APRIL 1st, 1994, SEATTLE, WA
IT WAS EARLY morning when Lindy's phone rang from outside of her bedroom. It roused her from sleep, causing her to lift her head tiredly and squint out her ajar bedroom door. The phone ringing had become a daily occurrence in her household. She had spent more time talking on the phone in the last two years than she had in her whole life.
She glanced at her bedside clock. The red, digital numbers told her that it was only eight-twenty-six in the morning. Not unnecessarily an odd time to be called when it seemed that everyone wanted to speak to Lindy at any given point in her day.
Groggily, she got out of bed and shut off the fan that she used at night to help her fall into slumber. These days, Lindy required the gentle whoosh of the fan blades to even guarantee herself a wink of sleep. Otherwise, she was up all night, her thoughts roaming into the darkest parts of her mind.
When she picked up the phone, she tried to sound alert, in case it was the hospital calling her. She was slated to work a shift later that day, but there was a chance that someone was calling her in the case of a schedule change.
"Hello?"
"Hey Lindy."
Kurt's voice, genial and pleasant, made Lindy nearly bounce off the floor in surprise. She had not been expecting a call from him, at least not so early in the day when she imagined that he would want to catch up on well-deserved rest. It didn't take her long to eventually relish in his greeting, being that she missed him after only a whole day apart.
"Kurt! You called!" she exclaimed, blinking her eyes rapidly until they refused to droop with exhaustion.
"Yeah, I know I didn't get to call yesterday. Frances and the nanny stopped by so I spent the majority of the day hanging out with them. She's coming again this morning, too."
"Kurt, that's wonderful," Lindy smiled, happy to hear that he had managed to spend quality time with Frances, even from a place where at heart, he didn't want to be.
"I'm really happy that I caught you. I thought you might be at work."
"Not until two. You got lucky."
"Yeah I did," Kurt replied distantly. He recovered before Lindy could ask if he was okay; in a matter of seconds, he had charged his voice with the same amiability from when Lindy had first answered the phone.
"I don't know what they've got planned for me today, so I wanted to call as soon as possible," Kurt explained.
"I'm glad you did. I don't mind starting my day off with the sound of your voice."
"Even if it's at eight-thirty morning?"
"Even then," Lindy chuckled, enjoying the well-rested nature of Kurt's over-the-phone demeanor. Barely any time had passed since he'd entered rehab, yet he was already starting to sound far better than before. The promise of his future health hung in the future, giving Lindy shreds of hope that she had not felt in months.
"Do you have your ring on?" Kurt asked.
Lindy lowered her eyes to her chest where sure enough, Kurt's engagement ring laid over her shirt. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how tacky she looked, sporting an engagement ring as a necklace. And not only that, she was risking the chance of losing it even more than if it had been on her finger. But it was a discreet promise made to Kurt — if he tried to get better, the ring would stay around her neck. And then soon enough, she'd wear it on her finger.
"I am. If it somehow falls off this chain, you can't be mad though."
"You won't lose it. I know you won't."
