TWO WEEKS LATER

“B eep . Beep . Beep ”

The machines inside Siri’s hospital room were going off as she lay in bed with her eyes closed and her stomach slowly moving up and down. She’d gotten an infection on both kidneys, and now, we were basically watching as her body went through the entire shutting down phase. We’d all cried this shit out, we’d prayed over it, and we were angry, sad, and hurt, but it all came down to this. A woman who was tough as nails but had a heart so pure was lying in that hospital bed with no more fight in her.

I had accepted it because she’d fought for so many years to stay here. Just because I accepted it didn’t mean this shit didn’t hurt, but I would grow to be okay once I realized that this was what it had come down to.

My son was standing in front of me, and I had an arm wrapped around him in a bear hug. I occasionally heard sniffles from him as he wiped his eyes every couple of seconds, so I knew he was crying. Serenity’s parents were in the room, along with her best friend and her sister. My parents were there as well because they considered Serenity their daughter, even though the two of us were no longer married. It felt like we were all standing around, waiting for her to take her last breath because we knew it was coming. We could see on the monitor that her heart rate was declining. It was well after two in the morning, and everyone had a wide eye, not wanting to miss what was about to come.

None of this shit had worked in my favor. I had hoped the results would have come back in time to find out if any of us were a match, but they hadn’t. My biggest fear was that Serenity would become one of those people who died while waiting for a transplant, and that seemed to have been the case. I feared the possible infection that she could get in her kidneys, and pretty much everything that I’d feared had come true.

I eventually let my son go, and that was only so I could walk over to Serenity because her eyes had weakly opened. There were red dots in her eyes, which the doctors told me was an infection. I could see the red rash that she had under her eyes as well as her chin. She lay there with a pink beanie covering her bald head. With weak eyes, she took her small, fragile hand and tapped the bed, basically telling me to get my grown ass in bed with her.

“I ain’t getting in that little ass bed, Bay -Bay ,” I responded, getting everyone in the room to release a laugh.

She just hit the spot on the bed again, and I shook my head, getting in the bed with her and holding her from behind. Dakari took the seat next to the bed and held his mom’s hand as he laid his head on her chest while her weak hand moved up and down his head.

“Brook ,” she weakly called out.

Brooklyn was taking this really hard and had been in the corner crying, not wanting to accept this shit. She walked over to the bed and stood at the foot. She reached her hand out and placed it on Siri’s foot in the thick hospital socks that she had on. As she rubbed Serenity’s foot, she looked down at her best friend with tears falling from her eyes.

“You … you make… sure… they put that shit on me when they sss… send me off,” she told Brooklyn , who laughed through her tears as she nodded, agreeing to the task Siri had left for her.

“Best friend, you know I’ll make sure nobody there is cleaner than you,” she let Serenity know, and she nodded her head in approval.

She went around the room, basically telling everyone what she needed them to know. When she got to our son, I had to close my eyes because that shit broke my fuckin’ heart. She basically just told our son how much she loved him, knowing this would be the last time she got to say it, and he got to hear it. After that, she grew quiet.

About an hour later, my son had dozed off, still lying on his mother while he sat in the chair, and everyone sat in their chairs as well. My heart was rapidly beating because I knew the end was coming soon, and it hurt that I would have to accept it.

“Mr . Man ?” Serenity weakly called out, turning her body a bit to face me.

A tear fell from my eyes because I already knew what she was preparing to tell me.

“What’s up, Bay -Bay ?” I responded, my voice cracking.

With her free hand that she didn’t have on our son, she reached over and held onto the side of my face.

“I’m ready to rest now,” she let me know.

Another tear fell from my eyes, and I nodded my head, accepting that shit. I leaned up to kiss her on her lips, and I held onto her. With one hand on Dakari and another one on me, she stared at me.

“Get your rest, Bay -Bay . I’m Superman . I got it. I love you,” I had to let her know.

I needed her to leave this earth knowing that I was Superman , so she could properly rest.

“I love you too. Always . Forever ,” she concluded.

The same way our loved started when we were back in college with her in my arms is the way it ended with her right there in my arms again.

At exactly 4:34 A.M ., Serenity took her last breath. When it happened, I thought I would be a complete wreck, but I was fine. What kept me from going crazy and lashing out was knowing that Siri no longer had to fight and she could get the proper rest that she deserved. She’d been fighting this lupus shit since she was fifteen years old, and ultimately, lupus ended up winning. But at forty years old, she’d left a mark in this world. No one would ever be able to fix their fuckin’ lips and say they didn’t have a clue who Serenity Reed was. She’d worked her ass off for everyone to know exactly who she was. Her life being cut so short would break a lot of hearts, but we would forever live with the memories of Serenity .

I kissed her forehead one last time and stood up from the bed. I went over to the wall and posted up on it, keeping my hands in my pockets as I watched Serenity’s parents, her sister, grandmother, and my son, who had awakened, all staring at her as she got her rest. Each had tears falling from their eyes, but no one did anything over the top because we’d prepared ourselves for this day.

Brooklyn stood next to me, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulder. I’d known Brooklyn for as long as I’d known Siri , and you couldn’t tell me that wasn’t my sister. She softly cried into my shoulder, and I reached down to wipe her face.

“You know if she was up, she would tell you to stop all that soft ass crying,” I joked, and she laughed through her tears.

“I know. Ima get it together. That was my girl. God , I loved her so much,” Brooklyn said.

“I know it. She loved you just as much. You heard what she said, though. You better make sure you put that shit on her! I’ll handle everything else. We gotta send her off right,” I stated, and Brooklyn nodded her head in agreement.

“It’s only right,” she concluded.

The nurses and doctors were in the room unhooking shit, letting us know this journey was over. I needed a moment to just step outside and get my thoughts in order. Granted , I knew I was going to be okay. This shit would forever hurt like a motha fucka because I’d just witnessed my best friend take her last breath, but I swore I was going to be okay. I promised Serenity that I would be Superman , and I meant that.