The Hitting Zone

Chapter 387 Plan

**Third Person Perspective**

Wayne Atkins was tired. Beyond tired. He was running on almost no sleep for the past 36+ hours. After making sure all the boys were in their rooms and sleeping, he also wanted to go to his own bed. Yet...there was one more thing he had to do. Wayne went to his office where his wife was waiting. They shared a smile, but it felt forced.

Wayne took a seat in his chair, his wife mimicking his actions. He grabbed the landline phone and dialed, putting it on speaker.

"Hello, Wayne, Mary." A man answered right away, almost like he knew the call was coming.

"What are your thoughts Dr. Moore?" Wayne asked, taking in a breath and holding it.

Dr. Moore sighed over the line. "I can’t be sure...but, it’s safe to say that something happened. Something must have jogged his memory. That’s the only thing that can explain his sudden onset of nightmares and being physically ill. If it was a cold or the flu, it would have lasted longer than 24 hours. He wouldn’t just be ready to go back to school after one day off. And, you said he doesn’t have any symptoms right now?"

"None. No coughing, sneezing, vomiting, or a headache. He napped until dinner. Ate his usual amount. Nothing was off." Mary told him. "I don’t think he would fake being sick, but I’ve never seen a boy turn healthy so quick."

"I agree. I’m 90% sure it was psychological. He either heard something or saw something that reminded him of his past. He said that he was with the boys right before feeling sick."

"Do you think it was something our boys said or did?" Wayne asked.

"I’m not blaming them. Maybe something that’s totally subconscious to them, really stood out to Jake. We’ve practically confirmed that there’s a brother. It could just be related to that. Your sons are pretty close to one another so maybe it’ll upset him from time to time. Who knows."

"What can we do for him then?" Mary asked, worried.

"Just continue being there for him. One step at a time. You guys are doing great." Dr. Moore told them. "I’ve submitted my thoughts on you becoming his legal parents, and I had only good things to say. Have you heard from Doug on how the process is coming along?"

"We’re in the six month waiting period for now." Wayne told him. "We have to wait until they exhaust all other options of finding his family and extended family. That will determine how smooth or bumpy this will be."

The three adults spent the night discussing.

***

Going back to school on a Thursday after taking the day off yesterday, made me feel like I was on a Monday. It didn’t help that the teachers were giving me the homework I missed yesterday and adding it to today’s work.

I was going to start my plan of asking Noah about that Patterson guy, but he was still depressed from yesterday’s game. His focus was still on baseball, but only his baseball. How he could practice more, train harder and be better. He’s definitely a baseball fanatic.

It wasn’t until practice started, that I realized, how much this loss affected the whole team. It was a stifling atmosphere like that loss took everything away.

Before starting warmups, Coach gathered us in a circle.

"Yesterday was close." He started out by looking around at us. "I know you boys. I know what you want to do. You want to find blame and either push it on yourself or onto somebody else. It’s how teenagers are." He looked to Zeke. "Well?"

Zeke stood tall, arms crossed. "There’s no point looking at the past unless you want to learn from it."

"Oh? And what did you learn?" Coach asked.

"I would like to be stronger. To have the ability to launch the ball out of the park no matter what pitch it is."

"And have you made a plan to get there?"

"I have." Zeke nodded. "I’ve added some weightlifting for me to do at home after practice."

Coach nodded. "That’s good." He looked at the rest of us. "You see boys, Zeke has made a goal. He wants to be able to hit more homers. A goal broken down in steps becomes a plan. His plan is to do some extra lifting on his own time. If he backs this plan with action, then I believe that he’ll reach his goal."

I nodded, in sync with the rest of the team. Coach was right.

"I’m not saying that you all have to do something similar, but if you feel bad about losing, then why don’t you do something about it?" Coach spoke. "I only get to make you practice three hours a day. Sometimes that can be fifteen hours a week or if it’s like this, when we have three games, then it’s only six hours. Do you think six hours of practice a week and a handful of games will make you better?"

No. I shook my head. Most of the team felt the same way.

"It’s up to you all on what you want to do with your free time after school, practice, homework, eating, and sleeping. You can use that time for extra studying. For playing video games. For watching tv. You get to decide. Not me."

He took a step back. "Okay, let’s get moving. We have a game tomorrow to prepare for. I only have you for a few hours, but it’s how you use that time as well. If you half-ass it, then of course there won’t be any results. I need 100% effort at all times. For three hours every day." He clapped his hands. "Zeke, get them warmed up!"

"Yes!" Zeke waved at the lot of us. "Let’s move."

The speech from Coach really lifted the team’s spirit. Everyone was moving with purpose and had more energy than before. Tomorrow wasn’t a league game, but you couldn’t tell. It felt like we were about to play an elimination game.

I was also feeling inspired. Instead of heading to batting practice, I sprinted to the man who was helping me become a better player. Drew only had Kelvin with him now. Julian was healed up and back to normal activities while Dave was working with the pitching coach in the bullpen.

"Hey Jake, how are you feeling?" Drew smiled, looking slightly surprised that I sprinted over when I would normally take my time. "We missed you yesterday."

"Yea, the lineup could have really used your help." Kelvin agreed. His elbow was still wrapped up, but that didn’t stop him from doing leg workouts.

I forced my thoughts to not look back on why I missed. Why I got sick. Instead I looked up to Drew. "I have a goal, and I want to make a plan!"

Drew blinked. "Oh. Do you want to be more specific?"

I turned red. "I-I-I need your help."

"I’m here to help." He reassured me. "Tell me specifically what your goal is and I can help work out the kinks in your plan."

"I want to be a better play. More specifically, I want my baserunning to be on par with my hitting. I want to be able to steal bases. To try for home and not be scared."

Drew looked very surprised. "Well, that’s...what we’ve been doing."

I shook my head. "I didn’t give my all like Coach said. I’ve only been squeaking by." I looked down at my cleats. "I want to help the team win, not hinder them."

Drew smiled. "Let’s get to work then."

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