My Butterfly

playful, sarcastic thing, which drove me wild, and I held out for what I knew was coming next. Wait for it. Wait for it. There it was—a smile.
    “I mean Jules,” I said, finally.
    I went back to rummaging through the doughnuts in the bag as she took a seat on the bed next to my midsection and faced me.
    “So, how long do you have to be here anyway?” she asked.
    “Uh, I think they’ll let me go today,” I said, starting to grin. “I’m pretty sure they were just waiting to make sure nothing else was wrong with me.”
    She slowly nodded her head.
    “Good,” she said, through a soft smile.
    I watched her then, as she lowered her eyes and reached her hand into her purse. Her hair was pulled together, and it sat in a pile near the top of her head. It looked kind of messy, but it had always been my favorite look on her.
    She eventually found what she had been looking for inside her purse, I guessed, because she pulled out a short stick and smeared its contents onto her lips.
    “Jules,” I finally said, setting the bag of doughnuts and the milk onto the bed beside me.
    She lowered the Chap Stick from her lips and met my eyes.
    “Thank you,” I said.
    I rested my hand on hers. Her eyes darted toward my hand, but she didn’t move.
    “I lied last night,” I said.
    I watched her head tilt a little to the side, as if she might be interested in what I had to say.
    “I didn’t just put you as my emergency contact out of habit,” I went on. “I did it because…”
    “Where is that lucky bastard?” I suddenly heard a familiar voice come from behind the curtain. “Better be decent. I brought your girl.”
    My eyes rushed toward the door, and within seconds, the curtain flew open, revealing a tall, lanky guy and a petite brunette. Almost at the same time, I felt Julia’s hand quickly escape from underneath mine, and before I knew it, she was standing at the bedside, fidgeting with the hair on top of her head.
    “Oh, hey, Julia,” Jeff said, stopping short and staring at her with big eyes.
    Julia looked up for an instant and bashfully smiled at him.
    “I didn’t know you had company,” Jeff said, meeting my stare.
    I didn’t say anything. I just stared back at him with a defeated expression. And after a moment, he swallowed hard and carried on.
    “Well, you dead yet, buddy?” he asked.
    I found Julia again. Her eyes were searching the floor at her feet, but she eventually caught my stare and sent me an awkward smile. My eyes traveled back to the curtain then, but Jeff had already made his way over to a monitor near my head and was now poking at buttons. And Jessica was standing at the foot of the bed, looking shy, with flowers clutched within her small fingers.
    “No, Jeff, not dead...yet,” I mumbled.
    “I heard what happened,” Jessica said. “Are you okay?”
    Her voice was timid but sweet. And suddenly, it felt like New Year’s Eve those years ago all over again—with Julia and Jessica in the same room. Only this time, I hadn’t been holding the brunette’s hand when Julia had entered the doorway. This time, it had been Julia’s hand and Jessica had appeared, but somehow, it didn’t seem to make a difference—not to Julia anyway.
    “Yeah,” I said, looking up at Jessica. “It’s just a broken wrist. I’ll be fine.”
    My eyes left Jessica when I noticed Julia in the corner of the room, rifling through her purse again. I watched her pull out a set of keys and then turn back toward the three of us—me; Jeff, playing with some cords at my head; and Jessica, now sitting in the spot on the bed next to me where Julia had been just moments ago.
    “I should be going,” Julia said.
    Jeff stopped playing with the cords and looked up.
    “What? No. Stay,” he said, stuffing a Long John into his mouth. “We were just about to see if Will needs all of these cords to live.”
    Julia’s eyes fell onto mine, and she sweetly smiled. Then, she looked back up at Jeff.
    “I really need to get going,” she said, starting toward the curtain.
    “Jules,” I called out after her.
    She stopped and turned.
    “You don’t have to go,” I said.
    A half-smile slowly found its way to her face.
    “I do,” she said, nodding her head. “Take care, Will.”
    Then, she turned again, disappeared behind the curtain and was gone.

Chapter Twenty-Five
    The Note
     
     
    I stared into the steering wheel for a few moments before grabbing the note from the passenger’s seat. Then, I climbed out from