"But, it'll get better. You just gotta believe, you just gotta believe."
_
"Kim Swisher?" A dark skinned man, dressed in a doctor's coat, called out.
Kim and I rose from our seats. "Yes?"
The man stepped closer to her presence. "You are Joesph Swisher's daughter, correct?"
"Yeah. What's goin' on with him? He gonna be okay?"
"It appears that just within a moment of minutes, he stopped breathing, just that quick. But, we have placed him on a ventilator, which we are hoping is gonna help him and he should be breathin' on his own again."
"What if he doesnt?" Kim was worried.
"Well, we're gonna run a few tests to check more further things and—"
"What's gonna happen if this machine doesn't help my daddy to start breathin' on his own?!"
The doctor sighed. "Ms. Swisher,—"
"It's Kim." She cut him off.
"Kim, I'm afraid that is a question only God can give you an answer to."
"What's that suppose to mean? Are you sayin' my daddy could die?" Kim breathed heavily, then asked, "Can we see him?"
"I'm afraid now is not a good time. But, you are definitely welcome to see him in a few hours."
The two shook hands, then the doctor walked away.
"Jayme, if you wanna go home," She turned to me. "I can understand. I'll drop you off, then head back up here. I think I'm gonna stay overnight."
"Yeah, I think I should just go home. Maybe you can come back and get me tomorrow?"
"Sure." She paused. "As long as---"
"She'll be fine with it. Trust me." I knew that she'd be concerned about mama agreeing to let me come, again.
"Alright, then. C'mon. Now's a good time for us to go."
After we'd checked out, we marched outside and into Kim's car. I didn't want it to seem as if I'd just been staring at her, but I couldn't help but notice her shedding tears. For as much as I hated people watching me cry, it killed me inside to watch another cry. I just didn't like to see people hurt. That's why I didn't understand why people wanted to hurt me.
"I'll be alright, Jayme."
"Huh?"
"I know that you keep starin' at me," Kim commenting, never eying me. "cause you're worried. I'm gonna be alright."
"You sure?" I asked.
"Yeah. Definitely."
"Kim, what did that doctor say to you?"
"Listen, I'm fine. Really. Don't worry about me."
I'm fine. That was the biggest lie I had ever told myself. If I was to write a book about all the lies I had ever spoken, I'm fine would've been all that it'd consist of, on every page, of every chapter.
"What did he say about Mr .Swisher?"
She began wiping falling tears away, then replied with, "Daddy just gotta fight, okay? He gonna get better. They're gonna run a few more tests on him, and we'll just have to wait until they give us those results."
Nobody said anything after this. We sat in a silence that was familiar. That silence me and Mama would sit in when she didn't want to deliver any bad news.
