The city of brotherly love wasn’t happy with their Phillies tonight. Boos echoed through the stadium when Ben’s bat connected with the ball and sent it sailing over the center field wall.
Kari looked down at the jersey she wore bearing her brother’s number and their last name on the back, tugged her red Nationals cap a bit lower and leaned closer to Maya. “We aren’t going to get lynched when we leave here, are we?”
“I think we might want to let the crowd thin out before we try to leave.”
Kari looked up at the scoreboard. Top of the ninth: Phillies 4, Nationals 9. She supposed she would be frustrated too if her team had managed to score four runs but was still out of grand-slam range of winning.
A pitching change followed Ben’s home run, and the new pitcher succeeded in getting Ryan out on a long fly ball that nearly made it out of the park.
Fifteen minutes later, the game was over. Kari and Maya listened to the final disgruntled boos from the diehard Phillies fans who had stayed to the bitter end.
“Just think,” Maya said, her voice barely loud enough to be heard. “We have two more nights of this.”
“Are they any better when they win?”
“I’m not sure.” She reached down and tugged on her own jersey, which was identical to Kari’s. “I think we might want to change if the guys decide they want to go out tonight.”
“After the beating they took in New York, I think they might want to stay in,” Kari said, all too aware that the Mets had swept the Nationals during the first three days of their road trip. Of course, her only real connection with the team while they were in New York was through the news outlets and texts from Maya. She had spoken to Ryan’s manager a few times, but those conversations had centered on Ryan’s mom and how Ryan was holding up rather than the box scores.
Now, instead of communicating with Ryan’s team, she was receiving messages for him from his mom’s friend, Jenny. The latest didn’t give any new information other than Susan’s appetite had increased a bit. Kari hoped that was a sign of improvement.
She still wasn’t sure what to think of Susan’s reaction to her in the hospital, or rather her lack of reaction. Either the woman really didn’t like her, or she was too out of it to notice her. She hoped it was the latter.
“Come on,” Maya said, tapping her shoulder. “Let’s go find the guys and get back to the hotel.”
“I’m right behind you.” They made their way downstairs to the restricted part of the clubhouse, showing their passes to security as they went through.
“Good game tonight,” Maya told Ben when he and Ryan approached them.
“Thanks.” Ben slung his arm around his wife’s shoulders and tilted his head toward Ryan. “It was good having Ryan back in the lineup.”
“It was good to be back,” Ryan said, although Kari wasn’t sure how true his words were. She saw the distracted look in his eyes and put her hand in his.
“I got a text from Jenny a little while ago. Apparently your mom is eating better today.”
“That’s always a good sign,” Ben said. He retrieved a business card from his pocket and handed it to Maya. “Here. This is the phone number for the driver who’s going to take you to the hotel. I didn’t want you guys to have to find a cab.”
“Thanks.” Maya leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “We’ll see you over there.”
Kari started to follow her, but Ryan caught her hand in his before she could take a step.
“Thanks for being here tonight,” he said.
Her eyes lifted to his. “I wouldn’t have missed it.”
* * *
Two straight wins over the Phillies, his free time spent with Kari, and numerous phone calls to the hospital for updates on his mom—Ryan was enjoying himself and going crazy at the same time.
He was halfway to breakfast on his final day in Philadelphia when his phone rang, Dr. Michaels’ name illuminating the screen.
“What’s the latest?” Ryan said the moment he hit the talk button.
“Good news,” the doctor said, the relief obvious in his voice. “We operated on your mom’s knee again last night to clean out more of the infection, and we’re finally seeing the improvement we were hoping for.”
Ryan stopped walking, taking a moment to absorb the doctor’s words. “That’s great.”
“She’s still got a long road ahead of her, but if all goes well, she’ll be able to transfer from the hospital back to the rehab center in about a week.”
“And then?”
“One to two weeks in rehab and then home.” For the first time since Ryan answered the phone, he heard reservation in the doctor’s voice. “I have to tell you, though, I can’t release her from rehab until I’m sure her home environment won’t be detrimental to her health. She’s going to need someone to stay with her, and getting her in and out of a third-floor apartment simply won’t work.”
“I can look into hiring someone to stay with her,” Ryan said. “As for the apartment, she has it in her head that once she gets inside, she can just stay there until she’s better.”
“To get better, she will need extensive physical therapy, and that will mean leaving the house three times a week, not to mention follow-up appointments with me.”
“So she has to move.”
“She has to live somewhere else for at least two to three months, maybe longer.”
“I’ll figure something out,” Ryan said.
“Good luck.”
“Thanks for all your help, Doctor. I really do appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll have my nurse follow up with you on her progress.”
Ryan hung up the phone, relief and concern merging together. Part of him looked forward to when his mother returned to her normal, independent self, the person who would fight against leaving her home. Another part of him prayed she would recognize her limitations and let him help her find a new place to live.
He reached the hotel lobby and found Kari already waiting for him. He glanced around to find she was alone. He took advantage of the situation and leaned down to greet her with a kiss. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.” Her hand slipped into his. “Any word on your mom today?”
“Actually, the doctor just called.” Ryan related the conversation as they made their way into the hotel restaurant. As soon as they were seated, he asked, “I don’t suppose there’s any way I can convince you to come with me to Kansas City.”
“I’d love to come, but Maya is closing on her house in a couple of days. I promised I would help her move.”
“Is that happening already?”
“It is.” Kari opened her menu. “I’m kind of surprised they didn’t try to move in last week while the team was in Washington. The owner offered to let them do a rent-back agreement so they could move in early, but Ben didn’t want to push things that quickly.”
“A rent-back agreement?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah. I guess it’s when you’re buying a house and you basically rent it until the legal transfer happens.”
Ryan considered the possibilities, and a plan began to form.
Their waitress approached and set water glasses in front of them. “Are you ready to order, or do you need a few more minutes?”
Without looking at his menu, Ryan gave her his order and waited for Kari to put in her request. As soon as they were left alone again, he asked, “Do you or Maya still have the phone number for the real estate agent who took us house hunting?”
“I’m sure Maya has it. Why?”
“Can you get it for me?”
“Yeah. I’ll text it to you tomorrow after I get back to Maya’s place.” She looked at him quizzically. “You aren’t thinking of buying your mom a house without her consent, are you?”
“Not exactly, but I think I may have an idea that will help her out without getting me into too much hot water.”
“Are you going to share?”
“Let me see if it will even work first,” Ryan said, afraid to voice his thoughts aloud. “But I promise, if everything falls into place, you’ll be the first to know.”