Dave looked at Zoe liked she had two heads. "What you mean she your cousin?" He inquired causing Zoe to narrow her eyes at him.
"Why are you asking me dumb questions right now? She's my cousin...what is confusing about that?" He paced a little with his hands on the back of his head before speaking again. "And why are you acting weird, son? Like what is the issue?"
"Y'all fucking playing with me!" He snapped, causing her to jump. "I move away from her ass cause she playing games, get my own place, now I find out the girl I'm kicking it with is her cousin? That's not some coincidental shit."
"Wait...you know Sema?"
"Stop that pretending bullshit man. I can't get a damn break. I don't why you teamed up with her to try to play me or some shit. Childish ass shit...I see the whole family fucked."
"I don't know what you're talking about, but you're not gonna stand there and down talk my family because you don't know a Gahdamn thing about us. I need u to bring your level all the way down, cause you bout to get me pissed, son."
"I'm talking about how she done put you up to get close to me. That shit is foul bruh. Let me guess, the plan was for me to fall for you, and you break my heart too, right?"
"Fuck is you talkin bout?! I didn't know you knew Sema or that you two were actually in a relationship. This is news to me."
"Man shut that lying shit up. I'm not tryna hear all that. Y'all bitches just alike man." As soon as Zoe realized he actually let the b word come out of his mouth, a slap sounded off his cheek. Dave placed his tongue in his jaw to relieve the stinging. He inhaled deeply to calm himself down.
"Don't ever fix ya mouth to call me a bitch again! On my mother, I'll smack you every time! Then, imma call my brothers to handle ya ass. I haven't did shit to you but tried to be your fuckin' friend. Whatever you and her had poppin' off, that's a y'all thing. Don't bring me up in the shit because I don't know shit you talking about. Don't fuckin' disrespect me either cause I don't disrespect your stupid ass." Zoe's chest puffed up and down as she stood staring him down.
"As I was saying, I don't know shit about you and Sema's situation. As a matter of fact, I didn't know there was a you and Sema at all. This is news to me like us being cousins is news to you. Now, you can stay here and be mad or whatever the hell you wanna do, but I'm bout to go check on my cousin." Zoe pushed past Dave and headed out his door, making sure to slam it behind her.
Dave pinched right in the middle of his forehead and chuckled bitterly. He couldn't believe the news he just found out. What were the odds that his next door neighbor and newfound friend was his ex's cousin? He believed Zoe was telling the truth, and actually wasn't mad at her. He was mad at the universe for setting him up in the situation. He was always in some fucked up situation. He was beginning to think that he was cursed.
Slumping down on the couch, he let his mind wander to the news report. Part of him wanted to be cold and heartless towards Sema, but there was still a part of him that genuinely cared for her. And at the end of the day, the care outweighed to coldness. Grabbing his keys from the end table, he headed out the door and down to Farman General.
- - -
Dave and Zoe reached the hospital around the same time. She couldn't help but to roll her eyes once she spotted him.
"Why are you here? Just a minute ago it was fuck me and my cousin."
"Man, chill."
"Ain't no 'man, chill'. You can not go in here right now. If we both go up and see my cousin at the same time and she finds out that we know each other and have been hanging out, she's gonna assume the worst and be pissed as fuck. I don't want to put her through anything else right now. You need to get in ya car and head back to ya place."
"First off, I'm a grown ass man. I can go where I want, when I want, with who I want, for whatever the fuck reason I wanna go for," Dave retorted. "Second off, I didn't know y'all were cousins and you ain't know me and her used to be together so that don't matter either. And third, I'm grown as fuck. I don't gotta listen to you at all."
"That's the first thing niggas wanna say; I'm grown. Nobody give a fuck about you being grown, son. I'm lookin out for my cousin. She probably already traumatized as hell from this situation, and you wanna go in here with some more bullshit?! You sound selfish as hell, and that's probably why y'all ain't together now!"
"Oh you think I'm the reason me and ya cousin not together? That's funny as fuck," he chuckled bitterly.
"Whoever fault, it don't matter. What matters is she don't need this right now."
"You stay out here then."
"That's MY cousin. You stay out here, the fuck?! What do you wanna go see her for if you got such a problem with her?"
Dave couldn't even answer Zoe. He couldn't tell her that he still loved Sema. Instead after a few seconds of staring her down, he just walked past her and headed inside.
Nervousness hit him as he approached the front desk.
The receptionist gave him a lust-filled look-over, slowly letting her eyes wander from his head to his feet. As she brought them back up to his face, she gave a small smile.
"How I can I help you?"
Before Dave could speak, Zoe interjected.
"Is Dr.Sema Cotton here? She's my cousin and saw the news and wanted to check on her."
The receptionist gave Zoe a stank look. "I was asking him, but I guess y'all are here together. Dr. Cotton is not admitted as a patient here, but she's up visiting another one of the patients from the incident. Room 341."
Without another word, Dave took off down the hall towards the elevators. Zoe was right behind him until the receptionist stopped her, telling her that they didn't allow more than two people in the room unless they were immediate family.
Stepping off the elevator, he examined the room directory before heading down the right wing.
'337, 338, 339.' He counted the rooms in his head as he made his way to 341. Two doors later, he was standing right outside of room 341. He took a deep breath before knocking on the door, which he assumed was the room that Rich was in.
- - -
Part 2 of this chapter later tonight.
