Free Every Breaking Wave by Megan Nugen Isbell

low chuckle that accompanied my words.
    I’d been slouched in the seat, leaning against the door, but I glanced towards him and he was grinning.
    “You’re sitting here with what is most likely a broken wrist and you’re cracking jokes about my hitting? That’s sick.”
    His words were peppered with laughter and I started laughing too.
    “Well, if you’d seen what I saw, you’d be making jokes too.  You should’ve seen yourself.  I hope someone was filming that because that swing was so pathetic it was comedy gold,” I laughed, finding the more we talked, the less I focused on the excruciating pain in my wrist. “It was like you thought you were Babe Ruth or something and to see it dribble down the baseline must’ve been humiliating.”
    I was full on laughing now and I watched as he tried to remain stoic, his eyes focused on the road, but I could tell by his tight lips and the emerging dimples that he was also trying to hold in a laugh.
    “C’mon.  You know I’m right,” I continued to tease and he finally laughed with me.
    “I was overly excited,” he said, turning to me for a moment before looking back at the road. “But, in all fairness, that hit did bring you home and won us the game.”
    “My base running skills are what won us the game,” I countered.
    “Not without my hit though,” he smirked. “Let’s just say we make a great team, Beth.”
    I don’t know why his words caused me to stop our banter and look away, but it did and it grew quiet.
    “Seriously though,” he said a few minutes later. “You were great tonight.  You must’ve been wicked awesome back in high school.”
    I laughed at how he emphasized the classic phrase with an accent so heavy, he sounded like the old men with white beards you see down at the docks. 
    “I was alright,” I replied.
    “You made Bill’s night.  He’ll love you forever now, you know that, right?”
    “Like I told your sister earlier, I’m just glad I could help.”
    “Thank you for coming tonight.  I’m glad you said yes.”
    “Me too.  Aside from this,” I said, glancing down at my wrist. “I had a lot of fun.”
    He glanced over to me quickly and smiled, but before he could say anything else, we were pulling up to the hospital.
     

Seven
     
    Jeremy stayed by me the entire time we were in the emergency room. He’d been right. It was broken and not just broken, but broken in two places.  It hurt like hell when the orthopedist came in and set the bone, but Jeremy had held my hand the whole time, even though I nearly crushed his from squeezing so hard.  They’d given me some heavy duty meds and after that I didn’t feel the pain anymore. My wrist was wrapped in a cast.  I was going to go with a plain cast, but Jeremy convinced me Noah would much prefer a color cast, namely a green one so he could pretend I was turning into the Incredible Hulk. Luckily the cast only came halfway up my arm, meaning it would merely be an inconvenience once I got used to it rather than an impossibility. 
    The whole thing took a couple of hours and it was after ten o’clock when Jeremy and I left the hospital.  I was tired and ready to get back to Noah. 
    Aubrey and Kevin lived on the other side of town from our beach houses and when we walked inside, I found Noah curled up on the couch with Sophie next to him.  Aubrey offered to keep him for the night so we wouldn’t have to disturb him, but I wanted him home with me and I hated to impose on someone I’d only just met. 
    I thanked Aubrey for taking such good care of Noah throughout the softball game and while I was at the hospital as Jeremy scooped up my very groggy son.
    “Hi, Mommy,” he said sleepily and then his head fell to Jeremy’s shoulder and after a promise to get together again so Noah and Sophie could play, we left.
    Kevin and Aubrey had made sure my car got to their house.  Jeremy strapped Noah into his car seat while I sat in the passenger’s side. I wasn’t supposed to