//------------------------------// // Andrea's blunder // Story: The Pink Haired Woman // by Seran //------------------------------// John sat in the hospital waiting room, his arms crossed across his thighs and his face filled with regret, along with several bruises and mended scars on his face. He sat still, waiting for news of what had happened. He remembered not seeing much blood as they took her away so it seemed like a good sign. As he sat, he thought hard of This incident. No thought was sound as he belived it was somehow his fault. ‘He said something about Andrea,” he thought to himself. ‘Something crushing her heart. Why would he say something like that? I hardly ever see her. But why would he target her? That doesn’t make sense.’ “Sir.” A nurse called out to him. John looked up at her. “Are you with… Flootershi?” the nurse asked, trying her best to pronounce the strange name. “Is she okay?” John asked in regret. “She has a few bruises and some minor bleeding, but no penetration so nothing too severe. She was lucky it was only rubber bullets. However she is still shaken up from the trauma and you will need to be easy on her.” John looked at himself in shock. He felt as if his luck had just run out, and nothing good could come from all of this. He sat waiting for the right moment to follow the nurse to see her. He grew concerned over what her first reaction would be. Through all the time she had not been so physically harmed. He had protected her all these weeks, but had felt like he failed her. With a deep breath and worry beating between heartbeats  he went forth, followed the nurse to the room. Along the way the police were barricading a group of what seemed like journalists from getting close to the room. Their batons were at the ready. John felt it was inappropriate for the given situation. He was glad he didn’t have his gun with him anymore. John entered to see some police officers with their notepads ready, trying to interview the scared pink-haired woman. The officers were trying to calmly take her statement, however her eyes were looking down at their hips. John took a few steps forward slowly, as he tried to create an excuse for his behavior. He remembered the face she made as he turned to her at the fight. He thought hard about kind of expression it was. Originally he saw it of a face of worry and fear. After seeing what happened John thought something else. ‘It was fear, and disgust.’ He thought to himself feeling disgusted with himself. John looked at Fluttershy, their eyes locked with a long pause between words.  He hoped things would get better. He didn’t want to fail in a relationship he just started. Fluttershy finally turned to him and tried to hide her head in her shoulder. With a disappointed sigh, he sat on the bed away from Fluttershy. However, to his surprise, she called him over. “J… John?” She called in a soft voice as she pointed the belt of the officers from behind the blanket. “Get those things away from me.” The officers looked at him as he realized what was going on. “Officers,” John tried to reason with them. “I can get help with the statement if you need one.” “Sorry sir, but we need to get it from her.” One of the officers answered. “But there may be something on your belt getting in the way of that.” He explained as he pointed at the sidearm. “This girl had just been shot by a pistol for the first time. She’s traumatized. I doubt she ever wants to see another one for a while. She will need an area away from guns to feel safe. Perhaps send someone without a sidearm.” The officers looked at their hips adding up the points John explained. “We’ll be back,” they said leaving trust in John over his word. “However I feel we have enough to put him away. We may not need her.” The officers left the room, leaving a glimpse of the crowd outside. John walked around the bed and pulled a chair to the edge of the bed. Without looking at her he gave a sigh. “Do you hate me now?” he suddenly stated. Her silence terrified him. “Listen,” John tried to excuse himself, “I know, it’s okay to hate me, I mean, I was the one who brought that gun with me. I feel it’s my fault you got hurt. But I use that gun to defend myself from people like Joshua, people who wanted me dead for one reason or another. But I never wanted to kill any of them. I’ve killed enough and felt horrible for each one. I lost more in each fight than I gained. But that gun has kept me alive for so long. I feel like shit thinking you got hurt because I wanted to feel safe. I…” He was interrupted by the movement from the bed. “John, please, stop talking.” She said as she sat up in her gown. “I know how guns are scary. I was in the living room when you played those games. Even some of those movies are scary. I had trouble sleeping when you watched that war movie. But when they were healing me I kept thinking of one thing. Your gun is not like those others. It hurt but they didn’t go through, they didn’t explode like in those things you watch. Don’t think of yourself bad for me being hurt, think of it being good as it was your safe gun, instead of the other one Joshua brought.” John looked up to see her sitting in her gown, her face showed both worry and appreciation. Her face brought John to his feet as he tried to think of reasons to feel bad, instead he moved around the bed and embraced her tightly. “I’m sorry.” he whispered to her ear. Fluttershy felt confused over his reaction, “John, please it’s not your fault. Don’t be hard on yourself.” Her eyes began to tear up, “I know how you get when you regret. It upsets me a lot.” John felt the he shoulder getting wet as the woman buried her face in it. Fluttershy gripped his torso trying to feel comfortable through John’s sorrow. “Don’t feel bad,” she cried, “Just knowing you feel sorry is enough. I know what you did was for your protection. I forgive you.” The room fell silent as John pulled away from Fluttershy. With his eyes open to see the woman looking back at him. With a spontaneous lean into her face their faces met in a kiss. John felt calm as they kept in touch for several seconds. However an alarming sound broke his concentration as the door shut behind them. With her face red, Fluttershy turned to the door, but found it shut. She slowly turned, embarrassed over the thought of being caught in an embrace. “It was probably a nurse,” John replied, “I’ll go check where she went, maybe she wanted to discharge you.” John said as he moved slowly around the bed.  As John walked out the door, Fluttershy sat back against her pillow, glowing in joy over the relationship she was in. _______________________________________ “Andrea, listen!” Will tried to calm her down to no avail. “This is all my fault!” Andrea screamed, “If I hadn’t told you, he would have never heard and done this.” “There is nothing we can do,” Will tried again, “We didn’t know Joseph was standing behind the door. We didn’t know what would happen.” “And now people are in the hospital,” she cried, “I tried calling John, it went straight to voicemail. What if he was hit too? What if he’s dead?” “’Drea, Joseph was unstable, even as a child,” he tried to reason with her, “none of us knew he would try murder him. But listen, Joseph wasn’t arrested for murder. I don’t know how, but Dad said the police claim he didn’t kill the woman he shot.” Andrea was shocked by that startling revelation. “No one died?” She asked. “No,” Will explained. “I got the call when Joseph was arrested. John was taken to the hospital voluntarily in the same ambulance as the woman he shot. They said it was Fluttershy, the woman we met after your graduation.” The room fell silent as she realized what had happened. “Take me to the hospital.” Andrea demanded. “What?” Will was confused. “Take me to the hospital now. I have to see her.” She headed to the door only to be stopped by Will, who grabbed her arm. “That’s enough!” he shouted. “Every time you want something you have to destroy everything else to get it, ‘Drea! I saw how much you talked about John every time I came to visit the past two weeks. You are obsessed with him, just like that doll those years ago. Remember what happened to Martha? You broke her nose because she spilled juice on your doll. Your acting the same over this man. Ask yourself, would he want you if all you see him as is some sort of prize? Would you want someone who only wants you as an object rather than a human being?” “I do see him as a human being!” she protested. “Well then what about Mike Hight? What happened to him when you finally got him in high school? What happened when you found out he was a super nerd and not the wrestling champion you saw him as?” Andrea fell silent, whipping her arm out of his grip. “Andrea, you have to let the boy choose you and not obsess over the boy until you crash. John may have chosen someone else, but that doesn’t  mean you have to give up ‘Drea. There are many boys out there for you, probably one who acts the same as John over you.” Andrea stood still as she let the lesson sink in. “Take me to the hospital.” She said softly. “I want to see them.” The car ride was silent as Will rushed to the hospital. His attempts to make a conversation were shut off by Andrea’s worrisome silence. Along the way Andrea kept thinking of what to say to John. Her mind had the image of Fluttershy lying in her bed on a ventilator and John crying over her. It was an alien image, since her earlier goal was to crush her. Once they arrived, they found no parking in the hospital. Most of the spots were taken up by news crews and police. Frustrated with the time it was taking to park, Andrea waited for the car to stop and without missing a beat swung the door open and ran out, leaving Will shouting after her. She rushed to the front entrance hoping she would get in. Unfortunately, an officer stopped her as she ran down the hall. “What are you doing?” The officer called out as he stood in her way. “Sorry.” She looked at his name tag. “Sorry, Officer Bridges. My friend was hurt and I need to find out if they are okay.” She pleaded with him. “Who are they?” The officer tried to calm her down. “His name is John Alvarez.” She told him trying to get him to let her through. The officer looked at her suspiciously. “I’m sorry, we were asked not to allow anyone to disturb them.” “Why?” She pleaded, “I need to see them, please.” He inspected her body as he listened to her please. He turned over his shoulder to see the officers holding back a crowd. “You’re not a journalist are you?” “No,” she responded in confusion. “Follow me,” he said as he turned around, “and stay close.” The two walked through the halls heading to the back of the hospital. The officer looked back at the woman, who seemed to be worried about the man. He felt like investigating a little. “So what’s your relationship with John?” he asked her. “I’m his friend. Well, I think I’m his friend.” She looked straight ahead, depressed. “I think I may have fucked things up.” “Well, I thought I messed things with him too. I was in love with his friend for a few days, until the whole THPA incident I understood why he told me to move on. It’s hard having to let go of someone you want.” His tone turned sad as he went on. Andrea stayed quiet, listening to him talk. “We’re here.” he said as he stopped at a door with police officers at either sides. The other officers stepped back as the two opened the door. Andrea was left in awe as she was the two at face level, their lips connecting in a passionate kiss. Andrea turned and headed down the hall to the exit. Officer Bridges let the door close and followed, calling, “Ma’am?” “Are you okay?” he said as she finally stopped to hold her tears back. “I, I,” she tried to speak, only to turn and lung herself at Officer Bridges’ chest. “I hate this.” She cried into his badge. Under-experienced to this specific situation, he held her close to keep her calm. “Don’t worry, these things happen.” He tried to think of why she was upset. He realized it was the same reason he felt upset as well. “A lost love is just a map to a new treasure, my father always said. There’s no need to cry ma’am.” “Thanks,” she said as he lifted her face, “I’m sorry for this, I thought I needed to fix this. Turns out I wasn’t needed at all.” “We’re always needed, just by other people, Ma’am.” “Thank you, it seems I needed you. Officer Bridges.” She said to him as she lifted herself more. “Call me Michael, Ma’am. My name’s Michael Bridges” He said with an excited face. “Stop calling me ma’am,” she said in a semi-playful beat as she noticed his red face. “Call me Andrea.” “Right… Andrea.” He noticed he was still holding her. “Sorry these things happened to you.” “I get used to it.” She said with a tear soaked smile. “Do you want to get a snack?” “I-I-,” he felt hot under his collar. “I would like that, sometime.”