Color Me Blind (A Divine Love Story Book 1)

by Melinda Michelle

  Alyssa stood to frantically wave down the paramedics. She was jumping up and down. Patrons were beginning to crowd the front of the store as the EMT and two police cars pulled up.

  The paramedics pulled up to her and hopped out. They began to work. She heard them say he was still breathing. When they lifted him to put him on the stretcher she saw his keys were on the ground. She bent down to pick them up and a glint from under the car caught her eye.

  She got down on her hands and knees and pulled his cell phone from under the car. It was surprisingly intact save for a little blood. The paramedics were loading him and the two police officers were coming toward her. She looked down at herself and saw the blood on her shirt and all over her hands. It made her outraged. She couldn’t understand how anyone could do that to another human being, especially one as sweet as Ahmed.

  He had been coming to her register for over a year now. He was always polite, always had a smile, and never treated her like she was beneath him even though she knew he made a lot of money doing whatever he did. He was always impeccably dressed in a tailored suit whenever he came in on a weekday.

  The police officer asked, “Ma’am, could you please tell us what happened?”

  Before she could respond, her boss, a portly man came running over.

  Sweat poured from his face from the run.

  “My God Alyssa, are you alright? What in the world happened out here?”

  The other officer responded, “Sir we need to ask her some questions if you could just let us speak with her first.”

  He nodded.

  “Sure officer, I’m sorry.”

  Alyssa ran down everything that she remembered trying her best to remember every detail, but her emotions were all over the place. They asked her question after question and she answered them the best she could.

  One of the officers asked her boss, “Sir, can we get the surveillance tapes please?”

  “Yes sir officers. Please give me just one moment.” He turned to Alyssa. “Listen honey, why don’t you go on home, try to get cleaned up and maybe go see Ahmed at the hospital.”

  She wiped at the tears that never stopped running down her face. She realized she had just smeared Ahmed’s blood on her face. The nausea she’d been fighting won out this time. She turned, bent over and was viciously ill. Her boss pulled her curly blonde hair away as her system purged itself. This whole ordeal disturbed him to no end. He couldn’t imagine what would possibly make someone do something like this. Ahmed was a nice young man who they saw every week. He really hoped he would make it.

  Alyssa apologized and told her boss she would be okay. When he and the officers headed back to the store Alyssa followed to get her purse and keys. She made herself have tunnel vision. She ignored the questions, the stares and the murmurs. She could only imagine that she looked like a walking nightmare, except this was her reality.

  All she could think about was if Ahmed was going to die. She realized she still had his phone in her hand. She had given the keys to the officers but kept the phone. She remembered that he had a very close group of friends. She met all of them on one occasion when they all came in for a big party they had one time.

  Sitting in her car now she tried to remember the name of the friend she saw Ahmed with the most. She was a black woman with big curly hair.

  “Come on Alyssa think, what was her name?”

  She pressed a button and made the phone light up. She was so grateful it wasn’t locked. She began to scroll through his call log and when she saw Jasmine Monroe she remembered her name. She took out her cell phone and dialed Jasmine’s number.

  She answered on the second ring.

  “Hello.”

  “Hello? May I speak to Jasmine?”

  “This is she, who’s calling?”

  “My name is Alyssa and I have Ahmed’s phone. He was attacked tonight in the grocery store parking lot.”

  “Oh my God! Is he okay? Is he conscious?”

  “I’m not sure. He lost a lot of blood but he has been rushed to University Hospital. I am on my way up there now. I didn’t know who else to call.”

  “Okay, we are on our way right now. I will contact his next of kin.”

  The phone hung up and Alyssa just stared at it. She sent up prayers and turned on her car to head to the emergency room.

  Chapter 33: The Trials of Life

  As Lucy drove them to the emergency room Jasmine called Ahmed’s parents which she regretted because she didn’t have enough information to do anything except scare the crap out of them. They told her they were going to book the next flight out. She promised to update them as soon as she got to the hospital.

  With every extra second she had Jasmine prayed for Ahmed. She knew something like this was going to happen. She wished she had spent the day praying for him instead of being caught up with Blake drama. Lucy came to a skidding halt in the parking lot of the emergency room. They were both slamming car doors and breaking their necks getting inside the hospital.

  Jasmine beat Lucy to the nurse’s station by two steps. The short, brown-skinned nurse looked at them like they were mental.

  Out of breath Jasmine said, “Our friend Ahmed Dossari, was just brought in by ambulance. He was attacked. We need to know anything you can tell us about him.”

  The nurse took her time looking for the information.

  “What did you say his name was?”

  Jasmine wanted to choke her. She responded through clinched teeth.

  “His name is Ahmed Dossari. He was brought in by an ambulance.”

  The nurse got snippy in return.

  “There is no need for your attitude. Besides if he just arrived by ambulance he’s probably not even in the system anyways.”

  Today was not the day. She was all out of patience, grace and mercy. Jasmine was about to reach across the desk and snatch her up by her shirt.

  Lucy discerned her friend’s thoughts and said, “No Jasmine.”

  Just then Damon and Blake ran up behind them. Blake knowing her as intimately as he did could read her body language. Without thinking he grabbed her and restrained her arms down by her side.

  “Jasmine, this is not the time or the place,” he whispered in her ear.

  Jasmine felt like Blake was once again trying to chastise her and treat her like a child. Her emotions were overloaded. He was the last person she wanted anywhere near her. She snatched herself away from him with force.

  “Didn’t I already tell you that I don’t need you coddling me?”

  Blake wasn’t in the mood. He had better restraint over his tongue so he just sent her a steely glare and walked away. He saw Carmen rushing in.

  She ran up and grabbed him.

  “Blake, what’s happening? Is Ahmed okay?”

  “We don’t know anything yet sweetie. Jasmine’s probably ruined any chance we have of getting that information anytime soon.”

  Carmen looked at Jasmine who looked ready to spit fire. She opted out of saying anything to her.

  Damon said, “Okay everybody just calm down. Everyone go have a seat in the waiting room. I will talk to the nurse.”

  Jasmine started to protest.

  “Jazzy, not now, go sit down.”

  They all found a seat in the waiting room. Damon began to work his magic on the nurse. He found out that Ahmed had just been put into the system. She would go find out his status. He walked back over to the group.

  “Okay guys she is going to go find out what’s going on and give us an update. Jasmine, you stay away from her.”

  Jasmine rolled her eyes when a young lady rushing in from the entrance caught her attention. She was a young blonde wearing a uniform of some sort. Her shirt, hands and face were stained with what appeared to be blood. Her gray eyes were bloodshot. She looked whiter than white. Jasmine realized she was pale as if something had frightened her. She just stopped in the middle of the room looking confused.

  Alyssa was looking for Ahmed’s friend with the big hair. As
she scanned the waiting room she didn’t see her. She took out her cell phone to call Jasmine again. When she heard a cell phone ringing she looked over at the group of people sitting in the waiting room. Jasmine pulled out her cell phone and answered quickly recognizing the number from earlier.

  When she said hello Alyssa ran over to her.

  “Oh my God, are you Jasmine? What happened to all your hair?”

  Stunned Jasmine said, “Yes. I cut it. Are you Alyssa?”

  Alyssa began to cry again and nodded her head. Jasmine just stood and wrapped her arms around her. She let her get it all out. The poor girl was shaking like a leaf on a tree. The others just stared waiting for information.

  When she finished Jasmine asked her, “Okay, who are you?”

  Alyssa gave her a watery laugh.

  “I’m sorry. According to Ahmed, I’m his favorite grocery store cashier. That’s where he got attacked. I know it’s a lot to ask but if you could give me just a moment to go to the bathroom and clean up. I came straight from the scene. I will tell you guys what happened.”

  Jasmine gave her shoulder a squeeze, “Sure.”

  Alyssa handed her Ahmed’s phone and left to find a bathroom. She was grateful she found a t-shirt balled up in the back seat of her car. Jasmine took her seat again and let out a deep breath. Everyone sat around with nothing to say to each other worried about their friend.

  Lucy sat straight up, “Hey guys didn’t Ahmed have a date with someone tonight?”

  It took a few moments for everyone to come out of their fogs and register what Lucy was asking.

  Carmen said, “Oh my God, you’re right. She is probably supremely upset with him right now.”

  Damon said, “Well, let’s call her.”

  Blake asked, “Uh, who is she?”

  The question stumped everyone. They all just stared at each other waiting for someone to remember.

  When it dawned on Jasmine that they couldn’t remember what they never knew she said, “Guys we don’t know her. I don’t even know her name.”

  Blake said, “Okay let’s look through his phone, likely the text messages.”

  Jasmine picked up the phone but when she pressed the button the phone was locked.

  “It’s locked, does anyone know his code?”

  All four of them said, “2-1-3-3.”

  Jasmine looked at them and laughed, “Oh right.”

  Ahmed being a numbers man always loved how their birthdays lined up. When you added the months together they equaled 21 and when you added the days together they equaled 33. The strange part about them was that they were consecutive. Jasmine’s birthday started in January on the third. Blake’s was in February on the fourth. The rest all flowed consecutively through June for the month and the eighth for the date. Jasmine input the code and pulled up his text messages. The last message was from someone named Victoria.

  “Hey guys I think I found it, her name is Victoria. Oh and yes, she’s pissed. So do I just call her?”

  Lucy asked, “Well does anyone know how long they’ve been dating?”

  Carmen said, “Does it matter? Regardless she should know he’s in the hospital.”

  Damon replied, “Uh, I think we should know how serious it is before we decide how much to disclose.”

  Blake asked, “How are we going to do that if we can’t talk to either one of them?”

  The nurse from earlier walked into the waiting room and Alyssa was on her heels.

  She stood in front of Damon and said, “Your friend was badly beaten. He lost a lot of blood. He has some broken bones but they are more concerned with the damage done to his head and to his kidney. He is in emergency surgery. If something were to happen and decisions needed to be made who is his next of kin?”

  Jasmine said, “His parents are out of state. They’re flying in, but I’m listed as his in case of emergency person.”

  The nurse barely acknowledged Jasmine. She kept talking to Damon, “That’s not exactly the same thing.”

  Blake interjected, “Actually Ahmed had a living will. He listed Jasmine as his power of attorney should he ever be unable to make a decision for himself.”

  Everyone stared at Blake.

  Jasmine asked incredulously, “What are you talking about? I’m his what?”

  “Come on guys you know Ahmed is a planner. When you had surgery a few months back he decided to do a living will so he came to me. Jaz, he gave you the right to make the tough decisions because and I quote, “You are the most responsible person in a crisis. You will always do the right thing no matter what.”

  Damon said, “Yeah girl, you are good to have around in a pinch, but talking about wills and power of attorneys is not cool right now.”

  Carmen said, “I second that.”

  The nurse said, “I will keep you guys posted. It’s also customary for friends and family to donate blood.”

  She walked back to the nurse’s station.

  Alyssa spoke, “Um guys, I had a thought. I don’t know if you guys are aware but Ahmed was going to cook dinner for his girlfriend tonight. Does she know yet?”

  Jasmine said, “We were about to call her. You said it’s his girlfriend?”

  “Well, I assumed she was. He was very excited about the date.”

  That brought on new tears for Lucy. Damon pulled her in for a hug and kissed her forehead. Jasmine went back to his phone and began to scroll through the text messages between Ahmed and Victoria to find out how serious they were. She was speed reading through the text messages that Ahmed apparently never erased.

  “Okay guys, I think he really liked her but they haven’t slept together. So how serious does that make them?”

  Blake asked, “How do you know that?”

  “Their sexual innuendos are unrealistically optimistic.”

  Carmen snorted.

  Jasmine continued, “They’ve known each other for years though. They made reference to things that happened a long time ago. I wonder why we haven’t met her. I’m going to call.”

  Jasmine dialed her number and waited.

  The voice on the other end said, “How dare you call me two hours late? I texted you and called with no response.”

  “Uh Victoria, this is Jasmine, Ahmed’s roommate.”

  “Oh…oh, okay well why are you calling me from his phone?”

  Jasmine hesitated and Lucy prompted her to tell her.

  “We’re at University Hospital right now because Ahmed was attacked tonight. He’s in surgery right now and we are waiting to hear something. We’re sorry we didn’t get in touch sooner but we just remembered he had a date.”

  The shriek Victoria let out caused Jasmine to pull the phone away from her ear.

  When the screaming stopped she asked, “Hello? Hello?”

  Victoria was sobbing now, “Is he going to be okay? How serious is it?”

  “We’re not sure but you can come to the hospital and wait with us. We’re going to be here until, well just until.”

  “Okay, okay, I’m on my way right now.”

  Jasmine hung up and let out a deep breath. She looked up and met Blake’s eyes. She swore they could see into her soul. She turned her body and let her back face him. The suggestion was not lost on him, but now was not the time to address it.

  Damon asked Alyssa, “So, can you tell us what happened?”

  She laid out the incident as humanely as she could. The Asian lady was in tears and Alyssa could tell the two guys were barely hanging on to their restraint. Jasmine’s and the Hispanic woman’s face were stoic.

  “I’m so sorry. I got distracted by this crying baby that was in my line. I didn’t see it in time to stop it before it happened.”

  Lucy asked, “So you’re basically saying this was just a hate crime?”

  “Yeah, I think so because I doubt they were robbing him. It seemed malicious and almost personal. With what happened on the college campus today I guess it has everyone on edge.”

  Jasmine snapped, “Th
at’s not an excuse!”

  “Oh no, sorry, I didn’t mean to suggest it was. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

  Blake grabbed Alyssa’s hand.

  “It’s okay. She knows you didn’t mean it like that.”

  Jasmine cut her eyes at him.

  Blake continued, “Thank you so much for being there for our friend. You may have saved his life.”

  A gentleman holding on to a crying woman from the other side of the waiting room angrily spoke toward them.

  “If he was one of those religious nuts I hope he dies. My daughter is fighting for her life and for what? If she loses her life he deserves to lose his.”

  They all stared at him dumbfounded.

  Damon said, “Yo homie, you don’t know us like that. I suggest you chill before it really gets ugly in here.”

  Lucy stood between Damon and the distraught man.

  She pleaded, “Damon no. This isn’t gonna help. Ahmed would never be okay with it going down like this.”

  The man stood and said, “You are a traitor to your own country defending the likes of his kind.”

  Jasmine stood, “His kind? And what kind is that, an American citizen who is completely innocent and who was attacked in a grocery store parking lot because of who he was perceived to be? So I guess you deserve to be dealt with for every wrong every white man has ever done. Our friend is fighting for his life just like your daughter. They are both innocent victims of crazy people. How can you be so hateful?”

  The woman with him was an emotional wreck.

  She managed, “Please stop. Just stop.”

  Blake grabbed Jasmine and turned her away from the couple.

  “Jaz, you need to walk away.”

  Jasmine wanted to punch Blake in his mouth. She could barely control her anger where he was concerned. But she couldn’t deny he was right.

  She said, “Whatever, I’m going to try and reach Ahmed’s parents and update them on what’s going on.”

  She excused herself and went around the corner.

  The man looked at Blake and spit at his feet.

  “Traitor!”

  Carmen got between them lightning fast as she saw Blake’s fist clinch by his side. She knew his temper was actually worse than Jasmine’s if the wrong button was pushed. The man’s wife pulled him away to wait somewhere else. It was over as quickly as it had started.