Carrots With Ketchup

Part 10

I couldn’t remember much of what happened. All I could remember was driving to work and then a sudden flash and then a sickening crunch and a crack and severe pain in my left leg and head as the world went dark. Now I could feel that I was lying down on a bed, extremely sore and tired. My eyes were fighting as I willed them to open. Finally, a crack of light entered my eyelids slowly lifted and my blurred vision cleared. My first thoughts were bright, sterile, hospital room?  Once that was cleared, I took in the rest of my surroundings. My vision was still unclear without my glasses, but I could still see who was in the room with me.

“Louis!” I croaked, pleased. It barely came out as a whisper.

His head whipped up. Was that relief I saw in his eyes? A second later and it was gone. I must have imagined it.

“Harry’s just gone to make a call. He’ll be back in a moment,” he said, not leaving his seat at the other end of the room.

“Harry…he’s here? You’re here? I’m so glad, Lou. We need to talk. I need to explain.”

‘No,” he said. “I’m only here because I promised Harry I’d stay with you so he could call his mum. She’s worried about you.”

I remembered when I’d briefly met Anne while visiting Harry a couple of weeks ago. She was a wonderful woman and I was touched to know she cared.

“I also came because I need to tell you this,” Lou continued. “Stop calling me. Stop texting me. Stop trying to contact me. I’m not going to answer.”

Tears sprang to my eyes. “But Lou-”

“No,” he repeated. “You’ve made your choice and now I’ve made mine. I think we should go our separate ways.”

“Lou!” The tears overflowed.

“No, Josée! We’re not friends anymore! Just leave me alone!”

“Please don’t do this, Lou. Please,” I whispered.

He stood and strode to the door. “Goodbye, Josée.”

“Lou!” I screamed. I made to follow him and cried out in pain. Looking down, I noticed why. My left leg was in a cast, broken. “Lou!!” I screamed again, falling into hysterics.

A nurse came in and started calming me down, insisting I shouldn’t be stressed, that it wasn’t good for healing. When I didn’t calm down, she fed more meds into my IV. I began to feel drowsy, and the last thing I saw before I drifted off to sleep was Harry entering the room.

When I woke next, Harry was beside me playing with my right hand absentmindedly. I squeezed his fingers and his beautiful green eyes met my own hazel ones.

“Hey, babe, he said, “How’re you feeling?”

“Sore,” I admitted.

He laughed softly. “Well considering you fractured your skull and broke your leg, as well as a few minor injuries, that’s understandable.”

I grimaced. “Please tell me it wasn’t my fault.”

He smiled slightly as he whispered, “No, the other driver was at fault.”

“Thank God,” I breathed. As an afterthought, I added, “Any lasting damage?”

“Well, besides healing the broken bones and your lovely raccoon eyes from the fracture, you’re going to have a bit of a scar on your forehead. Not much else.”

“Raccoon eyes?” I sighed. “Oh great. I must look gorgeous.”

He gently leaned over and kissed the good side of my forehead. “You’re always beautiful to me, babe.”

I smiled and fought to keep my eyes open. I was still quite tired. I could hear Harry chuckling softly under his breath. “Babe, you really should get some sleep.”

I nodded slowly. “Stay with me?” I breathed.

“Of course. I love you.”

“Love…you…too…” I muttered as I drifted off.