Bat Boy (Easton U Pirates 1)

He sprang into action, helping Girard’s girlfriend grab napkins from a nearby table. But when Maclain tried to help Girard place a stack of them against his nose, Girard growled in frustration. Maclain backed away like a kicked puppy, which was odd since he was the one who’d hurt Girard in the first place. It was an accident, of course, though I wouldn’t have been surprised if Maclain had thrown some force into his elbow since he was pissed at Girard to begin with. For what, I wasn’t certain. Was he embarrassed that Girard had called him out on his terrible bowling skills, or was there something else going on there?

Given the way Jasmine was staring at Maclain, it seemed she was wondering the same thing. When Girard’s mother brought a towel and patted him with soothing words, that seemed to calm him down.

“What the heck happened?” I heard Coach ask, but my focus had turned to Kellan, who hadn’t moved since the incident. His face was frozen in horror as his eyes scanned down the front of Girard to the pool of blood on the floor.

And just as I was about to ask if he was okay, he swayed a little, and then his body crumpled to the floor like an accordion.

“Holy shit, Kellan.” I sank to the floor, looking him over, trying to see if anything was injured. I scooped my hand beneath his head and propped it, hoping to provide him a softer surface as I gently tried to rouse him.

We were quickly surrounded by Kellan’s parents, Jasmine, and some other teammates who weren’t busy tending to Girard.

“What happened?” Kellan’s mom asked, sinking to the floor beside me and sliding her knees under his ankles. “We need to elevate his feet above his heart.”

I could’ve kicked myself for not remembering from one of my physiology classes, that it was important to get blood flowing to the brain if someone fainted.

“He told me once he hates the sight of blood.” I motioned behind me to Girard. “And there’s a lot of it over there.”

“You’re right,” his mom said, meeting Coach’s concerned eyes. “He gets really squeamish, but he hasn’t fainted since high school.”

“I think it was the ninth grade,” Coach said, squatting down near Kellan’s chest.

“Should we call 911?” Jasmine asked in a worried voice.

“He should come to any second,” Coach said, but his entire body was tight with worry.

“Kellan,” I murmured as I cradled his head, and Coach rubbed Kellan’s arms, no doubt to help with circulation. It felt like an hour had already gone by instead of a minute.

When Kellan opened his eyes, I blew out a breath. Thank fuck.

He blinked and stared up at me. “Brady?”

It wasn’t lost on me that he didn’t call me Donovan.

“It’s okay, Kel. You, uh, fainted from, well…I’ll tell you later. Just keep your eyes on me.”

“Let’s get you up,” Mrs. Crawford said. “Can someone bring him water?”

We helped Kellan to a sitting position, and then he drank some of the water Maclain, of all people, brought him. He looked as disheveled and out of sorts as Kellan did, but I didn’t have time to unpack whatever the hell he was going through after he’d given Girard a bloody nose.

When we got Kellan to stand up, I didn’t want him to see any remnants from the accident, though it looked like it was cleaned up. Girard was nowhere to be found, so he’d likely gone to change and assess any damage to his nose. From what I saw, it looked like it might swell for a couple of days.

“I’ll drive you home,” I told Kellan.

“No, I can st—” he started to say before he was vetoed by Jasmine as well as his parents.

“I can take him,” Mrs. Crawford said, meeting Coach’s eyes, who nodded.

“It’s okay, I’ve got him,” I said in a gentle voice, but I didn’t want to seem overly insistent or protective, even though I was thrumming with all sorts of emotions. “Please, I’d like to.”

No doubt some of my teammates were already looking at me, but strangely, I didn’t give a fuck in that moment. None of that mattered. Besides, I heard Hollister already covering for me. Joking about my team-captain duties extending off the field, and that was enough for me.

“All right…that would be very helpful,” Mrs. Crawford replied, seeming a bit confused.

“Let’s go,” Jasmine said, stepping to Kellan’s other side and meeting his mom’s eyes. “I’ll let you know as soon as we get home.”

“I know you think you’re fine, and you will be,” I told Kellan as we began walking him out. “But you’re still a little wobbly.”

“I can’t believe I fainted.” He briefly squeezed his eyes shut. “That hasn’t happened to me since the last time I saw—”

“Don’t think about it!” both Jasmine and I chimed in at the same time, then grinned at each other over his head.