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“I need to get up and go to the bathroom.”
“Now, Mr. Hodge. You know you’re a fall risk. That’s why you’re bedridden.”
“How the hell I become a fall risk here? I ain’t one at home. Hell, I’m tired of them damn people coming in here to change a diaper I don’t need in the first place.”
“Well, until you’ve recovered from your procedure and the doctor sees fit, you can’t get out of bed.”
“Damn the doctor. He doesn’t know more about my body than I do.”
“According to his medical degree, he does.”
“Damn that degree, too.”
“Shhhh…” I silenced Mr. Hodge, gaining wind of the commotion going on outside in the hallway.
“What the hell is going on out there?”
“You cannot be here!” I heard Shelly yelling from afar.
“Where the fuck she at? You ain’t talking ’bout shit right now.”
“Daniel, call security. Sir, you cannot be here!”
The voices were muffled, but I recognized each and every one of them, including the one that left me puzzled.
Nelson? How doe—
Mid-thought, I halted, recalling him being right beside me as I filled out the application for the very position I was in. Berkeley Presby was my dream job and I’d secured it with his knowledge. My graduation solidified my spot on their employee roster, but he hadn’t made it to that point in my life. His ship sailed the night before.
I rushed toward the door, pulling it open to find everyone at the nurses’ station out of their seats, acting as human shields, blocking Nelson from proceeding. To their dismay, he was much larger than anyone standing in front of him. Seeing Shelly fall to her knees from his forceful blow was like a punch to the gut.
“Stop it!” I screamed, refusing to allow him to harm another member of our team.
He charged in my direction once my position was exposed. In an effort to protect myself and buy the rest of the staff time to get assistance, I stepped back into Mr. Hodge’s room, pushing the door closed behind me. To my dismay, Nelson was fast and he was strong. Just before the door shut completely, he grabbed hold of it.
I stuffed my hand in my pocket, frantically searching for my phone. Makai’s number was the first on my call list. I pressed the call button, but hung up immediately, remembering he was asleep. The shove against the wall racked my brain. In my twenty-eight years of life, my one-hundred-and-fifty-pound frame had never been handled so forcefully.
“Nelson, you’re hurting my arm,” I whimpered in pain.
“So, you fucking that nigga now? On some payback shit?”
“Young man, let her go. Who are you? Get out of my room!” Mr. Hodge yelled across the room.
“Nelson, please. Let go of my arm.”
He twisted it tighter as the words came from my mouth.
Fists hammered on the door as my coworkers demanded I be freed.
“You on some payback shit?”
“I’m not that kind of person,” I explained, though he already knew it.
However, those once-alluring eyes had darkened dramatically. He was in a rage and saw nothing but what he’d tricked himself into believing. Whatever that was, wasn’t exactly my issue. It was some inner work that he needed to nurture within himself.
“Bitch, you think you’re better than me now? That nigga know I made you?”
Refusing to give Nelson the satisfaction, I focused on freeing my arm from his hold and using my free hand to dial the digits that I knew would result in an instant response. The water pitcher clashing against the wall awarded me with the freedom I’d sought. Mr. Hodge loaded his hand again, this time launching the top from his dinner plate. I pressed the three numbers, and the call button, and stuffed my phone inside the pocket of my shirt.
