Page 156 of Rome: The Ballerina

“I’ll deal with it when it comes. Thank you, Doctor.”

“My pleasure. Anything else?”

“Yes, unhook me. I have someone to visit.”

“We can arrange your discharge. If you’d just give me a few minutes, I can get your nurse in here to get the IV out of your arm.”

“Thank you.”

“You all have a nice day.”

“Same to you,” Roaman replied.

Dressedin a pair of brown joggers and a cropped top to match, I stood in the doorway of Tiana’s hospital room. Months had passed her by and she was still sleeping peacefully. I stepped inside, nearing her bedside.

I sat on the edge and pulled her hand into mine. She was so cold. I leaned over, placing a hand on her heart. The beat was strong. She was still in there.

“I know I’ve been meaning to come down and see you. You didn’t have to drag me in here to make it happen,” I breathed out. “Nevertheless, thank you. This visit has been enlightening. So many revelations.”

Lowering my head, I paid attention to her small hands. She was only 5’3 on her best day. She was tiny but she was fierce and so good at what she did.

“I miss you, babes. I don’t recall a time I was on stage and you weren’t near. Since what– twelve?”

I nodded.

“We’re getting old, Tiana.”

I straightened my spine and peered at her pretty face.

“I know you’re in there and I know you hear me. I am going to finish what I started. I am going to crush every show from beginning to end. I am going to put on my big girl panties and get the job done. When I told you all those years ago that you never had to worry, I’d always have your back… I meant that.”

Emotions swelled my chest and burned my eyes. Tears cascade down my face.

“I’m keeping my word. I just need you to get up and get out of this bed. I need you to come back to us. To your mother. To your father. To your sister. To your brother. Fight, Tiana. Fight like hell. You’ve rested long enough. They need you.Ineed you.”

I swiped my eyes as a smile cut through.

“I met a guy. And, I gave him all of me. He gave me a baby. Our child didn’t survive whatever the hell my body just suffered from, but I did. I need you to do the same. We’re resilient. We can survive anything. We’re ballerinas. The invincible. The impossible. The irreplaceable. Wake up, babes. I won’t come back until you do.”

“Cousins?” An unfamiliar voice asked, entering the hospital room.

I shook my head. “ Friends.”

With each passing day, I grew more confident in that classification. Tiana was a friend to me. Her sudden, mysterious sickness and hospitalization was proof. Her organs were failing. The thought of losing her felt impossible to grasp. So, I remained hopeful that things would turn around. My heart told me they would, so I was sticking to it.

“I’m her nurse. Kasey.”

I nodded, hardly interested in conversing.

“Hopefully it makes you feel a little better to know that she’s been improving. Her progress is slow and subject to regression, but it is progress. Progress is always a win on my charts,” she explained pushing fluids into the IV.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re a ballerina as well?”

“Yes. Dancing is how I met Tiana.”

“I heard she’s incredible on the floor.”

---