Mistaken Identity

Chapter 3

---
The ride to the hospital was quick. Mekhi hopped out the car before Julius even pulled to a complete stop. Dear God, please let my brother be okay, he thought to himself. He rushed through the emergency room doors straight to the nurses station, out of breath with tears rolling down his face.
"Miss, please. My brother!! He was bought in on an ambulance with a gunshot wound. Can you please tell me where I can find him." He asked patting the counter impatiently and exhaling while the older nurse types slowly into the computer. "Ma'am please, I need to know if he's ok. Marcus. His name is Marcus Whitehead. "

" Uh huh, young man, you are going to have to calm down. It says here, on this screen, that your brother is in surgery. You will have to wait until the doctor comes out and gives you an update."

Mekhi paced back and forth, running his hands over his head until Julius came back into the hospital.
"Man, you look terrible. Why don't you have a seat? I'm sure Mark will be ok, he's a fighter. You know that. "

Mekhi sat down in a chair in the nearby waiting room. He's right. Marcus will be fine. Then Mekhi realized that he would have to call his parents and let them know what happened. He dreaded having to break the news to them but he knew they had to be there. He's pulled out his phone, called his parents and left a voicemail. When no one answered, he called their individual cell phones and sent texts that Marcus was in the hospital having emergency surgery and needed them to come right away. Feeling defeated he sunk into the chair and watched the waiting room chaos until the doctor came to give an update.

It seemed like hours had passed when Mekhi looked down at his watch. Time is moving so slow, it's only been 30 minutes. Mekhi looked back up to see a m couple walk up to the nurses station. He took a deep breath and slowly approached them. The woman had on a purple button up shirt and jeans with flip flops. Her clothes were wrinkled as if she had slept in them and hoped right out of bed and came to the hospital. Her caramel skin, though streaked with tears, was flawless with black hair that flowed past her shoulders. Her eyes where red  and her hands trembled as she talked to the nurse. The man beside her was a tall and dark complexed, a strong man with dark hair with a little grey right above his temples. He wore jeans and a polo shirt and Nike shoes and stood beside trying to console his wife.

"Mom, Dad." Mekhi said, just above a whisper.  His parents turned to face him, he was not embraced and this was not a family affair where they would lean on each other in time of sorrow. He was greeted with glares and hateful stares.

"What did you do? What did you do to my son!" His mother screamed at him in the middle of the emergency room. "I know you caused this. I know my son was thrown in the crossfires of your sins!! What did you do to him?" She continued to scream.

Mekhi looked at the ground and fiddled with his fingers. "I didn't do anything. We went to a party and there was a fight, a misunderstanding. Someone thought he was me and they shot him."

"I wish they had shot you!" The mother weeped into the fathers arms.  Mekhi simply walked away and say back down next to Julius.

Julius was stunned. He had meet the Whitehead's several times and they had always been pleasant. He had even attended their church for family and friends day. He never questioned why Mekhi didn't attend. He never knew they arbored such hatred for their son because Marcus never mentioned it.

"Tough break. I'm sure she didn't mean it. " he leaned over to Mekhi and spoke softly. "She's probably just scared. "

Mekhi let out a slight laugh, " Yea, so scared that she would rather her gay son die, instead. "