Just a Little Faith (26 page)

 

Almost three weeks to the day of her return to St. Louis, Sebastian returned as well.
Pax could see Seb's spirits were high as he exited the airport where
she
waited with the car.

“Hey there fella, looking for a ride?”

“I sure am. You heading where I'm going?”

“I could be… Where you thinking of going?”

Dropping his bags, he spun her around in circles. “Anywhere with you
,
beautiful!”

“My, you are in a good mood!”

After s
towing his luggage in the trunk, he closed the lid and smiled. “What's there not to be happy about? The team did well in the spring games. I'm in the best shape of my life. The one-on-one instruction with Carter seemed to be pretty beneficial. Even though he
di
dn't ma
k
e the
squad
,
I think it's only
a
matter of time before
he'll be up in the big leagues, in a utility position
at least
.
It's hard not to be happy when maybe you can contribute to a guy's dream coming true.”

She ran her fingers down his cheek. “I like seeing your smile
,
Bash.”

He rubbed her hand wi
th his. “I know. I feel like it
'
s been in hiding for a while, but these days it's hard to frown.”

****

Opening day of the baseball season always brought the city to life. Fans crowded the sidewalks outside the stadium
,
and the bright red color of the team uniforms and souvenirs made the whole downtown area of St. Louis look and feel electric.

Paxson navigated her way through the crowd to the seat Seb
chose
with the season ticket pack.
N
ot surprised to discover she had a great seat right on the
third
base side
, she could see right into the Cardinal dugout at the personnel milling about preparing everything for the start of the game.
The weather
couldn't have been more
beautiful
,
and
Pax found
the buzz in the air exhilarating.

Not long after her arrival, the sounds of the orga
nist streamed from the speakers
,
and t
he back field gates opened
. Appearing from behind the stadium, the world renowned Clydesdale horses stepped lively onto the field, in keeping with the long held tradition of Opening Days past. Behind them, convertible cars of every color and size lined up, each holding one or two players on the team. They slowly trekked around the warning track along the back field wall so the players could wave to all the fans.

Standing up, Pax joined the crowd in cheering and clapping as each player rounded the field. Eventually, she spied Seb in a cherry red Ford Mustang. The look on his face
brought tears
to her eyes. The sheer happiness he felt exploded from every feature. He waved at the crowd with great enthusiasm
,
and when he caught Pax's eye, he blew her a kiss. She didn't know she could feel this good at a baseball game.

After the official announcements, the players took to the field to warmup before the first pitch. L
ook
ing over the field at
Seb she
saw
a
big smile on his face
. He joked and laughed
,
while
he ran from first base out into the middle infield with Linc and Rangy by his side.
Evident
ly
,
he thrived in this atmosphere
.
Pax clapped over and over with happiness for him.

Many of the people around her sported Seb's jersey and she could hear them comment as they saw him on the field. She felt a surge of pride
when they
sp
o
k
e
in glowing terms about his play and the potential for the team.

Pax became completely enthralled o
nce the game started.
The crowd
cheered
loudly with
e
ach
strike thrown by the Cardinals pitcher
and
every hit from the
ir
batters
.
By the bottom of the
seventh
inning, the Cards had a four
-
run lead over their opponents from Cincinnati
,
and the crowd
stayed
well involved in the game.

At the top of the eighth, the Reds
'
top hitter came to the plate.
He had be
e
n h
eld hitless the entire game,
and
Pax knew he would be looking to knock one out of the park to redeem himself. A
fastball came over the plate,
and
he swung with all his might
connecting as
the ball flew in the air Seb's direction.
Standing, Pax clapped
,
expecting a routine out. Seb casually waited on the ball to come toward him and
ran
backwards in order to track it down when suddenly
,
his cleat caught on a rough patch in the field
. H
e twisted his body in an attempt to right himself
but l
and
ed
on the ground
as
the ball sailed over his head
. He
reach
ed
toward his leg
,
g
rab
bing
his knee in agony.
While Seb w
rith
ed
on the field
,
Linc raced over to grab the ball and throw it back into the field of play
before
hurr
ying
over to Sebastian.

Paxson's heart jumped into her throat. She couldn
'
t believe
this could be happening
,
and immediately she
pray
ed
for Seb's injury to be nothing serious
. Surely
he would be up and on his feet in just a minute. Linc frantically wav
e
d
his arms
for the trainer and manager to come out
.
S
tifl
ing
her desire to run out on the field herself
,
she
continued to stand with her hands in front of her face praying
with each breath
.

When the team asked for the medical cart to be driven in from behind the fence, Pax
couldn't stand it any longer
. She
knew she needed
to get to the locker room area if at all possible
.
She
grabbed her purse and hurried up the steps
, d
art
ing
around the people who stood dazed
at the events on the field.

Reaching
the area blocked off from fans, she saw a security guard who Seb introduced her to before the game. “Roger! Roger! It
'
s Paxson Taylor… I'm a friend of Sebastian's
.
Please will you let me in?”

Hearing her voice and then seeing her face, he
ran forward
and
pulled her in his direction. O
pen
ing
the door which led to the locker room area
, he pointed
. “He should be down there in just a second
,
Ms. Taylor.
G
o
to the
right
,
when you get to the end of the hall
.
F
ollow the noise. You'll get to him there.”

“Thank you
,
Roger.” She ran down the hall
.

Approaching the inner sanctum of the stadium,
she passed several security guards
,
and
heard Roger's voice
come
through their walkie talkies telling them to let her pass. The look of concern on each of their faces did nothing for her diminishing hope of Seb being okay.

Reaching the training area, she held back a sob. Seb lay on a table, his handsome face scrunched in pain as periodic moans escaped his lips while the team doctor manipulated his knee. Covering her mouth with her hand, she stifled a sob.

“Seb. I think you've tore it up
,
son. We won't know for sure until we get an MRI, but from the pain
you're
describing and the way it feels, I think you have probably torn the MCL and the ACL. I am so sorry.”

Paxson's heart broke
.
Seb
lay
silently,
his arm
flung up
c
over
ing
his
face
.

“Bash.”

His eyes pierced hers.
“Pax. Just leave
,
okay
?
I… I just need you to leave.”
He turned from her.

Pax jumped like
she'd been
slapped. “Okay
,
Bash…Whatever you want. I'll check on you later.”

She slowly walked backwards away from the training room
,
then ran out the door and out of the stadium.

 

Sebastian's
couldn't believe it.
“Are you telling me what I think you are
,
doc?”

“The MRI confirms it
,
Seb. Your knee's in bad shape and I want to get your surgery scheduled as soon as possible.”

Seb
hung his head. It only took a few hours for h
is
worst fears
to be
realized
.
Seb knew
the
r
ecovery
time for an injury like his
could take anywhere from
four
to
six
months
.
S
ome friends
who suffered the same type
of
injury
missed t
he entire
season
,
and sometimes it cost them their career
.

“I know this is not the news you were hoping for Seb
, b
ut you're strong and healthy. If I know you, you'll bounce back ready for next season. I'll give you a minute to process everything.” The doctor patted him on the back and slipped out of the room.

Devastation poured over Seb as he processed the news that
he couldn't play
b
all this season
.
S
econd only to the death of his children,
it
was the hardest news he
had
ever received.

****

T
he team flew in one of the most renowned orthopedic doctors in the country to perform the operation. Even knowing he had the top doctor on the job
could
not alleviate Sebastian's depressed state. First God had taken his family
,
and now he
took his
career. Seb didn't know if he could handle anything else.

Unable to bear the thought of being surrounded by believers, he c
ould not bring himself to call Paxson. He knew she would be supportive and encouraging, but Seb's only desire was to be alone. He knew he hurt her, but he didn't care at the moment. Working out and playing ball had been one of the
few
distractions he found from the constant pain of missing his girls. Now he didn't have that anymore
,
the pain of it all sent him
on a downward spiral of discontent.

In only a few short weeks
after
the surgery, he
went
to
physical therapy pushing himself beyond his limits
. He needed
to get back on the field as soon as possible. The therapists appreciated his dedication but also tried to remind him he wasn
'
t as young as he used to be
. Such an
invasive surgery on a 34
-
year
-
old body w
ould take
time
to get over. Sebastian didn
'
t want to hear
it and kept pressing on
.

Four weeks
post-
surgery,
while
in his home
office going over paperwork
,
he noticed the folder Pax
put together for him on the LLS account. Seeing
it
brought back memories of the past few months and the time he spent with
her
. He knew he should call her or at least call Michael and figure out what
their new plan
was
since h
is injury put him
out of commission sports-wise.

P
ick
ing
up the phone
,
he
called the number he knew by heart.

“Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, this is Tori.”

“Hey Tor, its Seb.”

“Sebastian!
I'm
so glad to hear from you. We have all been worried sick since we hadn't heard how you were. So… how are you?”

“I'm getting around. Therapy's a bear but
I'm
getting through it.”

“
I'm
so sorry about your injury. If there's anything we can do, please don't hesitate to call. I
'll
put you through to Pax
.
”

“Actually Tori, is Michael available?”

“Michael?
Pax is here.
Are you sure you don't want to speak to
her
?”

“No. Michael will be fine.”

“I'll put you right through. I hope your recovery goes quickly
,
Seb. We miss seeing you around here.”