Her soft hands held the microphone tightly as she tried to position it properly on the stand.
"Hey, Flora." The brunette looked away from the microphone to see her boyfriend and best friend. They have been best friends for seventeen years and in a relationship for only three years.
His dark blue hair was cut into short, spiky fringes. His skin fair and eyes as blue as aqua. Outfit consisted of a light blue shirt with a navy blue jeans and a blue and gold jacket that had the 'Red Fountain Goats' stitched into it.
"Helia," Her red lips planted a smile. "What are you doing here? Thought you had football practice."
"We need to talk, Flo." His tone sounded serious.
Flora smile turned upside down. Her hands let go of the microphone. "What is this about?"
"Let's take a walk first." The seventeen year old quietly suggested.
She nodded. Stepping out of the garage of the two storey house she occupied with her Grandmother, Flora pulled down the door to close it.
The wind blew her waist length brunette hair from side to side. Her bright jade coloured eyes showed signs of worry. The dark skin female walked over to her boyfriend wearing a green demin shorts with a short sleeve pink shirt, pink, ankle high heel boots and a green four leaf clover choker.
She wrapped her arms around one of Helia's before walking along the sidewalk.
"I know things have been busy lately." She spoke softly. "You with football and me with my music and dancing but hopefully we can…"
"Flora, I have something to say." He cut her off.
"Then say it." She replied.
"It's over." He told her.
Flora stopped in her tracks. "What?"
"Us." He sighed. "We are over. There is someone else."
She removed her hands from around his. "It's Diaspro, isn't it?"
Diaspro was a nineteen year old cheerleader for the school. She was in her last year of high school along with Helia and Flora. The blonde cheerleader was held back for undisclosed reasons. It was a guess on Flora's part but she had heard that the two were spending a lot of time together.
"Yeah." He turned around.
"Yeah." Flora wanted so badly to cry. "Don't do this, Helia. Please we can work this out. I will try harder, I won't miss a game. Promise."
"You will be miserable." He turned to face her. "Both of us will be. It's not who you are."
"Who am I?" She questioned.
"You are Flora Linepha. Beautiful, smart, multi-talented and head strong." He answered. "You are also wonderful and hate football and think it's stupid. We fight a lot of the time and things with her just seem easier. Sorry Flora and I hope one day you can forgive me for this."
"Sorry Helia but I can't." Flora started backing away from him. "The thing is I never will." She ran away, crying.
Knocking on a solid oak door Helia waited for a few second before it opened to reveal Aisha, one of his and Flora's closet friend. She had on a blue jumpsuit with a purple undershirt. Her hair is just as long as Flora and a darker shade of brown than hers.
"What's wrong?" She asked seeing the male crying.
"I broke up with Flora." He replied.
"What?!" She opened the door wider to let him in.
Helia entered the brown coloured two storey house.
Closing it, he asked. "What am I going to do? She is my best friend and now that we have broken up things will become weird."
"Expect bitterness, anger, frustration then acceptance." Aisha told him.
"That's it?" He asked. "What about now?"
"Now you will do nothing." She told him. "I am going over to the house to talk to her. Eventually she will be okay."
"But she didn't look okay." He gently curled one of his hands into a fist. "She didn't look okay at all."
In Flora's room
The brunette laid on the bed curled into a ball like position. Aisha stood over the night table that had a broken picture frame of Flora and Helia, smiling while embraced in each other's arms.
Aisha took up the broken frame to get a better look of it.
"I feel like my inside is broken." Flora cried.
"First heartbreak is always the most painful." Aisha commented.
Flora groaned in pained as she shifted a little. "The pain is so unbearable."
Aisha placed the picture back onto the table. "Maybe some alone time is the best."
"Yeah." Flora agreed.
Aisha clicked off the light before leaving the heartbroken girl.
An hour later, Flora's Grandmother, Griselda came into the room. "Hey sweetie. Aisha told me what happened. You feel like talking?"
Flora didn't answer. "Flora?" She walked over to the female and felt her temperature. "You okay? You're burning up. Codatorta, get in here!" She yelled.
Her boyfriend of almost two years entered the room. He was muscular in body and fair in skin. His brown hair was short and he wore a blue shirt with a white pants.
"What is it, dear?" He asked. He saw Flora position and quickly rushed over to her. Codatorta felt her pulse and forehead before pulling out his phone. "Hello? This is Doctor Codatorta of the Magix Hospital. I need an ambulance for 137 Princess Road."
In an half an hour time the ambulance drove up to the hospital entrance. The medical personals pulled Flora whom was on a stretcher now out of the vehicle and rushed into the building. Griselda and Codatorta ran behind them worried.
Reaching into the ER section of the hospital Codatorta stopped in front of the first available room and held onto Griselda. "This is where you have to stop, sweetheart. Don't worry she is in the best hands, mine."
The medical personals rushed Flora into the room that the two were in front of after they had finished changing her into a hospital gown.
He rushed into the room while Griselda became even more nervous. This was the first time she was on this end of the Emergency Room. She was a nurse and was always the one inside helping the doctors.
Collapsing into the nearest chair, the elderly female thought back to when she helped delivered Flora seventeen years and a few months ago. She was so happy and proud to receive her first and only grandchild. Then her mind flashed to when Flora was growing up with her daughter and son in law before they passed away two years ago. She remembered cuddling and comforting her through the pain.
Three hours later.
The surgery went successfully and Flora was in a room sleeping.
Griselda entered the room with her beau behind her. She was overjoyed that Flora came out alive but was also worried.
Codatorta told her. "The surgery went as expected. Her body will take time to recover though."
"I know it, I know it." She replied. "But I can't bring myself to walk out of this room. Talk about a rotten day. First her boyfriend of three years broke up with her then her appendix busted."
"You sure aren't a very quiet Grandmother." Flora groaned.
The two adults turned to see the brunette slowly opening her eyes. "Flora…"
"I thought the pain was trying to warn me about Helia. It turns out it was trying to tell me something about myself."
"What about flowers?" Disapro asked as she and Helia walked around the hospital gift shop.
It's been a day since Flora entered the hospital and news travelled fast around her school.
"Flowers are a little romantic." Helia shot down the idea. Even though he and Flo broke up, he still cared deeply about her.
"I guess." The blonde answered.
"After yesterday she more than likely wants to throw them at me." He continued to walk around the shop.
"How about chocolates?" She held up a small box of caramel.
"Chocolates Diaspro? She just had stomach surgery." He yelled.
She placed the item back down. "I think it's best if I leave."
Helia sighed sadly. "I am so sorry. I just feel…"
"I know how you feel." She reassured him. "But this isn't your fault, Helia. It was just an unlucky faith of events. It's not your fault."
"I feel like it is." He responded. Helia took out a pink envelope with a get well card in it and threw it in the trash. "Let's get out of here. I am the last person she wants to see anyway."
Flora used the remote to flick through the stations. Clearly nothing interesting was on so she gave up and shut off the television set.
On point her friends Aisha and Stella entered the room with balloons. "Hey girl." Stella smiled. "You look... great."
"Stella you don't have to lie. I know I look like crap." Flora reassured her.
"Oh then you seriously look like crap." The blonde took a seat at the edge of the bed.
Aisha sighed as she sat on the other side of the bed. "What did the doctor say?"
"Codatorta said the scar is low enough down so I can still wear a two piece."
"That's good." Stella smiled. "Glad to see you're doing alright. The entire school was talking about it this morning."
"What about Helia?" She asked. "Does he know? Is he going to come see me?"
"He knows alright." Aisha stated.
"He just doesn't care then." Flora felt her heart break even more.
"I think he is afraid to come and upset you." Stella suggested.
"It's fine you guys." Flora turned to her side to face the wall. "The one good thing about having a near dead experience is that it really put things into perceptive for you. The whole Helia/Diaspro thing doesn't seem all that important anymore."
"That's great." Aisha and Stella looked relieved. "Really?"
"No." Flora was trying not to cry. "Not really."
"So they got you on really good pain meds or what?" The girls looked to see Roy resting against the door frame. He is a drummer for Flora's band as well as her former schoolmate. Roy left almost a year ago.
Flora held back the tears before sitting up.
"We will see you later." Stella pushed herself and Aisha out of the room.
"Bye Flo." Aisha said before leaving.
"I guess." She tried to get more comfortable, answering his question. "Hi."
"So it is entirely possible that you won't remember I was here." He shut the door as soon as the girls left.
"Maybe." She replied. "Anything is possible."
"Then it is possible that you also wouldn't remember me saying my heart broke into a million pieces when I heard you were in the hospital." He planted his hand onto hers.
Flora removed her hand. She still loved Helia even though they just broke up. "Maybe not."
"Those pieces were put back together when I heard you were going to be alright." He understood.
"I know I should be counting my blessings but all I can think about is Helia." Flora commented.
Roy felt a way talking about Helia. The door opened to reveal Flora's Grandmother. "Beat it, young man."
"No problem." He got up and bolted out of the room.
Grams took a seat beside the in pain brunette. "What was this I hear about Helia?"
Flora took a deep breath. "Even though we broke up all I can think about is Helia. He broke up with me to be with this cheerleader on the school team name Diaspro."
"I am sorry Flora." Griselda hugged her for a moment.
"The worst part is I don't want to talk to anyone else about this but him." She admitted. "He is my best friend."
"I know sweetie."
"I just can't believe he stopped caring about me. Even though we are over I at least though he would care about me as a friend. Looks like our friendship died along with our relationship."
An elderly thin lady entered the room with a transparent garbage bin and cleaning equipment. "Mind if I take out the trash?" She pointed to the almost full trash bin in the room.
"Sure." Flora told her. Looking through the transparent bin she saw a pink envelope with her name on it. It had Helia's hand writing on it. "Hey that has my name on it."
The cleaning lady looked at what she was talking about before using one of her gloved hand to take out the envelope.
"Here you go, honey." She handed it to the brunette.
Flora took it and smelt a familiar cologne. "It is without a doubt from Helia. I know that cologne anywhere." She took out a purple and white card. Reading it, she said. "Dear Flora, I feel so helpless right now. More than anything I want to be there for you but I don't know how. In spite of everything that has happened between us I use want you to know that…" The card stopped there. "That's all he wrote. Why didn't he finish it?"
The cleaning lady answered. "But he did finish it, it just doesn't have an ending."
Griselda nodded in agreement as the cleaning lady left. Flora rested back onto the pillow wondering what happens next.