Arizona had the baseball game on in the background as she was doing some laundry around the house, back from her trip to New York City with Lynzee. Lynzee would be coming by that night after the team flew back from D.C. It would probably be a late night, so she wanted to get all of her chores in order and out of the way and get the house tidy before Lynzee got there. She was planning to stop by the store later and pick up some wine, candles, and bubble bath and plan a romantic evening for the two of them once Lynzee was back in town. As soon as Arizona heard the commentators announce Lynzee was coming into pitch to relieve one of her teammates who had gotten into a jam, Arizona stopped folding laundry and came to sit down in front of the tv to watch.
The Mariners were leading The Nationals 7-5 but the previous pitcher had allowed the first 2 batters up in the inning to get on base with no outs. Lynzee was brought in to see if she could do any better and get the the situation back under control. The first batter came up to bat and Lynzee quickly shut them down with a strike out swinging on a 2-2 count. Arizona quietly cheered to herself as she watched Lynzee get the first out. The next batter came up and he wasn't swinging at the first pitch and it was a little outside, ball one.
"Ah, come on! That was a strike," Arizona said annoyed at the call by the umpire.
The next pitch came and it was hit towards 2nd base but the first basemen was able to make the play. In an attempt to get the double-play and end the inning he threw to second base. Lynzee headed towards first to cover it in case the short stop was able to make the play back at first. They got the man out at 2nd and the shortstop threw towards Lynzee at first. Arizona watched as Lynzee running to first base was close to the base, but so was the runner. As Lynzee stepped on the bag and caught the throw from the shortstop to get the out and make the double-play the runner made impact with Lynzee and trampled over her. Lynzee was thrown violently to the ground and the impact was heard throughout the stadium as well as on the tv. The stadium went quiet, and Arizona stood up quickly and put her hands over her mouth.
Arizona listened as the commentators described what she had just seen with her own eyes. Quickly the first basemen, Josh, and several Mariners staff had come out. Arizona couldn't see if Lynzee had moved since she hit the ground.
"Move!" Arizona yelled at her tv, as if the players and staff could hear her.
The tv cut to a quick replay which showed the impact again in slow motion and confirmed Lynzee did make the out at first base but after the ball hit inside her glove, the batter tried to avoid impacting her but couldn't stop his momentum and slammed into her. The two impacted and tumbled over one another and rolled to the ground. They showed the replay from another angle then which showed Lynzee's head come down on the ground hard and the game then cut to commercial.
"Oh my God," Arizona said quietly as she put her hand to her mouth. Arizona paced back and forth waiting for the game to come back on but it was nothing but commercial after commercial. After what seemed like forever, the game came back on but there was still a crowd gathered around Lynzee who appeared to still be laying on the ground surrounded by Mariners staff. The stadium was quiet and the players stood motionless waiting to hear any good news.
Folks if you're just joining us, here's the replay that took down Mariners pitcher Lynzee Miller who is still unfortunately down. We haven't seen much and they just brought out a backboard and vehicle to take her to get examined.
It was definitely a nasty hit, but it really couldn't be avoided. It looks like Thompson was trying to avoid hitting her but they both got to the bag at the same time and there was no avoiding it.
Arizona watched the tv as the medical staff brought out a backboard and placed it under Lynzee. She couldn't tell if Lynzee was moving on her own and conscious or if her arms had moved because of the jostling.
"Jesus, be careful," Arizona whispered as she assessed their movements from afar.
It looks like they're loading her up now, and Thompson is coming over to Miller.
I'm sure he feels horrible, but it was clearly an accident, there was definitely no intention based on the way he has reacted after the impact.
Wait, it looks like she may be awake.
Arizona watched closer as, yes! She could see Lynzee hold her right hand up and hold hands with Thompson and give him a thumbs up. The crowed clapped and cheered to let Lynzee know they supported her. Lynzee waved to the crowed as best she could but Arizona couldn't really see anymore from Lynzee than her arms. It looked like they had her in a neck collar and pretty well restrained to the backboard. The staff loaded her onto the open carted vehicle and it zoomed off the field and out of Arizona's view.
Arizona retrieved her phone and found the one number she hoped she'd never have to call. Rebecca's. Arizona stared at it for a moment and paused and then pushed the button to call her. The line rang and rang and she finally got Rebecca's voicemail. "Rebecca, it's Arizona. Lynzee left me your number in case of emergencies and, well, here we are. Can you please call me back or text me when you know anything about Lynzee's condition. Where they are taking her? Please, just let me know when you know something. Thank you." Arizona hung up.
A few moments later Arizona got a text back from Rebecca.
They're taking her to GW. I'm on my way there now.
Arizona was surprised she even got a text back, maybe Lynzee was right about her after all.
Is she awake? What's her condition? Do you have any other info you can pass on?
I haven't seen her. I'll let you know when I know more.
Arizona navigated on her phone to Dr. Lincoln and hit send.
"Hey! Do you still keep in contact with anyone on The Mariners medical staff?"
Linc laughed, "Why, you want to get a job so you can work with your girlfriend everyday?"
"No, I don't want a job, I need to get in contact with someone on the team. Lynzee got hit really badly and they took her off the field on a backboard."
"Oh shit! I'm sorry Arizona I had no idea, I was watching the game earlier but I had to leave to go pick up Scout from Amelia. Hold on a minute, let me call my buddy Keith. I worked with him back in the day and he's still with them. He travels with them so if she was transported off the field he'll be going with her to the hospital. Give me a few minutes, I'll call him and have him call or text you back okay? Hang in there!"
"Thanks Linc!" Arizona hung up and paced through her house waiting for any kind of information. Her phone buzzed.
Hey Arizona, this is Keith, Linc just sent me your number. I'm here with Lynzee. She's awake but only because we administered smelling salts to bring her back. She's having a hard time staying awake. We're on our way to GW now and will likely do a CT as soon as we get there. She did talk briefly on the field once she came to, all she said was her back and head hurt. I'll keep you up to date as I know anything more.
Thank you. Was all Arizona could manage to text back. She sat down numb, not knowing what to do. She was nearly 3,000 miles away and all her medical training was completely useless.
Arizona made herself busy, cleaning her house from top to bottom, scrubbing and vacuuming with vigor. Earlier she had been taking her time moving freely throughout her house as she slowly tidied up this and that here and there throughout. Now she was moving at blazing speed going over every spot she could find 2-3 times. She even uncovered her hidden stash of cigarettes and started to light up but thought better of it and threw them away. She wasn't going to get into that habit again. It was was a needed distraction as ESPN kept showing the replay since the game ended. She only had the damn thing on to see if they had learned anything she hadn't been made aware of yet. She certainly wasn't banking on Rebecca keeping her up-to-date as she had claimed she would. She just had to keep busy, keep distracted. Her phone buzzed. But it wasn't a text buzz. It kept buzzing. Someone was calling her. Shit Arizona thought. Why didn't I turn it off of silent! I could have missed something! She raced over to her phone and Lynzee's face lit up the screen. Was it really Lynzee calling or someone calling from Lynzee's phone?
"Lynz?" Arizona answered hoping it was actually Lynzee on the other line.
"Hey," Lynzee replied quietly.
"Heeeey," Arizona said softly, "How are you? Are you okay? What are they saying?"
There was a long pause, "I hit my head. Pretty hard, I guess. I'll be out on the injured list for a bit I guess."
"Do you know how long they're going to keep you there?" Another long pause, Arizona could hear Lynzee breathing deeply "Lynz…"
"Uh, I think overnight they said? I can't, I can't remember."
"That's okay, does anything else hurt or just your head, you know when you get back in town they should have you come to the hospital and Amelia can check you out and probably Linc too."
"The only one I want checking me out is you."
Arizona smiled, "Well that can be arranged, but it won't be at the hospital."
"It's a date."
"Uh huh… we're supposed to be having that date tonight if I remember correctly."
"Raincheck?"
"I guess I'll allow it."
"I miss you."
"I miss you too. You should get some rest. Let me know how you're doing in the morning?"
"Of course."
"Is Rebecca around?"
"Yeah, she's right here."
"Can I talk to her for a moment before you hang up?"
Lynzee paused, "Uh… yeah…"
"Okay, thank you. I love you, goodnight."
"I love you too, goodnight."
Arizona could hear Lynzee quietly mention to Rebecca that Arizona wanted to talk to her. She thought she could hear Rebecca asking why and Lynzee saying she didn't know.
"Hi, it's Rebecca."
"Rebecca, hi. So what are they saying? It didn't sound like Lynzee was retaining much of her working memory. Have they said how long are they keeping her?"
Rebecca sighed and sounded annoyed but complied with Arizona's request for information, "CT came back normal but they're keeping her overnight for observations."
"What about her back? I heard she said her head and back hurt when she was on the field."
"How did you hear that?"
"Does it matter how I heard it? I just want to know if she's okay."
"Her back is fine, just some bruising here and there. They didn't see any immediate fractures but said she'd need to follow-up in Seattle as some swelling goes down. She does have a concussion so she'll likely get put on medical restriction and then sent to Tacoma for a rehab assignment before she's put back on the roster for The Mariners."
Arizona could hear Lynzee in the background but it was hard to hear what she was saying but she heard Rebecca say, "You need to rest babe, I got you." Rebecca then came into the phone, "It's under control here Arizona. She's well taken care of. You'll see her when she's back in town. I'll let you know if anything changes," and she hung up before Arizona could say anything else.
"Yeah, I'm sure you will," Arizona muttered. "Ugh, she is such a bitch!"
