'Are you okay?'
I meant so much more than the obvious. And she knew it too. I heard her breathing slow down, the ragged emotive breaths becoming more steady.
'I can't believe you were there. What you must think of me.....'
Her breathing quickened once more. and I rested my head against the pillow, squeezing my eyes shut, as if it might prolong this moment. Keeping her on the line, exactly where she was.
'I think that you needed to get away. That's all I thought. And you called me....'
She was silent. Pensive.
'I had to. It was my first thought. How can that be?'
Butterflies. I felt them again.
'How can it be that I feel like I've known you for so much longer than a week?'
'Yes.'
'Maybe because you're the first person I've spoken to so candidly in forever.' I laughed, humorlessly.
