5 - Roy punches Jim
He couldn't tell which hurt worse - his fractured nose or his ego. The only thing he really did know - getting punched in the face by the boyfriend of the girl he loved in front of the entire office made him want to crawl into a hole. And getting dumped by his girlfriend a few hours later made him wish that if he found that hole, he wanted it to fill up with water so the pain would stop.
He couldn't avoid her. Hospitals were funny that way, during visiting hours just about anyone could come and go.
He listened to her explain the reasons why she had gotten back with Roy, the reasons why she couldn't make that decision so quickly when he told her he loved her and he listened to her continually apologize as she held an icepack to his face.
Talking hurt, moving hurt, breathing hurt, and it had nothing to do with the fact that his entire face was black and blue from having his nose fixed.
He wanted her to leave, he wanted her to stay. He wanted to ask her to stop apologizing, to stop sobbing and to lie down next to him but the bed wasn't big enough. He wanted to ask her to go home, to leave him alone and let him go back to whatever kind of normal life he could have.
It hurt him to hear her take full blame, it burned the back of his throat when he heard her say they weren't friends anymore, that she wished he didn't hate her anymore, that she called off her wedding because of him.
What made him ache from the inside out was when she said, "I thought telling him you and I kissed would make a clean slate. I had to tell him. You… you told Karen and I mean … I tried to tell him that it was no big deal like you told her, but … I'm sorry," she continued to apologize.
Doctors came in to examine him and he heard her walk out of the room, her heels clicking on the tile. When they left, letting him know they would release him the next day, she didn't return.
Painfully, he moved his head to the right and watched her walk away. He pressed the button for more pain medication and his eyes closed.
He drifted to sleep, feeling a delicate hand cross his forehead, warm lips gingerly kissing his hand. He tried to open his eyes, but they felt glued shut.
"I love you so much, Jim," her voice whispered in his ear.
He grabbed onto her hand and held it.
When he woke hours later, he found her sitting awkwardly in a chair next to his bed, her head on his chest, her hand still in his.
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Deedldee is the author of 19 other stories.
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