Love Lies

Chapter 24: Normani

FIVE YEARS LATER...

Saturday, July 24

I could hear the faint sound of a man's voice speaking to a female.

"She's been in a coma for five years, Mrs. Hamilton. We aren't sure if she's going to wake up," I heard the man say.

"That's bullshit. I have been praying and praying for the last five years, God will pull through," the woman said. "Give us another month, she will wake up, I just know it."

"I can give you another week, tops. We are doing as much as we can to save your dau..."

Then everything went black.

Sunday, July 25

The next time I was able to hear something, I could also feel. The soft sheets under me, the pricking in my arm. I heard the sound of a machine beeping.

Where the hell was I?

"Normani, this is Ally. Please wake up. I- I miss you. The girls just aren't the same without you. Your personality has been missing. And there's so much I need to catch you up on," she sniffled. "Beyoncé retired. No more music from the queen of pop. Too bad you aren't here to take her place." She chuckled. Then she sighed.

Poor Ally. I wish I could just hug her, especially when she started crying. "I tried to keep in touch with Khalid for you. I only told him the minor things. I'm sure you wanted to tell him about the concussion, and the baby..."

Tuesday, July 27

"Hey, bitch. It's Lauren here. How the hell are you?"

My heart melted. Lauren, my long time Best friend.

"Look, all I gotta say is I still love you, you're still my sister, and... whoever drove you to harm yourself will honestly get their asses beat. So wake up and give me their names, ya?"

Then she sniffed. "Normani, Ally's been beating herself up since that night of the accident. She felt like it was her fault. She said she should have pushed you into not going home that night. Should have made you spend the night at her place. I say it's my fault. Because I didn't even notice  that my sister was hurting. I, I was a bad friend. I'm so sorry, Mani. I really am."

Wednesday, July 28

"Hey, Mani. It's Z. I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for the way I treated you in the past. You were a great person, and I should honestly thank you for the woman I've become. I'm sorry for being such a bitch back in high school. It was completely unnecessary. I just didn't like the way he looked at you. It made me jealous."

She took my hand in hers.

"You are a beautiful woman, Normani. I hope you wake up some day and see just how much you've grown."

It was silent for a bit.

"I think if that doctor would have met you differently, you'd be his fiancé right now." She giggled. "Not like you know who I'm talking about. But he's hella cute."

Friday, July 30

"Dammit, Normani just wake up already. I'm sorry I hurt you... I didn't mean to. I was just heart broken... I hated seeing you with him, because he wasn't worth your love. He's an asshole. And me? So am I. Because what I did was stupid as fuck."

I could hear Dinah let out small sobs.

"I couldn't deal with seeing you with him because I- I loved you. Like, more than I love myself. And that says a lot considering that if I could I'd marry myself."