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She eyed Matty in the mirror. ''Honey, did you take your medication?" |
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"Hnn." He sat in the back, quietly picking at the rawhide on his glove. |
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When he gave his head a shake, she asked, "You okay?" |
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"Just a little headache." |
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"I have some aspirin," Terry said, and handed Calvin her bag to dig them out. "If they don't help, we'll head home." |
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Matty swallowed the aspirin with the water from his squeeze bottle. "I'm all right." |
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"Just remember, keep your eye on the ball and swing easy," Calvin threw out for something to say. "Don't try to kill it. The secret is control." Then he added, "You're not playing for blood, okay, champ?" |
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"If it doesn't go away," Terry said, "tell Dr. Tojian. You don't have to play." |
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Only a headache. How about brain tumor . . . |
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Please, dear God, not my son. |
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For the rest of the ride, nobody said anything. She parked the car in the field lot, and Matty sauntered off to the home team's bench with his glove and squeeze bottle, occasionally giving his head a snap to shake away the pain. |
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Terry and Calvin headed for the home-team grandstand behind the screen. Terry was too distracted by Matty's change to notice the black Chevy van pulled up behind her car. |
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But Jerry Mars noticed. Hard not to, with that muffler pipe. He had tailed him for the last hour. |
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He pulled past the van to an empty spot where he had an open view of Jack Perry. |
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The man did not immediately get out of the van but waited while |
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