Chapter Four
I wake up feeling like I slept for at least twenty-four hours and starving. The smell of food cooking is coming from my kitchen and it smells delicious. I pull the covers back and get out of bed walking to my kitchen and there’s my mother standing by the stove cooking what smells like gumbo. “Please let it be gumbo.” I say to myself as I get closer.
“Hi mama. Is that gumbo I’m smelling?” I knew that it was but I asked anyway.
“Hi sweetie. Yes I am making us some seafood gumbo. Your sister will be here later when she finishes getting her hair done. How are you feeling?” I reach up and touch my own head. Hmm I should probably make an appointment to do my own hair. It’ll have to wait until I’m healed though.
“I’m sore and the pain is still there. Mama I don’t need both of you here.”
“She’s not coming to check on you honey. She’s coming over so we can all have dinner together.”
“Okay mommy. Ow! I think I should sit down now.” I walk over to the table and gently sit down.
“You should be laying down resting. I want you to take it easy like the doctor said so you can get better.”
“I will mama. It just feels like I’ve been sleeping forever.”
“Your body needed the rest. Listen to your body and do what it tells you and you’ll be okay. Now go sit in the living room where it’s more comfortable if you’re not going to go back to your bed.”
“Okay.” She helps me up and we walk together to the living room and after she gets me situated with my phone and remote to the television, she heads back into the kitchen to finish cooking. I don’t know when I fell asleep because the last thing that I remember was texting Darrell telling him that I couldn’t see him for a while and now I’m being lightly shaken awake by my mother telling me that it’s time to eat.
“No shaking the patient lady.”
“Let me help you get straight so you can eat.”
“Okay help me to the table. I don’t eat in my living room.”
“You really are a stubborn child.” She helps me up and to the table. I sat down gently and then waited for her to fix my bowl and poured me some soda.
“Mama I thought my sister was coming over.”
“She’s running a little late but she should be almost here by now.”
“Alright. Well I’m going to start eating because I am starving.” Just as I am about to say my grace the doorbell rings. I frowned a little because I really wanted to eat. My mother goes to the door and opens it after finding out that it’s my sister. They come back and fix their own bowls and drinks and we all say grace then start to eat. After dinner we all head to the living room and pick out a movie to watch. If I’m honest with myself, it really felt good being with my family. When the movie was over, my sister got up and stretched then said she was going to leave and head home. She hugged me but not too tightly and then she and my mother walked out and a few minutes later my mother came back inside and locked the doors. I was still sitting on the couch yawning when she walked over and asked if I was ready to go to bed. Shaking my head yes and yawning again, she helped me up and to my room then into my bed tucking me in and kissing my forehead. “Good night sweetie” she said to me as she turned off my bedroom light and closed the door. Closing my eyes, I slowly began to drift off to sleep with a full stomach and heart.
My phone was going off repeatedly like someone was calling over and over again. I reached towards my nightstand to see who was calling me so early in the morning. “This better be a damn emergency whoever is calling my phone back to back like this.” When I finally open my eyes to see who’s calling me I’m pissed. Why the hell is this dude calling my phone like that? I quickly answer the phone and not in a very pleasant voice.
“Darrell why the hell are you calling me like this? Have you lost your damn mind?”
“Why haven’t you been answering when I call or text you? I’ve been trying to come see you, but whenever I pass by your house there has been a different car in your yard.”
“You don’t get to ask me questions. This is my house and I can have a car parked here every day if I want. Why are you blowing up my damn phone?”
“Baby I’ve been worried about you. You don’t answer me and when you finally do, you tell me that you can’t see me for a while. What’s going on?”
“You don’t get to be worried about me. You don’t need to check up on me. I’m ending this now. You’re too emotional and you’re acting like a neglected boyfriend. I don’t have to answer you every time you call or text me. I am not about to get my blood pressure up or into a yelling match with you. The cars in my drive-way belong to my sister and my mother. I just got out of the hospital yesterday from having surgery so I’m not about to strain myself and end up pulling my stitches. Do not call or text me again. We’re done.” I hang up the phone and block his number so I don’t have to deal with him again then puts my phone back on the nightstand and goes back to sleep.
A few hours later I smell food cooking and sit up in my bed. Mmmm bacon, eggs, and I think biscuits is what I’m smelling coming from my kitchen and I start to get up to investigate when I remember what my mother told me yesterday so I stay put. Turning on my television and adjusting myself against my pillows, I grab for my telephone and check to see if I have any phone calls or texts. There’s nothing there and I’m grateful. I sit back relaxing and watching the news and five minutes later my mother enters my room carrying a tray with food on it and my stomach starts growling. It smells absolutely delicious and I cannot wait for her to sit the tray down.
“Good morning my beautiful daughter. How are you feeling?”
“Good morning mama. I’m still in pain but I’m okay.”
“What was all that noise I heard this morning? It sounded like you were arguing with someone.” I roll my eyes annoyed but not at my mother.
“Yeah, that was someone that didn’t want to accept that I wanted nothing more to do with him.” My mother looks at me concerned.
“Is he someone that we should be worried about or anything?”
“I am sure that he’ll be okay once he calms down. He is nobody that we need to worry about at all. Now can I please eat this food? It smells so good.” She laughs and sets the tray on my lap and I begin to eat.
“Mmmm this is so good. Mama where’s your food?”
“I already ate sweetpea. I’m going out for a little while to run some errands. Will you be okay by yourself for a little while or do I need to call your sister or a friend to come and watch you?”
“I will be just fine alone mother. Actually, I’m still quite tired so I think I’ll go back to sleep after I eat and take my medicine. I may be still sleeping when you get back.”
“Okay, but don’t be doing anything that you shouldn’t do while I’m gone.”
“ I promise that I won’t do anything.” I finish eating my food then she takes the tray away and I take my medicine then lay down and watch television until I drift off to sleep.
The rest of the week went by and soon my mother was leaving for her own house. I waved goodbye as she drove out of my yard and went back inside the house locking up for the night. First I head to my kitchen knowing it won’t be used as much as it has been in the last seven days. I do cook but sometimes I am just too tired. Tonight I ate dinner with my mother so I don’t have to worry about cooking. Actually I don’t have to worry about cooking for the rest of the week since my mother made sure I have more than enough. She doesn’t want me to move around more than is necessary. I love that woman so much.
As I’m laying in bed, I’m starting to get more bored by the second and need something to do besides watch movies and play the same games on my phone and gaming console. Looking through my phone, I see this game that came already on the device but never bothered playing. I’ve seen the series on television and loved the show but I don’t know about playing the online game. I’ve played games like this one before and I always end up bored after a week. Once again I put my phone away and just put in another movie to watch and eventually I fell asleep.
Later that day, I woke up and moved to the living room so that I wasn’t in the same place anymore. I needed to move around and have a little bit of a change of scenery. Instead of putting in another dvd, this time I just watched the regular television and when I got bored I read books on my phone. Again I see the game and think about opening it to see what it’s all about, and again I choose to ignore it and do something else.
That night in bed my phone rings and it is an unknown number so it takes me a minute before I decide to answer. I usually don’t answer unknown numbers but it isn’t like I have anything else to do tonight.
“Hello?”
“Hey baby. How are you doing?” Oh I can’t believe this shit.
“I’m not your baby and didn’t I tell you not to contact me again? You just refuse to listen.”
“Why are you acting like this? I mean we shared a lot together and you ended things because I was worried about you.”
“We only shared sex together and I ended things because you’re getting way too interested in me. I don’t want to be with you in a relationship and I’ve told you that too many times.”
“We had more than just sex together and you know that as well as I do.”
“Are you listening to me at all? I don’t have any kind of feelings for you at all. We had a sexual relationship and that’s all it was ever going to be between us. When we first got together for this you said you were looking for the same thing that I was looking for and now all of a sudden you’re talking about feelings. I’m sorry but I don’t have those feelings and I more than likely never will because I am not the relationship type of woman. You need to move on and find someone that wants that kind of relationship because I can’t give that to you.” The line went very quiet and I thought he had hung up until I heard him clear his throat.
“Well I guess there is nothing more for us to say to one another.”
“I guess not but I do wish you well and hope that you do find what you’re looking for in life and in a relationship.”
“Yeah same to you.” The line hung up and I just put my phone down and hoped that this was the last time I heard from him. I can’t do anymore of these phone calls with him. I notice the time and decide to go and take a shower before eating dinner. After my shower I go to my bedroom and put on my night clothes then head to the kitchen to warm up my food. My mother already had portions in bowls to last me the week, so all I had to do was warm them up and eat. Once I’m done eating and washing my dishes, I grab my phone from the living room and make sure everything is locked and my alarm is set then head to my room and climb into bed exhausted. “Why am I so tired and I didn’t even do anything?” As I lay down I have a little pain in my side so I take my pain meds and almost as soon as my head hits the pillow I am out like a light.
The next morning I wake up in excruciating pain and call my mother to take me to the hospital. They rush me into the emergency room and my dressing and nightgown are both soaked through with blood. Apparently another cyst showed up and burst but that was just the cause of my pain, I was having a clotting problem. Not the bad kind where clots form and move around that can kill you but the good kind that keeps you from free bleeding because your blood isn’t clotting to stop you from bleeding to death. I believe it is called coagulation. My mother is escorted to the waiting room and I can hear her praying as she walks away telling me not to worry. I’m starting to feel nauseous from all the blood that I’m losing and drowsy. I can barely keep my eyes open and they keep telling me to keep them open and look at them but it’s hard. I just want to go to sleep. Why won’t they let me sleep? Someone is shining a light in my eyes and someone else is cutting my nightgown off of me but I can’t get my eyes to focus on anything. Suddenly I feel a pinch in my right arm and I’m guessing it is for the I.V. that they are talking about putting in for a transfusion. Someone is asking me about consenting to something but I can’t focus so I try my best to tell them to just get my mother. I somehow manage to say “mother” and “power of attorney” and I guess they get it because a few minutes later I see my mother walk in and they hand her some papers. As I’m watching her sign the papers I can no longer keep my eyes open and I let them drift close. The last thing I hear is someone shouting “We need to get her into O.R. stat!” and everything goes dark.