She Used to Be a Pearl

"Hey Jared." I sighed.

And I thought it was going to be Caty.

"Hey, man. I just talked to Caty." He told me.

"What did she say? Where is she?"

"She told me to tell you that she's sorry, and she just boarded her plane." He said softly.

I looked down at my swollen hand.

"She's really gone?" I choked out.

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

I nodded and kept my head down.

Sorry? What does Caty have to be sorry for? I'm the one who acted like a complete asshole.

"Do you want me to go?" He asked.

"No, stay. What else did she say?"

"She said that you deserved someone better than her." He continued. "She also said that she left your flannel shirt on your bunk..."

"The one I gave her when we were mini-golfing?" I asked in a rough voice, trying not to let my emotions out.

"Yeah."

"Fuck, Jared. Why did I have to mess everything up?"

He just stayed silent, not knowing what to do or say.

"She was the one." I said as a tear escaped. I quickly wiped it away.

"No matter what she said, she loves you. She really, really loves you. Something like that doesn't just go away after one fight. It's only seven weeks until we get home. Both of you will have your heads clear and you can talk about what happened. Everything will be okay."

"But if I never yelled at her, then she wouldn't be back in Tempe. She'd be here with me. I wouldn't have to wait two months to see her."

After a long pause Jared finally sighed and spoke again.
"Maybe it just wasn't-"

"Oh bullshit! You know how in love I am with her. Don't tell me it wasn't meant to be, because it was. She's the only girl who had me completely wrapped around her finger. I love her."

Jared was about to say something when a nurse walked through the door.

"Hi, I'm going to walk you down to x-rays." She said.

I nodded and left the room with her.

"Cheer up, hon. It's just an x-ray." She chuckled.

"Sorry, it's just been a rough day." I told her as I tried to force a smile.

"I understand, honey. I hope things get better for you."

"Thank you." I said as I walked into the room where the x-rays were taken.

After laying my hand on the cold metal table in various positions I walked back to my room.

As I opened the door I thought that maybe by some small chance Caty would be sitting in there waiting for me.

Nope.

"Hey." Jared said.

I acknowledged him and sat down on the bed once more.

Come on, Caty. I watched all those chick flicks with her and now I expected her to come walking through the door and we'd kiss and everything would be happy again.

"I miss her, too." Jared spoke up.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do, Jared. Seven weeks is a long time. Anything could happen. She could get married, or move away."

"She loves you just as much as you love her. She won't move away. She has school in a few months. She won't get married. You're the only guy she wants." He explained.

Just then Dr. Martin came in carrying x-rays. "Hi, John. Let's have a look at these x-rays." He said putting them up to the light for me to see. "These bones are your knuckles and it seems you did a number on them when you hit that wall. I think that you should only need a cast, but I'm going to have a specialist check them in the morning."

He wrapped my hand up in a cast and sent me home, well to the hotel.

I laid in my bed that night with my hand and my heart throbbing.

I forced myself into a deep sleep that took me to a world where I could be with my girl again.