Page 80 of No Remedy for Love

Bertha was back in the hospital with a horrible lung infection. Her condition was getting worse and she could barely walk two steps without being out of breath. The doctors were telling him that she would probably be needing palliative caresoon, but he wasn’t fooled by their fancy terms. They wanted her to go to hospice, but he wanted no parts of it. They claimed that they could make her comfortable but that only meant that they would slowly help her die. It seemed as if her condition worsened overnight. Blaze and Remi had been sleeping at the hospital for the past week, and Marva offered to give them a break for the night.

Blaze tried to do the right thing and call his mother and her siblings to let them know what was going on. No matter how he felt about them, they were still her kids. That was a mistake that he quickly regretted. They came to the hospital but it wasn’t to see their mother. All they cared about was the money that Zita told them she had won. His uncles even called his hands. Their old asses actually wanted to fight, and it was laughable.

When it was all said and done, Blaze had them all escorted out and added their names to the list of visitors who weren’t allowed to see her. Actually, besides him and Remi, the staff had to get his permission for anyone else to visit. Blaze didn’t have time for the bullshit and his grandmother’s wellbeing came before anything else. He was so excited to finally have his own barbershop but he didn’t even feel like he was enjoying it as much as he should have. Truthfully, he was barely even there. He kept up with things but he needed to be more present. Blaze was shaken from his thoughts when his grandmother started coughing.

“Relax, Nana, take a few deep breaths,” Blaze coached as he grabbed her hand in comfort.

Bertha got scared when she felt like she couldn’t breathe and she sometimes panicked. He used to get as excited as she did when it first started happening until the doctors told him not to.They were right and, if she saw him getting upset, it would make things even worse.

“Thank you, baby, I’m ok.” Bertha’s voice came out in a whisper and it sounded like she was wheezing.

“Take slow, deep breaths. I know it’s hard but take as many as you can.”

She had an oxygen mask covering her face, but it didn’t help her breathe any better. Blaze was having second thoughts about leaving her with anybody, but Remi assured him that Marva was the perfect choice. Just like Remi, Marva took great care of Reid up until the day he took his last breath.

“Is everything okay?” Remi asked when she and Marva walked into the room.

“Yeah, just a little coughing spell. Nana, this is Remi’s stepmom, Marva. She’s gonna be staying here with you tonight. Ms. Marva, this is my Nana, Bertha.”

“Hi beautiful. I’m gonna stay here with you tonight. Don’t worry, I’m gonna take good care of you until Blaze and Remi come back in the morning.” Marva walked over to the bed and smiled as he grabbed Bertha’s hand.

“Thank you, sweetheart; I know they’re tired.”

Blaze talked to Marva for a while before he kissed his grandmother and left with Remi. It was still early, so he wanted to take her out to dinner before they went home.

“Why you ain’t drive my truck? I’m too damn tall to be getting in and out of this lil toy car,” Blaze fussed when he saw that Remi was driving her Beamer.

“You didn’t have a problem when you needed to drive it the other day.”

“I hated it then too but I didn’t have any other choice.” Blaze had dropped his car off at the dealership to be serviced recently. He would usually drive his bike, but it was raining off and on that day he ended up using Remi’s car instead. His legs were so long that it almost felt like he was driving from the back seat.

“I’ll drive so you can stop complaining.”

“Look at this shit. My knees are damn near in my chest,” Blazed laughed.

Remi looked over at him and had to laugh herself. She ended up dropping her car off home, and Blaze took over driving in his truck. He and Remi went out to dinner and were about to head back to her house before Tracy and Vinnie called them. They were going to a bar for drinks and they decided to ride back to the city to join them.

“How is your grandmother, Blaze?” Tracy asked once they all sat down with their first round of drinks.

“She’s hanging in there. At this point, I have to accept whatever God’s will is.”

Blaze had cried so much over the past few months that he wondered if he would have any more tears left when God did call his Nana home. Remi had been his rock, and he didn’t know where he would be without her. She had only been his girl for some months and was proving to be exactly what he had been missing. Reanna was his wife for years and had never done half as much.

“You’re an amazing grandson and she’s lucky to have you,” Tracy complimented.

“So am I.” Remi looked at him and smiled.

“Aww, I’m so happy for you, sis. You both deserve happiness.”

“And you deserve to be single if you don’t get your mind right,” Vinnie threatened.

“Oh no, not again. Y’all have been doing too good lately. What happened this time?” Remi asked.

“Not a damn thing except Vinnie being dramatic like always.” Tracy rolled her eyes.

“Nigga not being dramatic. You keep playing and watch what happens. We make too much damn money to be living in the hood. I’m trying to own some shit.”

“I feel that.” Blaze nodded in understanding.

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