Detours

Chapter 24

Beyoncé's P.O.V

At first I thought he was surprised by the way I jumped at him suddenly, but then when he had the chance to look at me, that look remained on his face. And then I saw tears rolling down his eyes.

SHAWN
"... I ... I'm... forgive me."

He hugged me tightly and asked for forgiveness several times and I didn't know what to do, I had a grown man crying on my shoulder.
I wasn't prepared for that. I was the one who should be crying, MY DAUGHTER is in there.

Damn, I was feeling bad to see him like that.

BEYONCÉ
"...Shawn... just... calm down."
"Tell me what happened ..."

SHAWN
"I was ... I... I told her I was going to move out of the town and then she started to cry I said things I didn't mean and she took the bike and ran and I saw the bus but she didn't hear it... she didn't stop and when I got there she was... I don't know ... I just called an ambulance ... I just need her to be okay."

BEYONCÉ
"You told her you're moving?"
"...the dream came true..."

I said this more to myself than to him.

SHAWN
"What dream?"

BEYONCÉ
"She had a dream about you leaving and she almost cried just thinking about it..."
"Now you say that you're really leaving..."

SHAWN
"I didn't want to hurt her."
(Looks at B )
"I wasn't trying to hurt her. I just thought ... I thought she'd be better without me."
"There are too many things happening now and I can't connect with it. I thought that having me around wouldn't be good for her."

I looked him straight in the eyes before speaking.

BEYONCÉ
"Now you know how I felt."

He put his hands on his face and bent down.

SHAWN
"My God, what have I done?"

What should I do? I shouldn't be consoling someone. Actually I should be the last person having this conversation with him.
I should be angry with him, but I can't look at a man sitting on the floor crying for my child and not feel my heart breaking.

BEYONCÉ
"Shawn..."

I crouched down in front of him and said the only thing I could think of to make him feel better.

BEYONCÉ
"She'll be fine."
"Trust me... or better yet, trust in God."
"She'll be fine."

I think I sat there hugging him for about 10 minutes before I finally got up.
I grabbed my cell phone and called Solange. Maybe I shouldn't make her worried, but I don't think I can stay here alone waiting to have some news.
I told her about Shawn and she thought it would be better to call Mrs. Carter as well. I know I can't deal with him until Brian comes back and tell us something.

They didn't take long to get at the hospital and only to see Solange made me feel better. For some reason she always makes me feel that everything will be fine, maybe because she always ends up taking care of me.
Mrs. Carter wasn't having the same luck with Shawn. He was very agitated and kept looking around like a crazy person. I can imagine what he's feeling, but I can't say I know how to heal it.

We were there waiting for a long time and every time someone would come out of that room and return without telling me what was happening I felt like I wasn't able to breathe. Something must be going wrong to be taking so long.

And then my day got worse... if it was really possible...
Kelly had called me about an hour ago to ask me about something I didn't even let her say what it was. And I told her I was at the hospital with April and she said she would try to come after work. I just never imagined that I would regret it.

I looked down the hall and saw Kelly with James and... His MOTHER...
Now, Kelly knows better than bringing this woman here.

MRS. SANDERS
"Where is my granddaughter? What happened to her?"
(Sees Beyoncé)
"WHAT IS THIS SLUT DOING HERE?"
"I want her out of here now!"

SOLANGE
(Gets up)
"Mrs. Sanders, first of all, it's not like you can say who can or can't stay here."
"And secondly, she is April's mother. She has every right to be here."

MRS. SANDERS
"...Mother? This whore left before even burying my poor child."
"I always knew she was using the girl to keep my boy."
"Then as soon as the doctors confirmed his death, she left and didn't even look back."
"What's she doing here now? It was not enough to kill my precious child, now she wants to kill my granddaughter too?"

J
(Looks at his mother bothered)

I can't say I expected less than that from her, but I had to do my best to not make her swallow every word she just said.

BEYONCÉ
"Mrs. Sanders, I don't have time to..."

MRS. SANDERS
"How dare this whore speak to me? Someone get her out of here."

BEYONCÉ
"My patience is really close to finishing..."
"Someone get THIS OLD WOMAN out of here before I do something I'll regret."

MRS. SANDERS
"Surely that would be the only thing missing."
"My son was a good man. He had a beautiful life ahead. There wasn't one person who didn't like him in this town."
"And then he had to get involved with a dirty piece of meat that lies down with anyone."
"I'm very surprised you even know who that girl's father is."

That was all I needed to hear. It was the only thing she needed to say to make me forget all the change I had done over the last 14 years and go back to my old ways.

I jumped at her and I swear that if J hadn't jumped in front of her before I got the chance, I would have torn out her tongue in one motion.

J
(Angry)
"You're not about to touch my mother. You're really not."

BRIAN
(Walks up to them)
"What is happening here?"

Brian looked around and then his eyes stopped at J's hands that were holding my arms.

BRIAN
(Angry)
"Can you take your hands off my fiancée?"

MRS. SANDERS
"...fiancée? Do you have any idea the kind of prostitute you're going to marry?"

BRIAN
"I don't know what's going on here, but I'll do my best to concentrate on what really matters right now."

BEYONCÉ
"How is she?"

BRIAN
(Takes a deep breath)
"She went through two surgeries and she will be unconscious for a few hours to recover, but... she'll be fine."

BEYONCÉ
"Thank God!"

BRIAN
"She suffered a fracture on the head and... broke her right leg, but nothing that some days won't heal."

SHAWN
(With a trembling voice)
"Thank you doctor, thank you."

The look in Shawn's eyes was still of a disturbed man, it was like he was the one run over not April. And not just his voice was shaking... his hands were shaking as well.

MRS. SANDERS
(To Brian)
"I don't know who you are, but apparently, you have information about my granddaughter."
"When can I see her?"

BRIAN
"I'm Doctor Brian Mitchell."
(Extends his hand to her)

She hesitated at first, but shook his hand.

MRS. SANDERS
"Like I said, doctor... When can I get to see my granddaughter?"

BRIAN
"She won't be able to receive visits in the coming hours, and probably won't be able to talk to anyone today."

MRS. SANDERS
"So, I'll have to spend the night here looking at this slut's face until my granddaughter wakes up?!"
"All this is certainly her fault."

KELLY
"...Mrs. Sanders, enough!"
"Nobody asked you to come here and certainly no one is inviting you to stay."
"I still can't believe you brought her, J."

J
"Kelly, this is about my family. It's not my fault if they don't get along."

KELLY
"You could have-"

BRIAN
"This is not the best place to argue. Unfortunately if you can't just sit and wait in silence I'll have to ask you to leave."

KELLY
"I'm sorry."
"Oh, I didn't have the chance to meet you before, but I'm Kelly, B's childhood friend."

BRIAN
(Shakes her hand)
"Glad to meet you."

KELLY
"This is my boyfriend and April's uncle, James."

Brian shook his hand and nodded while just watched in silence. He's probably still angry after seeing James putting his hands on me.

KELLY
"And Mrs. Sanders, his mother, has already announced to the whole hospital that she's April's grandmother."

MRS. SANDERS
(To J)
"And you had to go and find another rude bitch to bring home?!"

KELLY
"Mrs. Sanders I don't care a bit about what you have to say or think about me, I'll have respect for you when you show me some of it as well."

MRS. SANDERS
"You know what, I'm leaving. The air around here is too polluted to breathe. I'll be back tomorrow to see my granddaughter."
(Starts walking)
"Are you at least able to take your mother home, James?"

J
(Takes a deep breath)
"I'm going."
(To Kelly)
"I'll call you later."
(Tries to kiss her)

KELLY
(Ducking)
"Just go away."

He started walking and looked at me before turning completely around to follow his mother.
This was certainly not one of the best days of my life.

I looked around and Kelly was sitting with Solange and Mrs. Carter was trying to calm Shawn down.

BRIAN
(Hugs B )
"What was that?"

BEYONCÉ
"It was what I had to go through since the day I told Jon I was pregnant."

BRIAN
(Shakes his head)

BEYONCÉ
(A tear runs down her face)
"I thought I would never have to go through this again."

He held me tightly trying to comfort me as I wiped my tears. That woman doesn't even deserve my sigh.

MRS. CARTER
"It'll be okay now, son."
"She's fine."

SHAWN
"It's not okay. NOTHING IS FINE. I almost killed that girl."
"If anything happened ... If something happens to her, I'll never forgive myself."

MRS. CARTER
"Shawn it was an accident. It wasn't anyone's fault."

SHAWN
"It was my fault, I was a complete idiot. Nothing of this would have happened if I hadn't acted that way."

He was full of anger towards himself. He looked at his mother once more and walked out of the hospital.

MRS. CARTER
"Shawn!"

He ignored her and continued to walk and she went after him.

BRIAN
"What happened between them?"

BEYONCÉ
"He told April that he was leaving and she reacted badly."

BRIAN
(Frowns)
"And why is he leaving?"

BEYONCÉ
"I don't know."

Brian and I sat down and Solange didn't waste time to ask Brian a million questions.
A few minutes later Mrs. Carter walked up to us again... and without Shawn.

MRS. CARTER
(Sighs)
"That boy is so stubborn, when he decides something, nobody can change his mind."

SOLANGE
"Where did he go?"

MRS. CARTER
"He's outside. He doesn't want to talk to anyone."
"He won't calm down until he sees that the girl is fine, himself."

BEYONCÉ
"Me neither."
"But he shouldn't be torturing himself like that."

MRS. CARTER
"I don't know what else to say to him."
"Are you spending the night here?"

BEYONCÉ
"Yes..."

KELLY
"I would, but if I call my mom and tell her what happened and where I am, she'll want to come."

BEYONCÉ
"No, go home Kelly, I'll call you in the morning."

KELLY
"B, I'm sorry for what happened, I didn't think he was-"

BEYONCÉ
"It's okay, forget it."

BRIAN
"I'll spend the night with you."

BEYONCÉ
"No baby, I'm fine. You must be exhausted."
"Go home, I'll see you in the morning."

BRIAN
"No, I'm not leaving you here."

BEYONCÉ
"Please go and take Solange home too, so she can rest as well."
"Tomorrow after April wakes up I'll go home for an hour or two and Solange can stay with her."

SOLANGE
"I don't want to go home."

BEYONCÉ
"I won't leave Solange, and it will be worse if both of us are tired tomorrow morning."

SOLANGE
(Sighs)
"Apparently a competition of stubbornness started over here."

BRIAN
"You won't stay here alone..."

SHAWN
"I'll stay with her."
"You can go home as well mom."
"I won't leave here today."

SOLANGE
"You two are staying..."
"..So in the morning the three of you can be in a hospital bed?!"

BEYONCÉ
"I'm not staying here to fight with anyone."

SHAWN
"Me neither."

BRIAN
"Baby, I don't think ..."

BEYONCÉ
"Baby, please."
"I'm asking you."

BRIAN
(Sighs)
"They'll call me if anything changes about her and you'll call me if you need me."

BEYONCÉ
(Kisses his lips)
"I will, I promise."

We still stayed there for a few more hours and Solange and Brian tried to make me eat, but I didn't feel able to eat anything. I want to see my daughter. I want to talk to her.

At night Kelly was the first one to say goodbye and leave and Mrs. Carter left after giving up asking Shawn to go with her.

BRIAN
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you?"

BEYONCÉ
"I just want you to take Solange home and then get some sleep."
(Kisses his lips)

BRIAN
(Sighs)
"Okay, call me if you need."

BEYONCÉ
"Sure."

I said goodbye to Solange and they walked out.