She started eating. Thinking too far in the future depressed her.
“Your car is still in the shop, I’ll take you to pick up your clothes.”
“Thanks, but I have to go to see the doctor first.”
His eyes bored into hers, and she waited for the polite decline as he realized her lifespan might be counted in days or months, not years or decades.
“Why?”
“I get the final verdict today. They wanted to do some more testing before they were willing to tell me I’m dying. I’m not a pessimist, but I can feel the changes in my body.”
“Then we will go see the human doctor first. After we see him, maybe you will consent to be seen by Mekhi.”
“Your brother is a doctor?”
“He is. I also want him to look at Fie for you.”
“If he can treat both humans and animals, he must be a great doctor.”
“He prefers healer.” He gave her a sexy smile that made her forget his brother and get lost in exactly what his mouth and tongue were capable of.
“I need a shower first.” She eyed the French toast on the table. She shouldn’t, but she did. Maybe it was time to live a little.
Chapter Eight
The waiting room was silent. There were other couples, but they weren’t talking or laughing. Each of them looked like she felt. That on the other side of the glass door sat doom and gloom that would change her life forever.
“Ms. Derry.” The nurse who was always so nice to her was calling her name. “You can come back now.”
She stood blindly reaching behind her. When her hand was engulfed in Jabari’s big warm hand, she let out a sigh. She no longer had to fear being alone when she got the ultimate news.
They walked through the door and down the hall to the room that held the scale.
“Jane this is Jabari.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” Jane’s words were smooth, she added a smile and a wink. Part of her charm was how she went out of her way to make everyone feel comfortable.
Brandi stood on the scale and didn’t cringe at the weight until she realized Jabari could see it. She liked her weight. When she was younger, she had lots of hang-ups most of them involved other people trying to body shame her. She was over them and their opinions. Occasionally, she still felt insecure, but she thought most females felt that way at some point in their lives.
“You lost twenty pounds.”
Since she wasn’t trying that wasn’t reassuring.
“I’ve been trying to get her to eat more. I’ll keep working on it.”
Jane’s mouth dropped, and she looked at Jabari waiting for the punch line before she looked at Brandi.
She thought about how he picked her up and held her against the wall with his body. He kept acting like she was a tiny little thing and yeah, she liked it.
“We’re going to room two.”
She bent down to pick up her shoes and then followed Jane into the room. She took her vitals and told her the doctor would be in before she left.
“What kind of doctor are you seeing?”
“Infectious disease. I’ve seen everyone else this was the last doctor. If he doesn’t know what is happening, then I’m out of luck.”
There was a knock on the door before it opened. “How are you feeling today Brandi?”
“Not too bad. Dr. Herman this is Jabari???”
“Jabari Broken.”
“That’s an unusual last name.”
“I’ve been told that before.”
“I’m sure you have. Take a seat, young man.”
She was sure Dr. Herman was at least eighty years old, but she never asked because it was rude. Now it didn’t matter since she was sure he was going to outlive her.
“What did you find out?”
He pulled his stool over to her and sat. “Not a lot. Your body is shutting down. The question is why, and I couldn’t find a good reason for it. The tests came back negative. I’ve only encountered a case like yours once, many years ago. It involved a young teen. My best guess is you have two weeks to three months.
“Whatever you have is trying to destroy you at a cellular level. Your cells are regenerating more rapidly than the disease, but it is advancing, and soon you won’t be able to keep up with the rate of destruction in your body.”
“Thank you.”
“Brandi, if there is anything I can do.”
She shook her head. “In the end, it’s the confirmation that gets to you. I knew what was happening, maybe because I’m very aware of my body. Being told I’m dying is like an unexpected punch to the stomach even though I was expecting it.”
She slipped down from the table. “I have to go get my affairs in order while I have a chance.”
Jabari stood behind her. He wrapped her in his arms and pulled her back against his chest. Those pesky tears, the ones she always tried to hide slid down her cheeks.
“What can we do?”
Dr. Herman gave him a grateful smile. “Don’t let her overdo it. She’ll be tempted, but it will just make her condition accelerate. She needs to keep eating and drinking and taking care of herself. Listen to your body, Brandi.”
“I will Dr. Herman. It was nice getting to know you.” She walked out the office with her head held high.
“They sell the best lemonade across the street. I’ll go get us both a cup while you go get the car?”
“That sounds good.” He leaned down and kissed her. They both stepped into the elevator when it got there. She got off at one and he went down to the garage.
This was it. Her final call. Now it was her job to enjoy every day of the time she had left. Maybe she should run off to Vegas, but there were projects she wanted to finish before her life was over. And she wanted to drink lemonade. The thought of that statement made her laugh. As if a drink was all that important in the scheme of things.
She crossed the street and went to the stand. It was only out in the summer, and this would be her last one. She shook herself as she ordered two lemonades. There was no way she was going to spend the rest of her life in the dumps. Nope, she wasn’t going to blow all her money in Vegas, but she was going to live as long as she could.
With a decisive nod of her head, she paid for her drinks and gave the person serving her a bright smile before she went back to wait for the light to turn green. She took a deep sip of her drink before she crossed the street. It was the screams that made her look around the second time. A car was coming straight at her. Her legs locked up as she stared into the eyes of death. Her knees unlocked, and she started to run. There was no way she was going to make it. It was like that car was aimed at her. Instead of slowing down it was picking up speed.
She screamed. Right before the car hit her, arms picked her up and jumped out the way.
“Jabari?” Her hands were running over his chest as her body continued to shake.
“A car tried to hit me. Did I imagine that?”
“No.”
“I’m okay, right? This is real, and I’m still alive.”
“You’re still alive.” He kissed her until she stopped shaking. The sound of screams and car horns made her pay attention. They were standing in the crosswalk blocking traffic on one side. His Jeep was blocking traffic on the other side.
“Let’s go; we're blocking traffic.” He growled his eyes trying to change shape. “Please put me in the car.”
He nodded his eyes returning to normal. He made everyone wait as he opened the door and made sure she was comfortable.
“That was a coincidence?” She asked him after he got into the car and pulled off. “The car never stopped or even slowed down.” Silence.
“Jabari?”
“I don’t like it. It could have been an accident.”
“It doesn’t feel all that accidental to me either. I can’t wrap my head around it. I'm already dying why try to speed it up?” It had to be a coincidence. She nodded; it had to be paranoia.
<
br /> “I dropped our drinks.” There was sadness in her voice.
“We can go back.”
“No, it’s time to move on. There isn’t any time to backtrack.”
They drove in silence until he pulled up in front of the Coliseum. She waited until he came around and opened the door for her.
“I like how you open the doors for me. At times, I see myself as a princess.”
“I see you as my queen.” He took her hand while her heart beat like she was running a race.
They walked into the building with him shadowing her like her body guard.
“Brandi, everyone around here is still talking about your show. We missed you afterward, but it was marvelous.”
“Chris, thank you for the privilege of showing my clothes here.”
He reached out and gave her a quick hug keeping his eyes on the male who was staring at him. “Your belongings are in the room you used, waiting for you.”
“Thanks. Chris, if I never see you again. You know, I blow up and never see yu again.” She gave him a nervous smile. “Remember we were always friends.” She blinked her eyes and walked away leaving him with a questioning look on his face.
“Why did you do that?”
“I can’t leave my friends without saying goodbye.” She folded up the pieces that were still hanging or lying around.
“I’m done.” He nodded and picked up what was left before leading her outside.
“I’m sorry about your Rolls.” He was placing her clothes and materials in the back of his Jeep.
“What’s your favorite color?”
“Purple.”
“Not Bronze?”
“I love bronze for furniture, but I love to wear purple. At times, I think it’s strange. At other times, I put it down to being a temperamental artist. Where are we going?”
“To take your clothes back to your condo.”
She nodded and closed her eyes. It was the feel of his hand on her leg giving her a small shake that woke her up. They were parked in front of the lemonade stand.
She turned to look at him and back at the lemonade stand. “You didn’t have to.”
“I heard they had soft pretzels. How could I resist?”
The look in his eyes melted her. She was nothing but warm and gooey Brandi. For one incredible minute, she was glad she lived long enough to experience this.
He took her hand helping her out the Jeep. They stood in a short line until it was her turn.
“I’m happy you're fine. I saw what happened, but there was nothing I could do.”
“Thank you. You didn’t happen to see who was driving did you?”
“That’s the freaky part. It looked like the car was empty, but that’s impossible.”
“The sun must have blinded you. Can we get two lemonades and two pretzels?”
“Sure thing.”
Jabari pulled out his wallet.
“It’s on the house. Your beautiful lady does business here all the time. I’ll miss seeing her around.”
She smiled at him and gave a slight nod of her head. He wasn’t stupid, and she wouldn’t act like she didn’t understand.
They moved to a small seating area.
“I always thought I didn’t want to leave anyone behind to miss me or to mourn for me. That’s impossible. All you need to do is touch one life, and they will miss you when you’re gone.”
“Even if you live forever those around you will not. There will always be mourning.”
She nodded. “I see you prefer plain pretzels.”
“Yours looks like a pizza.”
“That’s because it is. Open wide.” She leaned over to give him a bite of hers. His teeth were white, and just a tad pointed. When he took a bite, he snapped them together making a noise that brought a smile to her face.
“Next time I’ll have to get one of those.” He picked up his lemonade and sipped watching her.
She could feel it in her smile and the brightness of her eyes. She was falling for him. Mayday she screamed, but no one was listening. It was too soon, and there wasn’t enough time. That seemed to be the story of the life she was living.
He reached out and laid his warm hand on hers. That’s when she decided eff it, she needed him, if only for a little while.
Chapter Nine
Jabari took the long way back to her condo. They looked at the sights and the bridges she never had time to pay attention to, and they laughed. When she first met him, he had seemed rough, a little too tough, for her. Never could she have imagined them laughing. He did it on purpose to make her smile, but that made her heart melt even more.
Now they were in the elevator going up to her floor. When the door opened, she stepped out and looked around. She loved this place; it was her first real home.
“Brandi, are you well?”
“Yes, I was just thinking…” She turned around with a smile on her face and started to scream. There was something standing behind him. It looked like it came from a horror movie.
She grabbed his arm trying to pull him towards her as the creature lifted its arm. There was a sickle in his hand, and he was aiming for Jabari’s neck. Jabari was trying to get her to calm down while she screamed louder trying to protect him.
“Brandi!” The door next to hers flew open. Piper ran out with a baseball bat. “You leave her alone pervert!” She swung and hit his arm. The bat cracked.
“You broke my bat.” She balled up her fist and began hitting him where she could reach.
Brandi stepped back her mouth open. Her best friend was hitting Jabari trying to defend her. He was standing there not defending himself.
She snapped out of her dazed state. “Piper stop! He wasn’t trying to hurt me.” She grabbed Piper’s shoulders and started shaking her.
“Leave him alone.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. Piper this is Jabari, the one I told you about. Jabari this is Piper.”
Piper looked him over from head to foot and back again. “Oh! This is him.”
“Must you be so dramatic?” Brandi laughed at her, and Piper relaxed and joined in.
“They’re going to talk about us again.”
Brandi looked down the hallway where a door was cracked.
“Always. Let’s take it inside before rumors get started about us fighting over the one good male left in the world.” A door slammed, and they laughed as Brandi opened her door.
“If you haven’t figured it out Brandi, and I are best friends.” Piper told him.
“We met in college.” Brandi took over. “We shared a dorm room. We were the ones… I must be losing my mind.” She turned to look at Jabari.
He was different. There was a shift in how he was standing. It was subtle; she would never have noticed if she wasn’t spending all her free time studying him. He gave her a slight nod which could mean anything, but she thought she got it.
“Piper, can I borrow that purple shirt from you? The one you keep hoarding to yourself.”
“You know you can.”
“Let’s go get it; I want to wear it tonight.”
She opened her mouth, but the look Brandy was giving her made her close it.
“Let’s go, besides you haven’t seen the new plant I bought.”
“You and those plants. Try not to kill it this time.”
“Why I never!” They laughed and walked out the door.
They were silent until they got into her condo.
“What’s happening.”
“I know this sounds strange, but it felt like someone was in the house or had been. The longer I stood there the more my nerves crawled. Jabari is going to search the place.”
He waited for the door to shut behind him before he went to her bedroom. It was empty. He checked every room before he was sure that whoever had entered was gone.
“Fie you can show yourself now; it's safe.”
He came out of the closet and rubbed himself against Jabari’s ankle.
> “Good job hiding from them. Can you show me what they did?” He turned and walked back into Brandi’s room. He stopped in the corner by the closet and began to scratch at the rug.
Jabari followed him and lifted the corner of the rug.
“That’s nasty.” He reached down and rubbed Fie’s head. “You’re young but your astute. Watch that they don’t move I’ll be back.”
He left and when he came back, he brought a box of freezer bags with him and tweezers.
Fie looked up at him.
“This will work better than using her medication bottles.”
Fie nodded his head and moved back. Jabari used the tweezers to pick up the cocoons that would soon hatch and placed the three of them into a bag. He folded the bag and placed it into another until he used all of them.
“This will keep them from hatching until I get them home.” He moved over to Fie and picked him up running his hands over his little body. “I’m looking to see if they used a heat sensor on you.”
There was a small protrusion on his back leg. It was moving trying to burrow deep into his body.
“This is going to hurt.” Jabari grasped it between his fingers and pulled. Fie gave a soft moan and went silent.
“Brandi is lucky to have someone like you.” He hugged him before setting him down.
Jabari brought the device close to his face. “I don’t know who you are, but your time is running out.” He crushed it between his fingers and then added it to one of the freezer bags.
“Let’s go get our defender.”
“I don’t have to go. I could cancel, go next year.”
“No! You don’t get to stop living just to sit by my side and play babysitter.”
“Brandi…” They both turned when someone knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” Piper walked to the door looking out the peep hole.
“Jabari.”
She opened the door with a look of relief. “I swear I thought I was going to have to call the cops. We were scared.”
“She was scared I knew you’d be okay.” Brandi’s cheeks were warm as she denied being concerned.
He walked over to her with Fie following. “You didn’t have to worry.”
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