3 GUYS, A GIRL, AND A ROSE
Chapter Twenty-Three
Christina's eyes opened. At first, her vision
was blurry, but then she could see completely. She didn't know where she was.
The last thing she remembered was tripping. She turned her head and saw
Fabrizio staring down at her.
"Tommy, she is awake!"
"Where am I?" She sat up. Her head
was throbbing and her body ached. She turned to her other side and saw Tommy
smiling at her.
"You're at Victory Memorial," Tommy
answered her.
"What happened? Why am I here?" she
asked.
"You fell down the stairs at
Jack's," Tommy said. It came back to her--remembering what she was gonna
say to Jack, and then she saw her. She could tell from both their faces what
had happened.
"You only have a small cut on the
forehead. That'll go away in a week. You have five stitches to the back of
the head," Fabrizio said.
"God, my head hurts. I should have not
gone there. I hate hospitals."
"It's not your fault, Christina.
Everything is gonna be okay! You're leaving tomorrow. I'll take you home. I
have a car now," Tommy said.
"That's great. Yuck! I hate hospital
clothes!"
"You look kind of sexy in them!"
Fabrizio had to make her laugh.
"Never thought they could look so
appealing!" she said.
Tommy laughed. "I have your purse
here!"
"That's great! Take my keys and get me
clothes!" Tommy handed her the purse. She looked through and grabbed her
keys out of there and gave them to Tommy.
"No problem."
"Don't let Fabrizio pick anything out
with you! I'd leave the hospital looking like a hooker!"
"Hey! You don't trust me?" Fabrizio
asked.
"I love you, Fabri!" Fabrizio
hugged her.
"I'm gonna go downstairs. I'll talk to
you later, babe." Fabrizio kissed her on the top of her head and left.
"Thanks for being here with me,
Tommy!"
"No problem. You're my friend and I love
you!" Christina smiled, happy that Tommy was there.
Christina and Tommy talked. She tried to
forget what happened that morning.
*****
Fabrizio came downstairs, seeing Jack and
Rose talking to each other and holding hands. Jack saw him and went up to him.
"Fabri, how's she doing?"
"She's doing better. Tommy is taking her
home tomorrow."
"What room is she in?"
"314. I suggest you stay out of Tommy's
way and leave Rose down here."
"All right." Jack told Rose to stay
down there while he went to go see Christina. He waited for the elevator and
when it came he felt nervous. Nervous to see Christina, and especially Tommy,
who was furious with him.
He looked through the glass and saw her and
Tommy laughing. He was glad to see her smile. He turned the knob and went in.
"Hi." Christina looked at him and
so did Tommy. Tommy got up from the chair and kissed her cheek. Telling her
he'd see her later.
"Don't make her cry!" Tommy's face
sounding threatening as he passed by Jack and left.
"How you holding up?" Jack asked.
"I'm doing good. I don't even see why
you care."
"Why wouldn't I care? You're my best
friend."
"Not lately."
"Christina I am sorry. Sorry for
everything. This is my fault."
"Not yours. Rose's."
"It wasn't. It was mine."
"Whatever. It was both of you."
"I love you Christina! I don't want to
see you hurt." Jack touched her face. Christina touched his hand and took
it off.
"No. You don't love me. You've been
ignoring me for the past month. Your attention has been completely on
her."
"You're wrong. I do love you. I always
will. You're right about one thing. I have been spending a lot of my time with
her." Jack remembered that she wanted to tell him something. "What
was it you wanted to tell me?"
"It doesn't matter now. You're with Rose."
"It does matter. I want to know."
"Forget it! You don't care about me! You
don't love me! You haven't even said anything about kissing me! The minute you
met her you forgot all about it!" Jack realized he had been wrong and how
much he has been hurting Christina. But he never forgot about kissing her.
"You're wrong, Christina! I always
thought about it! Every single day!"
"Then how come you haven't mentioned
it?"
"Because you are my best friend! I don't
want anything to ruin that!" Jack then blurted it out. "I don't see
you in that way anymore!" Christina didn't understand what he was talking
about.
"What do you mean anymore?"
"I'm not in love with you anymore. I
only see you as my best friend." Christina held back her tears.
"Are you in love with her, Jack?"
Jack stared at her. He didn't know what to say. He didn't want to lie to her.
"What?"
"Are you in love with her?"
"Yes."
"That's all I wanted to know." He
saw the hurt in her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"Leave!"
"Come on, Christina!"
"Get out! Get out! Get out of my
life!" Christina turned the other way on her side. He walked to the door.
He could hear her crying. He was going to turn around, but he caused her enough
pain so he left.
When he went downstairs to the waiting room
he saw Fabrizio sitting in between Tommy and Rose.
"I'm leaving now. Come on, Rose."
"What happened?" Rose asked.
"Nothing. Let's just go."
"Is she all right?" she asked.
"I'll tell you later. Bye, Fabri. Bye,
Tommy." Fabrizio answered him back, but Tommy didn't. He just had his arms
folded, staring straight ahead.
Jack left the hospital holding Rose's hand.
He called car service, and the whole ride home they sat in silence. Rose leaned
her head on his shoulder. Jack stroking her hair. He was so sad that his
friendship with Christina was up in flames.