Breaking Bones

[Christian Garcia]

The scene comes in on a general hospital in northern New York, a ways away from the bright lights of OCW TV. Christian Garcia sits up in a hospital bed, stitches prominent on both his left brow and the right side of his nose, along with severe bruising around his eyes and the right side of his face.

 

Beside him is Jasmin Kaffee, whose hair is tied up in a messy, uneven ponytail. She looks out of sorts, though not nearly as bad as her longtime coach.

 

Jasmin: You're... you're not medically cleared.

 

CG: I have paperwork that says otherwise.

 

Jasmin: Christian-

 

She stumbles over the name, like it's a foreign word.

 

Jasmin: How are you not concussed? You got hit in the head with a shovel, with a bat, with a stop sign, with STEEL STEPS! You required 40 stitches and 20 more surgical staples. Your face was so swollen the day after Turmoil that you couldn't hardly open your mouth! If you so much as twitch funny, you're gonna start bleeding again.

 

Jasmin: This isn't worth it. I know this is all we have now, but it's not worth you ruining your life. I can do it. I'll shoulder the weight for both of us. But you can't put yourself through this again.

 

CG: I won't have to. Ross and I have settled it. We're square with the house. I still haven't really processed... the rest of it.

 

CG appears deep in thought.

 

Jasmin: He's still your friend to you?

 

CG: No, no... after everything you've been through, even before what happened to me. We're not friends anymore. But we WERE. And I'm telling you, this isn't him.

 

Jasmin: These people put you through hell, Ch-Chris. You gave them everything you had, and they spit in your face. They took your money. They took your car. They took the futures you were fighting to build for Maria and Marci. They took away my career. They took your home. And now, one of them tried to take your livelihood away from you.

 

Jasmin: And all you can think to do is march back in there after bribing a medical professional to pretend you're not hurt.

 

CG: I didn't bribe anyone-

 

Jasmin: I can't keep letting you lie to me. I can't.

 

CG looks pensively at the wall.

 

CG:: I'm not going back on TV until Turmoil. Probably won't even be wrestling.

 

Jasmin: And if you are, what then?

 

CG: I'll go do my job.

 

Jasmin doesn't say a word. They look at each other for a long, silent moment, before Jasmin stands up and begins to walk to the door. She pauses, however, to look back at him.

 

Jasmin: You gonna be there Friday?

 

CG: I am.

 

Jasmin: Good...yeah...good.

 

Jasmin leaves the room, slamming it shut with surprising force and causing CG to wince as he looks after his protege, a distant, thoughtful look in his features as he shifts in his bed to look at a mirror, seeing again how bad the damage is.

 

The man in the mirror isn't visible to the camera.

 

CG: I'm not that man anymore. That's not me.

 

He sits back in the bed, looking towards the door and speaking to someone who clearly isn't there.

 

CG: That's not me.