Excerpt
Ajehwah reconnected the ventilator and apologized for his behavior. Feeling the tension in the room Rob immediately left and took his seat out front behind the desk waiting in anticipation. Surrey tried to make nice and made sure to change the bedding and even provided Deela with a heated blanket to sleep on for the rest of the night. He cleared his throat as he stepped towards her. “I would like to apologize for myself and also for the way things were handled this evening. I truly want you to know that I am sorry. Your husband will receive the best of care here; I will make sure of that. Please, please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you ok?” he pleaded, concerned with his earlier behavior.
“I appreciate that Surrey, and that’s all I have to say.” said Deela, preparing to bed down for the next few hours.
She awoke to her normal ritual of four a.m. to make the drive home to let the dogs out and feed them. As she traveled down the dimly lit two lane road, her eyes grew heavy. With only a few hours of sleep she was finding it quite difficult to determine her state of mind. She looked down to turn on the radio and her actions seemed to play back to her as if it were a dream. She made random gestures trying to convince herself that she was in fact awake. She pointed towards a traffic signal as she approached. “Ok… I see a stop light and that light is yellow.” she laughed, nodding her head. She peered over at both sides of the road. “I can’t believe there isn’t another car on this entire street!” she thought, struggling to stay in her lane. “What the hell kinda dream am I having…? I’m not even driving, wait am I driving this thing…? See if I was driving I would hear the motor running” she slurred. “I’m gonna sleep for five more minutes, then I’m gonna get up and check on Thadt.” Her head fell against the back of the seat and she was awakened just as the car hit a curb in the road. She awoke shakened, immediately taking hold of the steering wheel. She pulled to the side of the road and tried to recount what had just occurred. She got out and stood next to the car feeling a bit disoriented. “…ok what just happened here…? …am I--- am I dreaming or what ‘cuz that shit felt real.” She said holding her hands to her face. She walked along the side of the car looking for any damage but the scuff mark on the front tire wasn’t enough proof that she was actually awake still. She kneeled down from the side of the road and pulled up a hand full of grass and held the dirt up to her nose. . “Alright, so I guess this isn’t a dream. This is a road and I’m on the side of the road. I cannot believe I fell asleep like that. What is wrong with me? This never happens to me.” She spoke, disappointed with herself. “I’m halfway in the middle of nowhere and I just need to make it home. I can do this.” She nodded, opening the door.
She pulled out her cell and called her friend Jaswant, they called him Jazz for short. “Hello Jazz…?” she said, relieved that he’d answered.
“…yeah,” he replied, clearing his throat. “What’s going on Deela?”
“Jazz, I know it’s early but I was trying to drive home to let the dogs out and I need to talk to someone.”
“It’s ok…”
“Jazz I ran into the curb in the middle of the road. Can you believe that? I never do stuff like that.” she continued trying to stave off a panic attack now that things had become more apparent. “You know it was the weirdest thing. I couldn’t figure out if I was actually driving or if I was dreaming that I was driving. I just couldn’t figure it out.”
“Are you driving right now?”
“Yeah I’m still a little shaky but I had to call somebody Jazz I’m scared.”
“Well just try and get yourself together it’s ok now you’re talking to me.” he said, rising up sitting on the side of his bed. “Trust me I am not a dream. Honey I doubt I would be a part of anybody’s dream right now lookin like I’m lookin this early.” he laughed, trying to lighten the moment. He could hear her laughing on the other end of the phone. “You can’t go all week on just two or three hours of sleep honey. You just—you just can’t. Thadt’s gonna need you in one piece and so am I. You know how I feel about hospitals… I hate them so take care of yourself!”
“Yeah I know diva just calm down.” she replied. You could hear the smile in her tone. “Well I guess I’m awake now huh?”
“Are you sure… ‘cuz uuh- ‘ya know I can’t be worrying about you ok?”
She paused for a moment reflecting on her situation. Jazz, what’s happened to us?”
“Honey I’m here…” he interrupted.
“Not us silly, I’m talkin about me and Thadt. I miss him so much. There are so many things I need to talk to him about and I need my best friend back ok...? It’s just hard and it hurts me so to see him this way. I just be talking to him and stuff and be trying so hard to sound upbeat and keep trying to encourage him. That’s why I don’t rest; I can’t rest right now because there is so much work to be done.” Her voice weakened as she continued to speak.
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