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ChapterNine
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We’re going on five hours with no word and no Lennox. Peter looks so anxious; I know he is worried about how this will affect Lennox if she cannot save him, and if that will change the dynamic between him and us. No, it will not change a damn thing, and if we lose Joseph, I know for a fact we will not treat him or Lennox any differently because we know she would have tried everything possible to save him. I look out into the general waiting room and see Joyce still sitting there waiting on news of Joseph too. One part of me wants to invite her to sit with us but another part of me wants her to sit her ass out there like she made Joseph for all these months. After taco night and Skai throwing him under the bus, Savvy walked in on him telling me about Joyce. I understood why a woman in her position would have that type of a contract but Seph has his own money and company, and a scandal would hurt him as much as it would hurt her. And then to basically ask him to be a secret! Like ma’am you are asking a man for a lot just to get to know you, so for now she can sit her ass out there.
“The longer it takes to hear something, the more worried I get,” Savvy says as she comes and sits next to me.
“I know, but he’s in good hands and no news is good news.”
“True. What about her?” Savvy says as she nods in Joyce’s direction.
“Let her ass stay where she is for now.”
“You were kinda rough on her. I’m a little surprised she stayed after the way you cussed her out,” Savvy says to me as if she wouldn’t have done the same behind her Seph.
“Fuck her! She’s lucky I didn’t slap her face backwards!”
“Damn! Backwards though!” she says as she laughs. A few seconds later I’m laughing too. We finally stop and have to wipe the tears away.
“I needed that,” Savvy says with real tears in her eyes.
“Me too,” I say as I grab her hand, tears running down my face.
“Hatima Yangu,” Jag says.
“I’m good, baby. A little worried but I know God has it all under control. I called my dad and he prayed with me over the phone. Lennox is NOT alone in that operating room.”
“Amen,” I say.
We lapse back into silence until Chuck, their foreman, walks in, and immediately comes over to Jag. But not just Chuck is here; the whole company is in the waiting room.
“We went through the rubble to try to see what went wrong and we found some smooth edges.”
“Excuse me?” Jag responds with a low growl.
“When there should be jagged edges on the wood, we found several pieces of framing with smooth edges like someone cut them. It got too dark to continue to work but we will be back in the morning. Don’t worry about the project; we’re on it so don’t let that be an extra worry. You stay here with your family, and we’ll handle things on the sites. If I run up against something I can’t handle, I’ll still handle it. And please let me know when you get word of Joseph’s condition. If you don’t mind, me and the guys are gonna stay a little while in the waiting room with you. We’re all worried about Joseph. He’s family.”
“Will do, and thanks, Chuck.”
“No need for thanks. That’s what family is for.”
“Indeed, you guys can sit in here with us. Well, whoever can fit.”
The nurses are about to have a stroke with all the people waiting in the emergency waiting room, so they move us to a small employee cafeteria since Peter is the fiancé of the chief of staff. I let Peter know that he can tell Joyce she can come in the cafeteria, just stay away from us. I find a corner booth and lay my head on the table to try to take a nap. Without warning Atlas has me in his arms, tucked carefully against his chest as he talks to Jag and their employees. I fall asleep in his arms and only wake when Atlas gently shakes me. The crew is leaving, and we head back to the other waiting room. Jag has a couple of pull-out beds brought in for me and Savvy, and we are more than happy to use them. As we lay there quietly talking to each other, the hospital goes dark. Savvy and I sit all the way up.
“What the hell!” I say, and not even a second later everything comes back on.
“Must have been a surge or something.” Savvy says.
“A surge wouldn’t cause the whole hospital to go down,” Jabarri says with a worried look. “Peter, is there any way you can get a message to Lennox?”
“Um, I don’t know, Jabarri. Why, what’s wrong?”
“I just got a feeling. I’ve been having it, but I was chalking it up to nerves but now…”
Lennox
I walk out of the operating room after working for hours to try to save Joseph and I am dog tired, but I have to go talk to my family. I refuse to let someone else give them the news I have to deliver. I get to the waiting room, take a deep breath and walk-in. As soon as I cross the threshold all eyes turn to me.
