Free 5ive Star Bitch by Tremayne Johnson

need to keep her here to be monitored,” he said.
    “Can we see her?”
    “Right now she’s sleeping and she really needs her rest. I think the morning would be a better time. Go home and come back early in the morning, she should be up.”
    I wasn’t trying to hear anything he was saying. I was ready to bust up in the room just to make sure my grandmother was okay, but I had to respect his decision. He knew what was best for her; he was the doctor.
    “I’m not going anywhere,” I told him. “I’ll sleep out here until the morning. I’m not leaving her.”
    “Yeah, me too,” Dorian said.
    Dorian and I found seats in the waiting area and got comfortable. It was going to be a long night.
    “You want me to stay with you?” Colin asked.
    I wanted to say yes, but I didn’t want to stir up old emotions. I was feeling extremely vulnerable and I was afraid of giving in, so I said nothing and sat in the chair. Colin sat next to me and not once did he leave my side.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    10
     
     
    When the sun came up I was wide awake. I hadn’t slept one minute. I spent my night staring out the window, watching the rain pour from the sky. I did doze off once, and I found myself lying on Colin’s chest, so I shook it off and fought sleep for the rest of the night. Dorian was knocked out. He got a comforter from a nurse and made himself a pallet on the carpeted floor.
    “Miss Parker, your grandmother is awake,” the doctor said.
    I shook Dorian’s shoulder, “Dorian, get up… Dorian, get up…” he rolled over and looked at me, and then he looked at his surroundings. “Grandma’s up, c’mon,” I told him, helping him up.
    The three of us walked down the hall and into my grandmother’s room. It was quiet. The television was on, but the volume was low.
    “Hey, grandma,” I said, walking over to her bed.
    She opened her eyes. “Hey, Cherish, where’s your brother?” her voice was low but Dorian heard her.
    “I’m right here, grandma,” he walked over and stood beside me.
    I could feel my eyes getting watery the longer I stood there, looking at her lying in that bed, she was helpless. I wished she had taken better care of herself, but grandma was grandma, and nobody could tell grandma anything.
    “You alright, Dorian?” she asked.
    “Yes, grandma, are you alright?”
    “I’m jus’ fine; ain’t nuttin’ I can’t handle,” she paused and then looked at me and smiled, “Is that Colin over there?”
    “Yes, it’s me, Mrs. Parker, you okay?”
    “Yeah, now that y’all here, y’all can get me outta here,” she tried to sit up and get off the bed, but she was too weak and had to lie back down.
    “Grandma, what are you doing?” I rushed to help her so she wouldn’t fall, “You can’t go anywhere yet. They said they need to run more test,”
    “ More test? Listen, Cherish, I don’t want these people runnin’ no mo’ test on me, you hear me? Now, get me outta here,” she said.
    “You can’t leave yet, grandma,” Dorian told her.
    “Grandma, why didn’t you tell about the diabetes?” I asked her.
    “Oh, Cherish… please, ain’t nobody worried ‘bout no diabetes, I been living wit’ diabetes all my life.”
    “Yeah, but it got worse, grandma…” Dorian replied.
    “Yeah, and if you would have been taking the medication they told you to take, it might not be so bad,” I told her.
    “I ain’t takin’ no damn medication, Cherish. Them drugs they givin’ these people is killin’ ‘em,” she paused and shook her head, “Not me, they ain’t gon’ kill me, let me die on my own.”
    “Can you please stop talking about dying, grandma,” Dorian said.
    “We all gon’ die, Dorian. Each and every one of us got to go someday. That’s the only thing we can count on. Thing is, while you here on God’s earth, make the best of it, be what he intended you to be. I know you gon’ make mistakes, we all do, but learn from your mistakes, you hear