The Christmas Promise

by Sean D. Young

Jennifer rested her hands on the counter. “Hi, I’m looking for Simeon Baker’s room, please.” Her voice shook.

  The dark-skinned woman got up and walked around to the other side of the table. She moved to the middle of the hallway and pointed. “You actually passed it when you got off the elevator. So, go back down the hall that way.” She pointed. “It’s the second door on the right.”

  “Thank you,” Jennifer said, turning on her heel, heading back toward the elevator.

  At the door to Simeon’s room, she lifted her hand to knock, but remembered that he wasn’t conscious. When she thought about that fact, she felt sick to her stomach, but she cleared her throat and pushed the door open.

  All the rooms in the intensive care unit were private with one hospital bed. It also had one chair, table and a narrow sofa that could be transformed into a full-size bed. The room was quiet outside of the beeping from the monitors that were hooked up to him.

  Jennifer moved closer to the bed and looked down at Simeon. He was lying so still that it scared her. There were tubes running from him to the bag that hung on the hook above the bed. He had a pulse monitor clipped to his forefinger, and an electronic monitor that would inflate after a certain amount of time around his arm that recorded his blood pressure and heart rate.

  Standing there watching him caused Jennifer to become emotional, so she leaned over the railing on the bed and kissed his lips. “I love you,” she whispered, before turning to leave. There was no way she could stay any longer. She just couldn’t stand seeing him like that.

  Loving him made her vulnerable, but she could no longer deny the fact that she loved him. The gentle man with the kind heart loved her too and always tried to show her how much. It didn’t take her long to realize that she cared very deeply for him, but speaking the words made it real.

  Headed for the door, she took two steps before turning around to look at him. She loved him so much she just wanted him to wake up so that he could hear her say the words, but he didn’t. She should have told him before this tragedy occurred. Being patient was one of the reasons she loved him so much. He’d been waiting a long time to hear her admit her feelings for him.

  She opened the door and one last time, then looked back, but the results were still the same. With a broken heart she made a promise to herself to express her true feelings for him as soon as he opened his eyes. She left the room so she could find Charlie.

  In the waiting area, everyone was still sitting, waiting for Jennifer to return. Her father stood up when she approached them.

  “Well, baby, how is Simeon?” Russell asked.

  Slowly, Jennifer shook her head. “It’s not good,” she said, walking over to Charlie. “Did you get in touch with your parents?”

  “Yes, they will be here in the morning if they can’t get the red eye out tonight.” Charlie stood up. “I’m going to go and see my brother now.”

  “Where are they flying in from?” Russell asked.

  “They live in Atlanta,” Charlie replied, then Jennifer watched as Charlie walked away, his head bowed. She felt so sorry for him, knowing how close they were. She just couldn’t believe all this was happening.

  Jennifer turned to her family. “This has got to be a bad dream. It just has to be.” She collapsed in the nearest empty chair.

  Faith rubbed Jennifer’s hair, putting her face close to hers. “It seems like a nightmare, but I believe everything is going to be all right.”

  Jennifer stared at Faith. “Do you know I was singing ‘Everything Will Be Alright’ in the elevator?”

  “Hey, we used to sing that song all the time at church,” Patrice said in recollection.

  “Everybody loved to hear you girls sing it, too,” Russell added.

  As her family started reminiscing about yesteryear, Jennifer’s mind wandered to a time when both she and Simeon were happy and healthy, lounging by the pool, strolling the beach in an exotic location. How they met each other and ended up spending their entire vacation together.

  She checked her watch and then glanced over at her father. “Daddy, why don’t you go on home. I really appreciate you coming to see about us. I know you’re tired because we’ve been here a long time.”

  Russell stood up and went to Jennifer, so she stood as well. “I’ll leave only if you think you’ll be okay.”

  Jennifer tried to smile because if she didn’t she knew her father wouldn’t leave her. “I’ll be fine, Daddy, really.”

  “I’ll be here with her,” Faith said.

  Jennifer looked back at her sister. “No, I want you all to go home and get some rest. Charlie is here and I know he isn’t going anywhere.”

  Patrice opened her mouth to speak and Jennifer cut her off. “No, guys, I mean it. It doesn’t make any sense for us all to be sitting around.”

  Faith stood up. “If you want, I can stay at Mom’s to help her with the kids. I’ll call Michael and let him know I’m on my way back to the house.”

  Jennifer was grateful that Faith had an understanding fiancé. Knowing that Faith was there to help out would alleviate her worrying about the kids. “That would be a great help. Please kiss my precious ones for me. I can’t wait to hold them in my arms.”

  Faith kissed Jennifer’s cheek and then looked back at her other sisters. “Okay, girls, let’s go.”

  Patrice got up, but Renee didn’t.

  Jennifer looked over her left shoulder. “Renee, sweetie, I’ll be fine. You’ve got to go to work in the morning. I know you’ve got clients.”

  “I’m going to stay a little while longer. You can’t be down here alone.”

  “I told you…” Jennifer started to say, but stopped.

  Renee smiled. “Good. I’m glad you didn’t waste your breath because I’m staying right here.”

  “We’re going to walk out with Daddy,” Patrice said. “We’ll be back in the morning,” she told Jennifer, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

  Morning came swiftly and Jennifer, Renee and Charlie had moved from the waiting area in the emergency room to the waiting area in the ICU. Charlie had just left to go to the airport to pick up his parents, leaving Renee with Jennifer.

  Jennifer pushed at Renee’s leg to wake her. She loved her sister, but she was sure that Renee needed to get in her own bed. Sleeping on the hard chairs wasn’t the answer, no one could get any rest on those things.

  “Renee?” Jennifer said, trying to rouse her from her sleep.

  Her sister’s eyes fluttered open. “Did something happen?”

  “No, but I want you to go on home now.”

  Renee batted her eyes a couple of times, then looked at her watch. “What time is it?”

  “Seven-thirty in the morning.”

  “Girl, I can’t believe I slept in this hard chair all night.”

  Jennifer hadn’t slept at all; she’d been back and forth from the waiting area and Simeon’s room.

  “Did anybody come out to tell you anything? Is Simeon awake?” Renee asked, stretching.

  Jennifer dropped her head. “No, on both counts.”

  “Wow,” Renee said, standing to her feet, stretching her body again. She bent over and picked up her tote bag.

  “I’m going to head home and get a couple hours of sleep. I really need to call Cara so I can get an updated count of ticket sales for the New Year’s Eve Gala.”

  Jennifer shook her head slowly. “Do you know I forgot all about that?”

  “Dealing with this, I think everybody did. I’m so grateful that everything is almost done, though,” Renee said.

  Jennifer rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe that Christmas is right around the corner.”

  “Right. Which means the gala is coming up.”

  “I’m so sorry for taking up so much of your time.”

  “Jennifer, stop it. I know you love Simeon, so he’s a pa
rt of the family and we all stick together.”

  “Thank you so much. I do love him, Renee. More than he’ll ever know. I don’t want to lose him when we just found each other again,” Jennifer said, her voice cracking as she tried to control her emotions. “We were happy before all this happened.”

  Renee wrapped her arms around Jennifer’s shoulders. “You’re not going to lose him.”

  Tears streamed down Jennifer’s face. “I can’t, Renee, I just can’t.”

  Jennifer and Renee were embracing each other when they saw Charlie come down the hall with two older people walking behind him.

  Jennifer wiped the tears away with the back of her hand as Renee looked on. “Do you need me to stay?”

  Jennifer understood what her sister was trying to do and she loved her so much more for it.

  “No, sweetheart, you go on. I appreciate everything you’ve done.”

  Jennifer hugged Renee again before she watched her walk away just as Charlie was approaching.

  “Any update, Jenn?” he asked.

  “Nothing since before you left, so I’m guessing his condition hasn’t changed.”

  Charlie ran his hand over his head. “I guess that’s not a bad thing either.”

  Jennifer shook her head.

  Charlie turned to his parents. “Mom and Dad, this is Jennifer McClendon,” he said, then to her, “Jennifer, these are my parents, Edward and Barbara Baker.”

  Jennifer extended her hand. “Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Baker.”

  Barbara smiled and accepted Jennifer’s handshake. “Charlie was telling me that you’re a friend of my son’s.”

  Jennifer’s eyes moved over to Charlie, who was void of any kind of expression on his face. She turned back to Mrs. Baker. “Yes, ma’am, I am,” she replied, before giving Mr. Baker a hearty handshake.

  “Mom, why don’t I take you down to see Simeon?”

  “Please do,” she said, handing her coat to her husband.

  Jennifer turned to Edward. “Mr. Baker, please have a seat.”

  “Thank you and call me Eddie.”

  Jennifer smiled and got a good look at Simeon’s father. Right away she could see the resemblance. Edward Baker had the same rich-looking dark-brown complexion as both Simeon and Charlie. He was also very tall and had black curly hair. Edward Baker looked more like Simeon’s older brother than his father.

  Jennifer didn’t know what to say to him, so she made small talk. “So, how was your flight?”

  “It was uneventful. I was so glad to finally get here because Barbara was having a fit to get to her baby.”

  “I’m sure after all that Simeon has gone through, it must have been a disappointment when you heard he was back in the hospital,” Jennifer said.

  “Oh, yes. My boy has been through so much, I’m telling you,” Edward said, shaking his head. “I just don’t know how much more he can take.”

  Edward’s words brought tears to Jennifer’s eyes since she would probably feel the same way if it had been Micah.

  For the next several moments, they sat silently, then Charlie and Barbara came back. Jennifer noticed Barbara dabbing at her eyes, so she knew that meant Simeon still wasn’t awake. She shook her head. She thought for sure he’d open his eyes for his mother, but it just wasn’t meant to be at the moment. Jennifer would have to be patient and wait for the love of her life to awaken. As hard as it was, she just had to keep the faith that he would come back to her.

  Charlie and Barbara sat down in two of the empty seats nearest Jennifer. At the same time Jennifer spotted her mother and Faith walking down the hall toward them with the twins.

  Once Micah spotted Jennifer, he started kicking, wanting to get down from Faith’s arms so that he could get to her. She jumped up and ran toward him, scooping him up into her arms.

  “How’s momma’s baby?” she asked him, before raining kisses all over his face, watching him giggle.

  Her mother had come closer with Mariah and Jennifer kissed her. “How’s my baby girl?” she asked her daughter.

  “Mommy,” Mariah said.

  Jennifer then greeted her own mother and sister before walking back to the waiting area. Even before Jennifer could make the formal introductions, she saw Barbara staring at the twins.

  “Excuse me, but are these your babies, Jennifer?”

  “Yes, ma’am, they are,” Jennifer answered. She didn’t dare look in her mother’s direction because of the tone of Barbara’s voice. Myra was probably thinking, “what the hell kind of question was that?” So Jennifer kept her eyes on Barbara.

  Barbara slid to the end of her seat since it was closest to where Myra sat down with Mariah. She picked up the little girl’s hand and shook it. “These babies look so much like Simeon and my Sammy.” She looked at her husband for confirmation.

  “They sure do,” Edward commented.

  Jennifer had a feeling she knew what the next question would be from Barbara since her focus was back on her. She could tell the woman was uncomfortable, but it seemed as if she were about to burst if she didn’t say something.

  “Well,” she said before she paused. She looked at Micah and then at Mariah, Charlie and her husband. “Well,” she repeated. “Are these children related to mine?”

  Jennifer wanted to laugh, but she guessed she couldn’t blame Simeon’s mother. Barbara had just met her all of five minutes ago and didn’t want to accuse Jennifer of anything. They didn’t know each other, but the one thing they had in common was Simeon.

  “Yes, they are related to your children. Simeon is their father.”

  Jennifer was sure that if Barbara Baker hadn’t been sitting in that chair, she would have fallen to the floor.

  Barbara opened her mouth then shut it quickly, only to open it again. “How?”

  “It’s a long story, Mrs. Baker. At a more appropriate time, I would be happy to tell you everything you want to know,” Jennifer replied.

  Simeon’s mother pushed herself back into her seat and rested her head against the cool wall as she continued to stare at her grandchildren.

  Jennifer sent her attention to her mother. “Momma, thanks so much for bringing my babies to see me,” she said, squeezing Micah.

  “We’re not going to stay too long, I just thought we’d drop by because I wanted to see about my own child anyway.” Myra gave Jennifer a generous smile before caressing her cheek.

  Jennifer smiled back. “Daddy was here with me a long time last night.”

  “I know, and he told me what was going on, but it’s nothing like seeing for yourself.”

  Myra got out of her chair and pulled her set of keys out of her purse. She handed them to Jennifer. “I drove my car and Faith drove your van. I left my car out in the parking lot closest to the emergency room entrance.”

  Jennifer got up and hugged her mother. “Thank you so much.”

  “Yes, it doesn’t make sense for you to have the van when we are going to be taking the kids back and forth.”

  Jennifer nodded. “Yes, now we don’t have to transfer their seats.”

  “We needed to simplify everything. Not to mention, Faith and I will start grocery shopping for the Christmas Eve celebration. Your van will give us the room we need to pick up supplies.”

  Jennifer had totally forgotten about the McClendon annual Christmas Eve party. They all gathered at Myra and Russell’s for a pre-Christmas dinner where they played games, ate a lovely dinner, and each person opened one gift from under the huge Christmas tree. They wanted each sibling to be able to spend Christmas Day with their own families. But for Jennifer, right now it seemed nothing about this Christmas was merry or bright.

  Myra cupped the side of her daughter’s face again. “I know you’re not in the mood for celebrating, baby. I hope it gets better,” she said, repositioning Mariah on her hip. “I think we shoul
d go now. We don’t want the babies up here too long.”

  “I was thinking that maybe I should take them in to see Simeon?” Jennifer suggested.

  “I don’t know if you want to do that, sweetie. First of all, they aren’t allowed in the patient rooms. Micah and Mariah are so young, they don’t know what’s going on with their father and we don’t want to traumatize them since he’s still unconscious and can’t talk back to them.”

  “You have a point, but if he continues to be unresponsive, then I’m going to take those kids in there and let them just love on him. It might be helpful.”

  Jennifer noticed that the whole time she and her mother had been talking, Simeon’s mother hadn’t said a word. Jennifer would have offered for her to hold the kids, but it seemed that she was still processing the information she’d just learned.

  Myra leaned closer so that no one else could hear her. “Don’t you think you should have a conversation with Mrs. Baker? Clearly, Simeon hadn’t told her anything.”

  Jennifer shrugged. “I guess, but like I said, I’m not sure this is the appropriate time.”

  Myra laid her hand on her daughter’s arm. “You can decide when, I’m just saying it needs to be done. She doesn’t have all the facts and that can kind of mess with people’s perception of others, if you know what I mean.”

  Jennifer kissed her mother. “Yes, Mom, I understand.” She knew her mother didn’t want Mrs. Baker to think that she was not a good person, but her thoughts were only of Simeon and him getting better.

  “All right then. I don’t want to have to say anything.”

  “I don’t want you to have to either, Mom,” Jennifer replied. It was time for her mother to go now, though she thought Myra was hilarious always trying to go for bad with her tiny self. She was only five-foot-two-inches tall and was always trying to be tough.

  “Faith, I’m ready to go, sweetheart,” Myra said. Faith said her goodbyes to the Bakers and walked over to them.

  Jennifer handed Micah to Faith, picking up his chubby hand, showering kisses on his forehead. “Mommy will see you later.” She then went over to Mariah and did the same thing. She could see that both children were tearing up and her mother and sister tried to soothe them.