He looked at home plate and saw the catcher was getting to his feet. He realized Joe was still on the ground, unmoving.

He ran to Joe and saw his brother was stretched out on his back with his eyes open. Frank kneeled beside Joe. "Joe."

There was no response. Frank saw there were red marks on Joe’s hands. He reached for Joe’s neck searching for a pulse and let out a breath when he found one. Focusing on Joe’s face, he saw his brother was staring at him.

"Frank."

"Relax. Everything will be okay."

"What? Frank, speak up."

Frank looked at the side of Joe’s head and saw blood on his brother’s ears. Frank turned to the coach. "Bring me some paper. Joe can’t hear."

As the coach came over, he told a couple players that were sitting on the bench to call for an ambulance.

Frank felt Joe grab his arm and ask, "What’s going on?"

Frank took the paper from the coach and wrote "relax" before showing it to Joe.

"Why can’t I hear?"

"Explosion," Frank wrote. Frank noticed the fear in Joe’s eyes. It was the first time he had ever seen fear. He looked at the coach and saw he was concerned too.

"Frank?"

He looked back at Joe and wrote, "Stay still. Help coming."

"Okay."

"I’ll watch for them," Coach Williams said and moved away.

Frank watched as the teammates who were dazed slowly make their way back to the bench. He saw Tony still standing on the pitcher’s mound, his face pale. "Tony, you okay?"

"I can’t believe it," Tony said.

"It’s not your fault," Frank said. "You can’t blame yourself." Frank had a feeling his words wouldn’t do any good. Tony would still blame himself.

Frank heard sirens in the distance and knew they would have help soon. Looking back at his brother, Frank saw Joe looking around. He wrote, "help’s here."

He showed the page to Joe. "About time."

Frank watched as an ambulance pulled in. Two police cruisers followed. Two paramedics hurried over to them and kneeled down on each side of Joe.

"What happened?" the female paramedic asked.

Frank quickly explained about the explosion and the possibility that Joe had been on top of it when it occurred.

"What’s your name?" the female paramedic asked Joe.

"He can’t hear you," Frank said and pointed toward Joe’s ears. "He’s been unable to hear since the explosion."

Frank stepped back so the paramedics could work. He saw Joe watching the paramedics too. They slipped a collar on Joe’s neck before rolling him onto a backboard. They lifted Joe to a stretcher and strapped him in.

"I’m coming with you," Frank said.

"Fine," the female paramedic said.

Frank turned to Tony. "Could you bring the van to the hospital?"

"I will," Tony said.

"I’ll call your parents," Coach Williams said.

"Thanks," Frank said and hurried to the ambulance. He climbed in the back and the doors closed behind him.

As they headed for the hospital, Frank watched Joe look around. He knew his brother was confused and wished there was something he could do.

*****

Two hours later, Frank was in the waiting room pacing. Fenton and Laura were with him waiting for the doctor to tell them something. They only knew the doctor was running tests. There was no word on Joe’s condition.

Frank finally sat down and remained quiet. He wanted to know what happened. He knew it was something they never expected.

In his mind, Frank replayed what happened before the explosion. Joe had used the same bat both times he was up to the plate. But something was different, he thought. Joe stepped up to the plate and was aiming for the fence. Joe missed the first pitch. So, it’s not possible there was a problem with the bat since he used it twice. But when we switched to bat again, Tony asked for a different ball since the one he had wasn’t round. The ball must have been tampered with, but I doubt there is any way to check it out.

That’s the only solution. But who though? But then it’s also unlikely that Joe was the target. It was just bad luck that Joe was at bat right then.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hardy?" a voice asked. Frank looked up and saw their doctor, Michael Wilson, standing in the doorway. "Would you follow me?"

Frank got to his feet and followed his parents to the doctor’s office. He ushered them in and closed the door behind them. Fenton and Laura sat in the chairs in front of the desk as Frank stood behind them.

Dr Wilson moved around and sat down at the desk. "I just received Joseph’s test results. He has burns on his hands and arms. The burns are not that serious."

"What about Joe’s hearing?" Fenton asked. "Will it return?"

"It’s hard to say," Dr. Wilson said leaning back in his chair. "It’s possible his hearing could come back suddenly."

"But it could not," Frank said, a feeling of dread washing over him.

"Time will tell," Dr. Wilson said.

Frank had a feeling Dr. Wilson was not being optimistic. Frank asked, "How long will Joe be in the hospital?"

"A couple days. We just want to monitor his injuries."

"Can we see Joe?" Laura asked.

"Of course. I’ll have a nurse take you up."

Ten minutes later they entered Joe’s room. Frank followed his parents in and saw Joe’s back was to them.

"Joe?" Laura called out. Joe didn’t move.

Frank stayed near the door as his parents moved to the bed. Laura put a hand on Joe’s shoulder and he rolled onto his back. He looked at them.

"I can’t hear," Joe said.

"We know," Laura said and Joe creased his forehead.

Frank noticed a pad of paper at the foot of the bed and moved forward. He grabbed the pad and wrote what Laura had said. He showed it to Joe.

"How long will I be here?" Joe asked.

"Couple days," Frank wrote.

Joe looked at their parents. "When will my hearing return?" Frank watched as his parents looked away from him. "Will it come back at all?"

Laura took the pad from Frank as she moved to the head of the bed. Frank watched to see what Laura wrote. "Not sure how long you will be unable to hear. We’ll wait and see."

"Is it possible I will hear again?"

"Possibility," Laura wrote. "Have to wait and see."

Frank looked at his brother and realized he didn’t like the news.

"We should let Joe rest," Fenton said.

"I agree." Laura wrote. "Rest. We’ll be back."

"Okay."

Laura gave Joe a kiss on the cheek before heading to the door with Fenton. Frank started to follow.

"Frank, wait."

Frank looked at his parents. "I’ll meet you at home."

"All right," Laura said.

Laura and Fenton left the room as Frank looked at Joe. He moved closer to the bed. Taking the pad, he wrote, "What do you need?"

"Was Mom telling the truth? Is it possible my hearing will return?"

Frank wrote, "Doc said possible."

"Do you think my hearing will return?"

Frank realized Joe wanted the truth. Joe was staring at him. He wrote, "Don’t really know." Joe leaned back on the bed as he continued writing. "Get some rest. I’ll be back later."

"Okay."

Frank left the room closing the door behind him. He stood at the door for a moment and realized he was scared for Joe. He wondered what his brother would do if it was permanent.

Why did this happen to Joe? he thought. It’s unfair. We need to find the person responsible, for Joe’s sake.