Bringing Mae Flowers

Daily writing prompt

Have you ever broken a bone?

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I broke my pinky finger once.

I didn’t break the bone, but I tore a ligament pretty badly which required me to wear a splint on for a few weeks. It happened when I was back in college, working full time as a night-shift janitor. I was sleep deprived, and distracted because my on-again-off-again boyfriend and I had just called it quits again. We were planning on meeting up the next day (Saturday) with a friend to act a mediator to see if we could patch things up- but that didn’t happen because I shut my hand in a door.

It’s as ridiculous as it sounds.

I was cleaning cleaning the metal door when I accidentally shut it on myself. It was midnight, so my options were to go home or go to the ER. I felt like the ER was a little dramatic for a pinky-finger, even if it was swollen to twice it’s usual size, and I had a a big day planned for Saturday, so I just went home. I wanted to try to make things work with my ex. We had been “together” in one way or another for 8 years, so I was reluctant to throw away the whole relationship, even though I knew it was unhealthy for both of us. I knew that if I missed this meeting, that would be the end of it. I went to bed determined to drive to Salt Lake City (the half-way point between our two locations) and get things sorted. But, when I woke up that morning, it was clear that it wouldn’t happen.

I couldn’t deny that my finger was definitely broken.

It was still as swollen and red as the night before, but how I was unable to bend or move it. I still had a few hours to make it to the meeting, so I figured I could get the x-ray and treatment before I needed to leave, but life at other plans. If you’ve ever dealt with Worker’s Compensation, you know what a pain it can be. As it was Saturday, I had to drive to the “off-campus” employee building and wait for the single person working that day to find the paperwork for me to fill out so I could go to the one Instacare facility in town covered by Worker’s Comp Insurance. By the time I actually got my x-ray, the meeting we were supposed to have would have been over.

It was all for the best.

We were constantly fighting and hurting one another. We had been through so much together, and promised that we would always be there for each other, but deep down I knew that the relationship needed to end for good. We loved each other, but we we weren’t capable of being healthy. When I told them what happened, both he and my friend were understanding, and we briefly discussed rescheduling, but decided that cancelling was for the best. Once I was home with my finger in a splint, and some time to sit and relax after a tense week, I realized that I was actually relieved. Underneath all the sadness, was a sense of relief that it was finally over between us for good.