Tears Fall at Night-The Blessed One Box Set (Praise Him Anyhow and Blessed and Highly Favored Series) by Vanessa Miller Read Free Book Online Page B

somebody call for Nelson?
    “What’s wrong with her?” Dontae yelled.
    “She’s sad, Dontae. Haven’t you seen how much she’s been crying?” Joy asked, standing next to her brother.
    “That’s all she seems to do is cry. Why won’t she talk to us?”
    Rose shushed Dontae. “She can probably hear you, so watch what you say.”
    But Dontae wouldn’t be silenced. He pointed towards his mother. “She’s been lying like that for two days now. Why is she acting like this?”
    “She doesn’t feel well right now, Dontae, but she’s going to get better. I promise you that,” Rose assured him. She then turned to Joy and said, “Why don’t you two go home and get some rest. I can hang out here with your mom for the rest of the day.”
    Joy put her arm around her brother as she said, “That’s nice of you to offer, Aunt Rose. But she’s our mother so I think we should be here with her.”
    “Have a seat, Dontae.” Rose said as she grabbed Joy’s hand and walked her out of the hospital room. They stood a few doors away from Carmella’s room as Rose told Joy, “Listen to me, hon, your mom is going to get through this nightmare. But I don’t think it’s good for Dontae to see her like this.”
    “But what if something happens to her while we’re gone?”
    “Nothing’s going to happen to Carmella. The doctors just have her over sedated, if you ask me. So the next thing I want you to do is to go to the nurse’s station on your way out and demand that they hold off on giving Carmella any more medication until she climbs out of the fog they have her in.”
    Joy took a deep breath then nodded. “I can do that.”
    “Okay, now can you help me get Dontae out of here? And don’t let him come back here until tomorrow.”
    Joy shook her head. “He won’t agree to leave. He’s too worried about Mama.”
    Rose grabbed hold of Joy’s hand. “I promise you and your brother that even if I have to get on my knees and pray all night long, Carmella is going to be all right. Tomorrow is a new day. Dontae needs to see her then, but not now.”
    “Okay Aunt Rose, I think I have an idea to get Dontae out of here.”
    They went back into the room. Carmella was still lying motionless, with her face toward the wall. Dontae was seated with his head in his hands crying, the same way he’d cried when he was seven years old and his dog, Samhad died. Joy put her hand around his arm and pulled him up. “Come on Dontae, I need your help with something.”
    Joy headed towards the door, but Dontae stopped her. “We can’t leave Mom. She needs us.”
    Joy shook her head. “Mom needs some rest right now. The best thing we can do is to allow her to rest without hearing us crying and talking back and forth over her head. Now, I’ve got some things I need to do at my apartment and you can help me with that.”
    Dontae looked back towards the bed.
    “We’ll be back in the morning to check on Mama,” Joy assured him. “Now will you help me or not?”
    He hesitated, then put his hands in his pockets and nodded as he walked through the door with his sister.
    Joy peeked back in the room and told Rose, “Give her a kiss from me and Dontae and let her know that we’ll be back in the morning.”
    “I’ll do that,” Rose said. Then as Joy closed the door behind her, Rose got on her knees and began petitioning God on her friend’s behalf.
    ***
    As Joy and Dontae headed out of the hospital, she made sure to stop by the nurse’s station and requested that her mother not be given any more medication until she was alert enough to ask for it herself. She also explained to them that she was in law school and her father was a judge, so they knew how to file lawsuits if need be. She and Dontae then stopped by a local grocery store, grabbed a few empty boxes and then headed to her apartment.
    “What are the boxes for?” Dontae asked.
    “I’m moving out. I’ll be staying with you and Mama for a little while.”
    Dontae’s eyebrow