Late afternoon, of the fourth day since Chorale was in coma, she opened her eyes. The first word that escaped her mouth was, “Kay”. The nurse who had been with her pressed a bell on the hospital bed, signaling doctor to come upstairs.
“Kay” she called out again, her eyes roaming all around the room. The nurse went out to call Kay. That afternoon, only he had come to the hospital. All the others came and left in the morning. He had refused to go back home. He wanted to be around when Chorale woke up. Caleb had been called back to the States, for some duty, so he left early this morning.
“Excuse me, Mr. Sanders,” she called out to him and he quickly stood up from the chair on which he was sitting.
“Yes…Is everything okay?” he asked, looking so scared the nurse almost laughed.
“No…erhmm, yes. The patient is up” his eyes widened and she smiled, “she asked to see-”
Before she could even finish the statement, he had disappeared from her sight and entered the room. She shook her head in amusement and moved to the next ward room.
“Kay?” Chorale called out to him. Her voice was so weak, he barely heard.
He half-run to her, “Baby.”
She lifted her hand, with so much difficulty and stroked his cheek as tears stung her eyes, “Kay, are you fine? Did he hurt you?” tears rolled down the side of her face, “And Carmen? Margarita and Antonio? Where are they?” She was crying so hard by now and it broke Kay’s heart.
“Calm down, baby. They’re all fine. The police rescued them in time.” He told her, and she calmed down a bit. He, however, did not mention Alvin’s death to her. He’d tell her some time. Right now, it was unnecessary.
The doctor came in after a few minutes, and asked if she was feeling any pain and she pointed to her heart. “There’s a lot of pain in here” she cried and Kay balled his fists. Alvin had really done them a lot of harm.
Her silent tears turned into loud sobs and soon, she was weeping uncontrollably. The doctor called Kay to come and take over. It seemed more of an emotional problem than it was medical. Kay went to lie down on the bed, beside her and spoke soothing words to her, assuring her that everything was going to be fine. He told her how much he loved and missed her and before he and the doctor knew it, Chorale was fast asleep.
The doctor asked Kay to go home and come back the next day, by then she would be feeling much better. He was reluctant but he had no choice, he had to leave. He kissed her softly on the lips and left.
When he got home, He told the good news to Mama Rica and she was so happy. He then called Dwayne and told him too. After that, he called his mom and then Caleb.
The next day, Dwayne, Agnes, Valerie and Derrick went ahead to go and visit her. They stayed there for hours talking with her and making her feel welcome. Valerie told her she and Liam were going to get married in about three months and Chorale was so happy for her sister. She liked Liam for her sister because he was a good man.
Agnes just went on and on about how Chorale had to take care of herself and the baby because she didn’t want anything happening to her grandchild. Chorale just sat on the hospital bed with her legs crossed, looking attentively at her mom. Everyone else kept quiet, because ‘no one talks when Agnes is talking’.
When she finished, they waited a few seconds and they all burst out laughing, even Dwayne. She looked at them in annoyance, took a pillow from the sofa and hit them one by one with it. They all laughed.
They kept talking and talking about random issues, things that happened while she was away and how they had all missed her, They didn’t bring up the issue of her kidnapper, though. Kay would have to tell her all that later.
It was almost 5: 00 p.m. and they had to leave. They all hugged her and walked out of the room, Agnes first and then Valerie. Dwayne gave her a peck on the cheek and left. Derrick was still in the room.
“Derrick, aren’t you leaving with them?” she asked the boy who was just standing and smiling weirdly.
“I wanted to tell you something first,” he said, walking close and sitting on the bed beside his big sister. Derrick always had something to say, Chorale laughed, “Tell me,”
“I have a girlfriend now, Cho” he said, grinning from ear to ear. She just sat there in shock, with mouth wide opened.
“What’s her name?” she asked.
“Esmeralda. Esmeralda Rodriguez.”
Chorale’s eyes widened and her mouth hang open in evident shock. “Esmeralda Rodriguez? Mexico?”
Derrick nodded, still smiling.
“How did you know her?” she asked.
“It’s long-distance. We follow each other on Twitter. One day, she posted a picture of herself. And she's so beautiful, Cho! So, I texted her and we got talking. It’s only been a couple of weeks since we started dating, though.”
He paused for a while, “Wait. You know her?” he asked, his turn to be shocked.
Chorale hung her head and laughed out loud. “I know her. Their family helped me a lot back in Mexico. She’s such a lovely-”
Valerie’s voice cut Chorale off, “Derrick, are you coming or not?” she asked, coming to stand at the entrance of the hospital room.
“Just a minute, Val!” He hugged Chorale and whispered in her ear, “We’ll continue this conversation later.”
They both waved at Chorale and left.
“What a small world!”
YOU ARE READING
CHORALE SANDERS
Romance"I cannot tell you anything right now, but promise me, Mama Rica. Promise me you'll take care of him for me, now that I won't be here to." She took the older lady's face in her hands, looking at her with very teary eyes. "Don't leave him like I am...
