Page 77 of Where We Found Our Home
“Ms. Jeffries?”
“Yes.” Ms. Angela places one hand in mine and the other in Brittany’s. Simone and Sarah each put a hand on her shoulders.
“Your daughter is going to recover.” We all release a collective breath. “She was shot in the chest. Three inches to the left and we’d be having a different conversation. She did lose a lot of blood. She’s in the ICU, and she hasn’t woken up yet, but she’s stable.”
“Can we see her?”
“She can have two visitors for now. I don’t think she’ll wake up while you’re there, but you can see her.”
I look at the girls and silently plead with them to let me be the one to go with her mom to her room.
“Go. We’ll go fill your family in,” Sarah concedes. I thank them and rush to catch up with Ms. Angela, who is following a nurse to Ciara’s room.
“Fair warning, she’s going to look rough when you go in. She’s hooked up to a lot of machines, and she looks a little weak right now, but she’s tough.” Despite her warning, I’m still not prepared for what I see when we walk in. Ciara looks frail. She looks like she’s barely breathing on her own. My knees almost give out at the sight of her.
Ms. Angela walks over and barely contains her sobs as she lowers herself into the chair by Ciara’s bedside. I’m almost afraid to touch her for fear of disrupting her IV, but the thought of being near her and not touching her is too much. I gently lay my hand across hers.
“I’m so sorry.” It’s all I can manage to say. I am sorry. Sorry I couldn’t prevent this. Sorry I let it get this far. “Ms. Angela…”
She cuts me off. “Lincoln. Do you love my daughter?”
“More than life itself,” I answer with no hesitation.
“Then I think we can drop the Ms., don’t you think?”
I give her a sad smile and nod. “I promised you that I would keep her safe. I promised her I would. I didn’t do that. I’m so sorry.”
“You did. You kept her heart safe. That’s all she needed you to do. It was always meant to go this way. She needed to end this herself, or she’d never be able to move past it. I would prefer she not have ended up in this hospital bed to end it, but she’s beaten death four times now. She’s a fighter. This is not the end to her story. This is not the end of your story together. So what she needs from you now is for you to be positive and continue keeping her heart safe.”
“She is my future.”
Her lips curve up in a grin. “Well then, it’s definitely time we drop the Ms.” She goes back to holding Ciara’s hand, and I release a breath I didn’t even realize I was holding.
I leave Angela in Ciara’s room and allow everyone else to take their turns visiting her. She doesn’t wake up the entire time we’re there, and though the doctor tells us that’s normal, I’m still worried.
Four days go by and she still doesn’t open her eyes. The doctor can’t explain it. I feel helpless, and I’m growing angrier by the second. Angela and I have both been sleeping in the hospital, taking turns to go get food or go shower and change so that Ciara is never alone. She’s shown no sign of waking up.
I pull up a chair to her bedside table and grab her hand, gently rubbing her pulse point. “Angel. I need you to show me those chocolate eyes, okay? I need you to come back to me. We’re just getting started, you have to be here. I love you, Angel. Please.”
She doesn’t stir. The only sound in the room is the machines that tell me she’s still in there somewhere.
Ciara
Ican hear the beeps of a machine. I know I’m in a hospital but my eyes won’t open. They’re fighting me.
I slowly get my eyes to cooperate, but I wince once the light hits them and close them again.
“Ciara.” I hear my mom’s voice, and I want to follow her voice but it’s too painful. “I turned the light down, sweetie. Can you open your eyes for me? I’m here.” I slowly open my eyes again and allow them to readjust. Mom is standing over me, waiting for me to say something.
“I…” I immediately choke on my words. My throat is extremely dry. Mom grabs a cup of water and holds the straw up to my lips.
“Slow sips.” I take a couple of sips before trying to readjust in my bed and wince from the movement. “I can call the nurse.”
“No. Not yet.” I clear my throat. “He’s…dead.”
Mom eyes me with sympathy. “Yeah, baby. He’s dead.” I took a life. I know I had to do it. I know he was going to kill me and Sasha if I didn’t. I don’t feel guilty at all. If there’s anything to feel guilty about, it’s the fact that he got to die a swift death instead of rotting in a prison cell. But I do feel unsettled by the fact that I actually killed someone. I push that aside for now.
“You gonna yell at me for blocking your number?”
