I hate hospitals! The food is terrible. You can’t sleep because someone is always poking at you. You are stuck in a gown with NO BACK leaving your whole exposed. I HATE hospitals. “Ms. Lawler? There is a Mrs. Kwon here for you.” The nurse says. Mrs. Kwon? The only Kwons I know are in Korea and happily new parents, again. “I told you, no one calls me that. My name is Re-Re!” yet she is not in Korea. She is standing in my doorway with a HUGE floral arrangement.

“Oh my GOD girl! Look at you! You are one big bruise!” she is obviously still hormonal. She is crying like she got run over by a forklift instead of me. She is a hugger. Please don’t let her try to hug me. I’m in a body cast. I can’t handle that level of affection just yet. Instead of a hug she kisses the unbruised side of my face.

“Who bought out the flower shop?” I ask her. “That would be Choi. He was distraught that he couldn’t come here any sooner than your original plans allow. He decided to send every rose in the tri-state area in his stead” she replies to me. “I see he also sent you. Shouldn’t you be home resting from delivering your 6^th baby?” I ask her. Her reply makes me hurt my ribs laughing. She needs to be less funny until I am better.

“Girl if I stayed home I would be running from my husband to avoid being knocked up with child number 7. He can never wait until I get on birth control before seducing me. I need to get better at resisting. I am going to be fat forever at this rate! Plus this is child number 6 they just slide right out at this point.” She sounds so exasperated. She is actually serious which makes it even funnier. I could be friends with a woman like her. “You aren’t fat. You actually don’t look like you have any kids, let alone 6.” I tell her.

It’s true. She is still very small in the waist. The only thing that is abnormal is the size of her s. They look fake they are so big. “Thank you. I used to be a size 8 in dresses. Now I wear a 12 and that is a little tight sometimes. I feel like a porker.” She says laughing at herself. She spends hours talking to me and even brought me food!

“I refuse to let a friend of mine eat the slop they consider food in this place. You will be seeing me or Ji 3 times a day to make sure you eat.” She says sashaying out the door on 6 inch Givenchy pumps. Who knew you could wear those 1 week after delivering a baby? My phone rings and it’s my honey. He should be sleeping. Its 2am in Korea.

“Are you alright? I can’t sleep until I hear from you that you are okay”

“I am fine I promise. Just a little broken but I will be okay. Re-Re and Ji have been coming by to see me. I got your flowers. They are beautiful.”

“I am doing all I can to get there sooner. You have to take better care of my girlfriend! I almost died when Renata called me to tell me you got hurt. How on earth did you get hit by a forklift?”

“I have an office job but sometimes I have to go into the warehouse to talk to the manager there. A driver lost control of the forklift and ran into me. It wasn’t his fault. He is epileptic and had a seizure behind the wheel. They tried to warn me but I didn’t hear them in time.”

“If it wasn’t something he couldn’t control I would be compelled to kill him with my bare hands. I still would like to.”

“Don’t be overdramatic. Just come see me as soon as you can. It is going to be awhile before I am up and moving about again. I’m in a body cast to keep my ribs as still as possible. I have just enough movement to breathe, and I can use my arms and legs obviously.”

“I could pay for a private doctor and nurse to take care of you in your home if that would be more comfortable for you. Before you protest, remember it is my job to take care of you and I am currently thousands of miles away while you are suffering. Let me do something for you.”

“You sent me your friends, isn’t that enough?”

“They sent themselves. No it is not enough.”

“I won’t let you pay for my medical treatments but there is something you can do for me.”

“Anything”

“Send me something that smells like you so I can hold it while I sleep. I really miss you at night and I could really use some comfort right now.”

“I will send it overnight to Renata and she will bring it to you as soon as it arrives.”

“Ever the efficient business man.”

“I love you”

“I love you too. Go to bed. I can hear you yawning. You had a hard day didn’t you?”

“I couldn’t focus. I was worried about you. Goodnight my beloved. I will call you when I wake up in the morning.”

“Goodnight. Don’t worry about me so much. I promise you I will be fine.”