The Softball Game
By Twig
~*PART 3*~
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters on the show "Passions".
They
belong to NBC and James E. Reilly. If I owned any of these people,
trust me,
Luis and Sheridan would have been married off a LOOOOONG time ago.
Since this
story is solely for amusement, and I have no ulterior motives (well,
not too
many) please, don't sue me.
"BATTER UP!" Tabitha cackled, motioning frantically to home
plate,
bracelets clacking against one another.
Hank stepped up, brandishing a wooden bat, "I'll hit a home run for you
Sheridan," he said, tossing her a stupid grin.
"You do that," she said with a sigh.
"He won't hit a home run," Luis mumbled from where he stood next to
her. "He
could never hit them in high school."
Sure enough, Hank smacked the ball into the outfield, where it bounced
in
front of Millicent, spraying her with mud. She whimpered and picked it
up
delicately, tossing it to Ivy, who missed it by a mile. She ran after
it,
scooped it up, and flung it to Sam, even though Hank was just stopping
at
second base.
"Told ya," Luis said with a wink, as Sheridan headed out to home plate.
Ethan grinned and waved to his favorite aunt, before lobbing the pitch
over
the plate for her. She swung mightily, the force spinning her around
and
knocking her to the ground.
"Ooof!" she exclaimed, surprised.
"Strike one!" Tabitha yelled unnecessarily.
From the dugout, Luis chuckled.
Sheridan's second swing did not fare much better, but she managed to
stay on
her feet.
"Strike two!"
"Come on Sheridan!" Hank cheered from second base, earning a suspicious
glare
from his niece, Kay.
Ethan tossed the pitch over the plate as slowly as he possibly could.
Sheridan swung hopelessly and missed for the third time.
"OUT!" Tabitha said merrily.
Sheridan made her way back to the dugout, handing her bat to Luis.
"Aw," he said, not sounding sympathetic at all.
She shot him a withering glare, but anyone who looked closely would
swear
that there was a hint of affection hidden in it.
Ethan threw the ball over the plate, and Luis smacked it into the
outfield, far over Millicent's head. Throwing her hands into the air,
she
trudged off to get it, as Luis easily rounded the bases and ran home.
"HOME RUN!" Tabitha yodeled.
"Just like old times!" Hank said with a grin, slapping his old friend
high
five. Sheridan, back in the dugout, did her best to look unimpressed.
"Lucky swing," she muttered.
"You just keep telling yourself that," Luis smirked.
Charity stepped reluctantly up to the plate and hit a grounder to Kay,
who
gleefully threw the ball to Ivy for the second out.
"It's okay Charity," Miguel called from the field, "You'll get it next
time!"
Reese got up to bat and hit the ball to Sam, who threw it to Ivy, but
she was
so flustered that she missed, leaving Reese safe on first base. Then
Jessica
struck out to end the inning.
Both teams changed sides. Luis stood at shortstop, Hank at second
base,
and Sheridan took third. Reese was the catcher, and Jessica was at
first
base. TC took center field, Charity took right field, and Simone took
left.
Julian marched proudly to the mound.
"Julian's pitching?" Luis exclaimed in dismay.
Julian whirled around, "I'll have you know, in my day, I was a damned
fine
pitcher."
"Batter up!"
Theresa led off, and Julian launched into an elaborate windup before
burning
the ball right past her into Reese's glove.
"Strike one!"
"Oh no!" Theresa said out loud, "I have to hit this to impress Ethan!"
Julian wound up again and released the ball, and this time Theresa
swung and
hit it to Sheridan, who bobbled it briefly before throwing it in
Jessica's
direction.
"SAFE!"
Julian winked at Theresa, who didn't notice at all.
Whitney got up next and hit one cleanly up the middle, sending TC
limping off
in pursuit. Then Millicent got up and promptly struck out, letting out
an
annoyed shout of frustration. Ivy followed suit.
"Two outs!" Tabitha announced from home plate. Miguel got up next and
hit a
high pop up, which sent Sheridan scrambling underneath it. Everyone
held
their breath as the ball came down, and down, and finally landed neatly
in
her glove.
"YES!" Luis yelled, and then quickly glanced around. Fortunately,
everyone
had mistaken his elation as happiness that they had gotten out of the
inning.
Tabitha watched nervously as everyone left the field, trotting
across
the dirt. She clapped her hands together with glee as TC stepped
directly in
a pile of the blue dust she had scattered earlier.
"AHH!" TC yelled, tumbling to the ground.
Eve rushed over, "TC, are you all right?"
He winced, "It's my leg. It gave out on me."
"Come sit down," she ordered him, "No more softball for you."
"Now we're short a teammate," Reese complained.
"I'll play," Beth Wallace stood at the edge of the field. She hurried
over
and smiled sweetly at Luis.
"Okay," Grace nodded, marking the change on her clipboard, as the teams
continued switching sides.
<<<~~~>>>
This time, Julian led off, and surprised everyone by hitting a
line
drive directly to Millicent, who missed it. By the time she retrieved
the
ball and tossed it in, Julian stood proudly on second base.
"Your brother sure is good," Hank said to Sheridan in surprise.
Simone grounded to Kay, who threw the ball to Ivy, getting her friend
out
easily.
Then Beth got up and smacked the ball past Sam, sending Julian to third
base
and standing on first easily.
"That Beth sure is a good athlete," Hank said, poking Luis, "You and
her are
made for each other."
Luis simply shook his head, amazed at how dense his old friend could
be.
"Hank," he said finally, "You're up."
Hank stepped up to the plate and grounded to Miguel, who threw to Kay
on
second to get Beth out.
"Get ready for the third out," Sheridan told Luis glumly, long since
given up
any hope of winning their little bet.
Miguel tossed the ball back to Ethan, not noticing the blue dust that
was
coating it. Ethan threw the ball to his aunt, who swung the bat and
missed it
by a mile.
"Strike!" Tabitha shook Timmy eagerly, "The dust is working!"
Ethan threw the ball past Sheridan again for strike two.
"Come on," Luis yelled from the dugout, "Just focus!"
This time as the pitch sailed over home plate, Sheridan swung mightily
and
connected with the ball, firing it straight back at Ethan, where it
struck
him square on the forehead and sent him sprawling to the ground.
Tabitha cackled evilly.
"Oh god," Sheridan moaned, "I did it again!"
"She killed Ethan!" Theresa shrieked.
"Ethan's not dead," Whitney reassured her, "He'll wake up in a minute.
Remember what happened last time he got hit in the head?"
Theresa thought back to the collages he had made, and then grinned from
ear
to ear.
"It's fate," she whispered.
Millicent stomped through the muddy grass over to the infield,
where Ivy
stood staring at her prone son in horror.
"That's it!" she snapped, "I'm going home!"
"Home? You can't leave, Millicent!" Ivy said desperately.
"I could be shopping right now! Having a nice lunch at a little cafe!
But
instead I'm standing around, ankle deep in mud, waiting to be struck in
the
head by a little ball."
"It won't be much longer," Ivy said weakly, her gaze flitting from the
still
unconscious Ethan to Sam, who looked properly worried.
"I would like to make it through the day alive!" Millicent grumbled.
"If you leave we won't have enough people to play," Ivy attempted to
reason,
"And then the Russells will have to leave!"
"So let them leave! What do I care?"
"Just a few more innings?" Ivy pleaded.
"Oh, fine," Millicent sighed, and made her way back out to the
outfield.
On the pitcher's mound, Ethan slowly sat up, blinking rapidly. "Ohhh,"
he
said with a groan, rubbing his forehead, where a fresh bruise had
sprouted up
over the old one.
"Are you okay?" Sam asked him, looking down.
Ethan sat up with a moan of pain, "I'm okay"
"Can you still play?" Chad asked him, standing over him, catcher's mask
in
hand.
"Yeah," Ethan waved them off, "I'm fine. Just a little startled"
He blinked again as he stood up, wondering why there seemed to be
millions of
Theresas floating around his head. Fortunately, he did not voice this
concern
to the people standing around him.
Sheridan was standing on first base, still gazing at her nephew
with
concern. Luis glanced from her to the dazed Ethan, finally flashing her
the
thumbs up sign. She gave him a weak smile in return.
"Let's play ball," Tabitha demanded, trying to keep the joy out of her
voice.
Luis got up and hit a long shot to right field, sending Millicent
scurrying.
She grabbed it out of the mud and threw it in as Julian and Hank
scored,
leaving Luis on second base and Sheridan on third.
"The Harmony Eves are leading, four to one!" Tabitha squawked,
bracelets
jingling. Timmy, still tucked under her arm, sighed inwardly.
Charity stepped up to bat.
"Come on Charity!" Miguel urged from the field.
Kay narrowed her eyes, "Miguel, she's on the other team! You should be
hoping
Ethan strikes her out!"
"She's my girlfriend," Miguel shrugged, "I don't really care who wins
this
game."
Kay groaned, watching as Charity touched the bat to the ground before
raising
it up over her shoulder, a fine dusting of blue substance coating the
barrel.
"Oh no," Timmy mumbled, hiding his eyes.
"Yes!" Tabitha hissed to him, her commentary going unnoticed by those
around
them.
Charity narrowed her eyes and focused on the ball as it coasted
over the
plate. She swung mightily, missing the ball but the bat slipped out of
her
hands, arcing through the air. The ball bounced harmlessly out of
Chad's mitt
and fell to the dirt, but no one was watching. They stared in horrified
fascination as the bat looped through the air, almost in slow motion,
and
began it's descent to the ground.
There was a sickening thud as it struck human flesh.
<<<~~~>>>
"Oh Theresa, I love you so much" Ethan, his image encased in
swirling
purple mist, said to her, a huge smile on his face. And then she was in
his
arms and he was kissing her, just like she knew was meant to be
"It's fate," Theresa said, and opened her eyes. Ethan was looming over
her,
no longer hovering in mist, but there, nonetheless. The ugly bruise on
his
forehead, nowhere in sight during his confession, was once more glaring
forth.
"What's fate Theresa?" Ethan asked, confused, as he helped her to sit
up.
For the first time she noticed that there was a huge crowd of people
around
them, all of them looking concerned.
"Wow Ethan," she said, her voice slightly dazed, "Look at everyone who
came
to see us declare our love"
"Our love?" Ethan was baffled, "Our love of what?"
"Our love," she reiterated firmly.
"You mean our love of softball," Ethan nodded his head, grinning
foolishly,
"Theresa, I don't know if you remember, but you got hit in the head
with a
bat. I was afraid that you'd been killed."
Rubbing her sore head, Theresa once more glanced around, the previous
events
rushing back into her mind, "Oh."
"Theresa, we have to get you to the hospital," Eve Russell said
worriedly,
checking the bruise on her forehead that seemed to match Ethan's
perfectly.
"No, I'm okay," she said with a shaky laugh, trying to stand up. Once
on her
feet, she wobbled dizzily, reaching out to grab Ethan's arm for
support.
"At least go sit down for a while," Eve sighed.
"She's right Theresa," Ethan told her, gripping her arm, "You shouldn't
be on
your feet."
"Okay Ethan," Theresa said dreamily, letting him escort her to the
dugout.
Tabitha grinning like an idiot, clutched her shirt in her fists, "But
now
we're short another player!"
Ivy scanned the crowd of people gathered to watch, "Pilar!"
Theresa's mother, who was watching the unfolding events with a stricken
expression, jumped at the mention of her name, "yes Mrs. Crane?"
"You can play in Theresa's place!"
"Oh no I couldn't"
"Yes you can!" Ivy gripped her confidante's arm and dragged her onto
the
field, causing Millicent to roll her eyes.
"Oh, dios mio," Pilar muttered under her breath, taking her place in
center
field.
Charity, trembling now, walked reluctantly back to the plate.
"I almost killed Theresa," she whispered, her eyes wide with fear.
"Oh, now now," Tabitha consoled with a smirk, "Everyone is going to be
just
fine. You just…pick up that bat and swing away."
Charity picked up the bat and held it loosely in her hands, "I don't
think I
want to play any more."
Kay let out a little inward cheer.
"Of course you can play!" Miguel encouraged, "You can do it!"
With a sigh, the sweet, innocent girl picked up the bat, praying that
she
wouldn't unleash any more devastation.
"You see this Timmy?" Tabitha shook the doll merrily, "My dust is
working!"
"Timmy thinks this is a bad idea."
Ethan lobbed the ball over the plate slowly, and Charity swung
forcefully.
However, she had taken a step backwards from nervousness, and was a
little
too close to Tabitha as the bat came around. Tabitha leapt backwards
out of
the path of the wayward wooden stick, but it caught Timmy behind his
head and
sent him launching out into the field, where he landed in an ungraceful
heap.
"TIMMY!" Tabitha shrieked.
Charity dropped the bat and covered her mouth with her hand.
"Oh my god!" she whispered, all color draining from her face. "Tabitha,
I'm
so sorry! I almost hit you! And your doll"
All attention turned to the poor, crumpled pile that was Timmy. Tabitha
scurried out to the field and scooped him up.
"Oh poor Timmy," she whispered, cradling his limp form in her arms, "My
little Timmy"
"That's it," Charity said in a shaky voice, "I'm not playing any more.
I want
to go home."
Eve tapped Grace on the shoulder, "Grace, your niece is right.
Everything is going wrong TC's leg, Ethan getting hit in the head,
Theresa
getting hit with the bat, and now this with the doll I think we
should just
call the whole thing off."
"Don't be silly," Grace swatted her away, "you're just paranoid about
moving
away. Well trust me, if I have my way, your family will be living in
Harmony
for a long, long time."
"I'm sure we will," Eve said with a tight smile.
Continue to Part 4
Story Wrote by TWIG Thanks so much for sharing your story with us.
You can write TWIG at [email protected]
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