DISCLAIMER...this chapter contains fictional medical information. I have no experience in the medical field so I can't verify that the "facts" are 100% conclusive to actual sceince..in other words........it's all fiction.
Marcus looked on in horror as the sight of his mother on the floor sent him into a frenzy. He rushed to her side, thankfully she was still breathing, she must have fallen just right. He placed two of his fingers on her neck to check her Pulse, still beating. Just then a knock on the door sounded
"Crap it's Terell" but Marcus knew better, he instead ran to the phone and immediately dialed 911. The dispatcher picked up while the knocking continued.
"Hello 911, what's your emergency?"
"Please, send an ambulance, my mother is passed out on the kitchen floor"
"Ok is she still breathing sir?" the dispatcher quickly responded.
"Yes" Marcus caught his breath peering out of the corner of his eye towards the sound of the knocking. Marcus was mistaken, for it was Mrs. Jackson standing out there with a slip of paper in her hand.
"225 N Warren please hurry!!" Marcus responded. Mrs. Jackson began to worry.
"An ambulance will be there shortly sir, in the meantime check and make sure there's nothing obstructing your mothers airway and don't move her unless you absolutely have to". The dispatcher advised.
"Yes I'll do that, thank you" Marcus slammed down the phone.
"Come in!" Marcus yelled after looking through the peephole of their front door and stepped in.
"Hello?!" she exclaimed.
"I'm in the kitchen!, please help me!" Marcus yelped.
"Marcus?....oh my goodness" Mrs. Jackson quickly trotted over and gasped as she reached the kitchen.
"Oh my lord! is she still breathin' hon?" she asked.
"Yes she is thank god, I don't know what happened, I just came home right now and found her like this" Marcus sobbed.
Mrs. Jackson's nurse training immediately kicked in as she felt the back of Mrs. Greniers neck for any sign of injury.
"Did you call 911?"
"Yes I did, they're on their way right now" Marcus replied.
"Good, I need you to do somethin, I'm gonna open her mouth and I need you to stand outside and wait till the ambulance comes, I'm gonna try and keep her tongue from fallin back in her airway". Mrs. Jackson explained. Marcus deftly ran outside and stood on the front porch waiting, every second seemed like eternity times one thousand and in slow motion. Out of the haze of his eyes he saw Terell heading over in his direction. Terell could instantly sense something was wrong.
"Oh my god Terell!" Marcus ran up to him and threw himself in Terells arms.
"What's the matter baby?" Terell blindly said.
"Shh!, don't call me that! your mom is here, my moms just passed out on the floor, I just found her there!" Marcus exclaimed.
"What?!" Terell's face went into total shock.
"Your mom's in there watchin her, the ambulance is comin'" Marcus said.
"Whew! good!, anything I can do?!" Terell said as he headed inside the Grenier house.
"No!" Marcus grabbed Terells arm "Stay out here with me please, I don't wanna be alone besides your moms got it under control there"
"Ok" Terell put his hand on Marcus's back and rubbed it, looking to see that nobody was looking. "Everything's gonna be ok alright?, come here". Terell said as he put his arm around Marcus's shoulder.
Inside, the sound of choking and breaths filled the empty kitchen of the house.
"Oh Mrs. Grenier can ya hear me?! It's Mrs. Jackson" she spoke up as she noticed Mrs. Grenier gaining back consciousness, her eyes blinking to adjust to the light.
"Umph...mmm......mmph......what happened?" Mrs. Grenier faintly uttered.
"It's alright just stay still, you were passed out" Mrs. Jackson as she heard the ambulance siren pull up.
The ambulance stopped in front of the Grenier house at the sight of Marcus and Terell waving. Two paramedics rushed out with equipment.
Oh thank god you're here!" Marcus shouted "she's in the kitchen"
"Thank you son" one paramedic said while rushing inside.
"Thank ya ma'am but we're gonna need you to step aside please"
"Yes sir" Mrs. Jackson said and then went outside to check on Marcus. She was taken aback a little when she saw the two of them hugging very tightly...more than just a friendly hug it was but Mrs. Jackson's emergency state of mind couldn't quite pin point it.
"You alright Marcus?" Mrs. Jackson asked with a bit of suspicion in her voice. Terell quickly let go, Marcus wiped his face.
"Yes ma'am"
"Has your mama not been feelin well lately?" asked Mrs. Jackson
"Come to think of it, she complained of being tired one day, I told her to go to the doctor but she didn't listen to me" Marcus frowned.
Just then, a paramedic came out to give them the news.
"Are you her son?" he asked.
"Yes sir, I'm Marcus" he extended his hand.
"Nice to meet you Marcus, your moms gonna be ok, no sign of serious injury at the moment but she needs to be taken in for x-rays just to be sure no internal bleeding is present" He ended
"Whew, ok thank you..which hospital?" Mrs. Jackson asked.
"Shelby Baptist Hospital" the paramedic said as he and his partner quickly went for the stretcher. Right then, Mr Grenier pulled into the driveway. He got out of his truck as quick as a bolt of lightening when he saw his wife being rolled out on a stretcher.
"What the hell happened here?!" he shouted.
"Dad!!" Marcus exclaimed and ran towards him. " I just came home a lil while ago and saw mom passed out on the floor, thank god Mrs. Jackson came when she did". Mr. Grenier glanced at Mrs. Jackson with a look of initial and partial contempt for the way she talked to Marcus that day, but ultimately realized her help and kept the discomfort to himself for the moment. Marcus ran up to his mother on the stretcher..seeing she was awake.
"Mama can you hear me?"
"Marcus" said Mrs. Grenier half smiling "I'll be alright..." her voice faded as the two men loaded her into the ambulance. "Thanks so much!" Marcus said to them as they began to drive off.
The four of them raced to the hospital, fear and uncertainty enveloped them as they each couldn't conceive what just happened. Terell rode with his mother, while Marcus rode with his father. Mr. Grenier exuded a expression of sheer unsteadiness.
"Your mama hasn't been herself lately......" he stated.
"I just hope she's ok" Marcus sullenly replied while he stared out the window, he didn't want to look at his fathers' face it hurt him to see him worried.
The four of them got to the emergency room area of the hospital and all rushed inside. They were informed that Mrs. Grenier was taken to the X-Ray room for evaluation. Moments crept by, they desperately tried to keep calm, images of passing citizens, nurses and doctors supplied their distractions. Then, a nurse who seemed to be heading their way caught their attention.
"I'm looking for the Grenier family?" she asked. Marcus and his father stood up.
"Hello, I'm Janie......Dr. Davidson is looking after Mrs. Grenier he'd like to speak with you all" she said courteously.
"Thank you" Marcus said.
"Alright then...follow me, she`s on the second floor" Janie lead the way.
"We'll catch up with you ok?" Mrs. Jackson said "Don't worry about us".
"Ok!" Marcus said, his voice trailing away as he followed his father. Mrs. Jackson and Terell just sat together for a few moments. She pulled out the slip of paper she had just before she entered the house, it was a simple banana cake recipe she had planned to give Mrs. Grenier as a gesture of kindness.
"What's that?" Terell asked.
"Oh......this was a recipe I was fixin to give Mrs. Grenier......I still feel a bit sorry for what I said to Marcus" Mrs. Jackson said...with a tone of guilt mixed with old stubbornness. She never was one to readily admit her faults......too much pride. She still had that lingering feeling about that "hug" she witnessed......she half turned to Terell about to say something, but she didn't. Terell was too busy looking in a magazine to notice.
"Well...I suppose we better get up to the second floor now" Terell said.
"Yeah me too" replied his mother. They both found the nearest elevator and got off on the second floor. They figured they ought to be in one of the nearest waiting rooms. They walked around until they finally found Mr. Grenier sitting down with a grim look on his face.
"Everything ok?......" Terell asked half knowing it was a dumb question.
"They did the X-rays" He said pausing "They found a mass by her liver.....they don't know if it's a tumor or something else."
"Oh my lord" Mrs. Jackson replied walking over to sit down by him.
"Where's Marcus?" Terell asked...noticing he wasn't in the room.
"He's in the bathroom around the corner" Mr. Grenier replied. Without missing a beat, Terell headed for the mens restroom around the corner and opened the door.
"Marcus you in here?" Terell asked. Marcus quickly tried to gain composure and crept out of the stall he was in...wiping his tears.
"I'm here......" Marcus replied in a shaky voice standing still.
"Come here" Terell said extending one arm. Marcus went up to him and received the hug from Terell he so desperately needed.
"My mom might have a tumor......" Marcus said, half crying.
"I know, I'm so sorry......look, everything's gonna be ok..alright? it might not be that bad..let's just try and think positive for now ok?" Terell stated.
"Easy for you to say......" Marcus angrily replied and pulled away from Terell jerkingly, then stopped and took a deep breath. "God, I'm sorry..." he apologized
"It's alright, you're just worried babe" Terell said.
Marcus splashed his face with water in the sink and dried his face with a paper towel. "Ok, I'm good......"
They both went back to the waiting room where they found Dr. Davidson talking to Terell's father, Mrs. Jackson waited outside.
"There he is" Mr. Grenier sighed with relief as he saw Marcus. Dr. Davidson turned around.
"Ah, hello Marcus nice to meet you" he said in a matter of fact tone. He politely told Terell to step out of the room because of hospital policy that the doctor speaks with the family in private about the patients information. Terell obeyed and waited outside with his mother. Dr. Davidson began..
"It looks like she's going to be fine for the time being but we'd like to keep her here for a few days for observation and some blood work...it is possible it MAY be a tumor but we're not 100% sure, there's no major internal injuries from her fall so that's out of the woods. It may just be a contusion which can be caused by dehydration" Dr. Davidson stated.
"Well she does push herself in her rose garden a lot" Marcus said.
"I'm always tellin her to slow down" Mr. Grenier grumbled. "Can we see her now?"
"Yes...you can see her..she's in room 211...she's awake but she is groggy from the pain medication she's on"
"Thank you so much doctor" Marcus said.
"You're welcome" Dr Davidson smiled as he continued on his way. They met up with Mrs. Jackson and Terell outside the waiting room.
"She's in room 211" Marcus exclaimed.
"Oh you go on ahead, I think Terell and I will be headin home now and leave you two to visit her...come on Terell" Mrs. Jackson said in a suddenly controlling tone. Terell rebelled.
"If it's ok with you Mr. Grenier. I'd stay here and help keep Marcus company" Terell said standing up for himself. Marcus felt akward..as he didn't want to tell him no, but he didn't want him to get more drama from his mother either.
"It's up to Terell......" Marcus said, staying out of it.
"Terell honey I think we better let them be and not bother them" Mrs. Jackson said.
"Oh it's no bother at all" Mr. Grenier stated.
"Thank you but we better be goin now come on, Terell.." Mrs Jackson said.
"It's ok mama" Terell said annoyed "I can take care of myself...please...Marcus needs my company". His mother was confusing the term "need" as a romantic undertone and almost lost her cool but her better judgment told her otherwise.
"Well...alright...call me ok?" Mrs. Jackson said kissing Terell on the cheek goodbye as she left the hospital and headed home. The three men went to Mrs. Greniers room to find her half awake with an IV attached to her arm.
"Hey there fellas"..she said in grovely voice but jovial nonetheless.
"Momma..." Marcus said heading straight to her and leaning over to give her a hug. "I was so worried......"
"It's alright honey....I'm gonna be fine" she said in her typical strong southern woman voice.
"You had us plum out of our heads" Mr. Grenier said
"I dunno what happened...I went to the fridge for somethin and the next thing I knew, I felt a little faint and then I woke up on the floor with Mrs. Jackson kneelin by me............is she alright?" Mrs. Grenier asked concerningly.
"She's fine..." Marcus said. "Terell is here mama hope you don't mind"
"Course not" she smiled.
"Hi Mrs. Grenier......sure hope you feel better soon." Terell said in his most gentlemanly tone.
"Well...Marcus...you wanna head home and get us our toothbrushes and a change of clothes?" Mr. Grenier asked.
"That's a good idea..Terrell will come with me right?" Marcus said as he SLIGHTLY winked at Terell.
"Sure" Terell replied. His father gave him the keys to the truck and they both made their way out of the hospital and to the parking lot. They hopped in the truck and exited the parking lot.
Mrs. Jackson, still on her way home from the hospital, stopped by the grocery to get a few things. She pondered her thoughts about Terell and Marcus and mulled over a bit about feeling guilty for being so protective over Terell not to mention she seemed to notice his "fondness" for him.
On the way home, driving through the city streets. Terell tried to comfort Marcus still.
"Hey" Terell said jokingly and poked Marcus on the shoulder "I get to help you pack some clothes right?" Terell smiled.
"Yeah...and?" Marcus replied giggling.
"Oh nothing......" Terell smirked while looking out the window.
"Nothing my ass, what are you thinking?" Marcus laughed.
"I'm thinking you need to be cheered a bit man..and I also want a peek at your sexy underwear too!" Terell sneaked in that last comment...ducking and laughing as Marcus glared at him and playfully slapped the back of his smooth bald head.
"We'll see..."Marcus replied.
WHHHHEEEEWW!! ok that's done...see what I go through for you people? LOL j/k.........anyways....hope you enjoyed!......hit me up at DefJamMariah85@aol.com for feed back!