Capricorn Christmas

Chapter 12

Capricorn: Do not let negative emotions rule you and try to see reasons behind unexpected disappointments. 

I rolled my eyes and checked the clock on the wall.  I'd been waiting thirty minutes already for this cast appointment and had gotten bored enough to pick up on of the waiting room magazines.  Granted I was twenty minutes early so I reminded myself that I needed to be patient.  The magazine was now closed in my lap, but my finger was still between the pages marking my spot. 

The horoscope made me think of Jared for the second time this morning.  The little black stocking cast had still been hanging from my rear view mirror and before I drove to my appointment, I took it down and moved it into my centre console.  "What happened to you?" I said to the handmade gift.  This had been so thoughtful, so personal.  Why would you go through the trouble of making such a personal gesture and disappear.  Soon this cast on my leg would be gone and, in time, so would this little reminder. 

I looked at the cover of the magazine a bit more closely.  This wasn't a magazine I'd ever buy or take advice from, so I wasn't sure why I was letting this horoscope hold any weight.  It was kind of true though.  The date caught my eye.  The magazine was seven months old.  "Well shit,"I chuckled to myself.  I suppose these things are so generic that they could be relevant even months and months later.  I was just about the continue flipping though the magazine when I was called in.  It was time to lose the cast.  I had to admit, I might miss Black Beauty a little bit.

It didn't take long to crack that baby open and pull it apart to free my leg.  I wasn't prepared for a few things.  The smell, the colour, the texture and the size of my leg were so horrific that I apologized to the doctor.  "No worries," she smiled waving off my shocked face, "they all look like this."  When I say my skin looked like it had scales, I mean yellow scales.  "How long is it going to take to get back to normal?" I was bent over examine my leg as closely as I could.  "It depends," she said unconcerned, "Now let's take a look at that ankle."

The next surprise came when I went to put weight on it.  "It's going to feel strange at first. You're leg has been locked up in one position for six weeks.  You'll still have to be cautious," she smiled.  "Should I still use these crutches?"  "Oh no," she shook her head, "time to walk on your own now, but carefully," she warned again.  It was the longest walk of my life from that room to my car.  My ankle was aching by the time I slid back into the driver's seat.  It was so strange not to have that weight on my leg and not to have those crutches to arrange in my car.  The sudden absence of these things should have made me feel free, but I just felt ... weak. 

It wasn't even lunch, but getting my cast off wore me out and my ankle was still throbbing from the little bit of walking I had done.  I turned on the tv, but fell asleep before I could even find something to watch.  It wasn't until the front door opened and a cold blast of wind woke me up.  "Amy!" I wasn't expecting anyone, but was so happy to see her legs.  Her arms were full and the contents of this load she was bringing into the house covered the whole top half of her body.

She dropped the bundle on the closest chair.  "Jen!" She came to sit down beside me, "How are you?" Her voice and her voice seemed so concerned.  "Good, good," I nodded and I could hear how flat it came out because I was trying to figure out what was going on.  The tone had shifted and it had literally been thirty seconds.  It was silent for a bit too long, when she finally said, "Hey you got your cast off."  "Isn't that what you were asking about?" "No. I meant how are you with like ... Jared?"

She raised her eyebrows at me like I should know what she was talking about.  I hadn't told her about getting snubbed on my birthday and she wasn't friends with Jared so I really didn't know where this was going.  I shrugged.  She smiled but it was with so much pity.  I wanted to respond as casually as possible, "I had a super busy few days.  I'll see him at school next week I'm guessing." She looked at me, "Jen," her tone was incredulous, "he was in an accident.  He's in Regina hospital, in a coma."