' 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗘 𝗦𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗜𝗡 ' › D. SWING

23.

( two days later )

DeVante.

My eyes fluttered as the sun peeked through the room window, slowly openin' them while I gradually regained focus. I turned my head toward the left to see a slumped over Rhonda as she rested her head on her arms which were folded over each other and propped up on the side of the small bed. My heart skipped a beat. Never had I imagined she would be here. Shit, I didn't even think I would be alive. I thought I died that night but yet here I am, lookin' at the most beautiful woman in the world—the love of my life. Rhonda. I couldn't help but smile. Sure my breath was funky as hell, I didn't give a damn. I just wanted to talk to her and her talk to me. Hear that sweet angelic voice of hers and tell her how much I missed her. Tell her that I would never hurt her again. Tell her that—

She lifted her head up slowly, her eyebrows furrowed as she squinted from the sunlight beamin' through the blinds, and scrunchin' up her nose while her eyes remained slightly closed. I wanted for her to open them, eager to see those pretty brown eyes. Slowly but surely, she did–still unaware that I was lookin' at her. Finally, her eyes traveled up to see me and she gasped, her face filled with relief while she quickly got up from the chair she had been sittin' on and embracin' me a bit more tighter than she should have. I winced and let out a slight groan as the waves of pain shot through me. My ribs and arms were killin' me. She released me, rememberin' that I had just been almost beaten to death, frownin' and placin' her soft hand onto my left cheek, "I'm so sorry. Did I hurt you?" I chuckled a little, but that only caused me pain, too. I put my hand over the right side of my abdomen, cursin' under my breath. She looked at me with empathy, caressin' the skin of my cheek as she pouted slightly, "Want me to get you some water and some pain medicine? You're probably hungry, too, huh?" I just nodded, afraid that if I talk, it might hurt as well. She smiled at me and headed toward the door and out of the room into the hallway where she looked around for a nurse. Once one approached her, she told them I was awake and what I needed. Five minutes later, the room was full of nurses and a doctor as they scrambled around the room checkin' the monitors, askin' me a shitload of questions, and bringin' in the water, food, and medication.

"So happy to see that you're back, Mr. DeGrate", the doctor said before he left out of the room with nurses. Rhonda just kissed her teeth and rolled her eyes, closin' the door behind him and walkin' back over toward the bed, takin' my hand into her own.

She grinned down at me, blinkin' more frequent than necessary. I could tell that she was tryna' hold back from cryin' and just gave her hand a quick squeeze. She laughed softly at herself and sniffled, shakin' her head as the tears escaped, "I thought I lost you, D." She lowered her head, usin' her other hand to hover it over her mouth in attempt to conceal the fact that she was cryin' even harder now. I honestly didn't expect her to be here, let alone cry over me after all that I've done. What did I do to deserve such a person who loved me this much? I didn't understand it. I wasn't the best—I knew that. But that's because I didn't know how to love anybody. At least not until I met Rhonda. The way she made me feel scared me half to death, which is why I had to push her away. I was terrified of makin' a mistake by bein' in love while the whole time I was makin' a mistake by not bein' in love. It's cliche for people to start comin' to their senses once they lose someone or go through a traumatic experience—and shit, I had both happen to me. All at once. But that's not the reason I'm makin' an effort to try again with her. I knew all along that she was the one I was supposed to be with. God told me so the first day I saw her that Sunday at church. Yet I brushed it off and treated her like she was nothin' when she was everything. Aware that I had caused damage to our relationship and ruined any chance of us gettin' back together, I just couldn't turn away from what we had. What we have. Regardless of anything we went through, we still loved each other. It was obvious that she did but of course I had to do better on my end if I wanted to get her back.