Chapter 26
The team went into the dugout and quickly changed out of their spikes and gathered their gear to let the next team in. Zach sat down to take off his spikes. He took the left off first and then the right one. As he bent down to dig his flip flops out his bag, he got dizzy and leaned back, putting his head against the back of the dugout. Jack, getting his helmet packed up with the other ones was at the other end of the dugout.
Pete, sitting to Zach's left, looked at him. "You OK Cob?" He noticed Zach's face turning white as a sheet. "Cob, I think you need to lay down for sec." He pushed his friend's torso over, and started to grab Zach's legs to get them on the bench. As he touched Zach's lower left leg to lift it, Zach howled with pain. A medical assistant, provided by the Triple AAA club that sat on the bench with the team during the game just to keep an eye on anything medical, was standing just outside the dugout. He raced in.
Jack zoomed down to the other end of the dugout. He reached Pete as the medical guy reached Zach. Pete grabbed Jack. The coaches, standing outside of the dugout, got the rest of the team hustled out, as Coach Bock looked in the stands and hollered, "HOTCH!" Coach Johnson waved at them to hurry. The stadium staff noticed and moved to help. Aaron and Sean raced down to the field. Haley's folks had already left, with John having a doctor's appointment later that afternoon to finalize his other hip replacement.
"Stan, what's wrong with Zach?" Jack said with tears in his eyes. Pete had nieces and nephews his age. He rubbed his back and held him close.
"I don't know JP, but he's getting help."
The medic got to Zach. "What's up kiddo?"
"My left ankle," Zach barely got out.
The medic took one look and grabbed his walkie. "I need two bags of ice in the first base dugout now!" He gently lifted Zach's leg onto the bench, noticing the foot ballooning. He grabbed his athletic scissors from his belt and started to cut away the sock. The coaches looked to see Aaron and Sean getting ushered onto the field. Coach Johnson met the two of them and got them to the dugout area. Aaron sped in. Sean reached over the rail in front of the dugout and took Jack from Pete.
"Uncle Sean, what's wrong with Zach," he asked, the tears running.
"I don't know Jack, but he's got help. We have to trust that," he said, rubbing Jack's chest.
Aaron got to his oldest son. "Zach, what's wrong?" Zach gave him a blank look, not recognizing him. The medic screamed into his walkie for his ice. Ten seconds later, another med tech raced in with the ice and the two of them got it around Zach's ankle. Thirty seconds later, a man walked in.
"I'm Dr. Marks, the team physician. Is there a parent here?" Aaron nodded as he rubbed Zach's chest.
"I need your permission to treat him," he said.
"You got it, doctor; please just do something for my son." The doctor rubbed Aaron's shoulder.
"We already are," he smiled.
Less than two minutes later, Zach opened his eyes. "Hey dad; why are you here?"
"That's the ice kicking in," Dr. Marks smiled, still rubbing Aaron's shoulder. Looking at the two med techs, he said. "Let's get that ice taped down and him into the clubhouse." Less than five minutes later, Zach looked like himself and was talking with his dad and the doctor. The med techs scooped him up, with his arms around each of their shoulders, and helped into the clubhouse. Dr. Marks held his ankle, keeping it elevated. Aaron, Sean, and Jack followed them in.
The clubhouse was where the minor league team had their lockers, as well as a medical bay. Since it was a Triple A facility, it was well-equipped. The med techs got Zach on the exam table.
"Zach, tell me what happened?" Dr. Marks questioned, as he got him laid down on the table.
"I don't know. I'm in the dugout, I take my spikes off and then I'm dizzy as hell. Pete laid me down on the bench, started to lift my leg up and I went into orbit." One of the med techs handed Zach a bottle of a sports drink. He thirstily drank.
"Go easy son," Dr. Marks smiled.
"Doctor, did you watch the game," Aaron asked.
"Yes, why?"
"So you saw the bang-bang play at the plate in the sixth?" The doctor nodded. "When Zach got up, I noticed he limped a few steps, shook his left leg out and then walked into the dugout. And when he was catching in the seventh inning he got every time out of his catcher's crouch."
Dr. Marks looked at him. "You noticed that?"
"I'm trained to notice things like that." The doctor stared at him. "I'm the Unit Chief for the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. I get paid to notice things," Aaron slightly smiled.
The doctor smiled as well. "That tells me a lot." He looked at Zach. "By the swelling you have, I would venture a pretty good guess that ankle is broke. When you shook it out, that put the bone back into place enough that you didn't notice. That and the adrenaline of the game; but getting up after each pitch was your body telling you to take some pressure off of it."
Sean piped up. "How could he pitch on that, landing on his left foot?"
"If he shook it in place close enough, he could do it."
Zach sheepishly smiled. "It hurt a little when my foot landed after each pitch." Aaron just shook his head.
Dr. Marks looked at him. "A little?"
Zach shrugged. "OK, a lot. I shook it off. We had a game to win." It was the doctor's turn to shake his head.
"Doc," the first med tech that got to Zach said, "He also tapes his ankles. I cut that off as well as the sock. And he wears high top spikes." Zach always wore spikes that come up around his ankles; another tip from his catching coach Mike. They cost more than regular spikes, but Aaron never flinched at paying the bill every year.
"My catching coach told me to do that to help with my crouch behind the plate," Zach said.
Dr. Marks smiled. "And that practice has been around just about as long as baseball. The tape helped as well, along with the spikes. Standing around in the awards ceremony pushed that. But when he took his spikes off, that allowed the swelling to start, and all bets were off." Jack looked at Sean, still holding him. "So Zach's going to be OK?"
"Buddy, all I can tell you is that Dr. Marks is going to take really good care of Zach." Jack smiled.
"Now what doctor?" Aaron asked.
"I want that ice to really kick in."
"Doc, excuse me, but do I see a shower bay over there?" Zach pointed. The doctor nodded. "If my ankle is broke, I'm not showering for a couple of days, considering its Thursday?" The doctor nodded again, smiling. "And I'm gritty, grimy and really smell."
"Good call Zach. And it's set up for you to put your leg up, while the shower hits your body."
"Can someone get my bag? I've got a change of clothes in there." The med techs were all over their walkies.
"Stan probably has it," Jack smiled, as Sean put him on the floor. Zach wasn't the only Hotchner that was growing. The first med tech smiled at him, pointing, as he relayed the info into his walkie.
By the time Aaron got Zach out of the shower, including Zach getting his hair washed with the dispenser in the shower, his bag was there. Aaron helped him get into clean underwear, shorts, his right flip flop and a t-shirt. He and a one of med techs got him back on the exam table.
Dr. Marks cut the ice bags away and started to examine Zach's ankle. Zach grimaced heavily. Aaron grabbed his hand. "Son, squeeze my hand and concentrate on that."
Zach smiled. "If I squeeze hard enough, Dr. Marks will have two patients, 'cause I'll break your hand."
"Then just squeeze and concentrate on not breaking my hand." Zach followed his dad's suggestion and Dr. Marks smiled as he started to examine Zach's ankle. After five minutes, he nodded at the med tech to get the ice back on.
"Agent Hotchner…."
"I'm Aaron and father right now."
Dr. Marks smiled. "I'm going to give you two options. Option one: we call an ambulance and transport Zach to the nearest hospital, where they will get that ankle immobilized and then send you on your merry way to your primary doctor. But since your son is playing in VHSL sports, I'm sure you had to pay the insurance premium and it isn't cheap." Aaron nodded. "But they are cheap. You just didn't hear that from me. Because I put the 'middle person' into the mix, they'll give you hell over that, and probably not pay that middle person part. Trust me and let me take that out of the mix." Aaron looked at him with a question.
"I can immobilize that ankle, and probably better than them. And because I'm contracted by the league through their rental of the stadium, you don't pay a dime. You take Zach home and get him to his primary doc tonight. They'll cover that without question."
Zach looked at Dr. Marks. "I don't get to ride home on the team bus?"
"Zach, your incident with loosing semi-consciousness still sends up a bit of a red flag to me. I know it was the pain, but you need to be relaxed with your leg up. And if you, and your dad, can give me your doc's name and clinic, I can call ahead and have them waiting for you."
Aaron looked at Dr. Marks. "After I immobilize that ankle, we're going to pack it in ice. Do you have a way to keep it up in your vehicle?"
Aaron nodded. "Do it doctor."
Zach looked at Dr. Marks. "I'm starving; we had team breakfast at eight this morning." He took another huge swig of the sports drink. While it wasn't the warmest a June day it could be in Virginia, it was warm enough to run down a person playing seven innings of baseball, most of that in catchers gear.
"So am I doc," Jack smiled.
Dr. Marks smiled at Aaron. He rubbed Aaron's shoulder. "He's going to be fine. And there how many golden arches between here and Annandale? That's probably the biggest part of the problem with Zach getting semi-consciousness, along with the pain and a bit of dehydration. But Aaron, I do need you to sign a form that you allowed me to treat Zach and dispense some meds." Aaron looked at him. "Advil; three of them from me; every six hours after that."
Zach rolled his eyes. "Been there, done that." Dr. Marks looked at him with a question. Zach outlined the scar around his left eye.
Less than thirty minutes later, Zach, in the front right seat of a golf cart driven by the first med tech, rode out of the bowels of the stadium. His left leg was laid over the top of the cart to keep it elevated, with his ankle completely immobilized and three large bags of ice packed around it with towels underneath it to keep it comfortable. Aaron and Sean sat in the backseat of the cart facing the opposite way, with Jack on Aaron's lap. Zach's bag was at Sean's feet.
Yet the cart zoomed out to an area away from where Aaron and Sean had parked. As Aaron got his bearings and was about to out point the error, he looked over his shoulder to see his oldest son smiling. The entire team, with the championship trophy, sitting on the first step of the bus, was waiting for them.
Pete, of course, was the first to reach Zach. "Cob?"
"They think I broke my ankle on the play at the plate in the sixth."
"And you played on it?"
"Dad noticed I shook it out when I got up. The doc thinks I shook it back into place." Aaron conferred with the coaches, and Tom, the bus driver pulled Zach and Jack's suitcases out from luggage area at the bottom of the bus. Pete handed Sean Jack's sport bag and the award Zach had received.
Sean looked at Aaron. "Jack should probably change too," he suggested, knowing that Jack didn't have a change of clothes like his brother. Aaron got Jack's luggage bag open and dug out a change of clothes for him. Tom, the bus driver, started to send him to the bathroom on the bus.
"JP," Pete smiled, "Just change in the back of bus. No one will notice." Jack came out a few minutes later, dressed in his athletic shorts with the brand logo that matched his brother's (another purchase on Uncle Dave), a t-shirt and his own flip flops that matched Zach's as well. Having matured hanging around the team, he brought all the clothes that he changed out of with him.
Coach Bock winked at Hotch. "You get him home and do what you have to. The celebration doesn't start without him. Besides, we want to watch a couple of innings of the next game. Rumor has it one of the teams will be in our division next year." Aaron shook his hand, congratulating him on the win. The rest of the coaches smiled. Sean did the same.
The team all said good-bye to them. The coaches exchanged high fives with Jack. The rest of the team scuffled Jack's hair. Stan pulled Cob into strong handshake, handing him his cell and iPod he had left on the bus. "Keep in touch," he smiled.
"See ya when I see ya," Zach smiled, quoting a line from one of their favorite movies. Pete grabbed Jack, tickled him and then put him in Aaron's lap as he and Sean got back on the golf cart.
The med tech then followed Aaron's direction to the car and got Zach settled into the backseat on the right, with the towels to support his ankle. Sean reaching through the driver's side helped him, while Aaron helped the med tech get Zach into the SUV. It was perfect because he could put his leg up on the middle console, separating Hotch and Sean. Aaron buckled Jack into his car seat as Sean loaded the trunk with their luggage and sport bags.
As they pulled out of the parking lot, Aaron reached for his cell phone and hit his speed dial to Dave, who answered on the first ring. "What the hell is going on Aaron? You were supposed to call me. The team is waiting for 4-1-1, as Garcia says. They want to be part of the celebration when the team gets back into town."
"Houston, we have a problem." Aaron filled Dave in on the details.
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