crushed.
She was all the more grateful for her placement, and for school. She threw herself into work at the hospital, and focused on getting through the last two semesters of her Master’s program. Both were a godsend. They allowed her to get through the days. Her nights were another story.
She would get home, cook, clean, and one night she even baked. She never enjoyed baking, and it showed. The kitchen was a disaster area that night. Flour everywhere. Bowls, the mixer, the blender, baking trays scattered around. And she had managed to get her hair covered in loose flour. It was a mess.
She would also organize and reorganize her bedroom, but that was worse. She wished she could get rid of all the clothes he had bought her. They were a constant reminder of what happened between them. She tried to understand what could have turned to him into such a completely different person with no warning. His silence had gone too far. And now she had no hope.
One evening her phone rang. She had looked at that phone so many times, wondering when he would actually call back, or text, or reach out to her in some way. When she picked up the phone and looked at the number, it was not familiar. Holding out the faint hope it was Andrew, she answered.
“Hello?”
“Hi. Abby? It’s Trina.”
“Oh. Hi Trina. How are you doing? And how is John?”
“We’re both fine. I hadn’t heard from you in a while. I wanted to see how you were doing.”
“I’m great. How is John?”
“He’s doing amazing. He should be out really soon. After that, he’ll be focused on the physiotherapy.”
“Well that’s great to hear, Trina. I’m so relieved he’s improved so quickly.”
“Yes. Me too. We’ll be staying with my parents. The physiotherapist office is pretty close. Can you believe it? We’re moving in together. Well, sort of.”
“That’s great, Trina. I’m really happy for you and John.”
“And with this timing, were pretty sure we’ll be back in school this September.”
“Fantastic… I’m so glad you called, Trina.”
“Hold on there. Don’t go hanging up so quickly, Missy.”
“Was there something more?”
“Of course there’s more. I want to hear about you and Andrew.”
And there it was. That was the Trina Abby had come to know. “There isn’t much to tell, Trina.”
“Well how about you tell me, and let me be the judge of that.”
“I prefer not to talk about it right now.”
“What happened? You know you can talk to me. It will feel better when you talk about it.”
“I don’t think so,” she answered, already starting to feel the tears welling up in her eyes. “Actually Trina, I think I’ll talk to you later.”
“Abby. Come on. You know it’s better to talk. We’re not meant to keep it all bottled up inside.”
Abby was silent on the line. The tears were falling, and she did her best to keep them to herself. Trina had called about her good news, and she didn’t want to rain on her parade. She pulled herself together and managed to say, “I’m really happy to hear about John, Trina. I’m so happy for the both of you. I’m going to go now. And I’ll talk to you later okay? Thanks so much for calling.”
“Please don’t hang up, Abby. But if you have to, I understand. Just know I’m here for you if you need to talk.”
“Thank you. Have a good night and give my best to John. Bye.”
Abby hung up and went to bed. She was not ready to talk about it. There really wasn’t much to talk about. Not ten minutes later, her phone buzzed.
She was going to let it ring through to voicemail, but the truth was, she did want to get some of it off her chest. She picked up the phone when she saw it was Trina again.
“Hi Trina.”
“Hi Abby.”
“Forgot something?” Abby asked.
“No. I think you did.”
“What do you mean?”
“Something told me to call you again. Something told me you needed someone to listen to you tonight. If I’m wrong, then fine. But don’t keep it to