The Softball Game
By Twig
~*PART 4*~
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.
Sheridan stood on third base, watching worriedly as everyone made
their
way back to their positions to resume the game.
"There sure are a lot of accidents," she muttered to Luis, who had
walked up
behind her.
"I'll say," he agreed, watching as Tabitha, still patting Timmy with
all of
the attention one might lavish on an actual living being, meandered
back
behind home plate.
"With my luck, I'm sure something horrible will land on my head next."
"Don't say that," Luis scolded.
"Haven't I had my share of unusual accidents lately? This would be just
fitting."
"GO BACK TO YOUR POSITIONS!" Tabitha roared, waving her arms
frantically.
Shaking his head at Sheridan, Luis made his way back to second base.
Charity was shaking like a leaf caught in a hurricane, "I really
don't
want to play."
"Come now dear, everything will be all right. No one got hurt before,"
Tabitha assured her with a false smile.
"Easy for you to say," Timmy muttered into her shoulder.
Ethan, ever so cautious, tossed the ball to Charity. She swung and hit
a line
drive, right at Sheridan.
"AAH!" Sheridan yelled, trying to dive out of the way. But alas, she
was too
late, and soon the Cranes had their second casualty of the day.
Eyeing the crowd of people around the unconscious Sheridan Crane,
Grace
lifted her megaphone to her lips and nervously announced that there
would be
a short break for everyone to get themselves calmed down.
"Come on," Luis whispered softly, picking Sheridan up as he had so many
times
before, carrying her gently to the dugout, where he laid her down on
the
bench.
"Someone get me something to put under her head!" he snapped, and Ethan
handed him a softball glove.
Eve hovered worriedly over them, "That's it� I'm calling this game
off."
"No don't!" Grace begged.
Luis was oblivious to the arguments around him as he gently tried to
wake
Sheridan up.
He tenderly brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, rubbing her head.
Slowly her eyelids fluttered, as she finally began to awaken.
"Luis?" she asked softly, her blue eyes darting around, confused.
"Shh," he whispered to her, "You're gonna be fine."
Hank shouldered his way through the crowds, "Sheridan! Thank god you're
all
right!"
"I'm fine," she said weakly, attempting to sit up.
"Don't!" Luis and Hank yelled at the same time, holding her down.
"You were unconscious for a while," Luis explained, "Just lay down for
a few
minutes."
"I told ya so," she whispered to him with a smirk, before closing her
eyes
and passing out again.
Luis shook his head in amazement, "Always have to have the last word,
don't
you?"
Eve threw her arms in the air, gesturing to the filled dugout. TC
sat on
the bench, his leg extended out in front of him. Theresa was holding an
ice
pack on her head. Ethan, now that there was a brief reprieve from the
game,
had also found some ice for his head. Charity was trembling so much she
appeared to be traumatized for life. And Sheridan was passed out on the
bench.
"GRACE!" she snapped, "You are slowly but surely killing off all of the
townspeople! Can we please stop this before anyone else gets hurt?"
Unseen behind them, Tabitha found Julian's ever-present flask, which
had been
left unattended on the baseline, and she sprinkled some blue powder
into it.
"That will teach Julian" she cackled to Timmy, who groaned in pain.
"Timmy wants an ice pack."
Grace looked crushed, "But we're only in the second inning!"
"How many more innings are we going to get in?" Eve responded, "At this
rate,
both teams will be in the hospital before we get to the fifth!"
Ivy eyed Millicent, who was creeping towards the fence. "DON'T YOU
DARE!"
Millicent whirled to face her, "Ivy, I am NOT staying around here to be
killed by some stupid ball! God, you'd never know that I was an actual,
civilized person!"
"How can you be so heartless?" Ivy asked her.
Millicent pointed furiously to her new sneakers, which were black from
the
mud, and her dirt-stained new clothing. Several strands of grass poked
out of
her hair, and there was a streak of mud right under her left eye just
to
complete the effect.
"I. am. never. going. to. forgive. you. for. this."
"But Millicent-"
"I COULD BE SHOPPING RIGHT NOW!"
"But Millicent-"
"I COULD BE SOCIALIZING WITH NORMAL PEOPLE!"
"But Millicent-"
"I COULD BE ANYWHERE BUT ON THIS GODFORSAKEN FIELD WITH YOU!"
"But Millicent-"
"YOU ARE INSANE! DO YOU HEAR ME?! INSANE! DO NOT EVER ATTEMPT TO SPEAK
TO ME
AGAIN UNTIL YOU GET SOME HELP!"
Ivy sighed as Millicent trudged back out into the outfield, her energy
spent.
"Simone, this is perfect! Charity is not only a horrible softball
player, but she's murderous too! She almost killed Miguel's sister! And
Sheridan Crane! There's no way he can love her after that!"
Simone gaped at Kay, "Are you serious? LOOK at them!"
Kay scowled as she caught a glimpse of Miguel hugging his girlfriend
and
whispering reassurances into her ear.
"I don't care," she said stubbornly, crossing her arms, "Miguel loves
me."
Simone shook her head in annoyance, "Kay, he is in love with Charity!
Your
plans always fail, why don't you just give up?"
"I will NOT give up on him Simone! I love him! Besides, if her horrible
athletic skills aren't enough, I've got a new plan"
"Oh no."
"I made the teams up, you know. Why do you think that I put you on
Charity's
team?"
"I was afraid of this."
Kay pulled a tube of crazy glue out of her pocket and handed it to her
best
friend.
"What is this for?" Simone asked, taking the glue nervously.
"Smear it all over her glove when she's not looking. Then I'll be sure
to hit
something straight to her, and it will stick in her glove! She'll look
like
such an idiot trying to get the ball out of her glove like that!"
"You are truly horrible, you know that?"
Kay shrugged innocently and headed back towards her own dugout. Simone,
looking like she'd rather be doing anything else, reluctantly made her
way
back to her own team.
"Okay," Grace shouted cheerily, "Who's ready to get back to the
game?"
No one responded. They merely stared back at her with blank
expressions.
Sam wrapped his arm around her, "Grace, honey, maybe it would be for
the best
if we just called the game off."
"No Sam, I am not just going to sit idly by while our best friends are
forced
to move away because of financial difficulty. We can help them!"
"We can think of some other way to help them."
"But Sam, they're our friends!"
Sam sighed, "All right Gracey. But we have to find a replacement for
Sheridan."
Julian pranced over to where Ivy stood, watching the unconscious
Sheridan with a worried expression. Before he reached over, he stooped
and
plucked the flask from the ground, pocketing it, much to Tabitha's
dismay.
"Well darling," Julian said with a bright smile, "Looks like good old
Sheridan got hurt again, eh?"
"Get away from me Julian," Ivy cringed.
Julian made no move to leave, and actually leaned in closer, "Officer
Lopez-Fitzgerald looks rather close for comfort."
"He's merely concerned for her."
"I wonder if Father would see it that way."
Ivy narrowed her eyes, "You have done enough horrible things to your
sister
to last a lifetime. Now she gets hit in the head with a softball, and
all you
can think about is how close Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald is standing to her!
Believe me, nothing is going on with them."
"How can you know for sure?"
"Do you remember the last time they dated? Everyone knew about it," Ivy
snapped.
"Maybe they've decided to keep it a secret."
"Why? They have no reason to suspect you and Alistair of doing
anything.
Unless, of course, someone gave them reason to"
"I'd watch who you threaten, dear."
"When it's a threat Julian, you'll know it. I'm just trying to keep you
on
your toes."
With that, Ivy stomped off to find Sam. Julian yawned.
Before Ivy could reach the object of her affection, Ethan
approached
Sam, causing her to freeze in fear.
"This is all your fault, Chief Bennett," Ethan said angrily, pointing
to
Sheridan's crumpled form.
"How is it my fault?" Sam snapped.
"You and your wife organized this game! You knew that people could get
hurt,
yet you arranged it anyway. And now my aunt is injured because of your
lack
of foresight!"
"This is a game, Ethan, everyone who plays does so at their own risk!"
"I don't like your tone, Chief Bennett-"
"STOP IT!" Ivy screamed, jumping between them, "YOU TWO ABSOLUTELY
CANNOT
FIGHT, DO YOU HEAR ME?!"
Sam and Ethan, startled by Ivy's erratic behavior, shrugged and walked
off in
opposite directions.
Grace snatched up the megaphone and her loud, cheery voice
commanded
everyone's attention. "EXCUSE ME! Break's over folks, we've found a
replacement player, so everyone go take your positions again!"
"Who's the replacement?" Eve asked casually.
Without answering, Grace handed her a softball mitt.
"Oh, no" Eve sighed.
"Why are we still playing?" Luis grumbled to Hank, reluctantly
leaving
Sheridan to sleep on the bench.
"Don't worry Luis," Theresa assured him, her eyes still slightly
glassy,
"I'll make sure nothing happens to her."
As the two men walked back out to the field, Hank shrugged, "I guess
Grace
doesn't want the Russells to leave."
"I don't want them to leave either, but this is getting ridiculous!"
"CHARITY!" Tabitha yelled, "You're still up dear!"
"I can't play!" Charity insisted, looking at the bat as though it was
an
instrument of torture.
Tabitha patted the girl on her shoulder, "You've gotten a bad break,
dear. So
many accidents. Makes you begin to think evil thoughts "
Charity, briefly entranced, said nothing.
"You WANT to kill the citizens of Harmony," Tabitha pressed on, much to
the
dismay of the still dazed Timmy.
"I want to kill the citizens of Harmony," Charity parroted in a flat
voice.
"Now take this bat," the old woman instructed, "and unleash your rage.
Starting with good old Ivy Crane."
"Timmy likes Ivy!" Timmy yelled desperately, but it was too late.
Ethan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and threw the ball to
Charity,
before diving to the ground in anticipation of the disaster to come.
He was not disappointed.
<<<~~~>>>
"It's just a black eye honestly I don't see why you're all
worried!"
Ivy attempted to shoo the hovering townsfolk away.
"Dios mio," Pilar said, poking at Ivy's puffy, swollen-shut eye. "Mrs.
Crane
this will take a long time to heal."
"I'm FINE," Ivy insisted, standing up and looking around with one eye
for Sam.
Pilar shrugged, "As you say, Mrs. Crane."
"Now let's keep this game going," Ivy said determinedly, tucking her
mussed
up blond hair under the cap. Squinting into the bright sun with her one
good
eye, she wobbled her way back onto the field.
"That Ivy sure is resilient," Grace said admiringly, hugging Sam.
"You'd
never think that a woman of her social stature could have such a good
heart.
I mean, to go on playing, even though she is so obviously hurt, she is
so
devoted to helping others!"
"I'll bet she is," Sam muttered.
"Come on, let's get this game going."
"Charity," Ethan called hesitantly, "You can just go to first
base,
okay? Just pretend you hit the ball."
"That would be cheating."
"I won't mind. Honestly."
"None of us will," Chad piped up from behind her.
"Oh all right then," Charity, looking relieved, jogged to first.
"Damned!" Tabitha hissed.
"We just need one more out!" Chad yelled, glancing to where Eve stood,
rather
unhappily, on third base, Luis stood on second, and Charity stood on
first.
Ethan threw the ball to Reese, who swung and hit it towards Miguel. The
runners had taken off on the pitch, and Charity barreled down the
basepath
towards second. Miguel threw the ball to Kay where she was waiting at
the
base, and as she caught the ball, Charity dove for the bag sliding
right into
her cousin and sending them both rolling in an ungraceful heap into the
infield.
"OWWWWWWW!!!" Kay yowled, clutching her ankle.
"Oh Kay! I'm so sorry!" Charity cried, covering her face with her hand.
"Kay!" The Bennett clan raced out onto the field towards the first
member of
their family to fall to the softball curse.
Hank carried his niece over to the dugout that was becoming a makeshift
hospital. She found a nice spot on the bench between TC and Sheridan,
and Eve
rapidly wrapped her ankle up.
"It's at the very least sprained, if not broken," Eve bit her lip, as
Kay
howled in pain.
"Kay's tough," Grace smiled at her daughter, "She can hold off on going
to
the hospital until the game's over, can't you sweetie?"
"Mo-om," Kay snapped, her face contorted in agony.
"That's my girl," Grace patted her daughter on the shoulder and headed
back
out to the field.
Millicent bypassed Ivy this time and stomped directly over to
Grace.
"I'm QUITTING!" she screamed, throwing the glove on the ground, where
it
landed in a mud puddle, which splattered right back into her face.
"Is something wrong, Millicent?" Grace, still smiling, asked.
"I am NOT going to have my life cut short by a softball game! I have
every
intention of living to see the stores open another day!"
"All right," Grace said softly, crestfallen.
"GOODBYE!" Millicent snapped, stomping off once and for all. Ivy,
knowing
better than to pursue, decided that she would call her good friend in
the
morning to patch things up.
"Oh my," Grace said with a sigh, "Now we're out two players."
"OH MY GOD!" Kay suddenly howled, "SIMONE!!!!"
Cringing, Simone made her way over to her injured friend, "What's
wrong?"
Kay flailed her arms, "Please tell me you didn't leave the bottle of
crazy
glue on the bench."
"Yeah, I did, why?" Simone eyed her friend suspiciously.
Kay, her grimace partially forged of pain, and partially distorted by
her
fury, leveled her stare at her best friend,
"Because I just SAT in it."
"Ohhh," Simone blanched, "I am so sorry Kay!"
Kay attempted to extract herself from the bench, but she was stuck
fast, "NOW
WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!"
"Ah," Simone glanced around, "I'm gonna go see if I can find someone
to
help. Don't go anywhere!"
She had sprinted off before Kay could find something suiting to throw
at her.
"This is just great," she muttered to herself, "Kay is the LAST person
I want
to have pissed off at me"
Continue to Part 5
Story Wrote by TWIG Thanks so much for sharing your story with us.
You can write TWIG at [email protected]
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