Come Backer

"Come-Backer"

"Strike three", called out the ump. "Two outs", hollered the coach. That meant there was only one out left to get for the Doomsville Raiders. John was still pitching. He was the ace of the pitching staff. John was a very tall and lanky seventeen year old with dark brown hair. Because he was one of the best baseball players in the nation, many colleges had been scouting John to play for them. "Let's go", shouted Peter. Peter was playing short stop. He was John's best friend. Peter was an average ball player with decent size and lot's of courage. He was a comical kid, or better known as the class clown. John focused in on the target with a sense of cockiness, for he knew just as well as everyone else that he could not be hit. John fired in the pitch. The batter took a gigantic swing and missed. John smiled. Peter sensed the game was almost over. John delivered the next pitch. Bam! Before you were aware of what happened, John was down on the ground with blood drizzling out of his eye.

When John awoke everything looked blurry. He could see people lounging in the room, but could not make out whom they were. A man dressed in light colors walked up to John and patted John on the shoulder. He said, "Everything's going to be just fine kid." He introduced himself as Doctor Shaw. Doctor Shaw told John that he would be in the hospital for another week or two. John knew by the look on the doctor's face that he was hiding something from him.

After the doctor walked out of the room, John's family gave him a warm greeting. This pleased John, but John had grown tired and wanted some time on his own. John was confused on why he was in the hospital. He started to think and got so caught up in his thoughts that he snoozed off.

Later that day, he awoke and realized he was very hungry. He contacted the nurse and requested that someone bring him dinner. A few minutes passed and the door opened. Happy that dinner was approaching the room, John was both surprised and fascinated when Peter strolled through the door. Peter filled John in with everything that had happened. He told John that he was hit by a ball in the eye and that he had been shipped off by an ambulance. He also told John that he had been in a coma for the past few days. Peter and John talked about life for a while. Peter then threw in a joke to try to make John feel better and then left.

The next day John was informed that he would be having surgery on his eye in a couple of hours. The news shocked him, but he took it like a man and added no complaints.

A lady walked in the door and John assumed that she was the nurse. "Hello," she said. "How are you feeling today?" "Just fine", he added, "but I'm having a difficult time seeing". " I know", she said. "The surgery is to correct the nerve damage in your left eye honey". She pushed his portable bed down the hallway and into the operation room. Doctor Shaw was already present. He explained to John about what was going to occur in the surgery and let John know that the operation was going to be successful. The anesthesiologist placed a mask over John's face that quickly put him to sleep. The surgery remarkably took Doctor Shaw only two hours. John was relocated to the recovery room.

When John awoke he could only see out of one eye. He wanted to cry out but he could not or at least he felt like he could not due to the strong after effects of the drugs. Doctor Shaw paced in and told John that he had some disappointing news. John would never again be able to see out of his left eye. The only thought that flowed in his head was how he could never again pitch which was the love of his life. Anyone who knows anything about pitching would know that pitching requires extreme balance and focus which can not be accomplished with only one eye. John began to sob. The only other time in his life when he had cried was when his mom died a few years back. When his mom was on her death bed he had promised her that he would become a professional baseball player. The thought of having to stop playing baseball haunted him. The doctor also let John know that he was free to leave the hospital and that his friend Peter was in the waiting room ready to give him a ride home.

John met Peter in the waiting room. He had a hard time walking. Peter and John exchanged high-fives and John took a glance at Peter. He did not like the fact that Peter did not have his typical smirk on his face. The walk to the car from the hospital was dead silent as was the ride home. Peter pulled up in front of John's house. His house was a small ranch house, as were most houses were in