Gabriel and I both watched her drink the water and then she sat back and closed her eyes. Already ready to sleep more. She had been doing this more often for the last few weeks. There was a click and the door opened. The doctor came in followed by the same nurse from earlier. She gave both Gabriel and me a reassuring smile. I watched my brother try to smooth his clothing out in an attempt to make himself look presentable. A scarlet streak began to work its way up from his spine. He looked my way for just a moment and I recognized that he was embarrassed and not because of the doctor but instead because of the very attractive nurse. She came over to check my mother's vitals along with Dr. Connors, completely ignoring Gabriel. When she was satisfied she stepped back and let the doctor speak.
"She's steady for now," he said.
"But?" Gabriel asked looking between us.
Dr. Connors gave a shake of his head. "She is declining in health. The only thing we can do is make her more comfortable. She is nearing the end."
"What fucking good did it do to bring her here, all this money we paid?" Gabriel's eyes almost seemed to go black.
I held up my hand and silenced him. "Dr. Connors, thank you. We will talk amongst ourselves now."
He nodded then both he and the nurse departed, a flash of green scrubs and white coat disappearing out of the room. Gabriel continued to look lost. Sitting back in my seat, I glanced at the cover of the book.
"How does it just end like this?" Gabriel asked me from where he was standing.
Looking away from the book, I saw him starring at the ceiling. For a moment I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or God. His eyes turned to me.
"This is life brother," I shrugged.
"How can you be so calm? So....frozen?"
I didn't want to tell him that I'd thought about blowing Dr. Connor's brains all across the room. That I had imagined pulling the gun from where it was tucked on my person, pulling the slide back, and letting all the bullets I owned fly into the man's skull. That I wouldn't be satisfied until the cute little nurse was screaming and terrified as her boss's blood dripped down her face.
"I'm not frozen," I replied calmly.
"Bullshit," Gabriel hissed.
"Language brother," my eyes darted to our sleeping mother.
He took in a solid breath. "I'm leaving."
I pushed out a breath of my own. "Gabriel, I don't show weakness because it has never gotten me anywhere. It’s how I got to the top. You know that Uncle Stiva taught us both that emotions are a weakness. Men like us can't afford to show emotion."
Gabriel threw up his hands. "Fuck you and Uncle Stiva. I'm gone."
And then he was.
There was nothing but me, my mother, and the sound of her machines. The yellow-tinted pages began to blur as I went back to reading out loud. By the time I looked up, night was beginning to fall. Dropping a kiss on my mother's head, I headed out into the cold. Thoughts of Simone began to dance in my head. My dick began to swell...
