"Soft" Ball

I had lunch with Eric, Wes, and Erwin at 12:30 yesterday. The brainwashing has worn off and Wes is leaving Active Voice. Hence, lunch with the Fantasy Football fellas before he leaves downtown and starts working as a consultant for Microsoft...

Scene 1 - Restaurant
Eric: "Hey, you know... tonight's my softball league's championship match... wanna come?"

Rodney: "Maybe... what time?"

Eric: "6:30pm - It's at South Park..."

Rodney: "Oh, yeah, I remember that place. Sounds like it could be fun. Plus, I'd get to meet your new girlie, eh?"

Eric: "Yep..."

Six hours later. My fiancee (not Beyonce) arrive just a little late. It's the bottom of the 1st inning and we can see Eric up to bat. Awwww... he's out.

Scene 2 - South Park Ballfield
Rodney: "Hey, Eric... What's the score?"

Eric: "You just get here? You missed my brilliant first inning as pitcher where I gave up five runs. It's 5-0."

I guess Eric's no longer the pitcher. He's in at shortstop. It's a co-ed team. All I know is that his new girlfriend/we're not official yet/"friend" is named Angie. We listen carefully as each girl on his team gets up to bat...

"Go Becka!" Nope, not her. Next girl?

"You can do it, V!" Nope, not her either.

Eventually, there's an Angie. Hmmm... nice looking girl. She made contact with the ball. Sure, she got out - but at least she's playing sports. Eric likey girls who are into sports.

Smackdown (Eric's team) comes back, score seven runs, and lead at the top of the 4th/5th-ish inning. Great game! But, uh oh, the other team is making their own comeback. What a shame. It's now 7-6 and bases are loaded. Next person up? Big dude. On the first pitch, Big Dude swings and makes solid contact, the ball screaming towards Eric. This ferocious line drive bounces off the ground and ricochets vertically into Eric's face. He's down!

But no worries... Eric always gets hurt. He'll get up pretty quickly...

...

Ummm... nope. He's still down. Both benches are cleared as Eric's surrounded by everyone trying to help.

"Someone... grab a towel!!!!"

From my seat I think, "Hmmph. He must be badly stunned. He just probably needs ice. Good thing all these people are here to help."

...

"Hmmm... Eric sure has been down for quite a long time. That's it. I'm going to check it out."

I walk around the fence towards Eric but he's already up and walking to the dugout. Whoah. His hand and the towel covering his nose are completely covered in blood! The ball wacked him in the nose, not only breaking it, but creating an inch long laceration.

From the field (in the Georgetown area), I pull my best emergency moves, speeding down every road, and even taking a left at an intersection with a red light. I tried to scream this ambulance-type wail to get people out of the way - but that didn't work! We rushed to the Group Health Urgent Care center in Captiol Hill. Leave it to my pal Eric to want to go there instead of the closest emergency room. Ultimately, it's the smartest thing we could have done, in regards to finances...

We were at the hospital for over three hours. Glo and I left him in good hands with the new girlie. But the doctor who treated him didn't seem to knowledgable.

Scene 3
Doctor: So, yeah, there are a couple of options. But, I'm gonna call someone to ask them which route to go. So, yeah... Ummm... okay, I'll call them after reading up on how to do sutures.

All is well today. I just talked to Eric on the phone. He'll have surgery on Thursday to have his nose popped back into place. His girlfriend took care of him last night... and this morning... and... nevermind. It was nice to meet her last night and get to know her - despite the circumstances. I hope Eric's able to play softball again this season...