Page 50 of The Cost of Love

She follows suit, putting a hand on my arm to stop me from leaving. “I’m going to have to report this for a follow-up meeting. I understand that this was an accident, but in cases like this, we need to check in.”

I yank free from her grasp. Heated to the point of an explosion, I try to keep my voice from raising.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I’m sorry.”

I’m sure she is not. I walk away before anything comes out of my mouth that will just make this worse. When I enter his room, I see that Jamal is awake and a nurse is changing his bandage. His teeth are clenched, and he has his eyes shut as he tries to push through the pain. Going over to his other side, I grab his hand and squeeze. He looks up at me with a faint grimace taking over his face.

“Where were you?” he asks when she finishes up.

“Sorry, had to talk to someone real quick, but I’m here now.” Until something comes of it, there is no need to worry any of them.

There is no way after everything they endured in our mother’s care that one incident with me is going to result in them being taken away. It can’t be possible.

He is about to say something when the doctor walks into the room.

“I heard everything is looking good,” he says while coming over to Jamal’s bad side. “That means we can get going on the skin graft. Have we come to a decision about that?” They both look at me, and I feel that pit open up more.

“Yes, we are going to do it,” I say. Jamal exhales, and the doctor nods once in agreement.

“Okay, you will receive a call in the next few days to let you know the date of the surgery.” With that, he turns and walks out of the room.

Jamal sits up a little and looks at me. “I’m scared.” The tears are back, causing his eyes to shine as he clutches his injured arm to his chest.

“I know you are, but it’s going to be okay. After this surgery, it will all be better, and this will make sure it heals. No need to worry, love.” I smooth down his hair before cupping his cheek.

His lip still quivers, his face pinched. His apprehension probably won’t go away until all of this is said and done.

“I promise, okay. And I’ll even get you a stuffed whale to keep you company.” I hold out my pinky finger, and he links his with mine.

With another exhale, he finally lowers his shoulders.

Two weeks and one surgery later, Jamal is home. I am depositing him into his bed, relief finally overtaking the anxiety that has been plaguing me since the incident. Having had to return to work sooner than I would have liked, it’s been a team effort between me, Jessie, and Imani to make sure he has everything he needs. Now with him being here, I will at least be able to check on him in-between going from the café to catering events.

“Do you want anything?”

He looks me up and down and then presses his fingers to his temple. “Yeah, drugs,” he says. Holding his wrapped arm, lines appear on his forehead as he furrows his face.

“You just had a dose before we left the hospital. I can’t give you any more right now.” I know he is in pain, but there is no budging on this matter.

Like an old sweater passed down, every generation has had someone swathed in addiction. My mother was the last to wear it, and I will do everything in my power to make sure it stops with her. The four of us will go on to live full lives not marked by the genes we happened to inherit.

“How about take-out?” he asks.

His whole body perks up, and he sits a little straighter. There is a hopeful look in his eyes that I can’t stand to dim. With all the work I missed out on, I don’t even know if we are going to make ends meet. But how can I deny him this?

“That I can do. Let me go order from your favorite place.”

His smile is huge when he says thank you, and it’s enough to make me feel less apprehensive about the money I’m about to spend.

Walking back into the living room, I take my phone from Gabby, despite her protests, and start to pull up the website.

“Okay, we are ordering fish and chips. What do you want?”

Imani sits up from her lying position. Gabby finally stops complaining and runs over to me.

“Is Alex buying us food again? Is he coming here?” She bounces on her feet, her hands clapping out her excitement.