~ Chapter Twenty Nine ~

Another loud crash sounded from the bathroom.  Kevin shook his head.  Karen was having an especially clumsy morning.  It sounded like the entire medicine cabinet had fallen into the sink.  He was tempted to go check, but refrained, knowing it would only annoy her more if he showed up to inspect the mess she was making. 

Eight more days until he was off the disabled list and would be able to play again.  The team was on the road right now, Kevin staying behind to workout at Safeco Field.  His knee felt fine now, but he knew he was still only at eighty or ninety percent.  Sitting at home, watching the games on TV was slowly driving him insane.  He wanted to be back out on the field. 

Last week had been a bad week in general.  First he ripped his knee apart at home plate, then his best friend had been traded to a different country.  Things had gone from bad to worse.  The only other person on the team that Kevin really hung out with was AJ, but AJ was just a little too strange for his taste.  AJ was fine and well for comic relief, but as a friend, Kevin just wasn't too sure. 

Brian was still there, of course.  Brian was always there.  He might be obnoxious, but he always showed up when you needed him, every single time, without fail.  How Brian did that, Kevin didn't know, but he was grateful to him for it.  Brian had been the one that showed up at the hospital and gave him a ride home after the team doctors finished running every kind of test imaginable on his knee.  He was the one that took Becky to the park so she would stop playing "nurse".  He was the one that pulled Karen out of the room when she was becoming hysterical over the entire situation and managed to make her calm down.  Kevin still wasn't sure how he had done that.  Even he couldn't talk Karen out of one of her outbursts.

Kevin was starting to mellow out.  Either that, or his pain medication was affecting his mind.  He had sat and watched the game last night; screaming advice at the TV until Becky asked him politely to please be quiet, her doll was trying to sleep, and during the seventh inning, realized something Brian had been saying for the last six months - Kevin was underestimating Nick Carter's playing ability.

This, in fact, wasn't the first time that Kevin had realized this about his teammate.  Scott had dragged the blond outfielder in on a strategy discussion on the last plane flight, and Kevin had to admit that Nick knew his baseball.  He would rather die before admitting that to anyone, especially Nick, but to himself, he grudgingly admitted, Nick could hold his own on the field. 

Off the field, Kevin's opinion hadn't changed.  If Nick would just drop the arrogant, cocky, I don't need the rest of the world, I can do it on my own act, Kevin could tolerate him just fine. 

"Oh no!"  Karen wailed from the bathroom, before loud pounding noises ensued.

Kevin scowled.  It sounded like she was ripping sheetrock from the wall.  It was time to approach the war zone. 

"Karen?"  Kevin stuck his head in the door as the pounding stopped.  Karen was standing over the sink, staring down into the drain.  "What are you doing?"

"It went down."  Karen said dismally, before stepping back and kicking the cabinet under the sink as hard as she could.

"What did?"

"My contact!"  Karen yelled, waving her arms in the air.  "I refuse to wear glasses!  They make me look like a dork!"

Kevin bit his lip, hard.  To laugh now would be asking for a death sentence.  The kicking would find a new target.  "Well, you could always wear one and squint."

"Oh, wait!"  She said cheerfully, staring back down into the bottom of the sink.  "I think I can see it!"

"Where?"  Kevin leaned over to peer down the drain.  "All I see is jellied soap."

Karen leaned her head against Kevin's shoulder.  "This is going to be one of ‘those' days."  She said gloomily.

"I'll get it."  Kevin shook his head again, and kissed the top of her damp hair. 

"How?"  Karen wrinkled her nose, reminding Kevin of a wet haired rabbit.

"Take the sink apart."  Kevin said calmly.  It wasn't as if he had anything else to do with his day.  The game wasn't on until four, and besides, if it would make her happy, he was perfectly willing.  Karen was the only friend he had left right now.

~*~

"One has to wonder..."  AJ leaned over and peered inside the whirlpool tub in the trainers room, disappearing from the waist up.

This was an opportunity that couldn't be passed up.  Nick stepped forward, ready to push AJ in all the way.

"Don't even think about it."  AJ's voice echoed from inside the empty fiberglass shell.  "Touch my a-- and you die.  I am so onto you, you little punk."

"Aw man!"  Nick snickered, sitting back down.  He and AJ were killing time before batting practice.  Usually, Nick hung out with Brian before games, but Brian was running late today.  It was an hour before BP, and he still hadn't shown up.  So Nick hung out with AJ, even though he had a feeling it was going to get him into trouble. 

"Do you think if I stuck my face right next to one of the jets, it would rip my skin off?"  AJ raised his head and glanced around the room, no doubt looking for authority figures who would put a damper on his fun.  The only person there, besides the two at the tub, was Kevin, still rehabbing his knee on the equipment set up at the far end of the room. 

"Let's find out."  Nick offered, reaching for the water tap. 

"Hell no!"  AJ jumped backwards.  "I'll turn the water on - you stick your head down there."

"You're the one that wants to know."  Nick argued. 

"Okay... only make sure the water isn't hot."  AJ decided.  "I'd hate to have my freshly stripped face scalded."  He stopped and raised his eyebrows, staring across the room, distracted from the whirlpool.

Kevin had grabbed the blue plastic chair sitting against the wall and was slamming it repeatedly into the workout equipment as hard as he could. 

Nick eyed the door.  It might be better if he just left now.  Kevin might decide to come after him with the chair.  Kevin was always prone to going off and throwing a tantrum, but this was impressive, even for Kevin's standards.

Kevin flung the chair in frustration, sending it clattering noisily off the metal framework.  He stood quietly for a moment, rubbing his face, then turned and disappeared out of the room. 

AJ turned around to face Nick.  "Remind me to stay out of his way when he has a bat.  Violent people shouldn't play this sport.  The odds of them holding a dangerous weapon in their hands are way way to high.  The police should be worried."

Nick smiled.  He should have known AJ would make a smart comment about the entire situation.  "Do you suppose he's okay?"

"Oh yeah."  AJ nodded confidently.  "There's nothing like a good temper tantrum to make you feel better."

"If you say so."  Nick shrugged.

"Oh come on!"  AJ's jaw dropped, before he shut it with a pop.  "You mean to tell me that you've never completely flipped out and lost it and grabbed a bat and beat the crap out of a stereo or something?"

"No.  I haven't."  Nick said bluntly.  "But, the fact that you do, should tell you something."

"It tells me that I'm not as much of a control freak as you are."  AJ pointed out.

It was Nick's turn to unhinge his jaw.  "A what?"

"Con-trol freak."  AJ repeated slowly, leaning forward so Nick could read his lips. 

"I am not!"  Nick said in astonishment.  He was no where near being a control freak.  Nick was slightly above Brian on the slob scale.  You couldn't get much farther from a control freak than that.

AJ waved his arm in the air.  "I don't mean control freak like Kevin, where he has to count the number of towels in the dugout before each inning - I mean you get all wigged out if you can't control every single little detail of your life."

"I..." Nick started, when Brian slammed noisily into the room, still in his street clothes.

"Running late today, Mr. Littrell?"  AJ greeted him.

"Where's..."  Brian broke off and stared distractedly.  "Um... have you seen Kevin?"

"Went that way."  AJ pointed at the door.  "And he's pissed."

"How come you're so late?"  Nick added.

Brian shrugged.  "I had nine million stupid little things go wrong today.  Where's Dr. Lange?"  He added, referring to the team physician.

"Haven't seen him."  AJ leaned over and stared back down into the whirlpool tub, looking up when Brian banged back out the door.  "He's spazzing out."  He said thoughtfully. 

"He does that."  Nick wasn't too worried.  Brian had his absentminded days, when he would stare at Nick and Nick knew Brian didn't even remember his name, or when he would completely forget to do something, such as grocery shopping.  Brian needed a girl, and an organized one at that. 

"Now..."  AJ hung back over the tub.  "Let's test this sucker out!"