Don't Hate Da Playa

Chapter 7

There is an old saying in Rockford, Illinois that no matter where you are in the city, it will take you fifteen minutes to get somewhere else. The same was true about the drive from Rock Valley College to Saint Anthony Hospital. Because of this reason, Miss Blue and I felt it was best to take one car, so she hopped in my Olds 442 and we took off towards Saint Anthony Hospital.

Saint Anthony Hospital in Rockford, Illinois was located on East State Street and had been in business for almost one-hundred-twenty years. It was the only Catholic hospital in Rockford and it was the only one that had front-row parking for priests who were there to give Last Rites to the dying. Since the parish my brother was pastor of was closest to the hospital, he was always on-call.

The moment I saw my brother's car in the front row, I gave him a call. "I'm here. Just tell me the room number and I'll meet you there." After he spat out the number, I hung up my phone and shut the device off. I wasn't sure if hospitals still didn't allow people to have cell phones on after they got past the lobby, but I wasn't willing to take the risk.

The second he saw us, my brother said, "She's in there. She was hit by a car and she suffering from internal bleeding. You better hurry, Josh, she doesn't have long to live."

I walked into the room by myself. Miss Blue was going to come in with me, but my brother distracted her.

"How are you, Scarlet? It is so good to see you again."

While my brother distracted a teacher from her student, I distracted a young woman from her death. "How are you, kid?" I asked, even though I knew what the answer was going to be.

With the last tears that would ever be in her eyes, she said to me, "I'm dying, Mister Slim."

I tried to fight back my own feelings and the only words I was able to find that would let me do that were, "I know, kid."

I didn't know if she was confused or pissed off at my response. "Then, why did you ask?"

"I wanted you to know how you were feeling. I didn't want to know what you were doing."

A small giggle came from her lips. This was probably going to be the last time she was ever going to laugh. "You're a really funny guy, you know that?"

"I know." I stopped the small talk and asked her why in her final moments she called me to her side.

"Mister Slim," she spoke softly to me, "I have to tell you something. I have to tell you..."

Miss Blue finally managed to get away from my brother and join me in the room. She stood next to me and whispered, "Slim, Bennet, and Rodriguez are here. They are talking to the doctor right now."

Emma tried her hardest to force the following few phrases out of her mouth, but all she could do was repeat her last word, "You, you, you..."

The dying girl's teacher knelt by her bedside. "Emma, this is Miss Blue. Please, speak to me."

Emma's body went completely limp. After she let out her final breath.

Her teacher was about to scream, but I covered her mouth.

"What happened?" My brother the priest came in asking.

"She's dead," I told him.

He was in a state of shock for a moment, which didn't surprise me considering my brother was the sensitive one out of the two of us.

"I need your help," I told him. "I need to get Miss Blue out of here and there are two men in the hallway who will have a fit if they see us here. I need you to stall them until both of us are out of here."