delirium (sequel to apathy)

10

                       10

Here we were again, back in the hospital.

Walking down the long corridors of the hospital, I glanced at the room numbers, looking for Dad's new room. The hospital had called, keeping true to their promise of keeping us up to date with how he's doing. They said that he was moving his fingers, and sometimes he's hands, like he knew you were there. That had me wondering what being in a coma was like, and what Dad was seeing. Maybe he knew that he was in a coma..or maybe he was simply seeing how his day went, regularly. 

Mom swung our hands back and forth as we walked down the hall, and I could hear her humming to herself. She seemed like she was in a good mood today, because usually, whenever I mention going to visit Dad, she gets this sad look in her eyes. So sometimes, I go without her, just so I don't put her in a bad mood. 

"Can we get some pizza after this?" I asked her, making her look up at me. 

She nodded, "Sure baby." 

"Good." 

I was glad she said yes. She had woke me up early and had rushed me out of house, because we had more than one errand to run. Which meant that I didn't get a chance to eat breakfast. First, she had to go to my school to withdraw me, because of how I was involved int he plan with Grandpa and Ramiro. She told me that Charles would be my teacher, until the plan was over. Then, she had to run by her office to get some files on her patients.

I don't know why she insists on doing work when she's..sick. Speaking of that, her skin still has that special glow. Last night, for about the fiftieth time, I heard her throwing up. I was going to get up and check on her,  but then I heard Brandon's voice, and it sounded like he was comforting her. And since I couldn't stand to be in the same room with him for a while, I took my ass back to bed. I don't know, it's just that he gives off this bad vibe, and even though I don't say shit, I see the way he looks and treats Mom.

It's not terrible or anything, it's just he treats her like he put that wedding ring on her finger, and not Dad. But maybe he could just be being nice, since he is Mom's only close friend, besides Dad. Either way, I still don't like him, and I think he can tell, so he doesn't say much to me. 

We came to Dad's new room, the door already open with a nurse inside. She gave us a smile, and left us alone with him, closing the door behind herself as she left out. Once again, I was greeted with the sounds of his machines, keeping track of his heart, and his blood pressure. They had removed the tube that was helping him breathe, and now I could clearly see his scar from the bullet wound. It was close to his heart, and it was shaped like a long claw mark. 

I watched Mom as she interacted with him, placing her hand on his chest. His heart rate increased, and I couldn't help but smile. That brought a smile to her face, and I could see Dad start to move his fingers. Suddenly, his hand pressed against Mom's stomach, and she looked at me. I was just surprised as she was. Then his monitor started to beep faster, and faster, causing Mom to step back. 

When she did, his hand dropped, his monitor returning to normal. 

"What was that?" Mom sighed, and I shrugged in response. She wrapped her arm around my torso, rubbing my back. My stomach growled, and she looked up at me, smiling. 

"Okay, how about we go get that pizza, so you won't be grumpy later on?" 

I sighed, rolling my eyes. 

"Ma, please.." 

She kissed my cheek, "Don't be like that, King. You know you like it when I baby you." 

For the rest of the day, I spent it over Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandpa was downstairs with Terrell and the others, so that meant that the house was packed. Ramiro had brought over Nala, since Diana was once again, at work. Lorenzo was here, and so was Blade. Grandma was making cookies, all for me..and Nala too. 

Nala sat in my lap, playing with the drawstrings of my hoodie. She was in her own little world, balling up the strings and then undoing it, tugging on both of them. I kept having to fix my hoodie when she did so, and she squealed each time as the strings slipped from her grasp. That eventually lost her interest, as she realized what I was doing. She decided to move onto playing with my phone - which she snatched out of my hands. She's lucky she's so adorable, or I would've snatched my phone right back from her. 

"You got Nala texting your hoes?"

I looked up at Cayla, covering over Nala's ears. I glared at her as she sat down, and she rolled her eyes. 

"She doesn't even understand what a hoe is. There's no need to cover her little ears." 

Nala dropped my phone, covering my hands with hers. I smiled, and she started to giggle at me. She was scooped up out of my lap by Grandma, who blew into her cheek. "Here you go sweetheart," she said, handing me a napkin filled with cookies. I smiled up at her, and she kissed my forehead. She gave Nala back to me, and Nala reached for the cookie I was about to put in my mouth. I broke it in half, giving her the smaller part. She opened up her mouth, nearly biting my finger when I fed her the cookie. 

"Amir, bring yourself!" 

Grandpa stood at the entrance to the basement, and I passed Nala onto Cayla. I stood up, stuffing the napkin into my hoodie pocket. I descended down the stairs after Grandpa, closing the door as well. I went ahead and sat at the table, next to Ramiro. Terrell was sitting across from me, holding a folder in his hand. 

"Okay, go ahead, T," Grandpa sighed. 

Terrell placed the folder on the table, opening it up. He placed a photo in the table, sliding it towards the middle. 

It was a picture of Martin, Jose, and some other man I didn't recognize. He kind of looked like Martin..

"I went through every single person on that list Jose gave me, and almost every single on of them checks out..except for this one." He pointed to the man in the photo. "No one else on the list is closer to Martin than he is, and that's why I think he might be sending Monae those notes..he might have even been the one that shot Dante." 

I raised my eyebrows, my curiosity getting the better of me. 

"Then who is he?" I asked. 

Terrell locked eyes with me for a moment, and then looked at every one else before answering. 

"...This is Martin's actual twin brother, Marten." 

an: Anyway, any theories on Marten could be the one sending the notes?