Page 103 of Quasim: King Inferno

He looked down at the beeper that sounded on his hip, and he silenced it. “We’ve run every test, which is why I didn’t want to discharge her once she was awake. I can confidently say that your wife and mother doesn’t have Alzheimer’s.”

The words leaving his mouth had me lean on the windowsill that we were standing next to. He didn’t just say what he said, and I was imagining that shit. “Her doctor was confident, and even ran tests.”

Dr. Pullman dropped the professional act and looked at us three, man to man. “She was lazily diagnosed because I calledher doctor’s office and had her files sent over to me before even having this conversation with you. I hate to give hope when there is none because it further breaks a family down.”

“So, you saying I need to go fuck her other doctor up?” Blaze asked with a serious face, and the doctor looked, waiting for laughter to follow.

It never did.

He opened the files he held in his hand. “Over the past week, we have done thorough neurological exams and cognitive assessments, so we can pinpoint the specific cognitive deficits and identify the causes. We’ve done the tests a few times as well as multiple CT’s and MRI’s, just to make sure.… sorry in advance for your insurance.”

“What are you telling us?” My father asked, holding onto this man’s every word. He held onto the windowsill that I leaned against, as he looked at this man.

“I’m telling you that your wife has a meningioma tumor, which can sometimes be mistaken for Alzheimer’s. With her age, I was skeptical when you told me that she had it, which is what made me look further into it.”

“Fuck,” Blaze huffed out, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

It had been hard losing a piece of our mother, but I knew it was the hardest for my father. She was his person. His love, and he had known her longer than us. She was our mother, but she was his soulmate.

“There’s a chance that I’ll get my baby back… that’s what you telling me?”

The doctor smiled. “Look, many patients do experience an improvement in their memory, because the tumor’s presence was impacting their cognitive function. It’s also important for me to tell you that not every patient will see a complete restoration of their memory, and some things she may notremember, or it may be foggy to her. From the scans, the tumor is right near the part of the brain where it’s affecting her speech, which is why she doesn’t speak as much or struggles to articulate words or thoughts.”

My father put his arms over his head as he walked the hallway while Blaze allowed his tears to fall down his face. “What happened?” Capri came down the hall with Blair behind her.

When my father turned around, he had tears streaming down his eyes. “Baby, you’re crying,” Blair wiped my tears away and looked at me.

She held me, as I rested my head on her shoulder and allowed the tears to fall down my face. Capri held Blaze as he explained everything to her, causing her to break out into tears.

My baby continued to hold me, as I cried like a fucking baby. We had been operating on auto pilot for so long, doing what we had to do to protect my mother, and make sure she was always good. The shit was never easy, especially not after knowing the light that Mina Inferno had been before all of this.

“We will perform a Craniotomy to remove the tumor. In some cases, we’re able to remove everything. If by some chance, we cannot get everything, she will have to do radiation to assure that it doesn’t grow back… I will give your family some time to talk everything over and digest this. We’ll get her on the schedule for this coming week.”

Blaze took off down the hall back to the room, and I followed behind him, stopping to grab Anjo’s hand and pull her behind me. When I walked into the room, he was on the floor between Gam’s legs as she rubbed his hair while he sobbed.

Gams looked at me, confused about what was going on. When she saw my father, she became really concerned. “What in the world happened… Jesus, what happened?” She held Blaze’s head, as he continued to cry.

In this moment, he wasn’t a husband, father, or that man that could lay someone down without a second thought. He was Quameer, her grandson that she raised, the one he came to for everything because he couldn’t go to our mother.

“Gams, they gonna get my baby back.” My father told her, as he walked over to my mother who was staring out the window at the view of the concrete buildings.

He held her face, as she held his and stared into his eyes. I watched as he kissed her all over her face while she continued to stare into his eyes. That lost look that she usually had with all of us, she never had with him.

I explained everything to Gams and she broke down, hollering and crying, while thanking the lord. Without a second thought, I headed out the room and went to search for the chapel in the hospital.

My chest was on fire as I read the signs, searching for what I needed. I took the elevator down to the floor that the nurse I passed by instructed me to take. When I found it, I rushed in and went straight to front, dropping down on my knees and putting my hands behind my head as I prayed.

Tears fell from my eyes as I continued to pray, harder than I had ever prayed in my life. I thanked him for bringing my mother back to our family, for giving me a blessing, even when I didn’t feel I deserved one.

I heard the door open behind me and turned to see my baby walking in slowly. Holding my arms out, she rushed down the aisle and crashed into my arms. She held my head as she kissed me and held me tightly, exactly like I needed.

We didn’t need to say anything because her presence and feeling her arms around me was all I needed. It was all I had needed all along, and deep down, I knew it; I was just too scared to admit it because I had gone so long without needing someone.

IneededBlair.

Blair

Mina’s surgery was successful,and they were able to remove the entire tumor from her brain. She had to stay in the hospital for a week just so the doctors could monitor her, but now she was home. Quasim and Quameer both stayed up at the hospital around the clock with their father. Capri had been bringing them clothes and food, while checking in on them.

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