—
Still giving their presences to the waiting area of the hospital, the husbands—Boris, Bobby, Shemar, and Idris—had been standing side by side, their pupils fixed upon a provided television. On the device, a game of college basketball appeared. They were playfully going at it, debating which team would take home victory.
Blair, who had finally exited the break-room and found his way back into the waiting area, moved his head in a motion that displayed obvious vexation. He could not believe Whitney had destroyed his precious clothing, which he had paid an arm and leg for.
"What the hell happened to you?" Shemar asked his friend, seeing the man enter the room. His eyes couldn't help but notice the apparent brown colored stains within Blair's clothing.
Turning their focus from the television and placing it onto the angered man, the other husbands released inevitable laughter. They thought he looked ridiculous, crazy even. Besides, with all that was occurring, they needed the humor.
"Yeah," Bobby added, pointing toward his friend. "What the hell you do? Take a shower?" Incessantly, he laughed alongside his peers.
Not wanting to be bothered, Blair waved the other men off. He then took a seat upon one of the surrounding chairs, placing his head within the palms of both his hands. He had been distraught that his clothing was destroyed. But, that was not all that his mind worried of. He couldn't help but to wonder if the doctors treating Mariah would uncover his ungodly acts toward her. Would they spot bruised marks upon her skin? Could it be that he had hit her so hard and was the reason she was unconscious? Oh, he was ashamed. Very ashamed.
Now, while he brooded in his shame, Janet was just beginning to feel hers. She stood by a nearing window, constantly thinking about the conversation she previously had with her husband.
When he asked her about the messages he had read upon her phone, she should've answered honestly. But instead, she flipped the script and turned it around on him. Not because she wanted to hurt him, but because she could not cause herself any exposure. How could she look him in his eyes and tell him that she had been in love with another person, who hadn't even been a man?
But, by refusing to clear things up, she had been hurting him. In fact, they were hurting each other. They needed some sort of resolution.
Turning from the window and placing her pupils onto her husband, Janet walked over to where he stood.
He faced her, curiously. "What's up?"
She released heavy breaths, then replied with, "can we talk?"
Moving his head in an up and down fashion, the man agreed to do so. He could tell that whatever she wanted to discuss clearly held some magnitude and suggested they had better go where no one could hear.
While they walked out of the area trying to decide where would be best to converse, Angela and Toni were seated next to each other having a conversation of their own.
"I just hope that whatever's going on, will soon come to light," Toni said, moving her head in a motion that showed she had been in disbelief. She still couldn't get it through her mind that they had found Mariah the way they did. "Nobody just goes unresponsive like that. Nobody. Something gotta be going on, Angie."
"I know, I know," the other friend said back, showing some sense of understanding. "This just goes to show that we need to be here for Mariah now more than ever. She needs us." She allowed an expression of seriousness to hold her face. "And, we really need to come together and pray. For all of us. Too much has been going on."
Toni agreed, eyeing Angela closely. "You right about that, chile." She then reached for the woman's closest shoulder. "Y'know, I been meaning to tell you, I don't know what the hell I was thinking tryin' to accuse Shemar of stepping out on me." She laughed a bit, recalling how crazy she had sounded. "That man is not having no damn affair. I honestly don't know why I tripped so much. I know he wouldn't do that to me."
Feeling her chest build of anxiety, Angela began to breathe deeply. She found it to be quite ridiculous that Toni spoke so strongly about what kind of man Shemar was, but wasn't honest about the kind of woman she was.
"Y'know what, you might be right. Maybe he wouldn't do that." Angela's shoulders shrugged. "But, Toni, would you?"
At an instant, Toni was astonished. She could not understand what her dear friend was getting at. "Would I what, Angie?" She began to feel her blood boil within her skin, growing rather annoyed. "Are you asking me if I'd cheat on my husband? Cause—correct me if I'm wrong—but this is the second time you've implied that bullshit!"
"I'm just saying," The other woman held onto her chest, feeling concern settle in her heart. "You have a good man, Toni. A man that wants to love you. Everybody can see that. We really can. So, why are you hurting him?"
"How the hell you know what I'm doing to my man? Who been in your ear running they mouth about me?" Toni asked, completely disturbed. In fact, she began to think that maybe Janet had shared information regarding their affair with the other woman. And if she had, it would definitely go down as thee ultimate betrayal.
Angela fixed her mouth to respond, but before she could, a man dressed in a white coat entered the waiting area. Within his hands, a clipboard and pen rested. He allowed his eyes to roam the room then said, "Is there an uh...Blair Miller present?"
Immediately, Blair and his peers surrounded the man. They were desperate to hear whatever information the doctor had to present.
"That's me," the man answered, motioning within himself.
The doctor smiled, beginning to introduce himself. "I am Dr. Studdard, the physician treating your wife." He then ordered for Blair—and Blair only—to follow him. He led the man down a few hallways then right into the room of which Mariah was stationed.
Seeing his wife hooked upon machines, still appearing to be unresponsive, the husband put forth an act of made-up concern. Though he felt shameful for what he had done, he did not care that she had been in pain. Through his eyes, she deserved it. Being the kind of man he was, he felt that if he wanted to hurt his wife, he could do that.
"So, what's going on, Doc?"
Dr. Studdard gave his pupils to the clipboard within his hands, reading all that it consisted of. "Well, we've ran several tests on Mrs. Miller. She seems to be in perfect health. Her vitals are fine, organs are in great shape." He paused, continuing with, "But we did find traces of Mirtazapine within her system. As you may or may not know, Mirtazapine is a prescribed medication used to treat depression."
Blair's head moved in an up and down fashion, him trying to act as if he had been aware. "Yeah, I uh...I remember her doctor writing a prescription for it." He lied. Truly, he had no idea that his wife had been taking antidepressants. "She's okay to use it though, right?"
"Well," the doctor replied. "Just like any other medication, it has it's pros and cons. I would certainly recommend it as to wanting to improve depressive moods or feelings." He then sighed. "But, one of the main side effects of this medication is that it can lead to epileptic seizures. We believe Mrs. Miller recently took a high dosage, and suffered a seizure in her sleep. This is why she has been unconscious."
The husband placed the palm of his left hand upon his forehead. "Goddamnit." He then released loaded breaths, allowing his eyes to travel upon Mariah's faint body. "So, how is she doing now? Is she still unconscious?"
"She is not," Dr. Studdard said back, also eyeing his patient. "Right now she has been placed on sedatives to ease her nerves. We expect her to awake shortly. That is when she is allowed visitors."
Blair showed that he understood, and even thanked God his lover was expected to be just fine. He respected the doctor's request for no visitors until Mariah had been awake. But, he knew just the kind of people his friends were. Sooner than later, they were going to grow impatient and would demand to see their dear friend. So, he asked Dr. Studdard if he'd mind going back into the waiting area to explain to his friends what had been explained to him.
The doctor agreed to, but only after Mariah's insurance had been discussed.
All while they made sure the woman's medical expenses were squared away, Janet and Boris had still been away from their friends. They decided to go outside of the building, right by it's entrance.
"I just want to know where do we go from here?" Janet asked, eyeing her husband. "Are we okay, Boris?"
The man seemed a bit confused, not sure why now was the time to have such conversation. "Are you sure you want to talk about this right now? I don't think—"
"I am," she answered, impeding his words. "I don't want to go back to the resort feeling how I'm feeling. We need to talk this over."
"Okay," Boris shrugged his shoulders. "I just want you to explain those text messages. Who was that, Jan?"
The woman instantly searched through her mind for a convenient lie. No matter what, she was not going to oust herself nor Toni. She felt they owed each other that loyalty. "I can't. I mean, I don't know. I didn't even recognize that number. Only thing I can think is that that person texted my number by mistake. I don't know them, they don't know me."
"So, why did you get so defensive when you thought I had gone through your phone?" Her husband asked, his eyes held an immense amount of curiosity.
Just like he had done, Janet too had shrugged her shoulders. "Listen, you know I sometimes fly off the handle. I get mad as hell and just say any damn thing." Attempting to completely smoothen things over, she moved closer to him. "C'mon, Boris, I wouldn't hurt you like that. It's not in me to do to you what you did to me. That's your karma to have, not mine."
Boris sighed, breathing rather profoundly. Whether things were going to turn around for their marriage or not, he just wanted the fighting to be over. "Look, let's just move forward from all of this. To hell with the messages and everything else. We need to keep going to therapy and working on us. If shit don't work out, it is what it is. At least we tried, y'know?"
Janet agreed, but only because she too was tired of the constant arguing. Truthfully, she was so far gone out of this marriage, but because she couldn't just remove Toni from hers, she had to stick with what she had. And that was Boris.
As the two made their way back inside, they saw their peers surrounding Blair and Dr. Studdard. Joining them, they tried to listen to what the doctor was saying as he was explaining Mariah's condition. But, his words were cut off when Whitney abruptly entered the waiting area.
She carried two white pigmented bags by her sides. Within those bags were endless servings of snacks. After she had deliberately spilled coffee all over Blair, she had ventured off and eventually found a gift shop.
"I'm back everybody." She said, placing the snacks down in one of the nearing chairs. Having all the attention fixed upon her, she continued on with, "Can't believe I just paid six dollars for a goddamn bottled water. It's just like Mariah to have us at this boujie ass hospital."
Finally, she gave her attention to the presences before her. After noticing Dr. Studdard and realizing just how serious everyone appeared to be, the woman's mouth dropped.
"Hold on a minute. She gone?" Her eyes widened. "Oh, Lordy. Ooh, Jesus. Say it ain't so." Causing herself to lose balance, Whitney fell to her knees, holding onto her chest. "Please don't tell me that girl den woke up dead. No, don't tell me that. Lord, I can't take this."
Angela moved her head from one side to the other, in disbelief that even at a hospital, her dear friend would act a fool.
Feeling embarrassed, Bobby tried to bring his wife back to her feet, but she incessantly fell back down. "Nippy, you den lost yo' rabbit ass mind?"
"Y'all called the coroner yet?" Whitney began fanning herself with her hands. "Oh lord, who gone do the body? Who gon sing at the funeral?"
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A|N: thoughts? 👀
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