Page 146

Pushing the room door back open, I went into my closet and pulled out something for both of us to throw on. Laying the clothes out on the bed, I headed into the bathroom and started the shower.
“Love.” I tapped her on the shoulder.
“Ummm,” she hummed.
“Talitha, get up for me baby.”
“I’m tired,” she groaned.
“I know.” Flipping the covers back, I stretched my hands under her and pulled her up from the bed. “I need you to shower and throw some clothes on.”
At my insistence, her eyes popped opened. “Is everything okay?”
“I don’t know baby. But we need to shower. Baker is on his way to pick us up.”
“Okay,” she breathed.
Being that we were already naked, I pulled the shower door opened and waited for her to step in. Positioning us so that I was standing under the shower head, I wrapped my arms around her waist. “Baby, I’ve gotta tell you something.”
“What is it, Law?”
“Mrs. Jessie called; they’ve been trying to reach you.” Before I could get the rest of my sentence out, Talitha tried to remove my arms from her waist. “Baby… listen to me.”
“Let me go, Lawton!” she roared. “I need to go.”
“Baby,” I called out again. “We’re gonna go. We need to shower and get dressed first. They have her at the hospital.”
Talitha tried her hardest to get out of my grip, but I wasn’t budging. “Let me go, got damnit.” She gritted and used her hands to pound on my chest. “I gotta go get her.”
Grabbing her arms, I brought her into my chest. “Shhh… We’re gonna go.” The longer I held onto her, the harder she cried.
“Please tell me she’s okay.”
“I won’t know until we get there. Baker is on his way with Mrs. Jessie. I promise I’m going to get you there as fast as I can. But baby, I need to wash you up. Please let me do that.”
Talitha finally stopped fighting against me, giving me the opportunity to clean her up. After I finished washing her off, I rushed and cleansed my body. By the time we were out of the shower and dressed, Baker was letting me know he was outside.
When we made it outside to the truck and as soon as the door swung open, Talitha took one look at Mrs. Jessie and broke down. Before she could hit the ground, I was wrapping my arms around her. Baker held the door open so I could get her inside of the truck. I tried to sit her in the seat beside Mrs. Jessie, but she shook her head and gripped me tighter, leaving me with no choice but to sit in the back with her still attached to me.
The sounds of Mrs. Jessie praying and Talitha’s cries filled the car as Baker whipped out of the driveway. I didn’t know what we were getting ready to walk into but all I could do was pray that God wrapped a protective shield around Gema. Talitha wouldn’t be able to survive if anything happened to her.
Stroking her hair, I whispered, “Baby.” Talitha stirred but didn’t open her eyes. “Talitha, wake up love, we’re here.”When her eyes popped up, she looked around. Blinking rapidly, she focused them on the hospital and started crying again.
Sliding out of my lap, she grabbed Baker’s hand and stepped out of the truck. When I got out, I took off my jacket and draped it over her shoulders before ushering her into the hospital.
Stepping up to the receptionist, I said, “Bertha Mae Howard.”
After typing on the computer, she looked up. “One eleven.” And pointed to the hall behind us.
When we cut the corner to head down the hall, her Uncle was standing by the vending machine.
“Willearl,” Talitha croaked.
“Tali,” he sniffled.
“Is she okay?”
“It’s bad, Tali. Louise said she must’ve got up out the bed in the middle of the night cause all she remembers hearing was something sounding like somebody had fell. When she ran into the room, Mama was on the ground. She hit her head, Tali,” he cried.