Page 36 of It Couldn't Be You
I shoved my phone deep into my apron pocket and went back to practicing making lattes. I had told Jordan that I was thinking through my future, but really, I was just perfecting my latte skills.
“Looking good,” Rose encouraged me.
On my break, I began typing up a message asking Jordan to send over his job leads, but then I deleted it. I told him I would let him know if I needed them and thanked him for thinking of me. Then I researched job openings in the area on my own because I needed to decide on my next steps. No more relying on Jordan to lay them out for me.
As I scrolled through the listings, I thought I could move into marketing, administration, or some other creative field since that’s all I was finding. When I narrowed my search to neighboring newspapers—there were zero results. And even if they were…I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep working as a reporter. I knew I could look outside Sweet River and the surrounding area.
But then, as my break was to coming to an end, I started looking into freelance writing opportunities. I wasn’t sure of the big steps in the future—the kind of stuff Gabe and I had talked about—or finding a position like Gabriel had in Los Angeles that had spun out into his career now.
But, for now, I could do something like this. It was small, but it was a step all on my own.
Twelve
Katie
I know it’s the ‘wee hours’ but can I call you?
“Gabriel was in a ski accident,” Katie said, her voice raw with emotion on a middle-of-the-night call.
“Is he okay?” I gasped. It was late, and I was in bed. I threw off my blankets, standing up as if I was going to drive on over to Ruidoso myself.
“He’s in the hospital. He’s going to be okay, but he’s really injured.Reallyinjured.” Her words were tumbling out, frantic. “He hit a rock while skiing. It was just a bad visibility day, and I knew they shouldn’t have gone out there. When he hit the rock, he flew into the air and just crashed down really hard—he broke his femur.”
“Oh my god,” I said, breathless.
“It was terrifying. He had gotten far off from the group. When my brothers found him, they thought he might be okay.He thoughthe was going to be okay. But then, they said Gabe started screaming in agony when they tried to help him up. They had to airlift him out.” Her voice sounded like she’d been talking back and forth with her family, with nurses, crying, and whispering for hours. Her voice was all raw, tired, and bruised.
Over the next few days, Gabriel stayed in the hospital.
“The doctors put metal screws in his leg to help hold him together,” Katie said when I asked how they were helping him.
“Is that painful? How long is he going to be on the mend?” I had so many questions.
“The doctors said he’ll be in recovery for the next twelve months, really. Twelve months before his leg is fully healed. But it will be in phases. The first few months in a cast. A slow gaining of mobility.” Her voice faded.
I sat on my apartment balcony wrapped up in a quilt, watching downtown as the sun set overhead with my phone in my hand. An unsent text message to Gabriel sat open on my phone.
I heard about the accident. How are you doing? I’m here if you need me.
I wasn’t sure if I should send it. I didn’t want to pile on or overwhelm. It wasn’t like we were such close friends anymore. Then I thought of him in his Santa hat in my doorway only a week ago, and I hit send. Moments later, Gabriel replied.
I feel like the pits. Ski accidents really hurt, in case you were curious. This will definitely go into my memoirs, you know. I just met with an orthopedic surgeon actually. He said I’ll be beginning physical therapy when we get home. Thanks for reaching out, by the way.
When we get home, he said.We.
Did he mean his place in Los Angeles, or did that mean he was going to be doing therapy here in Sweet River? I spent an embarrassing amount of time wording my next message to him.
How are you going to make it back to Los Angeles from Ruidoso? Is someone going to fly with you?
Not my place in LA, I meant my family’s home. Sweet River. I’ll be back for a while during recovery.
My mom is ready to be my at-home nurse.
Let me know if there’s anything I can do
I sent that last message and agonizingly, full-heartedly meant it.
He asked if I could pick out some good books from Coffee & Commas for him to read while he was laid up.
