The Other Side of Goodness (12 page)

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Authors: Vanessa Davis Griggs

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“Good,” Lawrence said. “And tell Andrew he and I need to talk as soon as he gets a moment.”
“Dad, I don't need you getting into my personal affairs,” Paris said.
“Who said it has anything to do with you or your personal business?” Lawrence said.
“Nobody.”
“All right, then. Andrew and I have other things we talk about other than you. I was planning on calling him, but since you're here, you can deliver the message for me.” Lawrence went over to the couch and pulled Deidra up. He put his arm around her waist. “For now, your mother and I have a date we need to finish. Set the security alarm on your way out and be sure to lock my door.”
“Daddy!” Paris said with a pretend huff.
“ ‘Daddy' nothing! I promised your mother a night she wouldn't soon forget. And nothing and
nobody
is going to keep me from making good on that promise.” He kissed Deidra, who was now clearly blushing.
Deidra gave Paris a hug before Lawrence pulled her away completely. “Call me tomorrow!” Deidra yelled as Lawrence whisked her out of the den. “Or better yet, I may be sleeping in, so I'll call you!”
Chapter 18
And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.
—Zechariah 1:13
 
 
 
J
essica had gone into the hospital room by herself. She instructed Gabrielle and Zachary to wait outside the door until she came back for them. Gabrielle looked up and said a silent prayer. This was the last thing she ever expected to happen. In a matter of mere minutes, she would be walking through that door and seeing the child she'd given birth to. It was hard to put into words what she was feeling right about now.
Zachary put his arm around her and gave her a quick hug. “Are you all right?”
Gabrielle nodded.
“Are you sure you want to do this now?”
She nodded again. How was she going to open her mouth to the little girl lying in there without crying when she could barely talk to Zachary without breaking down? But she had to hold it together. She had to. This was not about her; it was about a little girl, in a hospital room, who had been through a lot already. And whatever Gabrielle could do to help her through this, she was going to do it.
Lord, please give me strength to do what I need to do. Help me to be a blessing to both Jessica and Jasmine, in Jesus's name I pray. Amen.
The door opened. Jessica smiled and nodded. “Come on in.”
Three words: Come on in. Gabrielle stood frozen. She couldn't believe those three words would cause her to become so paralyzed. Zachary still had his arm around her waist. He helped her take that first step.
And there she lay. Gabrielle released a quiet controlled sigh. Zachary pulled her toward him one more time, then released her fully. She was on her own now.
Gabrielle put a big smile on her face. “Hi there,” she said, her attention fully locked on a little girl who, although noticeably frail, remarkably possessed features she'd found in the few pictures she had left of her mother. Seeing this little person who favored her mother was almost too much for her. She hadn't expected this. She merely thought she'd see a little girl who held no reminders in particular, but would be a beautiful child, nonetheless. And she
was
beautiful. Even in a hospital bed with an IV hooked up to her and machines monitoring her, she was a beautiful child.
Then she heard the small, sweet voice. “Hi,” Jasmine said. “How are you?”
Gabrielle gathered everything within her and pushed out the biggest smile she could find. “I'm just fine, thank you for asking. But I hear you're not feeling so hot.”
“Oh, I'll be okay. I'm going to get better soon. Isn't that right, Mama?” Jasmine said, now looking at Jessica.
Jessica smiled, leaned down, and lovingly placed a kiss on Jasmine's forehead. “That's right, baby. That's right. Soon. You're going to be better real soon. We just have to keep believing. Good thoughts so we can have a good report. That's what my friend Gabrielle here told me just recently.”
Zachary took a step forward. “Hi there, Jasmine.”
“Hi there, sir,” Jasmine's little voice said.
“Jasmine, these are the friends I was just telling you about. They wanted to come in and say hello.”
“I know, Mama. That's Miss Gabrielle and Mr. Zachary.” She acknowledged them with a smile.
Zachary walked over to the bed. He held out two fists crossed at his wrists, switching them with each syllable as he began to sing, “Alabama hit the hammer.”
Both Jessica and Gabrielle opened their eyes wide and both let out a gasp. Gabrielle was surprised at hearing and seeing Zachary doing something like this.
Jasmine released the cutest little giggle. “You know that game?”
Zachary nodded. “So . . . Ala-bam-a, hit the ham-mer, high or low.”
“If I pick the right one, I may go!” Jasmine said, taking over the song, then tapping Zachary's right fist that was crossed over to the left side.
Zachary opened his fist and presented an open hand to her.
“Yay,” Jasmine said, clapping. “I picked the right one! Look, Mama! It's a piece of candy.” She looked at her mother with pleading eyes. “Is it okay if I have it?” Jasmine's brown eyes almost seemed to twinkle as she smiled. “Please . . .”
“Well . . .” Jessica said with a smile as she looked to Zachary.
“It's okay,” Zachary said it, first to Jessica, then to Jasmine. “You see, Miss Jazz, I just so
happen
to be a doctor.”
Jasmine's face seemed to light up even more. “You are? For real?”
Zachary grinned. “Yes, I am. For real. I'm not exactly like the doctors that are taking care of you, but I'm a doctor, nonetheless. And I happen to know for a
fact
that it won't hurt you to have that one piece of hard candy. It's sugar free, but the neat thing about it is that it doesn't taste like it. Not at all. I used to give them to some of my favorite patients when I worked in the emergency room, and they loved them.”
Jessica nodded her okay for Jasmine to have it.
Jasmine scooped up the piece of hard candy and hurried to untwist the clear wrapper. “Green is my favorite color,” she said, carefully putting the piece in her mouth.
“Is that right?” Zachary said in a voice that sounded like it was created to speak to children her age. “If I'm not mistaken, I believe green is Gabrielle's favorite color, too. Isn't green your favorite color?” Zachary asked Gabrielle, who was still standing off to the side, out of the way, barely saying anything. He reached his hand out for Gabrielle to come closer.
Gabrielle smiled and moved next to Zachary. “As a matter of fact, green
is
my favorite color.”
Jasmine suddenly burst into a laugh. “Dr. Zachary, let me see your other hand.”
“What?” Zachary said, standing straighter.
“I said let me see your other hand.”
“And why exactly do you want to see my other hand?”
“Okay,” Jasmine said, her voice noticeably becoming weaker even though it was evident she was enjoying herself. “I tell you what. Hold your fists like you were doing before.”
Zachary started laughing, but held his fists out as Jasmine instructed.
“Alabama hit the hammer, high or low. If you pick the right one, you may go.” Jasmine looked at Gabrielle. “Miss Gabrielle, pick his left fist.”
“Look at you,” Zachary said, laughing. “You little cheat, you.”
Jasmine giggled. She nodded at Gabrielle, who smiled and tapped Zachary's hand as her little friend instructed.
Zachary opened his left fist.
“I knew it!” Jasmine said. “I knew you rigged the game so I would win no matter which one I picked.”
“So, not only are you a beautiful little girl, but you're smart, too.”
Jasmine laughed, throwing her head back as much as her pillow would allow her.
Gabrielle stood lovingly looking at Jasmine, finding it hard to look away.
“That one's yours, Miss Gabrielle,” Jasmine said.
Gabrielle took the piece of hard candy out of Zachary's hand. “Thank you, Miss Jasmine.” She bowed slightly to Jasmine.
“You know, I think I like it,” Jasmine said, her eyes trained on Zachary.
“What do you like? The candy?” Zachary asked.
“Yes, the candy, but that's not what I'm talking about.”
“Then what is it that you like?” Jessica said, tears sliding down her face now.
“I like Dr. Zachary calling me Miss Jazz and I like Miss Gabrielle calling me Miss Jasmine. It's like our own little special system.” Jasmine turned to her mother. “Sorry, Mama. You're just going to have to stick with Mama. I don't want to call you anything differently than what I've always called you. You're my mama.”
“Baby, I wouldn't want you to call me anything other than mama, either.”
Zachary put two fingers on Jasmine's wrist. “Miss Jazz, some folks call me Dr. Z. So if you want, instead of calling me Dr. Zachary, you could just call me Dr. Z.”
Jasmine looked toward the ceiling as though she was thinking about his offer. “Let's see: Dr. Zachary . . . Dr. Z. Hmmm . . . Okay! I think I like Dr. Z.”
“Great!” Zachary was still holding on to Jasmine's wrist in what seemed to be a medical thing. “Then Dr. Z it is,” he said.
“This candy is really good,” Jasmine said, sticking her tongue out with the green candy on the end of her tongue. “Thank you. It takes away the metal taste in my mouth. It's been so long since I've had anything good like this.”
“Yeah, I know,” Zachary said. “But having a treat every now and then is a good thing.” Zachary released her wrist and gently patted her hand.
“Dr. Z?” Jasmine said.
“Yes, Miss Jazz.”
“I wish you were my doctor. Not that the other doctors are bad or anything. But you're really nice. You have wonderful bedside manners.”
Everybody laughed.
“Such a large repertoire you have. First the word ‘system' and now ‘bedside manners.' What do you know about bedside manners?” Zachary said.
Gabrielle smiled. “Yeah, Miss Jasmine. What do you know about that?”
“When you've been here as long and as much as I have, you learn this kind of stuff. Isn't that right, Mama?”
Jessica nodded. “That's right, baby. But you're also just a smart little girl.”
“And brave, too,” Gabrielle said. “I'm so in awe of you right now that I hardly know what to say.”
“Is that why you're not saying much?” Jasmine asked.
“That and . . . I don't want to tire you out.”
“I'm okay.” Jasmine closed her eyes briefly. It was obvious she was getting tired since they'd come in.
“Well, they really do have to go,” Jessica said. “So tell them thank you for coming by to see us.”
“Thank you for coming to visit with me,” Jasmine said, yawning. “Will you both come back again? Soon?”
Gabrielle looked to Jessica for the answer.
Jessica patted Jasmine's hand. “Yes, they will. I'm
certain
they'll be back.”
“That's great,” Jasmine said. “I'd really love that. I like both of you. You make being in here not be so bad. Hopefully, I'll get a donor soon, and I'll be
out of here
! Then maybe you can come and visit me at our house. We have a nice,
big
house.” She flipped her hands outward in a large circle.
“I positively agree,” Gabrielle said. “You'll get a donor soon. Well, we're going to go now. We'll see you later.”
“Promise?” Jasmine said to Gabrielle.
Gabrielle nodded. “Cross my heart.” She made a cross over her heart.
Zachary patted Jasmine's hand. “Before we go, Miss Gabrielle and I would like to pray for you. Would that be okay with you?” He looked at Jasmine, who smiled and nodded. He looked over at Jessica, whose hand was now covering her mouth and tears were in her eyes. She nodded her approval. Zachary took Jasmine's hand and prayed a short but moving prayer for her healing. “Amen,” he said when he finished.
“Amen,” both Gabrielle and Jessica said quietly.
“A-men!” Jasmine said louder than any of them.
Zachary laughed and patted her hand again. “See you later, Miss Jazz.”
Jasmine giggled. “See you later, Dr. Z.” She held her two fists crossed, up in the air. “Alabama hit the hammer, high or low. If you pick the right one, you may go.”
“What?” Zachary said.
“Pick,” Jasmine said, continuing to hold crossed fists up.
He tapped the left one.
“Nope,” Jasmine said, opening the empty hand. “Try again.”
Zachary laughed. “Try again? You only have two hands. You know I'm going to pick the right one on my second try.” He tapped her right fist.
Jasmine opened her hand. Zachary laughed, as did Gabrielle, then Jessica when they saw that in her hand was the empty candy wrapper.
Zachary took the paper and put it in the trash can. “Bye, Miss Jazz. We'll see you later.”
“Bye,” Gabrielle said, touching Jasmine's hand for the first time since she was a newborn, then quickly taking her hand away. She and Zachary headed for the door.
Jasmine waved at them. “Bye. Don't forget to come back to see me again soon . . . You promised.” She closed her eyes. “You promised . . .”

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