It Hasn't Been Long Enough

Callie sat at the nurses’ station, trying her best to avoid Pete at all costs. It had been three days since Patrick’s surgery, and Pete and Callie still hadn’t talked. Patrick had been admitted into the hospital in order to start chemotherapy, which he was scheduled to begin tomorrow.

Callie and Emma had become good friends in the short time they had known each other. Emma had been trying to convince Callie to go talk to Pete, but she continued to refuse.

Callie saw the light go on outside of Patrick’s room, indicating he needed a nurse. She got up from her seat and walked over to his room. “Patrick, is everything okay?” she asked him.

“Oh, I’m fine,” he replied nonchalantly.

“Then why did you push the button?”

“I needed to talk to you.”

“Patrick, in case you didn’t know, that’s not what the button’s for,” Callie told him. “But what do you need to talk about?”

“You and Pete.”

“Emma told you?” she asked.

“No, actually, Pete did.”

“I bet that was a fun conversation. Did it go something like, ‘so, Callie made a complete fool of herself and kissed me today after professing her love for me?’”

“No, actually it went something like, ‘Callie told me she loved me and kissed me today, and now we’re avoiding each other.’”

“Patrick, I can’t talk to him.”

“Why not?”

“Did you not hear the whole ‘Callie made a complete fool of herself’ thing?” Callie asked.

“Talk to him,” Patrick ordered.

“Patrick,” Callie began.

“Callie,” Patrick interrupted. “If you care about me at all, you will go talk to him!”

“Patrick, you know that you’re one of my best friends, and I love you, but I can’t talk to him,” Callie told him looking him in the eyes.

“Callie,” Patrick began.

“Patrick, you don’t know what it’s like. You love someone who loves you back. I love someone who doesn’t .”

“You don’t know that Callie.”

“Yes, I do. I’ve been waiting for him for the last four years, Patrick. Do you know that I haven’t went out with anyone since I broke up with him. I haven’t went out with anyone in four years! All because I was waiting for him. Now, don’t tell me that he’s done the same. That he’s been waiting on me.”

Patrick knew he couldn’t lie to Callie. “No, he hasn’t been single this entire time. But, I’m telling you, he’s still in love with you.”

“Has he told you that? Has he actually said those words to you? That he is in love with me? Because when I told him how I felt, he didn’t say anything. And just like four years ago, when I left, he didn’t come after me. Emma did. So, how can you say that he still loves me?” Callie asked, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

“Callie, you’re just going to have to trust me on this one. He loves you.”

“You know, everyone keeps telling me that. You’ve told me that. Emma’s told me that. Hell, even Andy and Joe came up to me and told me that Pete loves me. But you know the one person who hasn’t told me that? Pete.”

“Maybe he’s just scared,” Patrick said, trying to justify Pete’s actions.

“He’s scared?” Callie asked, outraged. “Patrick, I just spilled everything to him. I told him that I love him, that I’ve never stopped loving him. What is he scared of? It can’t be rejection. He knows how I feel,” she said, getting louder with every word.

“I don’t know,” Patrick admitted.

“I’ve got to go. I’ve got other patients I’ve got to check on. But I’ll be back later to check on you.”

Not knowing what else to do, Patrick decided to tell Callie the secret that he’s been keeping for Pete. The one thing Pete had asked Patrick not to tell anyone. “Callie, have you heard our new CD?”

“Of course,” Callie said with a smile as she turned around at the door to look at Patrick. “I got it the first day it came out at midnight.”

“So, you’ve heard ‘What A Catch, Donnie?’”

“Yeah,” Callie replied, not knowing where Patrick was going with this. “Why?”

“Listen to it again. Pete wrote it about a year after you two broke up. It was right after he quit doing drugs.”

“Okay?” Callie said, but it came out as more of a question.

“Just listen to it,” Patrick told her.

“Huh?” Callie asked.

“I’ll see you later. Go check on your other patients,” he replied with a smile.

“Okay,” Callie said as she left the room. She tried to think of the lyrics to the song, but for the life of her, she couldn’t. She figured she’d just have to wait until she got back to her apartment to listen to the song.

“What was that all about?” Joe asked Patrick as he entered the room after seeing Callie leave.

“I think I may have just pissed Pete off,” Patrick replied.

“Pete? Huh?” Joe asked confused.

“I just told Callie Pete’s big secret.”

“You told her ‘What A Catch’ was written for her?” Joe asked.

Patrick nodded his head. “I had to do something. Pete refuses to tell her how he feels for some stupid reason. And she refuses to talk to him.”

“Wow! Even in a hospital bed, you’re still playing matchmaker,” Joe joked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Patrick said. “So, how do you think Pete’s going to react?”

“Oh, he’s going to kill you,” Joe told him. “But maybe if you’re lucky, he’ll go easy on you since you’re in the hospital. Use that cancer card to your advantage.”

“Thanks, man. You’re so helpful,” Patrick replied sarcastically, silently hoping that Pete wouldn’t kill him after he found out what he did.