Chapter 13

The phone went silent again.

George said nothing. A few seconds passed, and he simply hung up on me.

"Hello, George?"

"That asshole hung up on me, Lucy. Can you believe that? I'm sure he wasn't going to choose me."

"Candy, my dear. Now is not the time for you to compete with your mother-in-law for his attention. And if you already knew the answer, why did you insist on asking him?"

"I know, but I need him. I wanted to hear it from his own mouth."

"And you think getting your husband’s help means making him choose against his own mother? It's almost as if you've never learned. Mothers always come first for them."

"I'm still learning. Did you forget I'm only 20?"

"Wow, that's right. Sometimes I forget you're so young. Another thing: you're crazy for asking about Chloe. Did you really think he was going to tell you everything over the phone?"

"That would make it easier for me to get revenge on him."

"Wow, so now we're talking about revenge? I don't think you're going down the right path, Candy."

"And what do you think I should do then?"

"Look here. A mirror."

Lucy took a small makeup mirror out of her pocket and continued.

"Do you see anyone in this mirror besides yourself? That's where your focus should be."

"I know. I need to think more about myself."

"It's not just that. You're facing a battle that has only just begun. While you keep thinking about other people, you put everything that's yours aside."

"What you're saying makes a lot of sense. Maybe I gained weight after I started thinking too much about George at that gym. I would get anxious and eat even more."

"Can you see that most of your problems revolve around other people? And if, for one second, they didn't exist? Would all your problems disappear?"

"I wish it were that easy, Lucy. But it isn't. I still love George."

"But that's natural. He's your husband, and you're still hurt because of everything that happened."

"I don't know if this will pass. But I can't bring myself to think about touching him again."

"That's why I insisted that you shouldn't make a decision right now. Time is on your side. Now go rest. Tomorrow you have a new day to start your life over."

"Yeah, I need to rest. But what about you?"

"I'm going to stay here on this couch, okay? Keep you company tonight. I'll stay with you until the doctor releases you. That way, you don't need that useless husband."

"Wow, Lucy. I don't know how to thank you."

"Don't worry. Two slices of cake and we're even."

"My cakes, friend. There's plenty of cake at my house. You can eat them all if you want."

"Now you're speaking my language, Candy. I'm a real sweet tooth."

"I think even I want a sweet now. My leg is numb."

Someone knocked on the door. It was the doctor.

"Excuse me, may I come in? Miss Candy, we need to take you to have your foot put in a cast now. It was supposed to be tomorrow, but I managed to get you a time slot tonight."

"Thank you, Doctor. I was just about to go to sleep."

"Let's go now, so tomorrow you'll be free to go home."

"Wonderful. That's all I want."

"See, my friend? You'll be back home in no time."

Lucy tried to cheer me up. The doctor seemed to be in a hurry.

"That's right. You only need to spend tonight here. Shall we go? I'll call someone to help you get onto the stretcher."

"No need. I managed to get up by myself."

"Did you forget that you can't put your right foot on the floor? Do you really think your left foot is going to support the weight of your entire body? It can't even support a normal person's weight."

"Excuse me, Doctor, but I don't think you should speak to her like that."

Lucy was upset by the way the doctor spoke to me. It was clear that he thought like a fatphobic person, seeing me as an obstacle in that hospital.

But I was Ariana, and even if I needed a crane to reach that stretcher, I would never rely on his help in that process.

I got up from the bed with great difficulty. Lucy supported my right arm. I moved my right foot backward and hopped on one leg until I reached the stretcher.

With every step, I felt my entire body trembling. A pain started in my left foot, but I continued. After a great deal of effort, I managed to lie down on the stretcher.

The doctor barely waited for me to get settled before pushing it toward the door.

"Calm down, Doctor. I'm adjusting my leg."

With great carelessness, he hit my leg against the door, and I learned what real pain felt like.

"My leg. Didn't you see it? My God, that hurts."

The doctor didn't answer me, but Lucy decided to intervene.

"Listen here, Doctor. What's your name? Denis Thompson, right? It's obvious that you don't like overweight people. Don't treat my friend like that. I won't warn you again. I'll report you to the hospital administration. If that's not enough, I'll file a formal complaint with the Municipal Health Department."

I was speechless at Lucy's defense. It was as if she were taking George's place, since he wasn't by my side.

The doctor looked at her fearfully. He said nothing until the stretcher had completely passed through the door. After that, he finally spoke.

"I'm sorry, Candy. That wasn't my intention."

I decided not to argue with him anymore. That doctor was still going to put my foot in a cast, and it had started to hurt.

"It's okay, Denis. But please, give me another injection like that as soon as we leave the casting room."

"Of course, don't worry. It was already time for another one. Your pain will go away immediately. Now let's put this foot in a cast so you can go home tomorrow."

That happened at around one in the morning. I was already tired of that hospital. I had never liked being in one since I was a child.

We arrived at the casting room, and I had to be transferred to a bed. This time, I needed the doctor's help and several other people to complete the transfer of my body.

"Slowly, please."

I asked everyone involved to help me carefully. But my foot was hurting badly.

"Ow, ow, ow. I can't do this. It hurts so much. Please, give me another injection."

"It has to be after the cast, Candy."

"But it hurts so much. I can't take it. Please, I need that injection now."

The doctor saw that I wasn't going to change my mind. The pain was really becoming unbearable. The morphine had already worn off.

"All right. I'll ask a nurse to bring a dose."

He looked at one of the men on the team, who left the casting room. A short while later, he returned with a syringe, a needle, and a small container filled with a cloudy, whitish liquid. It said "morphine" on it.

Denis filled the syringe with one milliliter, making sure he could see everything. He aimed at my buttocks and gave me the injection. I didn't feel any pain.

In less than 20 seconds, immediate relief took over my body. I felt slightly numb, and my mind seemed to be resting among the clouds.

An anesthetic force traveled through my body toward my right foot. Soon, the pain had already decreased.

"Now we can start putting on the cast."

Two other people left the room, leaving only Dr. Denis and a nurse. The two of them began wrapping that wet plaster bandage around my leg.

It was a strange sensation.

It felt as if someone had thrown jelly onto my leg and was covering it with cloth.

I felt an uncomfortable sensation in my foot and tried to move it.

"You can't do that, young lady. We're finishing the bandaging."

I tried to stay still, but my leg was becoming heavy.

"Wait, Doctor. Is it normal for it to feel this heavy?"

"Yes, Candy. This cast can weigh up to three kilos once it's dry."

"But it feels strange. Does it stay wet like this?"

"No, ha, ha, ha. Only until it dries."

"It's itching now. What do I do?"

"You're going to have to endure it. Stop moving, please."

Suddenly, Denis touched my foot, very close to where it had hit the door earlier.

"Aiiii, stop! My God, it hurts so much. What did you do?"

I was exploding with pain. Even the morphine couldn't numb it. Denis looked at me in disbelief.

He stopped wrapping my leg. He stood there speechless until the nurse spoke:

"We're going to have to stop wrapping it."

The doctor replied:

"That's right. We're taking her straight to the operating room."