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Thin fingers ran over medical tape as Pearl looked at her side. It was fascinating how she felt no pain. Her side was patched, stitches with gauze taped over it to protect. She still felt light headed, probably from the pain meds, as she continued to look at is.
Distantly, she knew she should be concerned. That she had been panicked not long ago. Now, though, she felt nothing.
“Ma’am,” came a voice from very far away. She looked up, seeing a woman in scrubs holding out a bloodied and ripped shirt. “You can put this back on.” Pearl took the shirt, mumbling a thank you, and slipped it over her head. The patch was hidden now, but it felt weird with her shirt on. “Okay, we’re taking you to the outpatient waiting room. Is your family coming to get you?”
Pearl blinked. “Yes,” she said, though she wasn’t certain. “I’ll call them.” She pulled out her phone, seeing several missed calls from nearly everyone she knew. “Oh.” She sat in the chair as the nurse left her, sighing. She clicked on the most recent call: Amethyst.
“Pearl! Where are you?” Amethyst was loud, and Pearl had to pull the phone away from her ear as rapid Spanish burst through the speakers. After a moment it stopped and the line was filled with silence. “P, you there?” Her voice sounded scared.
“Yes. I’m at the hospital. Can you come get me?” This room had horrid design. The walls were a sickly beige. Surely a better color could have been chosen. The floor was shined, but it still appeared dirty. The chairs were ratty and stained. None of the magazines were even close to the current date. It took her a moment to realize Amethyst had been talking. “What?” she asked.
She heard a deep intake of breath. “I’ll be there in five.” More muttering in Spanish came before her phone beeped. Amethyst had hung up. Her eyes traveled to the television in the corner. No sound came from it and the captions were on, showing a political figure as the newest scandle scrolled across the bottom.
“Ah, Ms. Paige, your friend is here.” Pearl looked over to the entrance of the room for a second, seeing her friend, and then her vision was clouded by purple. Amethyst pulled away, her hands remaining on Pearl’s shoulders as she looked at her.
“Oh my god Pearl are you okay what happened are you hurt of course you’re hurt your here.”
“M’fine,” Pearl said. “I want to go home.”
Amethyst was frozen for a second before she started chuckling. “You’re high. God, Pearl.”
The nurse stepped in, then, explaining Amethyst had to sign papers and be given a prescription. There the nurse explained that while looking at swords (and trying them out, apparently) Pearl had lost her footing and stabbed herself while tripping. An ambulance was called immediately, and nothing major had been hurt, but she would be in pain for a while, need to be given the meds regularly, and wasn’t to lift anything above five pounds until the stitches were removed. Then the nurse looked around nervously and leaned in. “She was also having a much stronger reaction to the pain meds than anticipated.”
Amethyst helped her into the car and buckled her seatbelt. Pearl breathed in deeply when Amethyst’s hand brushed the patch. “Can I see it?” she asked. Pearl shrugged, so Amethyst lifted up the side of her shirt. “Jeez, that’s a big place.”
Amethyst drove home, glancing over at Pearl every few moments. The woman was falling asleep, her head leaned against the window. Garnet, Steven, and Greg were all on the porch of the beach house when Amethyst and Pearl pulled in. Pearl woke as the car stopped, looking around. “Home,” she said. She blinked, perplexed, but then her hand was on the handle and she was stumbling toward the steps. Amethyst rushed out of the car and to her side, getting there just before the others.
“Is she okay?” Steven asked. His voice was small, eyes wide.
Greg put his hand on the boy, looking to Amethyst for answers. “Yeah, buddy, she’s going to be okay. She just had an accident and had to go to the doctor. She just needs to sleep.” Amethyst glanced at Garnet, and without a word, they each supported Pearl as she made her way up the steps and led her to her room.
They helped her change into soft, comfortable clothes and get into bed. Once they were certain she was asleep, they left joining Greg and Steven at the kitchen island.
Everyone looked expectantly at Amethyst. “The nurse said she was at that road show that just hit town. Looking at swords for her collection I guess, when she tripped and somehow cut herself. They had her pretty doped up.” She glances down the hallway to where Pearl’s open door is. “It’s fine, she didn’t hit anything but it was bad enough to need stitches and major painkillers.” She pulled the folded perscription out of her pocket.
Garnet picked it up. “Come on, Steven. We’ll get this and some of Pearl’s favorite tea.” Steven jumped out of his chair, ready to feel like he was doing something helpful as always. “You too, Greg.”
It was late that night. The entire house was dark, and Pearl’s room was darker still. She had an ‘antique’ analog clock she had bought at a super market, so there were no electronic lights in her room. What little moonlight shone through the windows didn’t make it this far down the hallway. Amethyst and Garnet were taking shifts watching Pearl, since she had been asleep since returning home. Garnet had gone first, which had suited Amethyst until she realized she couldn’t sleep. She had relieved Garnet an hour early and had been sitting in that chair now long enough that her butt had gone numb.
Her attention snapped back when Pearl shifted, groaning a little. With as well as her eyes had adjusted to the dark, Amethyst could see Pearl’s pale hand looking for her bedside lamp.
“Here, let me,” she said gently. The light flicked on, revealing a frightened looking Pearl. “Sorry, we didn’t want to leave you alone. Do you need some meds?”
Pearl sat up, groaning, her hand lightly covering the stitched area. “No. I need a bathroom.” She stood and took a few steps, stopping when Amethyst made to follow her. “I can do this alone.”
Color flooded Amethyst’s cheeks. “Right.”
Once in the bathroom and finished with what she had came to do, Pearl stopped. Gingerly, she lifted her shirt, seeing the large patch of gauze that clearly needed changed. She bit her lip, grimacing at it. With a deep breath, she opened the door and out and back to her room, flipping on the light. The clock on her bedside table said five am.
Amethyst was still in the chair. It was from the kitchen. “You can go to sleep, Amethyst. I’m fine now.” She sighed, pulling open a drawer. “I’m just going to shower and start the day.”
“Oh, hey, here are the papers the hospital gave you.” Pearl glanced through them, reading the rules. “Can we talk, P.?”
It was less the words and more the tone that caught Pearl’s attention. She never thought Amethyst could make her voice sound so vulnerable. “Of course.” Carefully, Pearl sat on the bed in front of Amethyst.
It took her a moment to gather her words. She looked at the hardwood floor, as if it was the wood she was speaking too. “I was terrified. You called me back after hours. Hours. And you’re so obviously high and you say you’re at the hospital but I can’t get you to say anything else.” Slowly, she looks up at Pearl, and Pearl notices the wetness in her eyes, the trails that are already on her cheeks. “I’m really glad you’re okay.”
“Amethyst.” Pearl’s voice was tender. She held out her hand, and Amethyst met her, holding it. Pearl patted the bed beside her and Amethyst moved, careful not to jar her too much, never letting go of her hand. “I’m sorry. It was a stupid mistake. Can you believe there was loose gravel and I tripped?” She fingered the gazed patch through her shirt. “Before the ambulance arrived, I was freaking out. There were so many people crowded around, someone barking orders, people pushing my hands out of the way and a couple of screams.” She swallowed, looking over to Amethyst. “But I’m okay. I’m here.” She squeezed Amethyst’s hand, giving her a small smile.
“Yeah, you are,” Amethyst said. “It just made me realize how easily it...how fast i could...” She met Pearl’s eyes. “I love you, P.”
“I love you, too.”
They sat in silence for a moment, just sitting together. Then Pearl stood, grabbing the clothes she had pulled from her drawer. “Okay. I need to shower.”
Amethyst laughed, watching her leave the room and walk down the hall.
She looked at the papers, sighing. No getting the stitches wet. She exited the bathroom and went to the kitchen, finding cling wrap to put over the gauze with the medical tape she had. After being certain it was sealed, she took a quick shower and dressed, feeling markedly better, minus the pain in her side.
She dried her hair and applied light makeup, throwing her clothing in the hamper in the bathroom before returning to hers. The light was still on. Amethyst was laying in her bed, one of the pillows pulled close to her stomach and held in a tight grip. With a smile, Pearl pulled her blankets over Amethyst, kissed her cheek, and turned off the light. She paused at the doorway, looking at her. Then she pulled the door closed and walked back into the kitchen, in search of tea.