Chapter five
Gianna
I finally made it to University Medical Center in New Orleans six and a half hours after getting on the road. I was glad to finally be out of traffic and out of my car. I rushed into the hospital and went to the front desk.
“I’m looking for Corinne Aubrey’s room.”
She typed in my grandmother’s name and looked up at me.
There was something about the way expression on her face that told me things weren’t good with my grandmother.
I mean, I knew she had been rushed to the hospital but since I hadn’t heard anything else from my auntie, I assumed Maw Maw was going to be okay.
“Who are you to Ms. Aubrey? I’m only allowed to give patient information to family members,” the receptionist stated.
“Ms. Corinne Aubrey is my grandmother! Please tell me she’s okay!”
“Your grandmother is in ICU. You’ll need to go up to the fourth floor and you will be directed to her room,” she directed.
“Thank you.”
I practically ran to the elevator and in the midst of not watching where I was going, I ended up bumping into someone. I would’ve fallen right on my ass if a pair of strong arms hadn’t wrapped around me.
“I’m so sorry,” I said as I stared up into the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen.
“It’s cool. You good?” he asked with a smile.
The first thing I noticed was how good he smelled.
Then I noticed the huge gold chain around his neck and the dimples in his cheeks.
He had to be about six feet because I had to look up into his eyes as short as I was.
He had a slim but muscular build and blonde and brown dreads that hung to his shoulders.
His goatee and light moustache were neatly trimmed, and his dreads looked freshly twisted.
Not to mention that he was dressed really nice in his designer clothing. As handsome as he was, I didn’t have time for this. I gently pushed out of his arms and said, “I’m good, thanks.”
I pushed the ‘up’ button on the elevator as he stood behind me.
I recognized the scent of his cologne having smelled it before on Jonas.
I didn’t know who he was, but I needed to get away from him.
I was feeling lightheaded around this man who I didn’t even know.
The elevator opened and I quickly got on.
The guy also stepped on the elevator with his friend. The two of them stood aside as I hit the number four on the panel. I waited to see if they were going to push a different button, but they didn’t.
The ride up to the fourth level was really quiet even though I could feel the guy’s eyes on me. Once we exited the elevator, the three of us all headed in the same direction. I entered the waiting room as they followed behind me. My cousins Deidre and Jordan were there.
They both walked over to me and greeted me before Jordan greeted the dudes behind me. “How’s Maw Maw?” I asked Deidre.
“Not good,” Deidre answered with tears in her eyes. “Dad and Aunt Trudy are in her room with the doctor now. We were waiting for you to get here.”
“I can’t believe this is happening!” I stressed as my cousin hugged me again. “Do they know what happened to her?”
“They think she had a stroke,” Jordan informed me.
“A STROKE?!!” I shrieked.
I couldn’t believe my grandmother had a stroke. She was only sixty years old. I was nervous as hell and waiting for someone to come out here and tell me that Maw Maw was going to be fine.
"I know right! I was supposed to go see her yesterday, but…” Deidre said as she began to sniffle.
Jordan put his arms around her.
“Well, I saw her yesterday and she looked fine,” Jordan said.
“Yea, I went by there too,” the dude from the elevator said. “I had gone to cut her grass, but you had already done.”
“How’d she look when you saw her?” Deidre asked.
“She seemed fine. She mentioned that headache but said she was gonna go take some ibuprofen before she went to bed,” he explained.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” I asked.
“Dimitri, a friend of Jordan’s,” he said.
“More like a friend of the family,” Deidre corrected.
Wow! This was the dude my grandmother had told me about yesterday. Well, I could see why she thought we should be together, but now definitely wasn’t the time for me to think about a relationship.
I turned and walked towards a chair and took a seat by the window. “Sorry about what happened to your grandmother.” I looked up and saw Dimitri standing there. “Ms. Corinne is a really nice lady. I hope she pulls through.”
“She’s gonna pull through!” I responded with an attitude as I rolled my eyes. “Why would you say something like that?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…”
I just turned my head to dismiss him. How dare he say some shit like that to me about my precious grandmother! Of course, she was going to pull through. She was very strong; apparently, stronger than he gave her credit for!
Deidre sat next to me and pulled me close. “Of course, Maw Maw is gonna be alright Gigi,” she assured me as she held me close.
“Yea, Gigi, Maw Maw is very strong, and you know she’s a fighter,” Jordan enthused.
At that moment, my uncle and auntie walked in with grim expressions on their faces.
I already knew from looking at them that whatever we assumed the outcome for my grandmother would be was not how this was going to go.
We rushed over to them, and my aunt and uncle reached out to hug me.
After the initial embrace was over, I quickly pushed out of their arms.
“How’s Maw Maw?” I asked.
“Well, we were waiting on you Gigi. I mean, there’s no easy way to say this, but y’all grandmother ain’t gonna make it…”
“What?! Who said that?!” I asked angrily.
“The doctor honey,” my aunt said.
“They’re lying! She is gonna make it, so y’all need to stop saying that!” I argued.
“Gigi, you didn’t see her yet!” Aunt Trudy cried.
“I’m sorry, Gigi. But the doctor said that we need to prepare ourselves for the worse. He also said that we should get ready to say goodbye to mama,” Uncle Calvin said with tears in his eyes.
“What?!” I asked in disbelief. “NO!”
“They’ve done everything they could Gigi.
Mama has no brain activity. The truth of the matter is we waited too long to get her some help.
She had the stroke sometime during the night, but your Aunt Trudy didn’t find her until this morning.
If we had gotten to her sooner…” my uncle explained as my aunt busted out crying.
Jordan put his arms around his mom and held her tight.
“The damage is already done sweetheart. She’s on a ventilator and the doctors say that’s the only thing keeping her breathing right now. We didn’t want to shut off the machine…”
“NO! You can’t do that!” I cried as tears rained down my face. “Maw Maw is gonna be fine! People be in comas for years…”
“She’s not in a coma baby,” my uncle said in a tone that sounded like he was pleading with me to understand.
“We don’t have a choice sweetie,” my auntie assured. “The doctors say Mama’s condition isn’t gonna improve and you know she wouldn’t want to live like this. She’s not even really living. She’s already gone. Oh my God! My mama!”
My uncle wrapped his arms around my cousin, Deidre, as she cried on her dad’s shoulder. Tears continued to rain down my cheeks as their words sunk in. I felt a hand on my shoulder from behind and realized it was Dimitri’s.
I quickly brushed it off because I definitely didn’t want him comforting me when he didn’t think Maw Maw was going to make it either. I still didn’t want to believe what they were telling me. I had to see my grandmother for myself.
“I wanna see her!” I stated firmly as I fought back tears. “I need to see Maw Maw!”
“Of course. That’s why we’re here. We came to get the three of you so y’all can spend some time with her before…” my uncle said but didn’t finish. I hated that they were so quick to pull the plug on my grandmother. Like damn! Where was their faith?
“Maw Maw is gonna be fine! You’ll see. She’s way stronger than y’all are giving her credit for,” I enthused.
As the five of us prepared to go to my grandmother’s room, my cousin’s two friends said they would wait for him in the waiting room.
As me and Deidre held hands, we were all escorted to the hospital room that was designated for our grandmother.
It wasn’t until we walked into that room that the reality of the situation struck me in the face… hard!
My grandmother, who was usually vibrant, outgoing and full of life was now lying deathly still in a hospital bed connected to this big blue tube and several wires. She looked so small and frail, and her skin was very pale. I couldn’t believe this was my grandmother.
I had never seen her in such a state my entire life. I still didn’t want to believe that she wouldn’t walk out of this hospital on her own two feet. I needed my grandmother to be alright.
I rushed to the side of the bed and took her hand in mine.
It felt cold and clammy even though she was still alive.
“Maw Maw, it’s Gigi. I need you to be alright.
I need you to be strong and come back to us…
pleeeeease! I can’t do this without you!
Don’t leave me Maw Maw!” I begged as tears slid down my cheeks. “Please don’t leave me!”
I broke down right then and started sobbing really hard. I just wanted my grandmother to wake up and give me that beautiful smile that always made everyone smile. What was I going to do without my dear, precious grandmother? She had been the one person I could always count on, no matter what.
Deidre and Jordan were crying too, as well as my uncle and auntie. My feelings were super hurt because they wanted to pull the plug on my grandmother. The doctor and nurse walked in about twenty minutes later.
“Are you all ready?” the doctor asked.
I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I wasn’t ready for whatever it was that he had in mind. He walked into the room where my entire world was falling apart and looked as if it was just a normal day.