When the nurse came back into the room, she was shocked at the change of the atmosphere in the room; there was now a sense of peace. The patient had gone from throwing a tantrum about her half shaven head to looking like an angel at peace. The nurse looked down at the sedative in her hand and put it back onto her tray. She left the room to allow Camille to rest. The nurse suddenly smiled knowing the presence of the Holy Spirit was in the room. She gave a silent thanks to the master and knew this child of God would be made whole.
Chapter 2: Destiny or Rebound
Benjamin sat with her friends as they waited on Camille to be wheeled to her room from recovery. Paige and Karen had filled the room with balloons. Her clients and employees of ITS sent flowers and edible fruit arrangements. The entire nursing staff had come in to see the suite had been decorated for royalty. Ben held his breath in anticipation as the doors opened and rose to his feet as Camille was wheeled in. Karen and Paige rushed to her, each taking a side, as the nurses stepped around them to set up Camille’s monitors.
Ben noticed Camille looked drowsy from the drugs, and he could not miss the bandage on her head. However, none of it subtracted from her beauty. Even in her fragile state, she was stunning. Ben jolted up and in Camille’s direction when he heard her slowly attempting to say his name. It came out as a slur, “Ben-jam-en.” Ben approached her bed and gently took over propping Camille’s head up on the pillows and operating the head portion of the bed as the nurse was instructing. This was to be done to keep the blood flowing properly to Camille’s brain, preventing any clots.
When Camille was properly positioned, she whispered to Benjamin, “Y-you do-do not ha-have to be here.”
Ben gave an alarming smile and leaned in as close as possible to Camille’s face and said firmly, “There. Is. No. Where. Else. I. Would. Rather. Be.”
Alcoholic Anonymous Meeting
Frankie took the stand. At six feet three inches tall, he had to lean into the microphone to be heard. “Good Afternoon, my name is Frankie Jones, and I am an alcoholic.”
He paused for the crowd to say, “Hi, Frankie,” then he continued with his testimony.
“My alcoholism caused me to lose my wife of eighteen years and strained my relationship with my twin daughters. They stopped speaking to me their senior year in high school. I was in denial and convinced myself they were busy enjoying their final year of school. I had to accept reality the day of their graduation. They refused to allow me to attend the ceremony.” Frankie gripped the side of the podium and glanced down as if he had a paper he was reading from; only there was none. He looked back up and began again with tears in his eyes. “I was so proud that morning, so proud and sober.” He said, with a chuckle, “To see my girls, Dawn and Autumn, graduating as class valedictorian and salutatorian. Imagine my shock and horror when my ex-wife, their mother, Shayla, told me outside the arena that they did not allot a ticket for me. I knew it was because of all the Hell I had put them through. Nonetheless, I could have fallen through the ground as she spoke to me. But crap, I couldn’t blame Dawn and Autumn for shutting me out, or Shayla for divorcing me. The height of my alcohol abuse and cocaine addiction was during their high school years. When I would drink and use, I would have total blackouts with no recollection of what I would have done. My girls and wife, sorry, ex-wife, said I never hit them, but I would destroy everything in our house. I would wake up sometimes after binging to find no dining room table or car windows busted out, or my girls’ laptops missing or busted up. I was a monster, and they shut me out. Because of my reckless choices and behavior, I spent my girls’ graduation day with booze and my best friend, Cocaine. The next day, I woke up beside a young lady who could not have been much older than the twins. Looking at the sleeping, naked frame beside me, I could not remember if her name was Sharon, Karen, or Marion. I had hit rock bottom! I decided then to make a change. I had bailed before she woke up. I left her a wham bam, thank you ma’am note and cab fare. I ran for my life out of that motel room and into rehab where I stayed for three months.”
“Over the past three years, I have admitted that I am powerless over alcohol. I have accepted I cannot manage my life without a higher power. I have come to believe that there is a power greater than myself. I’ve allowed Him to restore unto me sanity. I made a decision to turn my will and life over to Him. He cares for me. I have searched fearlessly into my own moral inventory. I have repented to God and my family. I have made amends. Today, my daughters are juniors at Spellman College and are on the President’s list. We have a better relationship than before my addiction. Shayla, my ex-wife, is now my best friend. We attend church together every Sunday morning and have lunch afterwards.”
Frankie wiped the tears from his face and made eye contact with his group of peers who struggled with his same demons and said, “It is with great remorse that I say . . . I have been sober for 10 hours. I have fallen, but I am standing again. I will continue to fight for my sobriety.”
One Week Later
Downtown Trauma Center
Benjamin and Kevin sat in the hospital’s cafeteria over a light lunch. The ladies were helping Camille freshen up, undoubtedly celebrating Camille’s pulling through from her surgery. Everyone was thankful that, after a week, her scans showed no signs of swelling, and the spinal x-ray reports came back normal. Although she had mostly slept over the last week, Camille was expected to make a full recovery.
Ben viewed this news as a true miracle from the Lord. He called his mother, Ellen, and gave her the victory report and asked her to thank the church’s prayer warriors. Ellen told Ben she would indeed pass the word on. She also hinted that she could not wait to meet this new angel in Ben’s life. At that moment, Ben knew, even over the phone, his mom could pick up on his connection to Camille. He said his goodbyes and promised to stop by soon to see her.
Ben was face-to-face with Kevin, who was asking why he felt obligated to be at the hospital every hour on the hour for the last several days. Ben sighed and said, “I don’t know, man. It’s like a tether formed between us the week we talked over the phone. We developed a routine. A brief check in every morning, and at night we talked for hours. When I saw her get out of her truck that night—I can’t explain it—I just know this is where I need to be.”
Kevin nodded in understanding and said, “I hear you, man. I just want to make sure you are not seeing this as some type of second chance at redoing things with Lauren. I don’t want you using this accident with Camille as a substitute for Lauren, you know, like a second chance or something. You have to admit with the blood clots—it is all similar.”
Ben held his hand up stopping Kevin’s vomit of words. “First off, I just told you. I can’t explain what I am feeling. I will always regret not making the right decisions with Lauren, but she is gone. Camille was stealing pieces of me from conversations alone. When I saw her that night, she was breathtaking. She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. And despite her half-shaven head and bandaged body, I still want to be near her. I can’t leave her now. When Camille was hit by that car, she was coming to meet me. When I knelt beside her at the scene something just clicked in me. Man, I can’t explain it, but I am here, and I know this connection I feel is not me substituting Camille for Lauren.”
Kevin sighed and attempted to speak, but his cellphone alerted him of a text.
“Look, Ben, this is Paige. Mr. James, Camille’s dad, is at the airport, and I need to scoop him up. Do you want to ride or stay here?”
Ben opted to stay with Camille. He certainly did not need any more awkward moments with Kevin, and he wanted to be alone with Camille. Benjamin knocked on the hospital door lightly and pushed the door open when he heard a light voice say, “Come in.”
He walked eagerly into Camille’s room and to her side. He bent down and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. “I am so happy to see you awake. You gave us quite a scare there.”
“I am sorry, Ben. You have been so patient. This has been a horrible begin
ning to a friendship. Not to mention, the worst first date ever.”
“No such thing. It has been full of adventure, suspense, and is still going strong.”
Camille gave him a look of bewilderment and tried to laugh, but the throbbing in her head would not allow it.
“Why are you laughing, Ms. James?”
“You are corny, and quit the Ms. James.”
“I guess that was lame.” Ben shared the laugh with Camille.
“Seriously, Ben, thank you for staying and making sure I’m okay. I promise when I am all better, I will give you a call for a redo. You have a life and a career to get back to. I don’t want to keep you any longer.”
Ben looked at Camille with confusion. “Camille, I don’t want to wait for a redo. I want to be here. I want to continue to get to know you without any breaks.”
“Ben, I am not myself. I have half my head shaven, and the doctor says it could be six to eight weeks before my speech and motor skills return to full capacity. I have made some personal and spiritual vows while being here. It would not be fair to you. I don’t know who I am anymore, or what’s next for me. Please, Ben, I can call you to chat about my progress, but I don’t want you to feel like you need to give me some kind of charity friendship because I could not cross the street.”
“Camille, I want to continue to see you. I can work from anywhere. I have my laptop bag and my two mobile devices with me. I have not missed one call or conference meeting in the last week. I want to share in your recovery, not out of charity or pity, but because I care for you. You are beautiful on the inside and out, bandages and all. Besides, you just had brain surgery a week ago, and you are speaking clear enough to push me away. So, I don’t see anything fragile or confused about you. Please allow me your friendship. I too have been working on my relationship with the Lord. Maybe we can do it together.” Ben gave Camille the most desperate and pleading look he could manage. He was serious about not experiencing any breaks in getting to know her.
Camille’s stubborn will broke as she looked at Ben’s pitiful expression. “Well, Benjamin, I can see why you are successful. It’s very hard to say no to you with that kind of sales pitch.”
Quickly his face broke into his charming smile, and he scooted a chair next to her bed. “Now, give me the scoop on your father. I don’t want him to kick me out when he arrives.”
Camille smiled. “Have you heard of the saying ‘what you see is what you get’ ?”
Ben confirmed, yes, with a head nod.
“Well, Jacob Darius James is the opposite. He is one to observe and only speaks when there is pertinent information to request or demands to be given out.”
Ben jerked his head backward and raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Really. But don’t look like I just said my dad was some big mean guy. He simply does not deal in nonsense. There you have it, the 411 on my daddy.”
“Camille, is that all the information you are sharing?” Ben said. Wrinkles creased across his forehead.
Camille giggled at the perplexed look Ben was giving her.
“Camille, seriously. I barely got you to agree to let me stay. I don’t want anything messing up my opportunity of getting to know you.”
Camille could see his sincerity and felt it was a little intense after a couple of weeks knowing one another. Not even considering she spent the last week in and out of consciousness. She tried to move the conversation away from their budding relationship. She could not think of where they were headed, under the influence of morphine. Camille tried her best to speak clearly. “Ben, we practically just met. We have not been on an actual date. There is no need to be tense regarding my father. I will just introduce you as a friend of Kevin’s. I will even say you are a Good Samaritan and have not left my side.” Camille tried to offer a genuine smile but reached for her forehead with her bandaged hand as her smile turned into an anguish-fueled grimace.
Benjamin jumped to his feet and rubbed her forehead with his left hand and lowered her bandaged hand with his right. He spoke softly to her.
“Camille, are you okay? Did cutting me down to size give you a headache?” Camille rested her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes while Ben slowly massaged her temples. Ben begin to hum a song, then softly sang with a melodious voice. Ben’s touch and voice became a sedative to Camille as the headache began to recede.
Camille focused on the lyrics he was singing softly in her ear while sitting on her hospital bed holding her hand. The lyrics were clear and direct to Camille. Benjamin George Adams could not be cut down to size nor was he backing off. Camille asked the name of the song and artist. Ben informed her it was “All I’ll Ever Ask” performed by Freddie Jackson on a Najee CD. Camille allowed herself to fall into slumber under the rapture of Ben’s voice.
Love means so many different things
But you're all that matters
and this is all I'll ever ask of you
Tell me your dreams, so they can be mine too let me be there to help them come true
tell me your fears, when you feel afraid
Come to my arms let me rock them away
That's all I'll ever ask,
that's all I'll ever ask, that’s all I'll ever ask
of you
Come to my shoulder when you need to weep
Wake me up, when you cannot sleep
Talk to me, when you want to be heard
be silent with me, when you can't say a word
That's all I'll ever ask, that's all I'll ever ask
that’s all I'll ever ask,
of you
When Ben saw that Camille was asleep, he kissed her on the forehead. As he was rising, the nurse entered to change the IV bags. He exited quietly and headed to the chapel and was happy to find himself alone. He knelt on his knees at the altar of the chapel and prayed.
“Heavenly Father, I come to you with a grateful heart. Thank you for sparing Camille’s life. Thank you for bringing her into mine. Thank you for another chance Lord, another chance to say I am sorry for the sin in my life. I am sorry for seeking after earthly things instead of seeking your will. I accept you into my life right now Lord, because you have answered my prayer. You have shown me my missing rib. Father God, I was so torn with guilt over how I never committed to Lauren. Her death left me shattered with a wounded spirit and condemnation. I give that over to you Lord. I know, just like Adam knew with one look at Eve, the woman you created for him, that Camille is bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. Father, I need your help in being who she needs me to be. Guide me so that she can feel this is destiny and not a rebound. Father, you said in your word ‘It is not good for man to be alone.’ Your word also tells me, ‘He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the Lord.’ I am ready to ‘Seek first Your Kingdom and Your righteousness, so all these things will be given to me.’ Lord, I am ready to drink from the well that never runs dry. Lord, I know Camille is my missing rib. Show me how to care for her and in your timing she will know this is right. Show me how to nurture her back to the fearfully and wonderfully creature you made. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
****
Paige & Kevin sat in a traffic jam on their way to the Metro Airport. The ride had been a silent one as they listened to soft Jazz by Ben Tankard. Kevin broke the silence. “Paige, I called my parents and told them about Camille. I told them coming down next weekend was up in the air.”
Paige turned and looked at Kevin, “What did they say?”
“They said not to worry. We could come down anytime, and they were praying for Camille.”
Paige smirked. “Was that your dad? I don’t believe your mom actually cares.”
“Paige, that is not fair. Mom was concerned. I really hope, during the next trip you, and Mom could come to terms and be friends, or at least friendly with one another.”
Paige rolled her eyes and lifted her chin up to meet Kevin eye to eye. “Kevin, I know you are not saying it’s my fault that Julia and I are not f
riendly. Need I point out that as a black woman dating a biracial man, I expected if I was going to be judged by anyone in your family that it would not be your black mother! I mean your dad is a judge, and he does not make assumptions of others before getting to know them.” Paige’s neck started to twist as she continued. “Your mom did not give me a chance before writing me off as some trifling gold digger.”
Kevin tried to interrupt the tirade he saw Paige was about to begin. “Honey please!”
Paige raised her hand to halt the interruption. How Kevin wished the traffic would start to move again.
“Kevin Michelson!” Paige screamed, to bring him out of his daydream. She started a count on her fingers. “Number one, from the moment your mother met me, she has done nothing but criticize what I am wearing and my hairstyles. Heck, the woman called me common to my face. Number two, she tries to get under my skin with the shade she throws at me. It’s insulting! Where we are, is of no consequence for your so called ‘Elegant and Refined Momma.’ I swear, Kevin, if it was not for you and your sweet dad, I would have snapped on your mom months ago.”
Kevin jumped in. “Paige, that’s it, you do snap. You both snap at each other all the time. It’s like you two are competing for who can be more hood.” Kevin immediately regretted that statement.
Paige rolled her eyes and bit down on her lip, then looked at him with venom. “Kevin! You seriously better not be calling me hood. I may not have come from high society like you, but I am far from the hood, sweetheart. No one will make me feel that I haven’t achieved everything I have through hard work. I cannot believe you would say that to me.”
“Paige, I did not mean it that way. I am just saying, you don’t have to give in to her antics. I admit my mom is judgmental and can be superficial at times. However, what she thinks of you will not deter my love for you. So next time we go, just don’t be so willing to go down with her.”
It Won't Prosper: Parable On Infidelity In Marriage Page 9
