Chapter Seventeen
Naomi P.O.V
I hated the smell of hospitals. It smelled of people, blood, death, antiseptics. Goodness, I hated hospitals period. I'd visited them a lot, when I was younger. I don't believe I could ever go a full month, with out coming here. My mom constantly have to bring me, because I'd have an 'accident' down the stairs or something like that. It wasn't that I hated the doctors, I don't. I hate needles, blood, anything that deals with both subjects. There was this day, where this nurse and I became friends. She had the best sense of humor, never went a visit without giggling. Other than my mom, she was my best friend. I never said goodbye to her. She wasn't on my mind, when I left Florida. I was hoping that I could leave Florida and hopefully forget everything that'd happened there. Never happened.
I walk past a room where a woman is groaning loudly in pain and shouting for the doctors to come. Another room I walk past, there's another woman crying, her sandy hair in a bun, her face puffy and red. She wipes a few tears away and manages to slide the corners of her mouth into a smile, before I continue walking. I said a small prayer for her, hoping things would be okay. Cries in a hospital usually meant one thing, death or loss. Both were usually terrible. I remember, how painful it was. Rushing up the stairs and seeing the doctors work on my mom. They said it was nothing they could do, she was gone.. There was once a time, I'd blamed the doctors for her death, but then the blame really goes to my father. He was the one who killed her, ended her life before it was time. It was his fault. It would always be his fault.
Leroy slides his hand into mines, as we walk into room 34. The room Marylin was in. We would either walk in here and find her happy and relieved; or sad and depressed. We both take a deep breath, before pushing the door open. Marylin is sitting up in the hospital bed reading a magazine, her red hair tied in a messy bun, her brown eyes focused on the article. She looks up and smiles when she sees us, setting the magazine down. As we approach her, I notice there are dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. I smile lightly, sitting in the chair across from her. Leroy runs and wraps his arms around her, asking if she's okay.
"I'm fine. The baby is too." She says, smiling. He smiles back, nodding. "That's great! Where's dad?" Leroy asks.
"He went home for a moment, he should be back shortly." She says, yawning. We nod.
"How are you feeling, Naomi?" She asks. Hmm. I don't know how I'm feeling at this moment. I run my fingers through my curls, forcing a smile. "Alright. How are you feeling?"
"Fine."
"So, what happened?" I ask. "I have no idea. Maybe I ate something bad? I'm not sure, not even the doctors are."
"You ate out?"
"I did. I went to this Chinese restaurant. I've never eaten there before. I'm not sure if it was something they cooked me or not. I had fish and rice."
I nod. "It could have been. How's Darren?"
"Alright. He's been worried sick about me."
I nod, understanding. Another scream echos from the hallways causing me to flinch. Ugh. This place reminded me of a horror movie more than a hospital. Marylin must have noticed because she commented that she couldn't sleep because of all of the screams. "What's going on?" I ask.
"I haven't any idea. They've been going on all day." She shakes her head. I nod, licking my lips and noticing that they are dangerously dry.. Very dry. "Do you have any Carmex?" I ask. Leroy digs in the pocket of his jeans and smiles, tossing the tube over to me. "You're a lifesaver." I say, squeezing the tube onto my finger.
"Leroy?" Marylin says, her voice cracking a bit. "Could you pass me my phone and ear-buds please? I'd like to listen to some music." Leroy immediately stands up, walking over to the small brown table and handing her what she'd requested for. She thanks him and smiles, plugging the ear-buds into her small ears. She closes her eyes and leans back against her pillow. "You thirsty?" Leroy asks, smiling at me. I nod, blushing. Why do I constantly blush!? I swallow, realizing how terribly dry my mouth is. Everything decided to be dry today.
I follow Leroy to the food court, ignoring the stares we were getting as we asked for only water. This woman and her kids were staring at us as if we just killed three people. I ask Leroy if there's something on my face or my clothes, he shakes his head.
We sit at a nearby table, watching the cartoons on the small flat screen TV's against the walls. I sipped my water, thankful that it was cold. At the hospital before, the water had been warm. Too warm. I turn my head and notice a young man who looked to be in his twenties, staring at Leroy and I. Mostly me. It wasn't that kind of look, where the guy was checking you out. It was one of those looks that showed concern or pity. "Leroy why are they staring." He turns to looks at the guy and shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe-" The TV cuts him off, giving us both the answer.
A older woman appears on the screen holding a black microphone in her hand, speaking rather loudly.
"A young woman went on a vacation in hopes that it would end in fun, but actually ended in disaster. Penelope Phillips is arrested after beating Naomi Adams in her parent's attic." The screen shows Penelope fighting against the officers as they stuff her in the police car, slamming the door. I take a deep breath, continuing to listen.
"Naomi Adams is reported to have a bruised stomach but nothing further. Nothing broken or further damaged. The victim looked to be traumatized afterwards but reports say she's getting better. More info on the website." The small website pops up, as I'm being carried on the stretcher into the back of the truck. A sigh escapes from my lips as I rise out of my seat. Leroy rises as well, throwing his cup away. "You okay?" He asks, concern lacing his tone. No, I don't like the idea of everyone knowing my business..
"Who is telling them about all of this?"
"I have no idea. Maybe Bill or Kelly? I'm not sure." I shrug. "Whatever. It doesn't matter. I'll meet you back in Marylin's room." I say, walking away. He wraps his arms around my waist, turning my body so I'm facing him. He kisses my cheek. "It will be okay, Muffin." I nod, blushing and smiling slightly. "I'll meet you." I say, pulling away from his grasp. I wonder the hospital halls, no longer hearing the strange screams. I sigh in relief, for they were actually starting to freak me out. I happen to pass the woman who'd been crying before. I knock on the door, not exactly sure why.
The woman opens the door, her sandy brown hair tied in a bun. Her face is still puffy from when she'd been crying. "Hi." She says, her voice trembling. "Hello." I say. "May I come in." She takes a good look at me before answering. "Sure. I'm barely visited anyway." She motions for me to come in. I step in the room that smelled of latex gloves and cherry soap. I walk over to a nearby chair and sit, noticing that this chair is far more uncomfortable than the one in Marylin's. Until I ask of the woman's name, I call her Sandy, because of her hair.
"How are you?" I ask, realizing how stupid that sounds. She shakes her head. "Well, I'm alright. For now."
"Why were you crying?" I ask.
She hesitates for a moment, and then sits down, taking a sip of her water. "I'm dying, hun. Not only that, but I have a husband. He's in the army. What will he do, coming back and finding out that his wife is dead?" Her eyes fill with tears, one sliding down her pale cheek but she quickly wipes it away. "I don't know what to do. I haven't even told him what the doctors told me."
"What did they say."
"They say I have six months to live. Six. My husband won't be back in North Carolina for a year."
"You have to tell him." I say.
She nods. "I am, I'm going to write him a letter." I nod, smiling lightly.
"Good. Now, I have a question for you. Two, actually. First, what is your name?"
"Macey." She says, smiling. "Named after my great grandma." She says, proudly.
I smile. "I'm Naomi. Nice to meet you." We shake hands, and then I swallow hard.
"Now, here's my second. Do you pray, Macey?" She hesitates and gets a bitter look on her face. "No I do not, Miss Naomi." She says, shaking her head.
"Why not?"
"I used to pray, all the time. But when I got cancer, I stopped. I'm angry."
"With God?"
"Yes!"
"So things in life got hard for you, and you stopped talking to God all together?"
"Exactly." She says.
"Macey." I say.
"Yes, Miss Naomi?"
"That's not right."
"What, Miss Naomi?"
I cringed again at the sound of her calling me 'Miss' Shouldn't I be calling her, Miss? She looked older than me. Hmm.
"You quit talking to God when things got hard. That's not right. When things get hard, we as Christians are to continue giving Him all of the praise. He deserves it all. It's not like we are going to go through forever, but it surely feels like it, I know. But you have to press, continue praying, reading your Bible. You can't just give up on God when things get hard. Jesus could have gave up, but he didn't! So if Jesus didn't give up, we can't." I say, surprised at my words. It seems like I was not only trying to tell her, but myself. I knew at that moment, these words were not my own, they were His.
Macey looked at me, tears in her eyes. "Oh, you're so right." She starts crying then. After a while, she begins to get quiet, and I take it that she's praying. I smile, slowly standing to walk out of the room. "Thank you, Naomi." She whispers as I leave the room. I silently thank God, before shutting the door.
When I get back in Leroy's mothers room, she's sound asleep in her bed.The ear-buds still in her ears, while the phone rests in her hand. Her red hair covers most of her face, while her mouth is wide open. I chuckle looking at Leroy, who looked like he was falling asleep too. "You ready to go?" He asks, sleepily. "Not unless you are. I can stay longer. I don't mind." I mutter, wincing from the pain in the stomach. He smiles. "We can go home, my dad should be on his way pretty soon." He walked over to his mom, kissing her on her forehead. He slides his hand in mines, as we walk through the exit.
I open the door of his blue car, getting in. As soon as he gets in the car, he turns on the radio. I smile, recognizing the song. What Christian song did I not recognize. I move shake my head to the beat of the song, while Leroy twiddles his fingers on the steering wheel. Leroy's phone buzzes but he doesn't check it because he's driving. "Can you see who text me? Read it out loud." He asks. I widen my eyes, surprised he'd asked me to check his phone. His phone! Kevin literally had heart attacks any time I touched his phone. I grab the phone from the seat and read the text. The text was from Ruth.
"Hey Leroy. I need to talk to you ASAP! Come over when you can." A twinge of jealousy subdues my happiness but I quickly push it away. Jealousy is ugly. I told Leroy and he shook his head, a sigh escaping from his lips. "What's wrong?" I ask.
"Nothing. I just...don't want to go over there."
"Why?"
"I don't feel comfortable. She treated me poorly after the break up as if I did something horrible to her, when really, my only crime was loving and living for Jesus." He coughs, stopping at a red light.
I sigh. "Well if you go, I'll go with you. He smiles slightly, as the car begins to move again. "Okay. Thank you, Muffin." I smile, my tummy growling at that word 'Muffin' I sigh, leaning against the seat. "Someone's hungry." Leroy says, smiling. I nod. "Lets stop at Waffle Crib." I raise my eye brows at him. "The what?"
"Waffle Crib. You've never been?"
"I've been to the Waffle 'House' What are you talking about 'Crib?"
"They changed to Crib. I don't know." I shake my head and chuckle. "OK, lets go to the 'Waffle Crib'." I say, giggling.
After two hours of eating and joking around at 'Waffle Crib' we leave, going back to my house.
"Well..." Leroy says.
"Well.."
"I gotta get going now." I frown, my lips showing a pout. This makes him chuckle, wrapping me in a hug. When I pull away, he pulls me right back, kissing my lips. Warmth spreads all over my body and I shiver. This is nice, this is so nice. I...wait. I can't do this. I can't! I can-
"Leroy no." I say, suddenly pulling away from the kiss. I couldn't do this, I couldn't put my heart on the line anymore. What is wrong with me?! I turned and looked at him, a pained expression on his face. I know that I hurt him. Gosh, Naomi! "I'm sorry." I say.
He nods. "It's okay. I didn't mean to.." He trails off, unable to find words.
"I'm not, ready. I'm not. I can't..-" Goodness, I can't even speak. My chest begins to hurt, but I ignore the pain. At least try to.
"I'll wait," He says, pulling me into another hug. I hug him back, immediately pulling away. I didn't want the hug to last longer than it should. He wears a hurt expression on his face, making my heart drop but quickly masks it with a small smile.
"Can we please just stay friends?" I ask, my voice cracking. It was best for us to be friends. Right? I shake my head, trying to clear it. He nods, smiling. I can tell that its forced, I frown slightly.
"Of course. I should get going now, Naomi." He says, walking away to his car. I want to stop him. Tell him to come back and that I don't want to be his friend, that I want to be more than his friend. I don't want to be just your friend! I think to myself. But I can't. I can not find my voice to say it. He gets in his car, backing out of my driveway. He waves, smiling at me, then drives down the street. I sigh, feeling terrible. What is wrong with me? I pull my keys out of my purse, open the door, and shut it, feeling sad. "I'm sorry, Leroy." I whisper, leaning my back against the cold door.
My phone rings, on the step where I left it. I slowly walk over and sit on the step, sighing. "Hello?" I say, hoping it was Leroy. "Naomi." Melanie's voice says. I sigh loudly, and cross my legs. What does she want? "Yes Melanie?"
She clears her throat. "I heard you were back early from your trip, so I need you back asap! You have work to do." I gasp. "I still have a few more days! Melanie!" I practically yell. This is not cool, this is not cool at all. Does she even know what I've been through! Oh wait, she wouldn't care anyway. "Don't yell. Now, if you are not in by ten a.m tomorrow, I will fire you. Then you'll be jobles-"
"Who told you I was back?!" I say, my voice rising again. "Fix your tone." She says, using her warning tone, which didn't scare me. It only made me more angry. "And I haven't any clue. I'm not sure if it was a woman or man. Oh and sorry about your stomach. Are you able to work?" Now she asks?! She's so.. UGH!
"Now you ask! I'm fine to work!" I yell, my stomach tells me otherwise though. I guess I was just going to have to press through it. She laughs coldly. "I'm not going to ask you again-"
"Yeah alright, 'fix my tone' I heard you the first time." I snap. Why was I snapping? I'm never this upset. "Okay. I'm gonna hang up before I end up firing you on the spot. Good-by Naomi." She says, hanging up, before I could apologize.
I toss my phone on the couch, going up the stairs. I open the door to my room, realizing it's getting a bit messy. I collapse on my bed, frustrated. Too much has been going on. Too much is happening. I just want to go back to my boring life of being a Barista. I bury my face in the pillow. I decide it's best to just try to sleep. Sleeping keeps me from thinking to much. I try to sleep, but there's still one question tugging in my mind.
Who told Melanie I was back?
//Note From The Author//
Hi! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Who do you think called and told Melanie?
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And wear a smile.
Chapter Eighteen will be posted today as well! :]