1Forgotten Love and Goodbyes - Ch 12

When they got to Akisha's room, Leon slowly opened the door and let Nika walk in first. Nika ran to the side of the bed and broke down crying. Leon entered the room and closed the door. He watched as Nika took her daughter's hand and began praying softly in Spanish. Even though he vaguely understood what she was saying, he knew that she was praying for Akisha's speedy recovery. Leon brought a chair over for Nika to sit down in. "I don't understand why Rico would do this; he loves her too much to want to harm her."

"He wasn't aiming for her, he was aiming for me," said Leon as he stood beside her.

"Why?" she said turning to him. Leon went into the whole story about him coming back and reigniting his love for Akisha, which angered Rico. He then went on to explain about Rico and Mario getting kicked off the team and how that infuriated them. He lastly finished with the attempt he and Akisha made to get out of town unnoticed but we confronted by Rico and Mario and her getting shot. When Leon finished Nika hugged him and thanked him again for saving her daughter's life. "Well it's late, I better get going. Please have her give me a call when she recovers, I want to speak with her," she gave Leon a piece of paper. "I understand that she may not want to speak with me, but I really need to tell her how sorry I am and that I still love her."

"I will Ms. Vasquez, let me walk you out," said Leon as he got up and walked her out the room and back out to the lobby. When Nika left the hospital, Benny came up to Leon and asked about Akisha's status. Leon said that everything went okay and the she had yet to regain consciousness. Benny said he and the others were gonna head back to the house to get some rest. Benny asked if Leon wanted to come along, Leon refused saying that he wanted to be there in case Akisha woke up. Benny nodded and he and the others left the hospital, Leon went back to the room.

When he got back to the room Leon went to sit down in the chair beside the bed. Taking Akisha's hand into his he folded them and said a small prayer of his own, as tears strolled down his face. He wiped them away and kissed the back of her hand. Leon noticed hunger settling in and decided to head over to the cafeteria to see if he could find something edible to eat. He left the room and came back fifteen minutes later with a brown paper bag. He rolled the table tray over and set the bag on it. He pulled out a ham and cheese sandwich and a can of Coke. He began eating when the door opened and a nurse walked in, she was in her mid-forties. Leon noticed that her name was Mary Lexus and the she had a wedding ring on her finger. He at first thought she was Peter's wife, but dropped that idea from her mind. The nurse notice him looking at her while she checked on Akisha's vitals, she smiled back. "Hi my name's Mary; you must be the Leon my husband was talking about."

Leon laughed. "Yeah I am you must be the nurse wife he was talking about, the one..."

"Who helped deliver Akisha 25 years ago, yes I am."

"I guess like with your husband, it must be hard to see her like this?"

"It is, but I'm glad to help her out again. I know from speaking with her mother that it was a miracle that we met again. Even after her birth we kept in touch with her parents, they consider us great friends."

"That's good to know, I think without the help of you and your husband today, I might not have her with me right now."

"I know, when I was in the OR with her helping to remove the bullet, I was thinking about the day I helped to deliver her. It was like deja vu, I was trying to save her life all over again."

"It must've been hard for you; I know it was hard for your husband when he saw her at the site of the shooting."

"He told me about it after I finished in the OR. He was shocked that it was her and me how worried you were."

"Yeah I was, I couldn't believe something like this could happen to her," replied Leon as me yawned.

"You look tired; you're welcome to use this bed beside her to sleep on,"

"Thanks," he said smiling, "I feel like doing that once I finish eating."

"I better get going, if ya need anything I'm just down the hall at the nurse's station."

"OK thanks," said Leon as Mary left the room. Leon finished his sandwich and Coke and tossed them in the garbage. He went back and sat down in the chair. He held Akisha's hand and softly kissed the back of it. While still holding her hand, he crossed his arms and rested his head on them. Before he knew it he was fast asleep.

Akisha slowly opened her eyes and the room slowly came into view. She looked around and wondered where she was. After a few moments it became clear, she was in the hospital. Looking down she also noticed the band-aid on her right arm and Leon sleeping on her left holding her hand. She could also feel the tubes in her nose providing oxygen to her body. "Leon," she said in a dry raspy voice. She attempted to whisper louder, but her throat hurt too much. She squeezed his hand, hoping that would awaken him.

Leon moaned, slowly opened his eyes and looked towards her. "Huh...what?" he said noticing that Akisha was finally awake. Oh my gosh Akisha, you're finally awake!" he said getting up from the chair and hugging her. "Are you okay?" Akisha tried to respond but couldn't, instead pointed to her throat. Leon realized she needed something to drink and got her a glass of water. He helped her hold the cup while she drank.

"Thanks Leon," she whispered smiling.

"No problem, I'm just glad you're awake," he replied kissing her on the cheek.

"How long have I been out?" she said as Leon turned on the light over her bed.

"Exactly 24 hours give or take a few minutes," he said as Akisha started sobbing. "Hey what's wrong?"

"I just can't help but think about last night, the event as still fresh in my mind. The feeling I felt when the bullet hit was unbearable. As you held me in your arms I could feel myself sip and I tried hard to fight back, but couldn't."

"Well you'll be happy to know that the police found Rico and he's officially going to jail."

"That's good to know, at least we don't have to worry about him coming after us," said Akisha wiping her tears.

"Out problems may be over with Rico, but they've just begun with Mario. Once he realizes what happen with his bro, there's no doubt he'll come after us instead."

"That's what I'm afraid about, never being rid of them; always have to look over our shoulders."

"Don't worry we don't have to, as soon as you're okay to leave we're gonna go along with our original plan," he said giving her a kiss on the lips.\

"You mean our plan to go to L.A.?"

"Exactly, I know it was hard for me to leave the first time, but this time it'll be worth it. I know I'll be leaving Benny and the others behind, but at least this time they'll know why."

"Yeah we'll have a good reason this time and I'll be able to meet the gang from there. I know they won't accept me at first, but soon or later I'll be part of the team too."

There was a knock on the door. The door slowly opened and in walked Dr. Livingston and Mary. Dr. Livingston smiled and said, "It's good to see you're finally awake Akisha, it looks like the transfusion was a success."

"Transfusion?" said Akisha puzzled.

"Yes your gunshot wound made you lose a lot of blood. We used what we had before we had to do a live one."

"Who was the donor?" she asked, one look at Leon's arm gave her her answer. She began to tear again, "thanks Leon," she said.

"You know I'd do anything for you dawg."

"I know."

"I hate to break this up, but I need to do a final check up, later on today Akisha will be ready to leave."

"Leave?" said Akisha and Leon in unison. "But doesn't she need to stay at least a couple of more days?" asked Leon.

"Normally yes, but for some reason Akisha has been healing quickly."

"Must be her fighting spirit," said a chuckling Leon, "you can knock her down, but no matter what she comes back fighting."

"She's had it since birth," added Mary.

"Well I think it's best that Akisha get some rest if she wants to leave later today," said Livingston.

"Sure thing, see ya later babe," said Leon as he prepared to leave with Livingston and Mary.

"Bye Leon," said Akisha as Leon kissed her on the lips. He waved goodbye and left with Livingston and Mary. After the door closed Akisha closed her eyes and fell back to sleep.

When Akisha awoke again, she was happy to see that all the gang was there including Leon. "Hola chiqua, finally glad to see ya awake," said Mija.

"Yeah we were really worried about you," said Cho.

"Ya gurl, ya had us praying for ya swift recovery," replied Marcus smiling.

"Thanks guys, I'm glad to be alive too," said a tearing Akisha, "I just hope I can continue on without having to remember it all the time."

"Don't worry girl, we'll be there to help you out," said Cheryl, "plus with Rico now in jail, that jerk will be there for quite a while. Don't worry about Mario; you've got us plus the rest of the racing world behind you."

"I already knew that, it's good to be reassured though."

"So when are they going to officially release you?" asked Benny as he hugged Akisha.

"The doctor said sometime after 6 tonight, he wants to run a few tests first and observe me a bit more."

"We'll be back then see ya, later Akisha," said Benny as he and the others left the room, leaving her and Leon alone in the room. As soon as they were gone, Leon took Akisha in his arms and held her close.

"I missed you so much," he said, "it was hard to try to get and stay asleep without having you beside me. The events of the shooting kept playing in my mind, plus what life would be like if you didn't survive. I felt bad for Benny and his family cause I kept waking them with my screaming."

"I had similar dreams while I was unconscious. I kept thinking about what would happen if I never could wake up. At times it felt as if my life was truly over and I would never wake up, but I kept thinking about the love for my friends and knowing that their love for me would be the guiding light I needed to wake up."

"It's good to know we were both thinking of the same thing, that shows just how committed we are to each other," said Leon as he brushed his hand through her hair."

"Uh Leo, can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah sure what about?"

"Was my mother here, I do remember hearing her voice subconsciously in my mind? I remember her saying a prayer for me, but that was about it."

"Yeah she was here, she heard about the shooting from Benny. She came to see how you were doing, why?"

"Just wondering why she decided to come and see me now and not before? Maybe she thought that with me dying, it would be a good chance to offer her forgiveness."

"I asked her about that too when she was here came, she wants to see and hear from you she gave me this by the way," he handed her the paper with her mother's phone number

"I don't want it," she said turning away from the paper in Leon's hand, "you can throw that away, it means nothing to me."

"C'mon Akisha don't do this, talk to her. I think you need to settle this with her and show some compassion to her."

"Show compassion, she never showed me any since leaving me and my father. From that day on I never heard from her, no 'Happy Birthday' no 'Merry Christmas' no 'how are you doing?' and stuff like that. The only other time I heard from her was for the divorce from my father two months before his death.

Even at the funeral, when she was supposed to be standing beside me and comforting me, she was off in the distance with her lover holding him. It was like she totally threw everything she had with us away. In my opinion she deserves nothing from me."

"You don't have to talk to her, just as least say hello to her," he said as he put the paper in her hand.

"No I don't want it to," shouted Akisha as she crumpled the paper and threw it across the room.

"Fine, I'll see ya tonight then, I cant' wait to bring you home," he said as he kissed her on the lips. He lingered a bit before pulling away. As he left the room a nurse came in with a tray of food for Akisha. She set it on the tray table, smiled and left the room. Akisha took the cover off and began to eat the sandwich, soup and drink the juice. As she ate, she thought about what she has said about her mother. She was still angry, but decided to give her a second chance. She slowly got out of bed and shuffled to the crumpled piece of paper on the floor.

Once she was back in bed she picked up the phone beside her and dialed the number. "Hello?"

"Hi Mom, it's me Akisha."

To be continued