Page 43 of A Player's Prayer
Dapping up Skip, I bypassed Uno. He was twinning with his mad-ass wife, and I didn’t give a fuck about that. It’s all fun and games when it’s me, but they hate to hear shit about themselves. Imagine that.
“Bro, don’t go down to Memorial showing your ass!” I heard Skip call out behind me. “You don’ pissed the mayor off, and I don’t think he’s going to bond you out.”
Giving him the middle finger as I approached my truck, I removed my trusted coin from my pocket. Flipping it in the air, I caught it. Taking a deep breath, I flipped it over and smirked at Kodi’s fate. Tapping my chin, a thought came to mind, but Iknew it was going to be risky as hell. I didn’t care about the risks as long as it got me back with my girl.
“Aye, Skip…” I glanced over my shoulder, calling out to him as he headed back into the house. “Come take a ride with me.”
“Man, hell naw.” He waved me off, headed through the door. “I ain’t fuckin’ with?—”
Pow!
“Nigga! What the fuck?” he shouted as he leaped from the porch and ran my way as I hit the ground. “Nigga, are you crazy?”
“Insane.” I clenched my jaw as the pain soared through my chest. “Take me to the hospital to see my girl.”
“Asia,you can go ahead and take your break, boo,” I told one of my floor nurses as she arrived back at the station from doing her rounds. “I will keep an eye on your patients until you get back.”
“Are you sure?” She eyed me skeptically as she grabbed her bag. “The other girls haven’t come back yet.”
“I’m sure.” I smiled, taking her charts from her. “I promise you, I got it.”
As if she wasn’t giving me a chance to change my mind, she grabbed her bag and high-tailed it out of the emergency unit. Thank God it was a slow day, so I could manage it. The girls have told me repeatedly that my leadership is so different from Tanessa’s. From me bringing them food and gifts to simplyrelieving them of their duties for a simple mental break, they appreciate me being in charge. I told the girls when I took the position that I wasn’t here to be a dictator. We were a team, and we would operate as one, and I was happy they were seeing that I was being honest.
“Hello, Nurse Jenkins.” I glanced over my shoulder as Dr. Morrison approached the station. I’ve been looking at him sideways since the night we—well, mostly he—was robbed. “You look nice today.”
“Keep it cute,” is all I said as I continued to audit the girl’s charts to ensure everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing. I haven’t had any issues since taking over, but I never want them or myself to get complacent. Still feeling him hover, I sighed heavily, turning to give him my attention. “Is there something you need, Dr. Morrison?” Crossing my arms, I waited for him to say whatever it was he needed to get off his chest.
Rubbing his hand across his face, he looked to me with sad eyes that I couldn’t care less about. “I just want to apologize for our date. I know you feel as if I lied to you about my wife, but I didn’t. We’re going through a hard time right now.”
“I don’t care. I have things to do,” I spoke honestly, turning back to finish my work. “Also, it wasn’t a date. It was two coworkers sharing a meal, and in the process, one found that the other wasn’t shit. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
Conversing with him was the last thing I wanted to do. Not only was it pointless, but I wasn’t in the mood. Since kicking Adrian out of my house the morning after the party, I’ve been feeling like shit. I missed him to the point that I don’t even know why I was mad at him anymore. I mean, I know the reason, but I feel like maybe I was going too far.
“We have a gunshot victim arriving by private vehicle, and we’re going to take him to room six!” one of my nursesannounced as she sped-walked to the nurse station. “It doesn’t appear to be life-threatening.”
“You handle the front, and I will step in to assist Dr. Morrison.” I handed her the charts as I stepped around the desk. “Asia has gone to lunch, but Vicki and Sara should be back momentarily. Come get me if you need me.”
Assuring that she could handle it, I made my way to check on the gunshot victim. Although it was said to be non-threatening, I wanted to make sure of it. Turning the corner, Dr. Morrison was walking out of the room with an unreadable look on his face.
“Is everything okay?” I asked worriedly as I approached the curtain. “Why are you leaving?”
“Well, I was advised that if I wanted to keep my head on my shoulders without a bullet to match his, I would get the fuck out.”
Frowning, I pushed the curtains back and was shocked to see Adrian bleeding all over the place. All of my professionalism went out the window as I rushed over to his side.
“Adrian! What happened?” I cupped his face as I looked him over. “Who shot you?”
“That’s not important,” he replied, grinning at me. “You look so pretty, baby. Them some new scrubs you got on? Where you get them from?”
“Baby…” I chuckled when he leaned up and kissed me. I allowed it because I wanted him to. There was no point in acting as if I didn’t miss his touch. “You’re shot, and you don’t think it’s important?” Glancing over in the corner, I noticed his brother sitting there without a care in the world. “Skip, what happened to him?”
“Nigga missed you and wanted to see you.” He shrugged, flipping through a home improvement magazine as if this wasn’t a big deal. “So, here we are. The bullet went through and through. Can you clean the nigga up before he loses his fuckin’arm?” Looking up, Skip locked eyes with me before he dragged them over to his brother. “Y’all need to figure y’all shit out. Got me out here missing movie night with Gi Baby…” he said, slightly whispering the last part, causing me to smirk.
Confused about the earlier statement, I looked from Skip to a smiling Adrian, and my grin dropped. Dressed in gray joggers and a beater, I brought over a blanket and placed it over his lap. Weakly, he laughed at the gesture as I hurriedly walked over to the sink to wash my hands. Once my gloves were on, I took a look at the wound to ensure it was through and through. Cleaning the area first, I grabbed the skin stapler next and closed both the entrance and exit holes. Adrian made no sounds, staring at me as if I were a beach’s sunset. Applying antibiotic ointment all around both closures after cleaning his shoulder again, I gently placed a sterilized bandage on to cover both closure sites. It had only taken me fifteen minutes, and he was as good as new.
“Adrian, how are you feeling, baby?” I helped him sit up on the bed. “Are you in any pain?”
“The only pain I feel is in my chest.” He placed his hand over his heart. “It’s been that way since you called yourself leaving a nigga.”
