Page 77 of From You to Me
My heart dropped as my hand stilled on the carton of milk I was holding. “Why?” My mind immediately drifted to bad scenarios, worst scenarios.
“I tripped on ice,” he cried out again.
I could hear the nurse in the background asking him to switch off his phone, but he just kept crying.
“Hang in there. I’ll be there in a few.”
My heart thrummed in my chest as I ran out the door.
It took me exactly thirty minutes to reach the emergency room of NYC Health. I hated it; the smell, the bustle, and the look of desperation, everything reminded me of Auntie M.
But I didn’t wait to ponder. My feet hurried through the white-tiled floor till my eyes landed on Gabe, who was clutching his mouth, with Rory consoling him.
I frowned. For someone who fell, he actually looked perfectly fine. Then fear hit me. Did he have any internal injuries?
“Gabe, what’s wrong?” I rushed to his side.
“Evy,” he wailed, holding out his arm.
And I stopped, frozen in my tracks, trying hard to stifle the laughter waiting to burst from my lips.
He cried harder when he noticed the look on my face. “Not you too. I hate you all.” He pointed an accusing finger at me.
Rory didn’t even try to hide it as he chuckled.
A hollow gap filled Gabe’s mouth as his four front teeth were clipped in half. A crack ran through them vertically.
“Sir, this is an ER, and we have patients to attend to. You don’t have a medical emergency. You need to visit the dentist to get your teeth fixed.”
“No, fix me. I can’t go out like this. I brought you all the pieces, glue them back at least.” He opened his palms, revealing the chips of his broken teeth.
I couldn’t contain my laughter anymore.
“Sir, like I said, we can’t do that here. You need to make an appointment at the dentist.” The nurse looked like she was ready to throw him out.
Rory rubbed his back while he whispered something that finally made Gabe nod and pull out of the bed.
An hour later, we ended up at the dentist’s office, who informed us that Gabe needed a root canal and dental crowns for the extent of his fracture. Thankfully, even though he broke his four teeth, he didn’t feel any pain.
“What am I going to do?” Gabe sniffled. “I’m so ugly now. I’m going to stay ugly forever, Evy.” He rocked my arms, peering at me with teary eyes. “Rory is going to break up with me, I know. He can’t live with someone ugly like me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Gabe, stop being dramatic. Your teeth will be fixed in a few weeks.”
He shook his head. “I don’t have insurance. And I can’t afford it.”
I let out a heavy exhale as I stared at the sky. “I’ve told you a hundred times, Gabe. I’ll take care of it. You don’t have to worry.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I can’t make you do that. You need to pay back David.”
“It’s completely fine, Gabe. I will still have plenty left after the bills. At least the debt will be halved. It’ll probably take a few months, but eventually, I’ll get out of it.”
“I still can’t make you do that.”
“It’s already done.” While he was crying and moaning to Rory, I took the opportunity to pay the bills for his upcoming treatment plan. And I lied when I said that my debt would be halved. More like quartered. If not even less than that, almost nothing at all. Who knew new teeth could cost a fortune?
It saddened me that I was back to square one again, but I was glad I had the money to help my friend to whom I owed everything.
But I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this situation. By this point, I was convinced that no matter how much I ran through to get to the end of the tunnel, something would eventually pull me back to the deep end.