WRONG NUMBER
PART 6: Healing Wounds
Keri gently squeezed Kelly’s hand to let Kelly know she was there.
“Kelly? Are you waking up?”
Keri's eyes began to water and Kelly’s mother sat up and took notice.
“Kelly, baby? I’m right here, honey.”
Kelly’s eyes opened a few millimeters and her eyes slowly moved from one side to the other. Kelly smiled weakly at her mother and looked over to see who was holding her hand. When she saw Keri, she smiled and tried to speak.
“Keri,” she managed to rasp. “You’re here.”
A tear leaked out of Kelly’s eye and Keri wiped it away for her.
"Hi, sweetie! Of course I’m here. I love you.”
Kelly closed her eyes for a moment as her smile broadened. She sleepily opened her eyes a bit wider this time and gazed at Keri.
Keri motioned for the teddy bear and Sharon handed it to her.
“Kelly, I bought this for you.”
Keri held it up so that Kelly could read the t-shirt. When Kelly was done reading it, tears leaked from both of her eyes. Keri placed the teddy bear very gently in Kelly’s other hand, rather than against her broken ribs. Sharon handed Keri a tissue and she dried Kelly’s eyes.
“I’m so sorry I ran out on you.” Keri began to cry. “I’ll tell you all about it later, but you’re not going to lose me, okay?”
“Okay.”
Kelly’s eyes continued to water and Keri lovingly tended to them.
“Keri…”
“Yes, Kelly. I’m right here.”
Keri gently squeezed Kelly’s hand.
“Keri… I love you.”
Keri smiled passionately at Kelly, tears still leaking from her eyes, and very carefully wrapped one arm around Kelly’s head, which Keri softly kissed several times. Kelly’s mother advised her not to try to talk too much because of her broken ribs. Kelly nodded sleepily and dozed off.
There was so much that Kelly wanted to say to Keri, but it would take a while before Kelly regained the strength to speak with any duration. She could speak almost normally, but anything more than short sentences tired her out. She needed to communicate her thoughts to Keri and was too impatient to wait until she could speak them.
While Keri was visiting the next day, she watched Kelly hold her teddy bear with both hands. Kelly smiled at Keri and asked her for something to write on. Keri found nothing in the room and she went back to the gift shop to buy him a pad of paper with a pen. She brought them back to Kelly with a smile on her face.
“Thanks, Keri.”
“You’re very welcome, sweetie.”
“Keri, I have a lot to say and I’m going to write it all down.”
Kelly paused for a rest. Keri smiled at her and gently stroked her cheek with one hand.
“That sounds good. Visiting hours are almost over, so I’m sure they’ll drag me out of here anyway — but I’ll be back tomorrow morning. You don’t have to worry about that!”
Kelly smiled dreamily at her.
“I won’t.”
“Good. Is there anything else I can get you before I go?”
Kelly shook his head.
“No thanks.”
“Okay.”
Keri continued to caress Kelly’s cheek. For a moment, they were lost in each other’s eyes, but then the nurse walked in to announce that visiting hours were over.
“Interrupted again,” Kelly managed to joke. “We really need some privacy!”
Keri giggled at him.
“Yeah, you’ve got that right!”
“You two are too much! Now, let Kelly get some rest. I'll give you a few more minutes but that's it!”
They thanked the nurse for the extra time as she checked everything over and left. Kelly motioned for the pad of paper and Keri handed it to him.
“I can’t wait to read it!” She smiled at Kelly with love in her eyes. “Good night, sweetie!” She kissed Kelly’s forehead and Kelly kissed her hand.
“Good night, Keri. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Keri kissed Kelly’s hands, got up and headed for the door. She paused in the doorway to exchange one last smile with Kelly and then she was off.
Kelly began to write down what he had been dying to tell Keri.
Hi, Keri
I want to start by saying that the sight of you sitting right by my side when I woke up was the most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen. I’m so glad that I still have you in my life that there is no way to put it into words.
When you left my house so suddenly I thought sure that I would never see you again. I was absolutely devastated, I really was. Anyway, after you left, I went back up to my room to try to figure out what the hell went wrong. As I stood at my bedroom door, and looked at my room -- my feminine room -- I realized that you must have thought I was transgendered. You had said that you wanted to be with a boy who loves to dress as a girl. You never said anything about a boy who really is a girl. That was why I thought I would never see you again.
I guess there’s no possible way you could have known that I had only just redecorated and the only feminine thing in my room before that was the set of sheets on the bed. I thought I was making my room more feminine for you because you’ve never seen me dressed as a boy and you seem to prefer me as a girl. When I had pulled myself together enough to think straight after you left, I started to think about what you had said. You said that I’m a girl. I started to think that maybe you were right. If I was a girl, then maybe you had left because you realized that you were in love with a girl. Maybe you were a lesbian and didn’t know it until then. I decided that I had to know if I really am a girl or not. That was why I decided to take a walk to clear my head.
While I was walking, I thought about everything I’ve been through in my life and I thought about how I redecorated my room. I mean, I didn’t even know that you would be up there that day. I had redecorated as a precaution, just in case. As soon as I realized that, I knew I had really done it because I wanted to — and I wanted to because I really am a girl on the inside. That’s the last thing I remember thinking about before I was hit. Just so you know, I wasn’t thinking about you when I got hit. I was thinking about me!
Anyway, I’m glad that we’re getting through this together. You know what you were saying about how easy it is to feel that our lives are out of our control and that’s part of why people never think good things can happen to them? I think this little accident of mine is a good example of that. People are probably paranoid that something will go wrong even if something great does happen, so they start to think that there must be no such thing as a great thing. Maybe they're even so worried about things going wrong that they don't recognize a really great thing when one does happen. Maybe they even screw it up because of that. I don’t know, it’s like they think there's no such thing as magic. Just for the record, I still think that the magic is alive and well for us. Magic doesn’t mean that nothing bad ever happens. Love is stronger than the bad parts and that is the magic!
Well, you’ve just left because visiting hours are over, but I can’t wait to see you again in the morning.
With all of my love,
Kelly
P.S. We have got to have some alone time, just the two of us! We’re always getting interrupted!
Kelly was sleepy and she put down the pen and paper. She picked up her teddy bear and smiled at it.
"You need a name. How about... Violet? I like that. Well, good night, Violet."
Kelly kissed Violet good night and fell asleep.
Keri returned bright and early the next morning. She was ten minutes early for visiting hours but she went right up to Kelly’s room anyway. Keri was glad to see her, of course. Kelly was holding her teddy bear again.
“Hi there.”
“Hi Kelly! I hope you’re feeling better today.”
Keri sat beside her in her usual place, held her hands and kissed them.
“I am. My ribs feel less painful.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear that.”
Kelly held up Violet as if showing her to Keri for the first time.
"By the way, I named her Violet. Isn't that cute?"
Keri smiled at Kelly's choice of name.
"I think it's just adorable."
Kelly got a wry smile on her face as she held the bear close to her ear.
"What's that, Violet? Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me." Kelly rested. "Violet says you should read what I wrote. Have a look."
They giggled at Kelly's antics. Kelly looked at the pad of paper that the nurse had placed on the nearby table after Kelly fell asleep.
“Okay, I will! Thanks, Violet!”
"You're welcome," Kelly spoke for Violet.
Keri picked up the pad and began to read Kelly’s letter. Kelly watched her smile, giggle, and cry as she read. She watched Keri’s head tilt to one side and watched Keri put a hand over her mouth at one point. Kelly felt so special that she got to be a part of the life of that special girl reading his letter. She smiled warmly at Keri as she waited patiently for her to finish. A few minutes later, Keri put the pad back on the table. She leaned over and embraced Kelly’s head again and kissed her forehead.
“You were right about me, Kelly. The reason I ran out of your house was that I did find out that I’m a lesbian. You’re right that I didn’t know it until then. I guess there were a few signs, like the fact that all four of the people I’ve had a major crush on in my life were girls -- including you, of course! With you, it's much more than a crush, though!"
Kelly smiled up at her.
"Anyway, I think it’s also fair to say that the way I thought I was attracted to boys who love to dress as girls was another big red flag — or should I say a big rainbow flag?”
Keri and Kelly giggled at Keri’s little joke, but Kelly had to stifle her laughter.
“Oo, careful about making me laugh. Ow!”
“Oh, geez! I’m sorry about that!”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m not.”
Keri smiled down at Kelly.
“Kelly I am so sorry that I left you feeling so devastated when I ran out of your house. I really wish I could take that back, but I know I can’t. I’m really, really sorry!”
Keri kissed Kelly’s forehead a few more times.
“It’s okay. You’re a human being.” Kelly paused to rest her ribs. “You’re allowed to make mistakes.” Kelly paused again. “Sometimes mistakes hurt, but…” Another pause. “…that’s part of life.”
Kelly had to stop talking.
“Thanks, Kelly. It’s nice to hear that. Maybe that is another part of our ongoing discussion about good fortune, too, you know? We grow up being graded on our academic performance, having our behavior groomed by our parents and being ragged on by our friends. I mean, every part of society seems to point out our mistakes in some way and it sends us all these messages that mistakes aren’t okay. I think we start to believe that we’re somehow not acceptable if we make mistakes — or if we make too many. Maybe that’s part of what makes people doubt that really good things can happen.”
“I think you’re right.”
Kelly smiled up at her. For a moment, they just enjoyed Keri’s warm embrace. It was interrupted by the arrival of Kelly’s mother and sister. Kelly playfully rolled her eyes as Keri giggled at her.
“Hi, baby!”
“Hi sis! Mom and I brought you a few things to make you feel more comfortable.”
Kelly rolled her head briefly to see what Tara had brought. It appeared almost as though they had brought Kelly’s entire cosmetic collection! She recognized all of her makeup and most of her hair accessories. They had even brought some earring studs.
“Thanks, you two!”
“You’re welcome, honey,” Kelly’s mother answered for them both.
Tara noted the way Keri was embracing Kelly and got the feeling that she and her mother had interrupted something.
“Well, Kelly, I guess I’ll let Keri do your face for you.”
Tara smiled down at her sister. Kelly looked up at Keri.
“What do you say?”
“I would be happy to put your make up on!”
Tara handed Keri the bag full of cosmetics that she and her mother had brought.
“Kelly, baby, how are you feeling this morning? Are you feeling any better?”
“A little bit. The ribs feel a bit better.”
“I’m very glad to hear that.”
Kelly’s mother looked at her warmly as Keri began to apply mascara to Kelly’s lashes.
“Make me pretty!”
“I'll make you super pretty, Kelly!”
Kelly smiled up at the girl of her dreams.
“Please call me Rorie.”
Keri paused with the mascara wand in mid-air as her eyebrows raised themselves and a smile appeared on her face.
“After that girl in that TV show Gilmore Girls?”
“Yes.”
“I love that show, by the way!”
“I do, too. I just hope they don’t make her turn out a junkie.”
They giggled again and Kelly winced.
“Er. R-rorie, baby, please be careful about laughing. I know your ribs still hurt.”
Rorie rolled her eyes again.
“Do you really want to be called Rorie? I’ll be happy to do that.”
“So will I, sis!”
“Yes, please! Call me Rorie.”
“All right then, that’s settled.”
Something occurred to Tara and she asked Rorie about it.
“Hey Rorie, um…” she hesitated a moment, uncertain exactly of what Keri was aware. Then again, Keri hadn’t batted an eye when Rorie made her request. “…well, does this mean that… you feel that you’re… a girl?”
Kelly smiled at his family.
“Yes. I am a girl. It became clear right before I got hit.”
“Well, Rorie, I am so glad that you’ve found clarity, though it might have been nicer without the hospital visit.”
Rorie’s mother smiled at her, reached out and held one of Rorie’s hands in her own.
“So am I, Mom.”
“I’m glad, too, sis! I’m excited to have a new little sister!”
Tara gave her new sister a gentle peck on her hair as she dozed off again. Keri had finished the makeup job with a bit of lip gloss, and had picked out a pair of studs, but she left the studs out while Rorie slept. Rorie would have to wait to see the full look until she woke again.
TO BE CONTINUED
NEXT IS PART 7: THE THIRD DATE
Comments
Mona, it is great that the
Mona, it is great that the issues that Rorie/Kelly and Keri had have been more or less resolved between them. It is sweet that Rorie's sister, Tara, and Rorie's mother have accepted her totally. Now we can only hope the rest of "world" does also. J-Lynn
Great Stuff!
Awesome awesome! ^_^
glad to see this story continue Mona :) Great dialogue and interaction going on and your writing just connects with me. Thank you so much for your work on this story. I just love it.
BigCloset TopShelf
Mona
This is just a good story! I love the details and the characters you have here.
hugs!
grover
It's just as well...
...that she wanted a new name. :-P Kelly and Keri sound alike to a lot of Asians (r and l don't really luster differently in a lot of Asian languages; Mandarin and Japanese are good examples). :-)
[/silly comment] >.<
-Liz
Successor to the LToC
Formerly known as "momonoimoto"