One day had passed, and Taylor had locked herself in her room. She did not leave, not even to eat. Her parents thought it would only be several days.
“Give it time, dear,” said her father to her mother when she wanted to talk to Taylor, “Give it time. She’ll be up and about in no time.”
So they let Taylor rot quietly away – in no time at all.
Two days had passed, and Taylor still was not eating. She was locked in her room, only left to walk for several minutes, to try and breathe before returning to her solitude. She could not do anything but think about Karlie’s betrayal. She tried to reason with herself, over and over, that maybe there was some justification for Karlie’s actions – but every time she did she would come up empty handed.
She said it herself. “I don’t know.” She didn’t know why. There was no reason.
And every time she tried to reason with herself, she was hurt all over again – joy and pain often spring from the same source.
-------------
“I need some time off, Mr. Kennedy.”
“What, Karlie?”
Karlie sighed.
How do I explain?
“I…haven’t been feeling too well, Mr. Kennedy. There’s just a lot of things on my mind, lots of things I need to deal with, and I don’t think I can handle work too well right now. I don’t want to let you down,” she said.
“Karlie, you haven’t let anyone down. Don’t worry, take all the time you need. Your job will be waiting when you’re ready.”
“Alright, thanks Mr. Kennedy.”
She smiled weakly as he patted her on the back.
“You’ll be okay, Karlie?”
She continued to hold her smile in place – did not know what to say. She could do no else.
--------------
“Are you alright?” said Connor, “You don’t seem too well.”
It had been several days now, and Taylor decided it was time to at least try to move on with her life. It was no use to wallow in pity, she thought to herself – but whatever she did, though she tried, she could not hide it.
Her parents were overjoyed.
“I told you,” her father had said to her mother, “I told you she would pick herself up.”
“You were right, dear,” responded her mother, “She’s going to get better on her own. Strong girl.”
They were trying to ignore the shield that covered Taylor now, the defenses covering her eyes and the guarded smile that had returned.
“Give it time,” they said, “Just give it time. Time will heal all wounds.”
So they continued let Taylor rot away quietly – but they did not know.
“I’m fine,” Taylor responded to Connor. She smiled weakly.
He sat up on the bed and frowned.
“No, you’re not fine,” he said, “I can see –
“Just worry about getting better, Connor, please? Then we’ll talk later.”
“Taylor! I’m almost all healed. It was just some little fractures and the doctors said I’m as strong as a bull so I’m doing just fine. I’ll be out in a few days, you know this! Now please, tell me what’s wrong. I want to help you, like you’ve helped me. I’ve never seen you so down before.”
