Chapter 21
Chapter
Twenty-One
PHOENIX
From the chatter in the hallway to the constant beeping of the machine, sleep would never find me. I had always been a light sleeper, and now I wish I could join Kendrix in his slumber. The last three days all blended to create a horrible nightmare.
I rushed into the hospital behind Brian to find Levi, Johnathan, and, to my surprise, his mother sitting in the waiting room, all wearing the same look of despair.
“What happened?!” Levi popped his head up and tried to stand up, but he couldn’t quite manage it. The bandage he had around his head and arm was bloody.
“I’m sorry, this is all my fault.” He broke down into tears, and Ms. Sabrina shot up from her chair and hugged him .
Johnathan came over to us and explained what had taken place. He went on to explain that Michael put everyone’s life in jeopardy with the bomb, and Kendrix didn’t get far away in time to not miss the impact of the explosion. He hit his head pretty hard and was rushed into here to stop the bleeding.
My heart was being ripped out of my chest, and no matter how hard I breathed, the air wouldn’t refill in my lungs. Brian came into view; he instructed me to breathe in and out until I could finally do it on my own.
The doctor explained that his body had gone into a coma, but they managed to get the bleeding to stop, and he should wake up when he was ready. Everything was working fine; we were waiting for him. I hadn’t left his side since Makayla brought Travis by to see him, and it was the first time I saw him shed tears. We all took turns being by his side; I spoke to him every day and read bible verses to keep him encouraged.
“I should have known you weren’t leaving. My son would kill me if I didn’t tell you to get some rest.” Kendrix’s mom walked in the room and sat on the other side of the bed.
This is the first time we’ve been alone and to say I am nervous would be an understatement.
What if she thought this entire thing was my fault? I do.
I gave her a forced smile. “He would be so scared if he woke up alone in here. Do you want me to go? I’m sure this is not how you wanted to be reunited with your son after 15 years.” Kendrix got his good looks from his mother, from her almond-shaped eyes with specks of brown hues to the warrior spirit she carried.
While everyone else was thinking the worst, she kept her composure intact and comforted us all.
“No, baby, I don’t. It's so great to finally meet you. I won't tell all his secrets, but my Kendrix is surely smitten with you, and he has been for a very long time. Now that I have seen you for myself, I know that he is in good hands. That is all a parent wants for their child, someone to love them as fiercely as they do.” He has her heart, too.
“Kendrix is one of a kind, even when he is too hard headed to see it. It took a while for us to get here, but we understand each other. I feel partly responsible for him lying in this bed right now. All of this is because of me.” The lump in my throat cleared the way for the dam to break through. I sobbed for all of the pain that we have been facing lately; there were too many forces against us.
Sabrina wrapped me up in a motherly embrace, I cried harder because she shouldn’t be comforting me. She should be kicking me out and threatening me to never come near her son again.
“My dear, you have to understand that this isn’t about you. You had nothing to do with this; all you did was love a man who went without it for so long. You gave him something that I could never which is a family. When he does love, it penetrates your defenses; you can do nothing about it. Don’t blame yourself; they will get the person responsible for this. You have to believe that.” She pulled back slightly to wipe my tears away.
“I will do my best to believe that; thank you.”
I stared into the face of the most mischievous kid that I have ever met. He came a long way from before, and I patted myself on the back for doing the work to ensure this boy had some happiness.
Brian and Makayla dropped him off to spend some time with me. Travis wiped a few tears from his eyes and talked to Kendrix a bit before he hooked up the game console to the television. He started whooping my ass in Mario Kart until I pushed the controller and won the race.
He posed a bet of no chores for a week if he could beat me in three rounds and the only reason I said yes is because he sucked at this game. Or he at least he used to; ever since he’s been staying with them, he had gotten better, and now I’m the one that had to pay up.
“Oh, so you’ve been practicing, huh? That’s fine; just wait until we get back home, and I will beat you just like old times.” I teased him; seeing him made me feel better .
“But it is not like old times when he’s lying there like that. What if he doesn’t wake up?” The fear was loud in his voice then I remembered Ms. Sabrina’s words from earlier this week.
I dropped my controller and sat his down too, his hair was styled in two thick French braids and he wore a 90’s artist that I bet he didn’t even know it was on a graphic tee.
“I won't lie to you and say that I’m not scared, but I have known Kendrix for a very, very long time. We have been in each other’s lives since we were around your age, so I’ve seen him break a bone, scratch his knee, and fall off the highest cliff into a body of water. But he has always come out on top. He is a fighter, just like you. You two are so similar it is scary sometimes, even the way you look after me when we go out, you act like him. We have to pray when times get hard, instead of doubt. There were many times in the Bible when the faith of a friend or two has healed the sick person. We can be the ones whose faith is big enough for Kendrix; it’s okay to be scared but pray while you worry. Okay?”
Travis still looked worried, however when he asked if he could pray before he left, I knew he would be more than ok.
The amount of stress he’s been under for the past few months would have anyone in need of a mental break. I turned on an instrumental to one of his favorite songs and sang to him until we were interrupted by a guest.
“You have such a beautiful voice, Phoenix; I see you are still using it to serenade this guy.” Seth’s voice said from the doorway.
He sat on the other side of Kendrix and held his hand; it was sweet. They became close friends in college, but I wouldn’t say best friends because Kendrix made it difficult for people to get close to him on purpose.
Seth hung out with us a few times, and it was nice to have both of them looking over me during that time. He was a very attractive man, his warm beige skin covered in tattoos and those thick eyebrows were no match for the girls on our campus. They wanted the Asian man with the sparkling onyx eyes.
“How are you holding up?” Everyone adored him because of his kind-hearted nature. Kendrix had been in his life for almost a decade, and here he was, worried about me.
How was I holding up?
“I won’t answer that for the sake of not wanting to lie, how are you? You love him as much as I do.”
It was his turn to huff out a huge sigh, “I will be good the moment he wakes up.” We sat there in silence until I got a call from Makayla to come down to the cafeteria to eat something.
“Hey, I’ll be back. Brian should be here soon to see him. I don’t want to leave him alone, so if you could hang out here until then, I’ll love you forever.” I gave him a quick squeeze and walked out the door, not before kissing Kendrix’s forehead.
Kendrix
I had the worst headache and an annoying beeping noise that only worsened it. I tried to move my head, but it weighed a ton at this very moment. There were many different voices that I remember hearing when I was asleep, but whatever --.
“Nooo, you can’t do this. Get off of me!” Phoenix’s voice was frantic, and every fiber of my being ached to open my eyes, but they were too heavy for me. The loud, erratic beating of my heart was echoing from the machine. I fought against the sleepiness, but it didn’t work. The blackness consumed me again, and I knew in my heart that Phoenix wouldn’t be here when I came back into it.
I tried to open my eyes. It hurt badly; the multiple voices in the room stopped the moment I attempted to move my body. All of my muscles were too heavy for me to control, and something was preventing me from breathing.
“Someone go get the doctor, please!” A familiar voice cried out .
After a few more minutes of hushed voices and a half of cup of water, I looked around to see everyone but my Jewel. That’s when I remembered what I overheard the first time I woke up.
“Where is she?!” My voice was still groggy; however, the frantic tone had Levi and Brian attempting to soothe me.
Makayla had her phone to her ear, “We chatted this morning, and she told me she was on her way here. She went by the house to grab some clothes and shower. The nurse said she was in here with you for a while; maybe she went back home.” I shook my head in protest.
“No, something happened to her; I woke up earlier and heard her screaming. Please someone go find her!” I stared at them willing someone to believe me, Makayla was shaking her head in disbelief.
“I don’t understand. I thought y'all caught the man.” Brian said, pacing the room.
“He did mention another player in the game that we didn’t know was involved. Listen I am going to put agents outside your room to guard you until we can get you out of here. Brian take Makayla and the children home and I’ll be in contact with you as soon as I hear something.” Levi commanded before storming out the room.
God please bring her home safe.