The Patient.

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It wasn't completely unheard of but still; it was quite bizarre. Nobody in Mekka Creek made such requests. They just accepted their fate bound to the rooms of the large hospital and never questioned it.

Until now, of course.

Belinda rolled Aaliyah into the flowery fields as she spotted a dark figure looming behind a tree.

"Hey, you!" She called.

A copy of The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison rested in Aaliyah's lap as she stretched out her neck to see what it was her mother did. Now that there were visitors in the garden, Kadafi had to hide the weed stash he's been growing since he got the job. He pushed the pot inside his cart before standing. His head colliding with a tree branch that instantly snapped from the collision. 

"Uh..." he paused to think of something before remembering he had a right to be here. "Just knocking down some bee homes. Don't mind me." He kept it moving as he whistled away.

Belinda and Aaliyah looked at each other before bursting into laughter. 

"That wasn't awkward at all." Belinda took a seat out on the bench.

"Just another casual day in Mekka..." Aaliyah dragged her words.

"So how are you holding up?"

"Good! I've had Zora, Langston, and Toni to keep me company." She tapped a long the hardcovers she carried.

That made Belinda smile. "You always did love to read." But it quickly vanished as she looked over the casts that adorned her daughter's legs. "Have you thought of anything yet?"

"What do y-"

"Like what you plan to do after this whole thing blows over?" she corrected. "I'm happy to see you out of the bed. Truly I am. But I think it's time we start making arrangements for your life outside of these walls, dear." She looked around with an expression of pity. "Surely, you didn't think you'd be here forever... I can only imagine the hospital bills."

Just like Belinda to want to control everything, Aaliyah thought.

"Well, of course, I want to go home."

"Home? You mean back to that dreaded 2-bedroom apartment in the ghetto?" Belinda wore a look of disgust. "You're liable to get robbed or terrorized rolling through there like this." She threw a hand out as emphasis on Aaliyah's current condition.

"Fatima will move in with Harley and it will be just like o-"

"You go from one person leeching off of you to the next?" Belinda said as Aaliyah's mouth dropped at her implying that Ginuwine was a leech. "Why go through all the stress when you can come back home. Your real home with me and Arias. And finally, quit that manly sport. I never liked you playing, to begin with now look where it has gotten you bound to a wheelchair... you're lucky if you even walk again."

Tears gathered at the edges of Aaliyah's eyes.

"Leave..."

"Huh!?"

"I said 'leave' you've done enough trash-talking to last a century. If I'm such a disappointment then why are you here?!" She cried. 

Belinda was shocked, how dare she raise her voice. "God has given you a second chance to change your life, yet you refuse to. Well, don't call me when his wrath strikes again from all of your sins."

"I won't! I promise." Aaliyah shouted after her. Belinda has said some very harsh things in the past but this really cut deep. She couldn't believe her mother of all people couldn't see the joy that Ginuwine brought and took from her life. How anyone could make their union into something bad when it was far from it.

Tupac watched the whole altercation from the cafeteria window. When he stepped out Aaliyah had her head down weeping in her wheelchair. He didn't know how to approach or what to say. Hell, he didn't even know for sure what was going on. The windows in the cafeteria were soundproof.

His shoes crunching along the pavement caught her attention.

She looked up for a brief moment. "Go away."

"I'm afraid I can't do that." He replied. "It's against the rules to leave patients out unattended."

"So what you're just going to stand there watching me cry like some creep?" She asked.

"Shoot! I'll shield my eyes if you want me to." He brought his clipboard and papers to his face. This kinda made her laugh even though she didn't want to. Tupac went over and took a seat on the bench. "Oh! you a fan of Ms. Morrison too?" Her brown eyes widen as she glanced down at her book choice, "I won't even give any spoilers... all I'ma say is I read every last one of her works and that one is top five."

"Nice to know," Aaliyah replied. "I'm only at the beginning so I wouldn't know."

"Great!" He took out a handkerchief from his white jacket and handed it to her. "There you go..."

She stared down at it with hesitation because she wasn't sure why he was being so nice. Yes, it could've been due to his job. But it wasn't a requirement. Aaliyah took it and wiped her mascara dripping eyes.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"I'm okay, really," she lied. "I just need time to get used to this that's all."

Tupac nodded like he understood what it meant to be confined and in a way he did.

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A/N: Please don't forget to vote, comment, and leave feedback.