This Can't be Life (7 page)

“Hello, did you hear me, damn it?” I asked, raising my voice and pounding my fist on the partition.

“What’s her name, young lady?” I couldn’t believe this bitch sitting in front of me.

“I said, her name is Simone Johnson,” I managed to say, through clenched teeth.

“Let me check.” She got up so slowly that I wanted to kick her in her ass. I bet if she was going to see about some food she’d move her ass a little faster…hell, a lot faster. I paced back and forth until she returned.

“Yes, she’s here. She’s in with the doctor now. I told them you were here. The doctor will be out to see you as soon as he gets a chance.” She spoke to me like I wasn’t a living, breathing person with feelings. She was definitely in the wrong line of work. I walked away before I gave her a piece of my mind and continued pacing back and forth, too nervous to sit.

An hour had passed and there still wasn’t any news on Simone. It seemed as if I had been back and forth to the front desk about 30 times until, finally, the doctor walked in, asking for the family of Simone Johnson.

“Right here, sir.” I was apprehensive as hell about what I was about to hear. I extended my hand to him and told him my name.

“Miss Miles, I’m Dr. Edmonds. Your sister is a lucky woman. She was in a very bad accident, but it looks as if she fared well. She fractured a few ribs and got a really bad bump to the head that rendered her unconscious for a while. We ran some tests and everything else looks fine. I’m telling you, she’s very lucky from what I’ve heard about the other driver.” I sat down and started crying. All that time I spent not knowing what was going on with my best friend made me a nervous wreck. To hear that she was going to be okay was very overwhelming. He placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder and told me that everything was going to be okay.

“I’m sure she’s anxious to see you. Come. I’ll take you to her.” I stood up and followed the doctor to her room. Simone was resting peacefully, looking like a black version of Sleeping Beauty. If it weren’t for the knot on the left side of her forehead, you wouldn’t have been able to tell that she had been in an accident. I thanked the doctor, walked over to the side of Simone’s bed, and touched her hand. When our eyes met, we began crying. I felt so relieved. I couldn’t imagine what I would have done if she wasn’t okay.

“Simone, you okay?” I asked, when I was finally able to speak through the huge lump in my throat that wasn’t subsiding.

“Yeah. I just have a mad ass headache and my side hurts. Nothing I can’t deal with. Did you call Stacey?”

“Oh, my God, I didn’t think to call anyone. I thought you were dead!” I choked out, prompting another round of tears from the both of us.

“Tali, I’m so happy you were on the phone with me. Nobody would have known. I could’ve died and nobody would’ve known.” Simone sobbed as we held each other and thanked God for sparing her life.

When Simone began having shooting pains in her head, the doctor decided to keep her in the hospital for a few days. I volunteered to run to Simone’s house to grab some items so she could make it through the next few days comfortably. My cell battery was dead, so when I got to Simone’s house, I called the salon to speak to Stacey. I knew he had to be a nervous wreck by now.

“Where is Simone, Talise?” Stacey asked in a shaky voice, after the receptionist transferred the call to him. I immediately reassured him that she was okay and told him what happened. I could tell that he was worried to death.

“I can’t believe you didn’t call me, Talise!”

“I’m so sorry, Stace, I wasn’t even thinking. You have no idea what I just went through. I thought she was dead!”

“Hell, I did, too, Talise! I’ve been in this damned salon for hours, worried out of my damned mind about both of ya’ll! I was about to lose it!”

“I’m really sorry, Stace, don’t be mad at me, please.”

“How can I be mad, Talise, when I’m just happy that you guys aren’t dead? I’ll be at the hospital as soon as I finish up here. I’m gonna call and talk to her now.”

 “All right, I’ll see you when you get there. Love you, Stacey,”

“Love you, too. Bye.”

I grabbed her toothbrush out of its holder and began packing a small bag of panties and pajamas. When her home phone rang, I picked it up without thinking to check the caller ID. I figured it was either Simone telling me to bring something else or Stacey, who always forgets to say something and calls right back.

“Hello?”

“Hi. Can I speak to Simone?”

“She’s not in right now. Can I take a message?” I asked, wondering who was calling her home phone. She didn’t give that number out regularly.

“Yeah, can you tell her Deon called? I just wanted to make sure she made it home all right. She was kind of upset when she dropped me off earlier.”

“Deon, this is her friend, Talise. Simone was in a car accident after she left you.”

“What? Is she okay? What happened?”

“She was knocked unconscious from the impact, broke a few ribs, and totaled her car, but she’s doing okay. She made it. The other driver didn’t.”

“What? What hospital is she in?”

“She’s at Cedars Sinai.” 

“Okay, thanks. I’m about to call up there right now.”

“Okay, Deon. Bye.” I hung up the phone and proceeded to gather the rest of her things.   

When I walked back into the hospital room, Simone was getting off the phone.

“Who was that, Deon or Stacey?”

“Deon, acting concerned. Stacey called right before Deon. Actually, I thought it was Stacey calling back when the phone rang. You know how he does. Deon’s gonna come up here.”

“You should call your mom.”

“I called her. She wasn’t home, so I left a message. I don’t know why I even called her, though. She doesn’t care.” Simone sighed, as she tried to adjust the pillows behind her.

“Don’t say that, Simone. She cares.”

“Whatever, Talise. You, of all people, know how she is. Will you stay with me tonight? Please?” She asked, looking pitiful.

“You don’t have to ask me twice. Of course, I’ll stay with you.” I hopped on the bed with her as she slid over. “Oh, damn! Am I hurting you?” I asked Simone, forgetting about her broken ribs.

“No, but tonight you have to sleep on that pullout over there, ‘cause you’ll be aching along with me in the morning if we both sleep in this little ass bed,” she laughed.

“I just need to lie down right now. I’m so drained. I’ll get up in a minute. Stacey’s coming anyway and you know he’s staying.” I yawned and looked at my watch. “Damn, I can’t believe it’s almost
7:00
.”

“I know. Time sure did fly by today…Talise?”

“Huh?” I mumbled.

“Did you see the doctor? He is fine as hell!”

“Girl, you almost died today!” I said, laughing. It felt good to know that Simone was back to her old self again.

Deon

I walked through the hospital corridor with a huge bunch of pink tulips, looking for the room number that Simone had given me. I stopped by the nurse’s station to make sure I was headed in the right direction and was told that her room was just a few doors down on the right. The nurse offered to personally escort me there if I gave her my autograph for her son. She seamed like a nice lady, so I gave her the autograph and told her that I could find the room on my own.

The door was slightly open, so I tapped lightly and then entered the room. Simone was lying in the hospital bed with a woman lying beside her, both sleeping peacefully.

“Hey, beautiful.” I walked over to her, kissed her on her forehead, and sat the flowers by the window.

“Thank you! These are really pretty…and my favorite flower. How did you know?” she asked, smiling, her voice scratchy from sleep.

“I didn’t know, but when I went to get them, the lady said they were the prettiest flowers in the store so, I figured, or I should say, hoped, that you’d think so, too,” I smiled, pulling a chair closer to the bed and sitting down beside her.

“This is my friend, Talise, you met her at the Sky Bar,” Simone said, looking down at the pretty girl sleeping next to her.

“Huh? Simone! Why didn’t you wake me up? I can’t believe I was sleeping that hard,” she said, looking embarrassed.

“We couldn’t wake you up. The alarm in the hospital went off, they moved you guys to another room and you didn’t even feel them pushing you guys down the hall!” I joked.

“Yeah, we tried to wake you up, but you wouldn’t budge. I checked your pulse to make sure you were still alive and you were…so I just let you sleep,” Simone added, smiling.

“Whatever. You guys are lying,” she laughed, looking around to make sure she wasn’t in another room.

“Hi, I’m Talise. We’ve met. How are you?”

“I’m good, thanks. Just having a pretty crazy day. How are you?” I asked her. Her eyes were swollen, puffy, and red; she looked like she had been in the accident instead of Simone.

“I’m okay, thanks. I just have a headache from crying so much. I’m going to the cafeteria to find something to snack on. Do you guys want anything?” she asked, getting out of the bed and slipping into her shoes.

“Bring me back a Pepsi.”

“I’ll bring you back a bottle of water. You drink too much soda, Simone. You good, Deon?”

“Yeah, I’m cool, thanks.”

“You sure you’re okay, Simone? You need anything?” I asked, after her friend had left the room.

“Why are you here? Why do you even care, Deon?” Simone asked, sincerely. From the look in her eyes alone, I could tell that she’d been hurt before. I could tell that she didn’t trust me, although I’d given her no reason not to.

“To be honest with you, Simone, I don’t know why. All I know is that something keeps pulling me toward you. All I can do is go where I’m led,” I said, honestly. “I guess I’m here because I care. I’m a grown ass man and I don’t play games, Simone. I know you’ve been through a lot. I can see it in your eyes and I know you won’t let me in easily. But I’m not worried about that. All I need is for you to open the door a little bit.”

“I can’t make you any promises, Deon,” Simone whispered, trying hard not to let the tears that had welled in her eyes fall.

“Simone, I don’t need any promises from you. Fuck a promise! I’m not here to bring you down. I’m here to lift you up. My intentions are honorable. I’ll show you what type of man I am if you give me the chance.”

“Will you stay here with us tonight?” she asked, probably testing me.

“If that’s what you want, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll be right back.” I walked out to the nurse’s station and asked to speak to the person who could get Simone moved into a different room. By the time her friend came back from the cafeteria, I’d gotten Simone moved into the biggest room they had available. She was about to meet the man my parents raised.

Simone

“Simone. Simone, wake up.” I heard Deon’s voice as he shook me awake.

“Damn, babe, what were you dreaming about? You were crying and begging someone to stop,” Deon asked, looking concerned.