I Don't Mind--Paily
It was the kind of phone call Emily had always dreaded. Ever since she was a little girl and learned what her father did for a living, and that he could die at any moment, she had been terrified of her phone ringing. Unknown numbers sent her into a tailspin. Of course, ninety-nine percent of the time, it was nothing. A wrong number or a sales call. But occasionally, such as when her dad had died, her fears were realized. She’d thought she’d stopped being afraid of ringing phones when he’d died. But now the ringing phone once again contained bad news.
She’d been at work when her phone rang. She wasn’t supposed to answer, but when she’d seen the familiar area code, she’d answered. The woman on the phone calmly explained that Paige McCullers had been in a car accident and Emily was her emergency contact. She’d been puzzled to hear that piece of information; Paige had never told her that she was her emergency contact.
Still, despite having broken up six months prior, Emily didn't hesitate to hop in her car and make the four hour drive to the hospital. After they'd broken up, Emily had relocated from the Stanford area to San Diego. She’d felt she had no reason to stay in town, and it was too hard to be around everything she’d lost. Still, even though their relationship had ended on a somewhat sour note, nothing was going to keep Emily away from Paige's bedside.
Once she had arrived, she’d been informed that Paige was in surgery, and it had been hours before she'd been able to actually see her ex girlfriend.
"Hey," she said awkwardly, shuffling in the doorway. She looked Paige up and down, trying to find evidence of surgery. Besides a cut on her forehead and a plaster cast on her wrist, Paige looked fine.
"You don't have to be here," Paige rasped out, her throat hoarse. Emily shook her head.
"Of course I'm here. I’m your emergency contact, remember?" she asked with a pointed look. She saw recognition flash across Paige’s face.
"Oh. I forgot about that. I’m sorry you drove all the way out here for nothing,” she said.
“It’s not for nothing. The nurse said you had to have surgery,” she said worriedly. Paige nodded.
“Did the nurse tell you why?" Paige asked. Emily's eyebrows knotted together and she shook her head.
“She said you were in a car accident, but she didn’t give me any other details," she said. Without a word, Paige used her good hand and yanked the blanket off her legs. Emily gasped, surprised to see Paige’s entire leg covered in thick white plaster.
"My knee is shattered. I'll be lucky to ever be able to walk without a limp. The doctors said I'll never swim again," she said bitterly. Emily walked closer to the bed and sat down in a chair, taken aback by the information.
"Oh, Paige. I'm so sorry," she said. Paige swallowed thickly.
"It's fine," she lied. Emily sighed, seeing right through the lie. She knew Paige had been training for the Olympics and she'd had an extremely good chance for making the team. It had been her dream for so long and now it was ruined.
"How long are you going to be in the hospital?" Emily asked, changing the subject. Paige shrugged.
"I don't know. I have another surgery tomorrow, so a couple of days at least. Then I'll have to go to the rehab center," she said, dreading the prospect.
"I can stay in town for a while," Emily offered.
Paige thought about the offer. Part of her wanted the beg Emily to stay in town. Their breakup had been mutual in the sense that they both knew they couldn’t continue living the way they were. Emily had been starting fights every night, Paige would retaliate, and they would both end up angry. Still, Paige had held onto hope that they could work things out. She'd been devastated when Emily left town, erasing any possibility they had of getting back together. So the prospect of being around her again gave her butterflies.
On the other hand, she wanted to pretend Emily had never come here. It had taken her a long time to get used to Emily being gone. She'd finally been able to accept that they were over. The idea of Emily being here and then leaving again broke her heart.
"I don't want to pull you away from work," she said, not even knowing where or if Emily was working. Emily frowned.
"I don't mind. I can take some time off. My boss won’t mind," she reassured. Paige closed her eyes, trying to work up the courage to say what she needed to say.
"Em, I don't want you to stay so you can turn around and run away again!" she exclaimed, releasing her pent up frustration. A hurt look flashed across Emily's face.
"I didn't run away," she protested weakly. She knew that what Paige said was the truth. She had run away, from Paige, from her life, from everything. Her father's death had broken her. She'd failed all of her classes, blown through her money, and taken everything out on Paige. It hadn’t been fair to Paige, who had no idea what was going on with classes or money. Her ex didn't even know that she'd dropped out of school.
"I don't want to leave you like this, Paige. You’re going to be in for a tough road," she said softly. Paige sighed, resisting the urge to snap at Emily. She knew she was in for a tough road.
"I'll be fine. Just go back," she said. Emily bit her lip, nervous about leaving her ex all alone. But she wasn’t going to stay when she clearly wasn’t welcome.
"Okay. I'll go," she said.
"Thank you," Paige whispered. She watched Emily walk out the door, for the second time. Only this time she didn't beg her to stay. Once she was alone once again, Paige allowed herself to cry.