The Sandlot // Benny Rodriguez

15.

It had to be at least eight at night. I wasn't sure, because I refused to look at the clock ticking on the pale, waiting room wall.

All the boys and I were sat quietly in the uncomfortable hospital chairs. Our parents had dropped us off minutes after the ambulance had taken Squints which was around two in the afternoon. We had been here for nearly six hours, waiting to hear the news about Squints. It was the longest six hours of my life and none of us had the energy to talk, so we sat in silence, watching people come in and out. Squints' parents would come to check on us every once in a while, bringing us candy bars and sodas and chips from the vending machines. They would update us about how he was doing. He was in surgery for an arm a leg, and a few broken ribs. that's all his parents had told us, so we didn't know what else needed to be fixed.

I looked over at Ham who was sleeping, his head resting against DeNunez's. My eyes rested on each of the guys, each looking more tired and stressed as the next and I wondered if they would've done the same thing for me.

"He's out of surgery," someone said. We turned to see Squints' parents, tears in both of their eyes. "He's going to be okay." I felt my heart jump and as if we had planned it, we had all jumped onto our feet, group hugging for the second time that day, except this time out of happiness. I was suddenly more awake than I'd been since we had gotten there.

"You guys have been so supportive and we just want to thank you," Squints' dad said with a smile. "You can go in and see him. Two at a time." We all let go of each other.

"Benny and Emmy can go first," Ham said. We both turned to him as he sat down.

"You sure?" we both said together. All the boys sat down, signaling that they agreed. We walked together down the hallway to Squints' room. I looked back, the boys and Squints' parents watching us. We stopped in front of Squints' room, watching him through the slits in the blinds. He wasn't awake yet and he was covered in cuts and scrapes and bandages. It was hard to look at, but we went in anyway, both of us sitting in chairs on either side of the bed. It was silent for a long time as we watched Squints, the only sounds were the heart monitor and the people walking by out in the hallway.

"He looks so calm," I said, finally breaking the silence. Benny nodded.

"And this is the quietest I've ever seen him. It's kind of surprising," he said. He looked up at me with a smile on his face and both of us let out a laugh. "I'm just glad he's gonna be okay." My gaze turned back to Squints and we fell silent again. The next thing I knew, his eyes we opening and I looked up excitedly at Benny.

"He's waking up!" I said, loudly. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. At first, he just stared up at the ceiling, his gaze looking distant, then he turned to look at Benny then me.

"You're awake," Benny said, smiling at him.

"You're not getting rid of me that easy," Squints said quietly and I wanted to give him a huge hug, but resisted, not wanting to hurt him. Benny and I chuckled and it took me a second to realize I was crying. I quickly wiped away the warm tears away from my cheeks.

"Never do that again," I said, sternly. "You had all of us scared to death."

"Yes, mom." Squints said. He had just gotten hit by a car and was already joking around. "Can you get someone to get me some water? I'm dying over here."

"Not funny," I said, Benny and I stood up. He left the room to find a nurse and I was right behind him, but I turned around to look at Squints. "I'm glad you're okay. I don't know what we would've done without you." He smiled weakly at me and I looked at him once more before turning to follow Benny.

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OMG I'M SORRY I HAVENT UPDATED IN SO LONG DONT KILL ME

i am going to update more because i know how much you guys hate it when i don't