Chapter 13
Tears streamed down Sheba’s face, although she had told herself she was not going to cry. “I’m going to miss you so much,” Sheba said over and over as she and Uriah embraced at the private airport terminal.
He wiped her face with one of his hands. He then kissed her cheek. “These six months are going to fly by.”
“I hope so. It’s going to be lonely at home without you.”
“We’re going to be talking every chance we get,” Uriah said.
“I know.” Sheba pouted.
Uriah reached into his pocket and took out a box. He opened it. “Wear this and know that you’re always close to my heart.”
He removed a gold necklace with a half of a heart pendant that had the words My better half written on the back and placed it around her neck.
He unbuttoned his top button. “See? I’m wearing the other half.”
Sheba wrapped her arm around his neck. “I love you, Uriah.”
“I love you, too, Bathsheba.”
The stewardess approached them and said, “Mr. Richards, the pilots are ready to take off.”
The stewards turned toward Sheba and smiled. “Mrs. Richards, he’s in good hands,” one of them assured her.
Sheba forced a smile. “I guess this is good-bye.”
“No, baby, it’s ‘See you later.’”
Uriah kissed her passionately before walking away to get on the plane.
The moment Uriah stepped foot on the corporate jet, the floodgates opened again for Sheba. Tears slid down her face. She stood at the terminal window and watched the plane fly away. A sinking feeling came over her. Although he wasn’t going to war over in Afghanistan, it was still dangerous there for American workers. Life for her Uriah would never be the same. She could feel it in her gut.
Fortunately, she had to go into work. She was supposed to be there for the seven o’clock shift but had let everyone know she was going to be late. She could have taken the whole day off, but she knew she would need a distraction. She wasn’t ready to go back to her empty house.
Upon arriving at work, she was handed a bouquet of flowers by one of her coworkers. She sniffed the bouquet of colorful flowers. “Uriah, you think of everything,” she whispered when she glanced at the card, which read, “I miss you already. Love you, pumpkin.” He hadn’t called her pumpkin in years. That was the little pet name he had given her when they were in college.
“I have another delivery,” said the floral deliveryman as he walked up to the nurses’ station. He handed the bouquet of flowers to Sheba.
“What room?” Sheba asked.
The deliveryman read what was on his order. “These are for Bathsheba Richards.”
Thinking Uriah had truly outdone himself, she was excited. Uriah was going overboard by sending two bouquets of flowers in one day, Sheba thought. But she loved flowers, so she wouldn’t complain.
“Thank you,” she said as she reached into her pocket and handed him a tip. She removed the card from the plastic stick. Disappointment swept over her face when she read the card. Hope you can forgive me for sending Uriah away. He’ll be back to you soon. Your friend, David.
She tore the card up. David was no friend of hers. She stopped one of the LPNs. “Give these flowers to Ms. Frierson. She was just saying she wished someone would send her some flowers.”
“Who do I tell her they are from?” the LPN asked.
“Tell her it’s a thank-you from the staff for being such a great patient.” Sheba wanted to get rid of the flowers. She could have thrown them away, but she felt her patient would benefit a great deal from receiving them.
“But she is such a disturbance.”
“I know, but maybe she’ll think twice before giving us a hard time if we butter her up,” Sheba said.
“I doubt it, but I’ll take them to her.”
“Please do. I’ll be running some reports in the back office if you need me,” Sheba said before walking away.
After running her reports, Sheba decided to take a break. She made a beeline to Delilah’s room. She hadn’t seen her since she and Uriah had stopped by two days ago. She’d wanted to give her some time for things to sink in. Her door was ajar, so she walked right on in.
“Good to see you’re sitting up,” Sheba said as Delilah shifted herself on the side of the bed.
“They started me on therapy today. Looks like my limbs don’t want to agree with me, so I’m having to learn how to walk again.”
“Do what your therapist says and you’ll be walking in no time. If you like, I can come to some of your sessions.”
“Oh no. It’s embarrassing enough. I don’t need an audience.” Delilah shifted her legs and got back in the bed. She pulled the white covers over them to ward off the cold.
“I’m here if you need me.” Sheba took a seat.
Delilah laughed out loud. “I still think it’s funny that after all this time, I find out I have a sister.”
“I wish Mama was here to see our reunion.”
“My feelings are still a little twisted about your mom.”
“If only you had met her, then maybe you could see how much she really did love you.”
“Well, I only have your word on it.”
“That’s something I wouldn’t lie about.” Sheba tried not to get an attitude, but she wouldn’t stand for anyone saying anything negative about her mom. In her opinion, she was the best woman who had ever lived. She wouldn’t have harmed a fly.
“Tell me more about our mom. What was she like?” Delilah asked.
Sheba’s eyes glazed over as she told Delilah about their mom, Elizabeth. “She was always doing something for people in the neighborhood. If she saw a need, she did her best to fulfill that need. If she couldn’t, she would find someone who could.”
“You make her sound like a saint.”
“If she wasn’t, she was close to it.”
“Then why didn’t she look harder for me? I was in the system. I could have been found.”
“Our mom, God rest her soul, was generous, but life dealt her a bad hand. Money was never her friend. Don’t get me wrong. We never went hungry, but she didn’t have a lot of resources. She dropped out of school her senior year, when she got pregnant with me.”
Delilah asked a few more questions before saying, “Sheba, I can’t promise you anything. I’ve led a hard life. I tried to change my life, but some people won’t let you. Look at me. I changed my lifestyle and still ended up here.”
Sheba wondered if the things Keisha had told her about Delilah were true. Maybe one day she would ask, but for now, she would keep her questions to herself. Sheba wasn’t a saint, so who was she to judge?
“Let me tell you a little more about our mama. She was nice and sweet, but she wasn’t a pushover,” Sheba said.
“Sort of like myself, I see,” Delilah commented.
Sheba raised her eyebrows. That remains to be seen.