I am Chris (bwwm)

A change of pace (10)

Chapter ten: A change of pace:

I didn't know how I got there but somehow I was on the ground, still clutching the counter top, my frame wired with what felt like electricity. "Lea," I said breathlessly. She didn't respond, I heard scuffling on the other end and muffled noises, then a shout. "Lea?" I said more forcefully.

I heard some angry shouts for a few second then she replied. "I spoke too soon." She said softly.

"What?" I said louder than I intended to. "What does that mean? Is he okay or is he not?"

"He woke up," She said, a gravelly hint of resignation grinding against her voice. "But something was wrong, with his brain or something I..." She exhaled, sounding tired and angry. "I don't know. They won't be specific. They put him back in the coma."

"What the...?"

"They're going to look around in his head, then they'll wake him up." She paused. "Aren't you still in New York?"

"Yeah, but as soon as I can get a flight home I'll be back." I said as I chewed my lip. My brain was firing in a thousand different directions. "I wanna be there when he wakes up. I have to be." I corrected myself.

"You have to be where?" A sleepy voice said and I looked to see Chanel's silhouette in the doorway. "I recommend getting off that floor, rats are known to find their way in through the cracks." I scrambled off the floor and leaned against the counter. Chanel stepped closer she was bathed in the soft blue light of the early morning. She tried to run a hand through her curls and her hand promptly got stuck. She mumbled a curse and wiggled her fingers out.

"He woke up," I told her, and for the first time in months I felt like I was present. 

Her eyes widened in shock. "Shit, really?"

I nodded before adding, "They're going to drug him again though so they can look in his head make sure it's alright I guess," I said and paused, leaving the unspoken statement hanging in the air.

It seemed to dawn on her and her face shifted into a sympathic look. "You have to go back." It wasn't a question.

I pointed my gaze to the cracks in the linoleum floor. "I don't want to leave, and I know it's shitty of me, but maybe you guys will have a better time without me. I haven't really been feeling like myself lately." I said quietly. I watched her feet shuffle forward and she pulled me into a tight hug.

"I know, hoe. I'll call my dad and see what he can do. We're going to miss you though, don't think we won't." She said softly. "Go getcha man though, make me some mulatto babies for their mulatto aunt." I pinched her side in response and she squealed.

After a couple calls, some confusion and misty-eyed goodbyes, I was packed up and on a plane back home. I had packed my poetry notebook in my bag by mistake, so I had to settle for stringing words together in my head.

Plane engines in my ears,
medication in your veins,
a long awaited moment.

I'm nearly there, the ribbon in sight,
you're right behind the finish line
a long awaited moment.

My hand will fit just-so in yours,
lock and key.
Your eyes will meet just-so with mine,
a promise you'll keep.

I'll give you all the missing pieces
and we'll put them back together,
A long awaited moment.

★-★-★-★-★
Posting the rest of the chapter later today 💫 I have to tweak it a little bit more