Page 32 of U + Me : The Finale
“Can you at least tell me if it’s serious? Like is he hurt? Sick? God forbid dying?” I cried, frustrated because I felt so far away from him. The last thing I wanted was for something to happen to him and I not be there.
What had gone from one of the best days I’d had in a long time, now turned into a nightmare.
CLAUDIA
When we finally made it back to Chicago, we stopped at my condo, and dropped off all of our stuff; we had to change clothes since we had sex before we left for the airport, and we didn’t have time to shower. When we made it to the hospital, I wasn’t surprised to see that Kimmie and Darius had beat us there.
“How did you find a flight out so soon?” I asked as I gave Kimmie a tight hug in the waiting area.
“We flew private.”
“Okay, I see you, sis! I feel I haven’t seen you in forever.”
“I missed you, too,” Kimmie squeezed tighter.
I could hear in her tone how worried she was, I even felt her body trembling. “We both in relationships but we gotta find time for each other.”
My mom was standing to the side looking like she’d lost her best friend. I walked over to her and gave her a tight hug.
“I missed you…thank you for shortening your trip and coming.”
“I love you, ma, and Mr. K is important to me also. The timing is bad, but I want you to meet Ermias.”
I motioned for Ermias to come over to where we were.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Ermias greeted, with his hand extended.
Instead of shaking his hand, she pulled him in for a hug. “Thank you for getting my baby girl back home safely.”
“I’ma always make sure she’s safe, ma’am.”
“Please call me Ms. P, or anything else, long as you don’t call me ma’am,” my mom said, causing us all to laugh.
The situation was tense, but him meeting her now felt right and not awkward.
“What happened? Is my dad hurt?” Kimmie asked my mom as Darius rubbed her back.
“He didn’t get hurt. I wanted him to be the one to tell you guys, but under the circumstances, I feel like it’s not fair that I know and keep it from you all.” My mom started to get emotional, which let me know that this was something that she must’ve promised Mr. K she wouldn’t tell, and it had to be serious.
“We promise to not tell him we know,” Kimmie pleaded, desperation in her tone.
“Your father has been dia—” My mom began but was interrupted by a doctor.
“The family of Mr. K. Kendall,” he called out, grabbing all of our attention. We all rushed over to the doctor, and he gave the update on Mr. K. “He’s awake and able to have visitors. Just not too many at one time. We don’t want him to get overwhelmed.”
“Is he able to talk?” Kimmie asked.
“He’s fine, but we’re admitting him for observation. He’ll explain to you all everything he wants you to know.”
The way the doctor was looking at my mom gave that he knew she knew more but as for all of us, he wasn’t sure. I knew all about the patient confidentiality rule, but the look he gave was giving something else.
He told us all where Mr. K’s room was, and how to get to it. The guys stayed outside the room while Kimmie, my mom, and I went in to see Mr. K. When we walked into the room he was sitting up in bed, looking almost like nothing was seriously wrong. He looked weak in his eyes, maybe even tired, but the way my mom was acting, I thought it was something very serious going on.
“Did you tell them?” Mr. K asked my mom, and she shook her head ‘no’. Relief washed all over his face.
I went and stood beside her as she stood next to his bed. Karl held her hand and I held my mom’s other hand. Then Kimmie stood on the other side of his bed and held his other hand. Even she looked like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders.
“Daddy, what’s going on? You had me worried sick.”
