To Love a Shooting Star

by K'Anne Meinel

  Kate felt the hurt in her hips and thighs as well as her arms. You couldn’t very well take out fat without your body swelling from the work and hurting. She felt every bit of it at that moment, she groaned again.

  “Kate baby, wake up!” Erin sounded anxious.

  What the heck was Erin doing there? She had told her people would talk if she was seen. Kate couldn’t seem to get eyes open much less her mouth working, she groaned again and that’s the last she remembered for a while.

  When Erin’s cell went off with an unfamiliar L.A. number she assumed it was Kate calling for her to pick her up.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, this is Dr. Gulbara’s office, who am I speaking with please?”

  Erin frowned at the phone and the formal tone coming from it “this is Erin.”

  “Erin, Ms. McCall left this as her contact number. Are you aware of her procedure today?” The voice sounded a little more perky.

  Rolling her eyes Erin answered “yes, I know about it. Is she ready to be picked up?”

  “I’m sorry Ms., er, Erin but there has been a problem and we have transported Ms. McCall to the hospital.”

  Alarmed Erin demanded “problem?! What problem?”

  “I’m sorry but I am unable to tell you that. She has been taken to Cedars Sinai. That’s all I can tell you.”

  Erin hated the impersonal person on the other end of the phone. She was very pissed at the moment but you wouldn’t have been able to tell if you didn’t know her. “Okay, thank you for the information” and hung up. Grabbing her keys she yelled to the boys “I’m going out for a while.” When she got in her station wagon she said to herself “I’ve got to get a hold of myself, it might just be a precaution.” She tried several calming breathes but it didn’t help. She couldn’t remember being quite this angry or upset in a very long time, she felt anxious and her mind was playing tricks on her.

  She drove down the hill and out the gates and tried to remember how to get to Cedars. She couldn’t remember and pulled over to the side of the road. Using her GPS she put in Cedars Sinai and it’s drone soon told her to turn left. Following it’s annoying voice she tried to stay alert. She knew she was in no condition to really be driving and her anxieties clouded her mind. Concentrating on the driving and the drone of the GPS she pulled into Cedars 15 minutes later. Parking near the emergency entrance she hurried inside. Asking at the desk she was told that Ms. McCall was in the emergency room and could she please wait. Erin didn’t want to wait but really what choice did she have?

  A nurse called about 15 minutes later “family for Ms. McCall?” and Erin stood up. The nurse asked her “your family?” and Erin just nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak. That 15 minutes of waiting had played hell on her nerves imagining all sorts of dire things. She also wasn’t going to get in a debate over the technicalities of her relationship with Kate. The nurse escorted her beyond the sacred ER doors and back to a private room. With what Kate was paying to have done to her she deserved a private room, thought Erin. There Kate lay, her arms swathed in bandages from the elbows up. Erin couldn’t see anything else with the covers pulled up. She turned to the nurse to ask questions when a very good looking Doctor came strolling up.

  “Hello, I’m Dr. Gulbara, and you are?” He sounded so slick, so smooth that Erin wondered if Kate had seen it.

  Her short “I’m Erin” didn’t elicit any recognition but she was still wearing her large black sunglasses and she hoped they wouldn’t know who she was. Her hair was in disarray too and she knew she wasn’t wearing makeup. She didn’t really care.

  “Well Ms. McCall’s procedures went smoothly but we had a little problem afterwards. Her blood pressure dipped dangerously low and we felt it prudent to get her over here.” He sounded mincing to Erin’s ears.

  She nodded and asked “how long until she wakes up?”

  “We should know something in the next hour or so, would you like to wait outside?”

  “Can I wait here?” Erin gestured to a chair at the end of Kate’s bed.

  “Of course you can. I’ll check on her again in a little while” with that he waltzed off. Erin was sure he had no idea how odd he looked. It certainly wasn’t a normal walk.

  Erin sat there quite a while steaming in her own thoughts. Of all the stupid things that a person could do to themselves. Why the hell hadn’t Kate left well enough alone? As she sat there a nurse and then another doctor came in to check on Kate but she saw no sign of Dr. Gulbara. That was fine, she had thought of a few choice words she could have with him as well. Kate seemed to be waking, Erin heard the groans, talking to her elicited only further groans before she seemed to go back to sleep. Erin mentioned this to the nurse when she came in again but she didn’t seem too concerned.

  By the time Erin was sure Kate was waking up her anger had fully passed. She was more concerned than anything. Why had Kate’s blood pressure plummeted? Why hadn’t more been done for her? As she heard Kate moan once again she rose from her seat and stood next to the bed.

  Kate finally felt she was winning the battle with her eyelids. It didn’t hurt so much to see the light behind them. She attempted several times to open them but the muscles wouldn’t cooperate. She tried to lift her hand to force them open and ended up groaning in pain from the movement. She heard someone moving around the room. Finally she opened first her right and then her left eye. It took a moment to focus and when she did she wanted to close them again but instead looked into the very angry and concerned brilliant blue eyes of her girlfriend. Kate was too tired to fight with Erin. Why had they called her? Where was she? She glanced around the room.

  “You’re in the hospital” Erin told her, anticipating the confusion on Kate’s face. “Your blood pressure plummeted and they panicked.”

  Kate gave a slight nod to show she understood. She tried to glance down at her arms.

  “Oh Dr. Gulbara assures me that everything went smoothly. You just gave everyone a scare with the blood pressure thing.” Erin was trying to keep her voice smooth and easy and not show her anger or concern. She couldn’t hide it from her face though and Kate knew her well enough that she could see it.

  Kate tried swallowing several times to get the fluids flowing in her mouth so she could talk but it took a while. Erin’s silence was unnerving her. She wasn’t sure what she could say. She knew Erin wouldn’t say ‘I told you so’ or anything like that but it wasn’t really her fault that the blood pressure thing had come up. Finally she had enough moisture in her mouth that she could whisper “I’m sorry.” Nothing more, nothing more simple.

  Dr. Gulbara walked in at that moment and said “oh good, I see our patient is awake!” he looked genuinely happy to see Kate awake.

  Erin backed away. She had wanted to take Kate’s hand but hadn’t wanted to cause her any more pain.

  “How are you feeling Kate?” He asked all smarmy and smooth thought Erin.

  She kind of shrugged and then grimaced at the pain she caused herself.

  He saw the pain on her face and said “we will get you something for that pain now that you are awake. You gave us quite a scare there but it all turned out all right in the end” he gave Kate and then Erin a full toothed smile.

  Erin wanted to strangle the fake.

  The other doctor walked in just then “oh I see our patient is awake. That’s good. Ms. McCall, we are going to be keeping you in overnight for observation. This low blood pressure thing is nothing to play with. Have you ever had this problem before?” At Kate’s shaking of her head and subsequent frown of pain he continued “we will be moving you up to a private room but I’ll get the nurse to give you something. It will cause you to sleep and you won’t be feeling any pain for a while.” With that he signed her chart noting what he wanted given to her and left to find a nurse.

  Dr. Gulbara smiled again, holding Kate’s hand which if he had been paying attention did indeed cause her more pain “well, I will stop back tomorrow to see how you are doing. Don’t wo
rry, everything is going to turn out just fine, just fine. The operation went perfectly and you’re going to look fabulous.” As though that was the most important part of all of this. One more big smile and he left.

  Kate wanted to laugh, she really did. She saw the emotions that Erin rarely let show pass by her face. She herself knew that Dr. Gulbara was a bit much but he was one of the best in his field. She wished she could explain or at least share a laugh with Erin but it just hurt too damn much right now.

  The nurse came in and injected something into Kate’s IV, moments later she dozed off as she gazed at Erin. Erin was caressing her hand as she drifted off.

  When Kate came to she was in a room by herself. No one was around but there were a couple of large bouquets of mixed flowers and the smell permeated the room. Kate tried to sit up but the pain in her arms made her gasp and fall back. ‘Man that hurt!’ she thought. She wondered how long she had been asleep. Laying there she examined the bare room. She was obviously in a hospital, she still had an IV hooked up to her arm. A TV in one corner had her looking for a controller, she found the controls on the side of the bed itself, and she turned it on flicking through channels until she came to the news. She let that drone on as her mind drifted over what she hoped was only the last couple of days. She remembered the emergency room and Erin’s concerned face. She didn’t want to remember that really, she hadn’t wanted to upset her. She knew Erin would be angry, she hadn’t wanted Kate to do this unnecessary procedure in the first place. Well it was over, it was done, finished, Erin would have to forgive her wouldn’t she? Remembering the look on her face Kate wasn’t so sure. It was as though she had conjured Erin’s face as she looked absentmindedly at the television. Reaching for the controller she turned it up.

  “Actress Erin Ingram was seen coming and going from Cedars Sinai the last couple of days. Sources state a friend of hers is quite ill and the actress has been visiting them. No further information is available” A shot of Erin looking very pale in dark glasses as she passed through what must be the entrance of the hospital was caught on tape.

  Kate was incredulous. Holy shit, this was going to piss Erin off! Of all the stupid things to have on the TV, this blurb and they could kiss their relationship goodbye. Turning down the TV once again she lay there and looked out the window.

  “Hi there” she heard quietly. Kate turned from looking out the window in surprise and lay there blinking, trying to focus. She hadn’t heard the door open and Erin stood there looking beautiful. Tragic figure but beautiful. She had obviously not gotten enough sleep from past few days, Kate could tell. Despite the pain Kate held out her hand and Erin came and took hold of it. Kate wanted a hug but couldn’t manage to get up. Remembering she grabbed the controller to the TV to turn it down and looked for the button to raise the bed. She grimaced at the discomfort and pain as it made her sit up in the bed but it brought her up to eye level with Erin so she wasn’t looking down on the bed anymore.

  “God you’re a sight for sore eyes” Kate said sadly, she was really feeling sorry for herself.

  “It’s good to see you awake” Erin smiled and as always it did something to Kate from the inside, turning somersaults inside her stomach.

  Leaning her head to the side a little Kate returned the smile, she wished she could lean over and just hug and kiss Erin but settled instead for raising their clasped hands and kissing the back of Erin’s, she ignored the pain in her arm.

  Erin appreciated the gesture though; it warmed her heart “Well, the doctors say you can come home possibly later today. Are you interested?”

  “Hell yeah, I hate hospitals!” she grinned and then grimaced at the pain.

  Erin leaned over to caress Kate’s face and pull hair out of her face with her free hand but stood up abruptly when she heard the door begin to open behind them. She let go of Kate’s hand which was hidden by her body and backed away slightly from the bed.

  A doctor walked in and seeing Kate awake he smiled broadly “Hi Kate, I’m Doctor Schletsky. I’ve been taking care of you since you got out of the ER. I want you to rest the day away and if you’re up to it perhaps take a walk. I’d like to release you late this afternoon if you are up to it?”

  Kate nodded and said “can I try walking now?”

  Shaking his head he answered “let’s get some food in you first.” Pulling the door wider a nurse or aid walked in with a tray and set it on a table next to Kate’s bed.

  “Thank you” Kate said and got a smile and a nod in return as she left.

  “I’ll check back later and perhaps then we will try that walk.” Dr. Schletsky said.

  Erin helped Kate get settled and take the covers off the food. Breakfast was still being served if the pancakes, scrambled eggs, and toast were any indication. Kate ate all of that as well as two pieces of toast. Erin was surprised as Kate usually only ate fruit. The slices of orange and strawberry were inhaled as well as the cup of apple juice. Kate didn’t talk while she ate, she just steadily shoveled it all in. Her arms were aching from the effort but she figured getting it done quickly was the only way. Tears were forming in her eyes by the time she finished and lay back, exhausted from her efforts.

  “What’s wrong?” Erin frowned alarmed.

  “My arms are still killing me” she looked down at the bandages and followed it up the IV stand frowning. Not to mention her back and hips.

  “They should remove those soon.” Erin offered. She sat down and observed Kate. Not embarrassed to just look at her. Something she had done a lot of over the past couple of days. That and a lot of thinking.

  The silent observation was getting on Kate’s nerves so she closed her eyes and thought about what was going on. She must be a lot better for them to offer to let her go home this afternoon. She worried about the pain though that she still had. She wondered if Dr. Gulbara would come in and see her or to remove the bandages. She could tell she had some on her lower back and sides as well. The tape when she moved pulled slightly on her skin.

  Erin listened in on the lowered volume of the TV and heard the same news report that Kate had heard earlier. Kate was right, she was pissed. It angered her that their careful cover might just be blown.

  Dr. Schletsky decided at the level Kate was still experiencing pain and having observed her trying to walk to keep her another day. When they gave her additional pain medication and she drifted off, Erin left.

  Early the next morning Kate awoke. She wasn’t sure of the time but given the position of the sun streaming through her window she thought it quite early. She could tell she felt better. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and using her IV stand as a cane maneuvered herself to the bathroom. Seeing herself in the mirror depressed her a little and she desperately wanted a shower, she settled for using the toilet and using a toothbrush that was there. Finger combing her hair she splashed water on her face. She felt a little better but would have preferred a bath. She shuffled her way back to the bed.

  As she was getting back into bed a head poked its way around the door “you’re awake” a pleasant voice stated and Kate looked up.

  “Yes, I had to use the bathroom, hope that was okay?” Kate settled herself back into the bed, pulling the covers over her exposed legs.

  “I thought I heard the toilet flush, you should have waited for assistance, but oh well, no harm done.” The nurse smiled. “Would you like some breakfast?”

  “That sounds good, when can I be released?”

  “I’ll have the doctor stop in as soon as I see him, your paperwork is ready and waiting for him and then you can go. Do you have someone picking you up?” The nurse smiled at Kate’s nod and left.

  Dr. Schletsky came in while Kate was enjoying her breakfast. Examining her he removed the IV himself. He checked the few incisions that Dr. Gulbara had left, leaving off many of her bandages, and had her walk around the room and the hall and then pronounced her ready to go home. The nurse helped Kate after breakfast to get dressed, using the same sweats and clothes s
he had worn to Dr. Gulbara’s office a few days prior. Kate waited for Erin to show up but she waited a long time. She tried calling her cell and then her home phone but there was no answer. She started to get annoyed as the morning passed and finally she asked the nurse to call a cab. She was grateful she had cash and her wallet on her at least.

  They wheeled her down in a wheelchair and helped her into the cab. Giving the driver Erin’s address they were soon climbing into the Hollywood Hills. They were stopped at the gate but Kate gave her name to the security officer and he passed them through. The driver stopped outside Erin’s gate and Kate stiffly climbed out after paying him and giving him a generous tip. She walked to the call box as he drove away and punched in the security code. The gates did not slide open. She tried again and still nothing happened. Pressing the buzzer she waited. No answer. She knew they could see her as the camera moved. It could only be adjusted by inside the house. Glaring into the camera she waited. She pressed the buzzer again and heard “yes?” the voice was garbled and she couldn’t tell who it was.

  “It’s Kate, could you let me in?” After a long wait finally the gate slid back. Kate walked down the driveway to the garage. Using the button on her key chain she tried to open the garage door but nothing happened there. She tried again, again nothing. Now she was seriously becoming annoyed. Walking around the three car garage she went to the side door and tried her key. It went in but would not unlock the door. Trying the handle though she found it already unlocked and walked in.

  Sandy was in the kitchen cooking supper. She looked up as though in surprise but Kate wasn’t fooled. She had to of seen her on the monitor and been the one to open the gate. Kate walked to the garage and went out into it. Pressing her button on her remote again she again saw that the clicker didn’t work. She went to her car and opened it and pressed the button on her visor. That too did not open the garage door. Grabbing that clicker she walked back to the garage door and pressed the button next to the door. The garage door slid smoothly open. Closing it, she returned inside. The boys had joined Sandy in the kitchen.