Paper Hearts (Phan)

151 days

A week and 2 days before Halloween, Dan was ready for the holidays. "It's just for the free candy" he insisted, taping black and orange streamers across the ceiling with special tape decorated with jack o lanterns. "It's a tradition" he yelled from across the store while shoving sweets marked 'half off' into his cart.

"It's the one holiday besides Thanksgiving and Saint Cat's day that gets him excited." PJ told me and passed a drink from the local coffee shop into my hands. It was warm and I instinctively thought Dan would probably like one to wake him up, but watching him knock countless decorations into his arms proved otherwise.

"So we have a staple gun?" He asked and held up a paper chain of dancing skeletons doing the conga.

"Probably." Cat sighed. Her head was covered by the hood of her jacket and she was slumped over the table we'd taken refuge at so that her disappointed expression was hidden from view. She didn't want to discourage Dan on his favourite holiday.

"Great," he grinned "I'll take 20."

__________

I failed to understand what was so hilarious about golf tournament rerun. But for some reason PJ still found them amusing, so Cat and I watched the wall while Dan hung up his decorations with PJ's hyena laugh as the background noise. Chris sat at the kitchen table, typing furiously on his laptop for a project in his human anatomy class due online in less than an hour.

"Nightmare before Christmas is the best movie, even though I can't tell if it's a Halloween or Christmas movie, but that doesn't matter because it's a good movie and the music is awesome and the characters are awesome." Dan rambled like he'd been doing for the past hour, waving around the staple gun in one hand and held up the paper skeletons with the left. "Phil you should be Jack and I'll be like Sally or something without the weird looking hair because I feel like that's too far-"

He pulled the trigger on the staple gun without checking where he was aiming, and about 6 shots fired before he toppled off the ladder and onto the floor, clutching his left wrist and crying out when the metal crashed on top of his forearm.

"Woah." He said, dazed, and shook his head quickly like a dog trying to dry off after a bath. Chris was almost immediately by his side, pushing the ladder off his arm and inspecting the back of his hand, which had been struck with 4 staples in a direct line and 2 up closer to his knuckles.

"Dude, I'm no doctor yet but I think you broke your wrist." Chris huffed, glancing backwards to us over the couch.

"How the fuck did you do that?" PJ raised his voice and pressed his face to the couch in exasperation.

"I don't know." Dan pouted, bit the inside of his cheek, and stood up carefully with Chris' help.

"Is it hospital worthy?" Cat asked, worry lining her tone.

Chris sighed and hung Dan's already purple wrist over the couch and next to Cat's face. She squirmed away and nearly fell off the furniture.

"Dude, that looks awesome." PJ grinned and reached out to touch it, but got his hand slapped away.

"You're absolutely disgusting. I'm taking him to the hospital."

I wasn't exactly sure how I ended up driving with nobody in the passenger seat but with Chris and Dan at the back. He'd insisted that PJ and Cat both stay home and finish decorating with the supplies he'd bought.

"I have no idea where the hospital is," I yelled to the back in hopes of receiving some directions. Chris probably knew the way to the emergency centre, considering one of his parents was a first responder. Well at least I hoped he did.