She's On Top

4: A World of Privilege

2004.

Marquis' POV.

My palms are sweating, my mind is racing, and I really can't figure out how our lives have turned upside down like this in just a few hours. As I sit here in the waiting room, I'm doing all I can to keep my composure—flipping through magazines, pacing back and forth, constantly begging the nurses for an update... None of it is helping me. I just need to know she's okay.

The love of my life is back there fighting for her life and I can't do anything to save her. I've prayed so much I'm sure God is tired of hearing my voice at this point. I just keep replaying that moment in my head—she was on her way home to me and she didn't even make it there. I can't get the sound of her screaming out of my head. I keep trying to imagine what those last few moments were like for her when she saw that other car but my mind keeps stopping me from getting there.

Omniscient

"Marquis... Man... Can you hear me? Marquis, she's out of surgery. I have some news for you." Robert says as he taps Marquis on the shoulder.

Finally snapping out of his thoughts, Marquis musters up the strength to reply.

"Yea.... yes... Yes, sir. Please tell me you have good news. I can't take hearing anything less tonight. How is she?"

"Well... I won't beat around the bush with you. She's sustained some pretty severe injuries. At one point, it was touch and go. We lost her on the operating table once but we were able to resuscitate her. She's under a lot of heavy meds so she may be sedated for quite a bit. She'll have bursts of consciousness, which is normal as a reaction to some of the stimulants in the meds but she's expected to make a full recovery. Now... to be more specific, she has 3 broken ribs, her femur was almost shattered, and she suffered some internal bleeding, which we were able to stop. With physical therapy and some rest, she'll be back to bossing us all around really soon."

"Damn. I knew it would be bad but not that bad. Thank you all for doing all you can to help her, man. When the ambulance brought her in, I told them I wanted the BEST doctor in here to work on her and you did just that. I appreciate you, Rob. When can I see her?" Marquis asks Robert, as he walks over to the chair where Averi has now fallen asleep holding one of her dolls.

"I appreciate the confidence you have in me, bro. I really do. Shayla is family—just like you. I'd roll up my sleeves and put my life on the line for y'all. I'm just glad she's good. There was no way I was coming out here to tell you your girl was gone—If I had to stay in that operating room for 48 hours straight, I would've. You can see her immediately. I let the staff know you need 24-hour access to her and I told them Averi is the only little kid allowed in that ICU wing. Yo... Um... Do you know who the other person was that was involved in the accident?"

Marquis picks Averi up and wraps her in her plush blanket and he stuffs the doll into her Little Mermaid backpack as he continues the conversation with his friend, who happens to be Shayla's doctor.

"I appreciate that, man — A LOT. Thanks for looking out for us. I mean that. No... I don't know who the other person is. I just heard it was a convertible or something involved. You have information on the other victim? Who was it? We know 'em?"

"Don't mention it. Yeah... The other victim was actually Kathy—the new hire. The one Todd was fighting so hard for. Judging by the way he followed her all the way to the operating room and now distraught he was... I can see why he was pushing so hard for her to get hired here. Kathy is his daughter."

"His WHAT?! Are you kidding me??? After all the hell he gave Shayla and I for working at the same hospital... He hired his own daughter to work here?? And to take LaLa's spot, at that??? Man... this is too much. Let me go check on LaLa while I try to process all this. I'll check in with you a little bit later. This is crazy."