QUEEN OF DIAMONDS

CHAPTER 51

"Jesus fucking Christ, Andile what have you done?" Sticks asked walking in, looking ready to retch. "I thought he told you who sent him," he said looking at what once qualified as a man. I shrugged. "Man, you're fucking sick," he said as I wiped the blood off my hands. The former human coughs out blood and Sticks watches the man's cough reflex move in morbid fascination. "Oh fuck," he said and walked out quickly. Pussy. I put my suit jacket back on, checking to see if there was any blood and walk out of the room. "You cut out his fucking throat?" is the first thing Sandile asks me when I walk into my office. "No," I replied as I poured myself some scotch. "Sticks said he saw the man's throat move!" Sandile exclaims. "Cough reflex, it was his cough reflex. And if I cut out his throat he'd be dead already," I replied. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Mhm hm," I said as I downed the entire glass. "You cut the skin off a man's throat, Andile. That for me doesn't sound like someone who's fine to me," he said and I shrugged. "Anything else?" I asked and he glared at me. "I would like you to leave now, I have to go see my wife now," I said buttoning my suit jacket and gesturing towards the door. "Andile-" he started. "Bye Sandile," I said and he sighed before leaving.
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"I think the flowers here are depleting my oxygen supply, there's too many of them here and I can't even breathe. It's like everyday there's more of them and those stupid balloons that can't seem to stay put," I said as I loosened my tie and sat down. "Qhawe said there's been some activity in your brain. He says I shouldn't get my hopes up, but I can't help it," I told Kea as I held her hand. I sighed and leaned back in the chair. Qhawe walked in with a clipboard and smiled at me weakly. "Not much change from this morning, same level of brain activity," he said. "But it's good news nonetheless," I said hopefully. "Andile," he said warningly. "Qhawe let me have this," I said and he sighed. We sat in silence, him staring out the window, me at him.
"You talk too much," a voice croaked and I whipped around to look at the Keabetswe. She coughed and I froze. "Oh my God," Qhawe said. "Could you get me some water," she said and I got a bottle out from the mini fridge and passed it to her with shaky hands. She stared at the bottle and raised her eyebrow slowly. "Oh shit," I said and grabbed it from her and opened the bottle from her. She opened her lips and I poured the water in her mouth, taking short breaks so she can swallow. Qhawe came back in a rush from wherever he'd gone with a nurse. They started fiddling with the IV drip and EKG. Keabetswe started coughing and realized I had choked her with the water. "Shit! I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I said and grabbed a tissue on the bed side table and wiped her. Qhawe seemed to only notice me then. He asked me to leave and I stood up in a daze. I was at the door when Kea spoke again. "Qhawe where's my baby?". Oh fuck. "Qhawe ngiyabuza. Andile?" she asked. "Andile phuma," Qhawe said. "Someone needs to answer me right now before I go berserk," she said. "Andile, outside. Now!" Qhawe said.

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Keabetswe

"Qhawe, please stop ignoring me. Where's my baby? Where's my brother?" I asked again as he checked my blood pressure. "Your blood pressure is a little high but-" he started. "Dr Radebe," I said warningly and he sighed. "The bullet went through your stomach, missed the baby by a couple of millimeters but it also nicked your lung and the vein that's carries blood and oxygen to the placenta. We couldn't repair it in time, and then you had that blood clot in your brain that led to your coma and then there was really nothing we could do," he said and my heart caught in my throat."I'd like to be alone now, Dr Radebe. Ngiyabonga," I said and him and the nurse filed out.

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"Hi," someone says and I turn. Umlungu wakuphi ke lo? "Hi?" I asked and he smiled. "May I come in?" he asked. His voice heavily accented, but I'm not sure where it's from. I appreciated seeing a new person though, I've been seeing the same faces for the past 2 weeks and I'm tired of it. I just want to get out of here and see my kids and be in my own home. "May I come in?" he asked. "Uhm, yes of course," I said and he walked in. "I heard these were your favorite," he said holding up a bouquet of white roses. "Thank you," I said and he put them on the bedside table. He sits down and sighs. "You probably don't know who I am," he said and chuckled. "Lorenzo," I said and he looked and smiled wryly. "So he told you about me," he said and I attempted a smile. "Yes, he did," I said. Silence. "They've been postponing the funeral because you were still in a coma, but now... now it's going to happen and it's going to make everything real.... I don't want this to be real," he said. "I don't want to this to be real too. I'm sorry Lorenzo, I really am," I said and he quickly wiped away a lone tear before he smiled. "I'm the one who's supposed to be sorry. I'm sorry for your loss, the baby and Teho," he said and I laughed dryly. "Yeah, he was still getting around to teaching me how to pronounce his name properly," he said and I smiled. "Thank you Lorenzo. For making my brother happy," I said and he smiled.