Forgiven (19 page)

Cassandra got out of bed and the two of them
ran around the house getting everybody ready to leave. JT called
Ms. Shirley and asked if she could watch the children for a little
while. She said she could, so they dropped the kids off and headed
to the hospital.

***

“Why does her face look like that?” Cassandra
demanded once she and JT were in the room Mattie had been placed
in.

“That’s from the stroke,” the nurse said
matter-of-factly.

“What stroke?” Cassandra asked with tears
flooding her eyes.

JT stepped closer to Cassandra and pulled her
into his arms. He told the nurse, “We were told that she had a
heart attack.”

The nurse had Mattie’s chart in her hand, but
she didn’t need to look at it. “I was on duty when she arrived. She
had been brought in because of a heart attack, but suffered a
stroke a minute upon arrival.”

Mattie’s eyes were closed and her lips
twisted upward on the left side of her face as though rigor mortis
had set in. Cassandra clung to JT as she said, “She looks like
she’s dead.”

This time the nurse had compassion in her
voice when she spoke. “Oh no, ma’am. The good thing about it is
that she had the stroke while she was here. We were able to stop it
from going any further.”

“See, baby, it’s going to be all right,” JT
said soothingly.

Cassandra clung to her husband. “I didn’t
want her to die. I promise, I didn’t.”

“I know that, Sanni. Your mom knows that
too.”

“I-I told her I would never speak to her
again. B-but I didn’t want it to be this way.”

“Calm down, Cassandra. This is not your
fault.” He looked toward the nurse and asked, “Can you bring two
chairs in here so we can sit with Mattie, please?”

“I’ll get those for you right now,” the nurse
said before leaving the room.

JT rubbed Cassandra’s back and arms, trying
to calm her down. He then grabbed some tissue and wiped her wet
face. The nurse brought the chairs in the room and JT said, “Sit
down, baby. You’re not going to be any good to your mother if you
don’t calm down so you can think straight.”

Cassandra broke free from JT’s grasp and went
back to her mother’s bed. She stood over Mattie and said, “I’m
sorry, Mama. I’m so sorry.”

Mattie turned her head toward Cassandra and
slightly opened her eyes. She looked disoriented as she opened her
mouth and spoke.

Cassandra turned to the nurse. “What did she
say?”

The nurse stepped forward and Mattie opened
her mouth and gibberish came out again. “The stroke has affected
her speech.” The nurse stood on the side of Mattie’s bed. She
looked down at Mattie and asked, “Can you hear me, Ms.
Daniels?”

Mattie shook her head, but it was obvious
that she’d heard the nurse.

The nurse stepped away from Mattie’s bed and
motioned Cassandra and JT to step out of the room with her. When
they were both in the hall with her she said, “She appears to be a
little confused right now. Once she comes around, we will be able
to work with her to see if she has lost any other
capabilities.”

“What’s wrong with her speech?” Cassandra
asked. She was dumbstruck at the fact that Mattie couldn’t get
simple words out of her mouth, but that she sounded like more of a
baby than Lily. Then she remembered that she had prayed that God
would confound the tongues of all the liars in the courtroom
yesterday and she wanted to call that prayer back. I didn’t want
this, Lord.

“Depending on which side of the brain the
stroke affects, stroke victims can lose their grasp on language,
eye sight; they can have trouble walking or using their arms. It
all depends on what part of the brain shuts down.”

“Will she be able to talk again?” JT asked
with concern in his voice.

“We will have a speech therapist work with
her as soon as she’s able to begin. Most likely she will regain
some speech, but probably not all of it. I’m sorry,” the nurse said
as she tried to walk away.

Cassandra stopped her. “Wait a minute. What
about her face?”

“I can’t give you any guarantees. It might
straighten out, but then again it might not. We won’t know for sure
for a few days.”

“Okay,” she said and tried not to break
down.

JT pulled her into his arms again. She put
her arms around him because it felt right; secure. She remembered
him telling her that she belonged with him. He was finally making
her believe it.

***

While JT and Cassandra were going through the
most traumatic event of their lives, Margie Milner was making a
life changing decision as well. Her mother had come with her to the
attorney’s office. Today was the day she and Diane would hear JT’s
rebuttal to their lawsuit. She and her mom had been talking about
this case for more than a week. Betty Milner had been trying to
convince Margie to let go of her bitterness and forgive JT. But
Margie could only think of one reason she would forgive JT; he’d
have to ask for it.

And then it happened. Luke Watson informed
her that JT admitted that he had manipulated her into having an
affair with him. “He even goes on in his deposition to apologize
for everything he did to you,” Luke said.

Betty nudged her daughter. “See, baby, the
Lord knows how to settle a matter better than any attorney I’ve
ever met.”

Diane sat up in her seat and said, “This is
such great news. We’ve got him right where we want him now. Did he
apologize to me also?”

“Ah, no,” Luke said as he averted his eyes
from Diane and looked back at the documents in front of him.

“What do you mean, no? He wronged me just as
well as he wronged Margie. And since I’m the one that got stuck
with a kid by him, I’d say he owes me two apologies.”

Luke turned the page on the documents he was
reading. He looked back at Diane and said, “Mr. Thomas’ deposition
states that you approached him first. He also says that he told you
several times that he wasn’t interested but you wouldn’t take no
for an answer. He admits to giving in to you, but says that he
never manipulated you into anything.”

“That’s a lie,” Diane said, but she had the
decency to look embarrassed.

Luke continued. “Mr. Thomas also states that
you had other lovers besides him. If that is true, I’m going to
need to know more about that.”

“I know you don’t believe a word that liar
has said. JT is the only man I have been with besides my husband
and he knows that.”

“Okay, I just need to be sure. We don’t want
any surprises when we have so much riding on this case,” Luke
said.

“That’s why I told you we need to go to the
media. I guarantee you we will have the sympathy vote on our side,”
Diane said.

Margie raised her hand, trying to halt the
conversation. “I told you before that I am not interested in
putting my business on the six o’clock news.”

Diane turned on Margie. “Of course you’re not
interested. JT basically gave you your money on a silver platter.
You’re probably still sleeping with him and this is his little way
of paying for your services.”

Betty stood up. “You will not speak to my
daughter like that,” she told Diane.

“Look, lady, this doesn’t even concern you.
You shouldn’t even be in here while we’re discussing our case.”

“I have the right to be anywhere my daughter
wants me to be,” Betty fired back.

Margie had been praying all day long that God
would show her what to do. She’d told the Lord that the money
didn’t matter to her. All she really wanted was for JT to admit
what he’d done to her. Evidently, the Lord had been listening, so
what was she still doing here? Margie stood up with her mother and
said, “No, Mother, Diane is right. You don’t belong in here and
neither do I. Let’s go.”

“What?” Diane wailed as she too stood to her
feet. “You can’t just leave like that. Luke has invested a great
deal of time on us.”

Margie turned to Luke and said, “I am sorry I
wasted your time, Mr. Watson. I will find a way to pay for the
hours you wasted on me. But I can’t be a part of this anymore. My
mother told me about a scripture in the Bible that says, vengeance
is mine, saith the Lord. I will repay. It made me realize that I
entered into this lawsuit for all the wrong reasons. And I just
can’t live my life full of bitterness. I’ve got to move on.”

Luke stood up and shook Margie’s hand. “I
appreciate your openness. We may need to call you as a witness, but
you don’t owe me any money. So don’t worry about it.”

“Thank you, Mr. Watson,” Betty said as she
grabbed hold of Margie’s arm and walked out of the office.

Mattie stayed in the hospital for three
weeks. Since Mattie couldn’t speak well enough to let the nurses
know if she needed anything, Cassandra thought she needed to spend
the night at the hospital to help take care of her mother. She
stayed home with the kids while JT went to work. When he arrived
home, Cassandra would leave him with the kids and go to the
hospital for the night. But she had to admit, JT got the better end
of the deal. The kids were all sleeping through the night, so he at
least got a good night’s sleep. On the other hand, when Cassandra
wasn’t being woke up by her mother’s moans and groans, the nurses
were coming into the room to check Mattie’s vital signs,
temperature and whatever else they could think to do between
midnight and seven in the morning.

Her mother was improving. Her face had
straightened itself out, she had full use of both arms and she was
walking with a cane. By the second week of hospitalization although
Mattie was improving, Cassandra was worn out. Then one evening JT
approached her as she was packing her overnight bag. He told her,
“You’re not going to the hospital tonight.”

She grabbed her toothbrush and face cleanser
out of the medicine cabinet as she said, “I have to, JT. Last night
I hit the nurse button and it took them twenty minutes to get to
her room. What if it had been an emergency? She needs someone there
with her.”

“Yeah, she needs someone to be there. But not
you; not tonight.”

She turned around getting ready to face off
with JT for being selfish. Cassandra was an only child, so who did
he think was going to stay with Mattie if she didn’t? Just as she
was getting ready to let him have it, she noticed that he had his
pillow in his hand and then he reached around her and grabbed his
toothbrush out of the medicine cabinet. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to the hospital tonight.”

Her brow raised as she asked, “You’re going
to do what?”

“I can see that you’re worn out. So, I’m
taking my turn.”

Dumbfounded by this act of kindness,
Cassandra opened her mouth and put her foot in it before she could
stop herself. “But you don’t even like my mother.”

JT took the overnight bag from Cassandra. He
took her stuff out of it and laid it on the bed, then put his
toiletries in it as he said, “I’ve been praying about this, and the
way I see it, this whole situation is really quite simple. You love
your mother and I love you. So, I’ve decided to make her love me
like the son she never had.”

Cassandra didn’t want to hurt JT’s feelings,
but she didn’t think that would ever happen. However, she didn’t
want him to give up on treating her mother respectfully either, so
she asked, “What if that never happens?”

JT smiled and hunched his shoulders. “Then
I’m going to love her anyway.”

Cassandra went to him then. She wrapped her
arms around him and said, “Thank you.”

He held her tightly and said, “I got this,
Sanni. Don’t worry about a thing. You’re mom won’t be able to
resist me for much longer.”

By the time JT got home from work the next
day, his eyes were bloodshot. So, Cassandra knew that the nurses
had given him the same treatment she’d been receiving. But he’d
gone back three days later anyway. At that moment, even with
lawsuits and custody battles looming over their heads, Cassandra
didn’t think she would trade JT Thomas for anyone.

The judge had given them a continuance on
both cases. Now that Mattie was out of the hospital and living with
Cassandra and JT, all of it was about to start up again. But
Cassandra was too busy working with speech, physical and
occupational therapists to stress out over things she couldn’t
control. She told herself that their lives were in God’s hands even
as she set about adjusting their lives to accommodate her mother’s
new reality.

Cassandra didn’t want her mother trying to go
up the stairs, so she removed the couch from the family room and
had Mattie’s bedroom furniture put in there. She knew the new décor
wouldn’t win her any prizes on Rate My Space, one of the shows she
enjoyed watching on HGTV. But this was what her mother needed, and
Cassandra was determined to do everything she could to nurse her
mother back to health.

She was still feeling guilty about praying
that God would confound the tongues of the liars that were in the
courtroom that day. And now her mother couldn’t speak. The speech
therapist had been working with her, but so far all Mattie was able
to do was say her own name and Cassandra’s. She couldn’t get the
whole name out though, so now instead of calling her Cassandra, her
mother called her Sanni like JT. That was okay with Cassandra, but
it was the times when Mattie would try to tell her something, and
the whole sentence would come out like gibberish that broke her
heart. She wanted so desperately to have a two way conversation
with her mother. She would even listen to any joke Mattie wanted to
tell.

It was times like this when Cassandra wished
she had some girlfriends. She’d never been much for hanging out
with a bunch of women. That whole scene was too catty for her
taste. But while JT was at work and her mother lay in bed sleeping,
it would be so nice to be able to pick up the phone and tell a
friend about the things she was going through. When she was at the
grocery store yesterday, she bumped into Ellen Peoples. Cassandra
hadn’t seen her at church the last few Sundays, but she thought she
was a nice lady, so she invited her and her husband to dinner
Saturday evening.