*Warning- The Reason it is rated pg-13 is because the character Gary has some very descriptive dreams about Isabella*
Chapter three
Just as Jay was about to settle down with a nice, cold beer he heard the old brass knocker thump the door. When he opened the door, Gary was standing in front of him with a cold, blank stare.
“Hey, man, come on in. You want a beer?” Jay asked as Gary strutted in.
“No, Jay; I would love to talk to you, though. What the hell were you thinking telling Belle that you didn’t love her anymore? She heard every word you said, and now that she’s awake, she’s crushed. Jay, she loved you, and you just dumped all of this on her while she was unconscious. How could you?” Gary’s voice rose as his face turned thirty different shades of red.
“Stop it, Gary. I didn’t do it to be vicious. I loved her, too. I had no idea she heard me, or I would have waited. I didn’t mean to hurt her. She must hate me; but, really, it was about time we stopped pretending. You have no idea what our relationship was like so don’t come into my home and criticize me!” Jay yelled back putting Gary in his place.
“Well, Jay, I’m just going to let you know that tomorrow she’s leaving the hospital. She’s going to live with me because she has to be on bed rest, and I know that you two aren’t on the greatest of terms. I’m not saying you meant to hurt her; I know you loved her, but you did hurt her. You should go up there to talk to her.” Gary had calmed down some by now.
“Gary, I don’t know if I can. Since she’s staying with you maybe you want to take her things,” Jay said as though Isabella was a used doll he was throwing away.
“Fine, Jay, I will.” Gary went upstairs to get her things and put them in his truck.
Back at Gary’s house, he was putting Isabella’s things into his guest room. The pale green walls were to put her at ease. The white wooden dresser matched the white framed queen size bed. The look was comforting and peaceful. It was her favorite kind of look: peaceful and simplistic. He hoped it didn‘t look like he was trying too hard for her to like to be there, with him.
He was unloading her things when a photo album fell out of a box. He picked it up and studied it for a moment. It had opened to a page with a picture of the two of them on it- a picture of Gary and Isabella in front of their work back in Ohio. It brought confusion back into Gary’s heart. The way he felt for her was indescribable. All though he knew he could only be her best friend in this situation, he needed to know if things could progress later in time. Gary went back up to the hospital just in time to catch Joe Don and Destiny as they were leaving.
“Hey, Gary, she’s asleep. So why don’t you come with us for lunch and let her sleep?” Joe Don offered; Gary reluctantly accepted.
Isabella had faked slept so the guys would leave. She needed to talk to Jay, but she knew he had nothing good to say. Everything seemed to go perfect for only such a short time. Jay had been the one she wanted for so long. She thought she could never get over this, and maybe a small piece of her didn’t want to get over this still. She picked up the phone to call Jay, but she dropped it when she saw some one standing in the doorway of her hospital room.
“Gary what are you doing here?” Isabella asked after he picked up the phone to hand it to her.
“What, I’m not allowed to check up on my friend?” Gary asked, lounging in a chair.
“Yes, you are.” Isabella clenched the phone in her hand.
“When I came up here Joey said you were asleep, but I knew you wouldn’t be. I have the guest bedroom all ready for you,” Gary replied as Isabella’s face went from a smiley smirk to a frown.
“So, I guess this is real. Jay really doesn’t love me anymore.” Isabella began to cry.
It broke Gary’s heart to see his best friend like this, but he knew he couldn’t do anything but comfort her. Gary knew she had to learn when it was time to move on all by herself.
If only I could love her the way she deserved to be loved. It killed him to see her like this. She deserved so much more from a man who was willing to love her. She tugged at his heart strings in all the right places. How could she not see that?
“Darling, it’ll be ok. You’ll get over this in a flash, you’ll see.” Gary hugged her.
Isabella scooted over so Gary would climb in next to her. They both fell asleep with Gary holding her in his arms. His strong arms wrapped tightly around her made her feel appreciated and loved. Isabella had known him for so long, and never once had it crossed her mind that they could be more than friends, until now.
He woke up in a cold sweat and had to get up, away from Isabella.
His dream was so real, so sweet, so scary. The sun was blaring and all Gary could taste was Isabella‘s soft vanilla skin. He could feel her sticky body covering his as sweat beat off his forehead. Then all of a sudden she was taken away from him. A car was heading straight towards them when Isabella jumped in the way. At her funeral Jay was with a new girl. They were all over each other. It made Gary sick to his stomach.
Gary just couldn’t get the image out of his head. He rushed to the bathroom making himself sick. When he came back to Isabella’s room, she was awake.
“Are you all right?” Isabella asked, worried about Gary.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I think I’m going to go get some coffee down in the cafeteria. Do you need anything?” Gary stretched his body out by standing on his tippy toes and reaching for the ceiling. His hands were clammy, and his head was pounding.
“No, I don’t need anything. I think I’m just going to go back to sleep.” Isabella closed her eyes.
Gary walked down to the cafeteria and sat down in a booth after he bought his coffee. He looked down at his cup with the steam rising to the cool air of the hospital; he didn’t even want this coffee. He let it stay there untouched and black as coffee could be. Before he began to sort out his dream from his nap with Isabella Gary’s cell phone began to ring.
“Hey, how is she?” Jay asked on the other line.
“What?” Gary asked baffled.
“Don’t play games with me Gary, I know you’re up there with Belle. How is she?” Jay replied.
“I‘m not telling you. If you really wanted to know you would come down to the hospital and see her.” Jay hung up on him.
Gary put his cell phone in his pocket and leaned back in his chair. As he ran his fingers through his soft, blonde hair he closed his eyes and visualized his dream again. He couldn’t believe he thought of Isabella like that, so naughty.
Always before Gary thought of Isabella with an innocence, like a younger sister. She had always been Jay’s girl. Not this time, though; now it was different. He could possibly have a chance to make things right, and become that man she was looking for. But would he become the rebound guy?
Maybe an hour or so passed by before Gary finished his coffee and walked back up to Isabella’s room. She was still asleep, so he went down to the waiting room. Gary, purposely, hit his head against the wall as he saw Jay coming down the hallway through the corner of his eye. Just what he needed, Jay coming to smart off.
“ Hey, man, is Belle asleep?” Jay asked, knowing Gary would be with her if she wasn’t.
“Yeah, she’s asleep.” Gary saw Destiny coming out of the elevator.
“Hey, guys, how is Isabella?” Destiny asked, surprised to see Jay there.
“Asleep.” Jay replied standing around nervously.
Gary sat down in the opposite side of the room, away from Jay. Destiny slowly walked to where Gary was sitting. He had his head between his knees. She took a seat beside him and placed her cool hand on his neck.
After he looked up she asked him, “ Hey, cowboy, what’s wrong?”
“I‘m just worried about Belle, that‘s all.” Gary rubbed at his eyes with frustration.
Destiny took in Gary’s appearance before she spoke. His eyes were bolted with red veins of no sleep. There were bags under them, and it appeared he hadn‘t shaved in a while. He just wasn’t taking good care of himself, which worried Destiny.
“Look, Gary, I know you are worried about Belle, but the doctors know what they’re doing; they can take care of her. This situation with Jay and Belle will work out as soon as they talk, and they will only do that when they are ready for it. So, why don’t you go home and get some sleep? It’s almost six in the evening, and I know you have been here most of the day.” Destiny rubbed his back.
Gary stood up, took a minute or two to think about it, then he said, “Fine.”
At home, Gary went upstairs and threw off his clothes to take a long, hot, steamy shower. The water rolling off his body felt like such great relief. His thoughts raced around in his head bouncing here, there, and everywhere. Isabella was so beautiful, but she needed a friend more than anything, right? What was his dream about? Gary was so confused. He knew what he had to do, but what his heart was telling him to do was something completely different.
It will sound much better without it.
He screamed 
I love how you are showing how Gary is so confused about all of this. It's really good.
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