Outside The Lines (Interracial Romance) [Part 2]

Chapter 5

Copyright © 2020 Nicole Mckoy

Deacon P.O.V.

I rushed into the hospital and took the elevator up to the floor my mother was staying on. When the elevator stopped I ran out of it. I rushed down the hallway and saw Tiffany walking out of my mother's room. She had her phone in her hand and looked sad.

"Tiffany," I said as I approached her.

"Deacon..." she said as she looked up.

"Is my mom alright?" I asked.

"Oh yeah she's just sleeping. I was stepping out to call you but you're here," she said.

"Yeah I got here as quick as I could. So what are the doctors saying?" I asked.

"I know this might sound selfish but I'm starving and kind of wanted to hit up the cafeteria. You mind walking and talking with me?" she asked.

"Naw it's cool. Come on," I said.

We started heading to the elevator.

"You mother's weakness was due to her lack of appetite. While her shortness of breath is due to stress," Tiffany explained.

"Stress? What's she stressing about?" I asked.

"You should really talk to her. Apparently your dad and her have been talking about your brother's living situation," Tiffany said.

"What is there to talk about? Alex made his choice... what is he cramping my dad's style," I said with an eye roll.

We got on the elevator and took it downstairs to the cafeteria.

"I'm not sure..." Tiffany said confused.

"My brother Alex is in his senior year of high school. Living with me and our sick mother wasn't ideal for his last year of high school. He lived with my mother the first time she had cancer and it fucked him up. I wouldn't want to put him through that again at his age but he barely calls her.... I know she misses him," I explained.

"What about you? Living with your mother in her last days isn't fucking you up?" Tiffany asked.

"It's messing with me. I hate not being able to take the pain away and make her better. Losing my mother hurts like hell. When she's actually gone I don't know what I'm going to do," I said honestly.

Tiffany and I stepped off the elevator and headed down the hallway to the cafeteria.

"I know you may feel alone in this but I can tell you I know what you're going through," Tiffany said.

"Your mom die from cancer?" I asked.

"No but my grandma did. My mom was her caretaker until the very end. Seeing that is what actually helped me decide to become a nurse in the first place and a live in one at that. There is no real way to prepare a family for losing a loved one," Tiffany said.

Tiffany got some food and I grabbed a bottle of water. I went up to the cashier and paid for our stuff even though Tiffany insisted on paying for her own stuff.

We sat down and continued to talk.

Talking to her was easier than I would have thought. It was good letting all this out with someone who could actually relate.

"So have you always lived in Atlanta?" I asked.

"No I'm from Philadelphia. I moved to Atlanta a couple years ago," Tiffany said.

"Oh well how do you like it here?" I asked.

"It's cool. I haven't really met anyone since being here," Tiffany said.