands as Alec handed the phone to Max.
"Jace," Max said into the phone and his voice cracked.
"I'm here, bud. How's your sleepover going?"
"It's fine. Alec let me stay up late in case you called and we watched Remember the Titans." I laughed at their choice of movie.
"That's cool, so I guess you watched the game?"
"Of course, I never miss any of your games. Mom and Dad even got me that online thing since we don't get your games unless you're playing San Diego."
"What did you think?"
"I got really scared when you didn't get up for a while."
"I'm sorry I scared you, bud."
"It's okay. Are you still going to be able to play baseball in the majors?"
"Not for the rest of the season, but I'll be good as new for next season."
"So I can still tell my friends that my brother is a professional baseball player?"
"Of course, Max." He looked to me and smiled. Max being proud of him gave him a sense of accomplishment even I couldn't give him. "Alright, bud. I better get some rest. I'll call you tomorrow."
"Okay, Jace. I love you."
"I love you, too, bud." He ended the call and turned toward me. I could tell he needed to sleep, so I just leaned over and kissed his forehead before settling into my side of the bed and turned of the light. "Goodnight, my angel."
:)