She won’t need surgery for her hand.
Last I heard, they were doing some sort of bone setting thing they had to sedate her for. I went along with the idea that I’m her boyfriend since I didn’t want to risk them pulling the ‘immediate family only’ line. The woman who helped Paige right after the accident noticed her wallet on the ground and handed it to me before the ambulance left, so I at least had her address to write down on some of the forms they gave me.
“She is a bit, um, how do you say...” The nurse who came out to announce that I could finally see her leads me down a series of hallways, chatting away in a heavy Québécois accent. “Loopy? It will go away soon.”
It’s hard to focus on what she’s saying. I can make out the beep of all the machines we pass and the sound of a radio station playing somewhere, but once again, there’s a disconnect between me and my body, like I’m watching this all happen to someone else from far away.
“She is right in here.” The nurse ushers me into the room with a smug grin. “She keeps asking for you.”
The overhead lights are off, but a small lamp above the bed closest to me is switched on, where a little kid is sitting up reading a book. His mom sits in a chair next to him, fast asleep. He looks up at me for a second and then back down at his lap as I pass. I head toward the curtain drawn between them and the far half of the room.
I round the edge of the curtain, and there she is. The lamp above her bed is on too, making her dark hair shine where it’s fanned out on her pillow. Her eyes are closed, and as I stop at the foot of the bed to take in all the damage, it’s like weathering punch after punch to my gut.
There’s a dark purple bruise blooming on her cheekbone, and the cut on her temple has been covered with gauze. They took her hoodie off, and her tank top reveals more scrapes and the beginnings of bruises along her arms. One of them is crossed over her chest in a sling, and I can see the edge of some sort of splint wrapped around her hand.
“Paige,” I murmur. I don’t mean to wake her up. I just need to say it.
Her eyes open just a slit, and then a grin stretches her bruised face.
“Heyyyy, hot stuff!”
I almost choke.
“I told you she was loopy.” The nurse who brought me here appears at my side, making me jump. She pats me on the shoulder and heads over to start doing something to the IV hooked up to Paige’s left arm. “You see,chérie? Youssef is here. I told you he was waiting.”
Paige is still smiling at me, and I can see the glassiness in her eyes now. “Isn’t he sexy?”
The nurse clucks her tongue and looks over her shoulder to smirk at me. “Very sexy,ma belle.”
This is officially the strangest moment of my life.
“Did you tell him they didn’t have to put pins in my hand?” Paige asks, getting hyper serious all of a sudden like a little kid who’s just remembered something important.
“Yes, I did tell him that.”
“Okay, good.”
The nurse brushes Paige’s hair off her forehead. “Why don’t you talk to him yourself, pretty girl? He’s right there.”
Paige pulls her face into an exaggerated grimace. “Don’t call me pretty girl. Also I don’t think I can talk to him. He’s too sexy.”
I hear the kid on the other side of the curtain start to snicker. I’m still too weirded out by how bizarre this is to find it funny yet.
“I will give you two some privacy,” the nurse whispers as she walks by. “The doctor will be here in a few minutes.”
I stand there at the foot of the bed and watch Paige vapidly grin at me for a few moments before grabbing one of the folding chairs against the wall and taking a seat.
“Uh, hi, Paige. How are you feeling?”
Her forehead creases. “It hurts a lot.”
I feel a twinge in my chest. “I know.”
She tilts her head to get a better look at me. “I got hit by a car.”
I nod. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?” She scrunches her nose up in a way I’ve never seen her do before. It’s fucking adorable. “You weren’t driving the car.”
