Hanita's eyes widened as she leaned forward in the chair to hear what the conversation would be between her father and the doctor. Hanita almost entered her father's mouth trying to get to his words but the man wasn't saying much. However, the look on his face gave an inkling as to what the call was about.
Deveron dropped the call and stared at his phone for about two seconds longer than usual. Even Daliana didn't say anything to hasten Deveron to speak.
But Hanita Hill couldn't hold the suspense any longer. "What was the call about, Dad?"
Deveron sighed and drew a long breath in. He leaned back into the chair that he was seated on and closed his eyes behind the reading glasses that were on his face.
Hanita glanced at her mother, a little bit annoyed that her father was wasting time, and wondering why Daliana hadn't asked him about the phone call either.
"Dad?"
"They have fixed a date for the surgery," Deveron said finally.
Hanita felt her mouth go dry. She looked at her father for some seconds then looked at Daliana who just kept her gaze on her hands that were on her lap.
"Why do you sound the way you do?" Hanita asked. "That's good news to me, at least, she won't be in pain for much longer… right?"
"Yes…" Deveron agreed as he sat back up in the chair. "It's for next week and we have to go into the hospital three days before that for preparations and all that."
"When exactly next week?" Hanita asked with a sad expression on her face. She had already begun calculating in her mind and knew that she would not be around for the surgery and would not be present to assist. Her heart broke at that realization. They were going to spend nothing less than a month in North Carolina and all that time, Daliana would be in the hospital. Hanita could not believe her work schedule had clashed with a family matter– and an important one. She didn't like it one bit.
"On Thursday…" Deveron said.
"Mum?" Hanita called, noticing that she had not said anything since the call from the hospital.
Deveron stretched over to reach his wife. "What's wrong?" he asked, squeezing her forearm gently.
"Um… nothing really," she said in a low tone.
"You don't have to be scared, Daliana… you know that right?"
"Yes Mum… everything would go smoothly," Hanita agreed with her father. "I'll come back and meet you well."
"I don't like that you won't be around," Daliana said to Hanita, looking at her directly in the face.
Hanita didn't know what to reply and glanced at her father, crying silently for help. Her eyes bent at the sides and her sadness was evident. She could not even begin to imagine how her mother was feeling at that moment – going in for surgery in a delicate area was nerve-racking – even for her so she could not fathom how it was for Daliana.
"How about me?" Deveron asked as he smiled and waited for Daliana to look at him. When she did, he winked and blew her a kiss.
"I'll be right by your side," he said. "Remember what I've always told you?"
Daliana nodded as a small smile began to creep unto her face.
"What's that?"
"That you'll never be too far away from me…" she said.
"That's right, girl," Deveron chimed.
Hanita could not help but smile at her parents. Somehow, she felt rest assured. What had she even been worried about? It was not like her father was going anywhere. He was going to be right by her mother's side and she knew that he was more than enough.
"Your trip is tomorrow right?" Deveron asked.
"Uh huh…" Hanita replied as she adjusted on the seat and arranged the trousers that had started to turn in the wrong direction.
"Booked your flight yet?" Daliana asked.
Hanita shook her head and said with a smile, "So a colleague of mine invited me to fly with him on his private jet… can you imagine that? A private jet."
"Hmm…" her father hummed and raised his brow. He looked at Daliana and said; "There's this colleague that dropped her off last night… I saw them… in such a fancy car so I wonder if it's the same one she's talking about…" he finished with a funny expression on his face as the corners of his mouth bent in feigned mockery.
"Oooo…" Daliana chimed.
"Oh stop you guys…"Hanita called as her cheek became heated and she knew that she had blushed a little. Her hands went to her face as she covered her cheeks the best she could.
"So? Is he the same person with this private jet?" her mother asked in an accent that reminded Hanita that they were African Americans. She moved her brows making them dance in a funny manner.
"Yes!"
"Wealthy family then, right?"
Hanita dropped her hands from her face and shrugged. "I don't know and don't really care about such… Just that the idea of a private jet is so…um… what's the word?"
"Alluring," Daliana added. Even she was impressed.
"Yes!"
They all chuckled and talked about other things, temporarily forgetting their worries and troubles. Their breakfast was served within thirty minutes and Hanita and her parents went to the dining area to enjoy their meal.
* * *
Later that day, while Hanita was at the mall gathering some supplies for her trip, she received a text in her phone which vibrated in her jeans trouser pocket.
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and leaned her small frame on the large cart that was in front of her.
Hanita looked into her phone and saw that the text was from Talik.
'Turn around,' the text read.
Hanita's brows furrowed as she slid the phone back into her pocket and with feigned reluctance, she turned around and met the gaze of a tall dark-skinned man.