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Tyler slips past Taylor, jogging towards his shoes. She looks surprised to see him so early. It’s only seven thirty on Saturday.
“I’m late for practice,” he says, rubbing his eyes.
He grabs his shoes, and heads to a chair to sit down and put his shoes on.
“Weren’t you up really late last night?”
“It wasn’t that late.”
“You were doing laundry in our room at two this morning.”
Tyler looks back up.
“Why were you awake?”
“I only woke up for a few minutes, but I could hear you humming. When I looked over to check what you were doing, it looked like you were folding laundry.”
“I woke up really early this morning, and needed to burn off some energy before I could go back to sleep. It’s not a big deal, and I’m fine to go to practice this morning. Can you make sure that Mom is awake? We really need to get going.”
Taylor eventually nods, running off to their mom’s room. Tyler takes a deep breath, forcing his eyes to stay fully open. His hands shake as he ties his shoes.
“Crap, I forgot breakfast. Well, I don’t have time to eat now, I’ll just end up throwing up once I get on the field. What should I say to Mom and Taylor?” he mumbles, thinking out loud.
Taylor runs back down the stairs, fully dressed now.
“Mom’s coming down. Are you not done putting your shoes on yet?”
I must have stared off. Whoops.
“No, I got distracted. I’m just finishing up. Are you coming?”
“Yeah, that’s why I got dressed while I was up there, silly.”
“Yeah, ok. Jeez.”
He stands up, heading to the kitchen to fill up his water bottle.
“Did you have breakfast? I don’t see anything in here,” Taylor says, following him into the kitchen.
“That’s because I had a protein drink for breakfast. I was worried about it being too close to warm ups,” he replies, the lie slipping off his tongue before he even really realizes that he’s saying it.
He fills his water bottle up with ice, water, and an electrolyte mix.
“Oh, ok. Well, since you didn’t actually make something, I’ll just grab something that I can eat in the car.”
“Sounds good,” he replies, glancing at the stairs. “If she’s not down in the next few minutes, I’m gonna try to get myself there.”
“You’re gonna walk? You’re never gonna get there on time.”
“Eh, I’ll probably run. It’ll be good endurance training. The more of that I do, the easier baseball will get.”
“Yeah, but it’s a bit hot outside for that, right?”
“Yeah, a bit. I’ll explain it to Coach, and sit for a few minutes once I get there. Hopefully that won’t happen though, and Mom will just come down the stairs. You know Saturday practices are the hardest for her.”
“Yeah, but they’re literally the only ones that she has to take you to. You’re already at school for the other five.”
“Yeah, but she has to take me to games too,” Tyler replies, grabbing his gym bag out of the hall closet.
“Those just replace Saturday practices.”
Tyler laughs, causing Taylor to untense a little.
“You worry too much. I’ll be fine, and Mom’s fine. Some days are just harder than others.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. I was being too hard on her, wasn’t I?”
“It’s fine, Tay. You’re allowed to have bad days too.”
“What about you?”
He laughs again.
“I have bad days just like everyone else.”
Their mother walks down the stairs, interrupting any continuation to the conversation that they might have attempted.
“Are you ready to go, dear?” she asks, putting a hand on Tyler’s shoulder.
He nods, melting into her touch. She gives him a small smile, before walking off to grab her keys.
“I’m sorry that your father can’t come. I’m sure he’s just being held up at work.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s fine, maybe he can catch the next game,” Tyler replies, the light in his eyes immediately blinking out.
He lowers his gaze, looking at the floor as he heads out of the door with his water and gear in tow.
Despite leaving only a few minutes after that, they’re late getting there, and Tyler is immediately sent to run laps. Taylor watches him as he runs and runs while the others are doing some simple drills. By the time he’d run almost a dozen laps, Taylor turns to their mom.
“Do you think Coach forgot that he told Tyler to run laps till he said to stop?”
“I don’t know. It’s possible that he thinks this is an appropriate amount of running to make up for being late.”
She doesn’t look up from her phone.
“Have you been paying attention?”
“What? Of course, dear,” she says, still without looking at Taylor.
So today’s a really bad mental health day.
“I think I’m going to get some grocery shopping done while we’re out anyway. Do you think your brother will mind if I leave, and come get you guys once you’re done?”
“No, of course not, Mom.”
He never cares about anything anymore. He never holds you accountable for your own actions either.
She smiles slightly at Taylor.
“I’ll be back later, sweetheart.”
She stands up, making her way off of the bleachers and towards her car. Taylor turns back to the field. Tyler is running over to the team now, his face red and his chest heaving. He completely bypasses the water and runs straight to his coach. Taylor frowns, concern growing in her chest. However, Coach obviously tells him that he can get some water because he jogs back to his gear.
Then he rushes to catch up with the rest of the team, running through the drills at an impressive speed. Taylor watches for a while, but once he joins the rest of the team on the drill that they’re doing, she turns back to her bag. She pulls a book out, quickly getting immersed in the story, especially since it’s nearing the end. She glances up occasionally, but doesn’t really pay attention.
However, she looks up about an hour later when a sharp whistle pierces the air. All of the boys look up. Tyler does too, but it’s on a slight delay.
Is he ok? She wonders, taking in his red face, glazed over eyes, and the wobble in his step as he readjusts.
“Hernandez, you alright?”
Tyler blinks, then points at himself.
“Yeah, come over here. I want you to sit next to me for a while.”
Tyler blinks sluggishly again before nodding. He takes a step towards his coach, but he drops to the ground before he can take another one. The boys scatter while his coach surges forward. Taylor doesn’t know what’s happening as he begins to convulse.
She runs down the bleachers, taking off across the field. She gets to them as he puts his folded up jacket under Tyler’s head. He keeps a hand on Tyler’s shoulder to keep him on his side.
“Get my phone. It’s over there. Call 911,” he says, pointing to his bag.
She nods, her eyes wide and unfocused.
“What do I say? What’s happening?”
“He’s having a seizure, and possibly a heat stroke. Tell them that, and where we are. If they ask for anything else, tell them. If you don’t know, ask me.”
She’s on the phone with 911 for a few minutes before he finally goes still. She’s on her knees almost a foot away, but she scoots just a little bit closer at that point. Coach’s eyes drift to her, but back to Tyler almost immediately. Tyler’s eyes drift open, but he doesn’t focus on anything. Coach gives him a minute, but then taps his cheek.
“Can you tell me your name?”
Tyler just squints at him, obviously confused.
“Do you know where you are?” he asks, speaking slowly.
Taylor puts a hand over her mouth, trying not to start sobbing. It’s not long after that the ambulance shows up. Tyler still hasn’t spoken, or shown any signs that he hears or understands them. Taylor doesn’t hear what Coach says, but he’s talking to the paramedics as they’re loading him up. The only thing she catches is him saying that Tyler has no history of seizures.
It’s a few hours after she watches them load him into the ambulance that she sees him again. Coach took her to the hospital and sat with her as soon as he could get the rest of the kids home. They don’t speak aside from him asking if she knew what her mother was up to. She doesn’t have a reasonable answer, because she’s either frantically trying to call their dad, or having a breakdown about having to go to the hospital again.
Eventually she’s allowed to go see him. He’s asleep, a nasal cannula taped to his face. Coach puts a hand on her shoulder.
“I have to ask. Where is your mother? If she doesn’t show up soon, they’re going to call CPS.”
Taylor looks up at him, her eyes bloodshot and rimmed red.
“I don’t know what to do,” she says, wrapping her arms around herself.
“Why? What’s going on?”
“Mom, she… Our dad died a few years ago, and she couldn’t cope with it. She still thinks he’s alive. If she remembered that he’s not, then she’s not coming. She’s going to have another breakdown at the mere idea of coming to a hospital. If she doesn't, then she’s going to try to get in contact with him. Can he even get proper care without her?”
“Only emergency treatment. They’re pretty sure that the seizure was caused by the heat and the physical stress on his body. They want to keep him here and run tests in case that’s not why. Though if that is why it happened, it won’t happen again. I’m going to see what we can do. Maybe we can get your mother here to sign some paperwork at least. I’m going to leave you two here. Will you be alright?”
Taylor nods, jerking her head harshly.
“Ok, I’ll be back soon, hopefully with your mom.”
However, he’s alone when he comes back. Their mother never comes into the room. Tyler is alright, they even talk for a while before his EEG, though she can tell that he’s scared. Eventually he’s released and their mother is there to pick them up.
Tyler never says anything, and Taylor is too scared to confront either one of them. Nothing comes of her telling his coach either. No one ever questions them or their mother, and no one tells Tyler that she told his coach. Coach doesn’t change his attitude either. Everything is exactly the same, and she can’t help but feel a little bit resentful towards Coach and their mother. She doesn’t show it though, and she just sticks a little closer to Tyler for a while. They never talk about what happened even just between the two of them.