Niko looked down at her, and after a few seconds, he grinned. “Hey, yeah, she’s awake and doing much better. Here, she wants to talk to you.”
Niko handed her his phone, and she noticed her hands were shaking. “Pops.”
“Hey, Tiny.”
His voice was raw and brittle, and she lost it and started sobbing.
“Hey, hey, hey, what’s wrong? What’s goin’ on?”
“I didn’t know, I didn’t know, I didn’t know”—she was gasping for air—”you were in surgery. I didn’t know.”
“Well, now ya do, and I’m out,” he said matter-of-factly. “What’s the problem?”
“I know.” She was trying to get herself together, to calm down, but she wasso scared.She knew the risks of the surgery, and she wasn’t there. Her breath kept catching.
“Hey,” his voice softened. “You know what I think, Tiny?”
“What?” she sucked in a shaky breath.
“I figure this was divine intervention.”
“What? Why?”
“Well, now think about it. I’ve been out of it the past five days. I’ve been on the good drugs. This is the first day I’m not zooted out. If I woulda been at Golden Years knowing you were that sick in bed, and I couldn’t see ya, cause you know they wouldn’ta let me cause of my immune system. I woulda drove myself crazy. I woulda drove everyone else crazy. And if you woulda had to be sittin’ in that waiting room durin’ my surgery and then the four days while I was in ICU looking like an extra inThe Walking Deadwith tubes comin’ outta places that are exits not entrances, you woulda been worried out of your pretty head. I figured this was God’s way of knockin’ us both out at the same time for everybody’s benefit, including ours. It was a twofer. Heknew that was the only way to get us through this, Tiny. He had to take us both down for the count.”
Tiana chuckled, but she still had tears coming down her eyes.
“Oh, I gotta go, Tiny, they’re here to take my picture. They can’t get enough of me here.”
Take his picture?
“I love you, Pops.”
“Love you too, Tiny.”
“Mr. Matthews, I’m Shelley from Radiology. How are you doing today?” A voice sounded in the background.
“Happy and I know it.” And then she heard Pops clap his hands twice before the phone line cut off.
Tiana pushed off the wall and walked into the bedroom, where Niko was sitting on a chair, an armchair she hadn’t seen in the bedroom before, with an ottoman in front of it. She handed him his phone.
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean to?—”
“I know, I know you didn’t. I’m sorry I’m so…I’m sorry.” She couldn’t even explain why she’d had such a volatile reaction to it. Other than just fear. Fear that something could have happened to Pops.
She walked over to the bed and crawled in, suddenly feeling a tidal wave of exhaustion pulling her under.
“I’ll pay you back the money for the surgery,” she said as her eyes were closing.
“You don’t have to?—”
“Yes, I do. I’m paying you back.” Her lids were heavy as she blinked.
Niko’s forearms were resting on his thighs, he leaned forward watching her, and she noticed there was a pillow and a blanket beside the chair.
“Have you been sleeping in that chair?” she asked as she herself was drifting off to sleep.
