Malkolm: “The doctor says that I need an operation in order to relocate my femur and to realign it with my patella.”
[Sylvie looks away]
Dr. Kyi: “I’m so sorry about your injuries, Malkolm. Honestly, I’m just glad you didn’t actually break anything, or die. Things could have been far worse. But if there is anything that I can do for your recovery, please let me know.”
Malkolm: “Well, there is, doctor. That’s why I invited you here.”
[Sylvie looks at him, wondering what he was thinking…before realizing]
Malkolm: “Take a look at my x-rays for a moment. They are on the screen over there.”
[Dr. Kyi walks around the hospital bed and she examines the images in great detail]
[Malkolm rubs Sylvie’s booty, causing her to humorously roll her eyes: he is still the same]
Malkolm: “You ever seen the movie Hancock?”
Dr. Kyi: “The one where Will Smith is a superhero or something?”
Malkolm: [laughs] “I don’t think he’s a superhero but he has powers and he has feelings too. He also can fly, and when I’m in the air without anything but the clothes on my back, it feels just like that to me...
[Sylvie intertwines her left hand with his right]
…but the ending is my favorite. I’m ready to get out of this bed and I personally don’t think surgery is necessary. I think that we’re being charged, and soon-to-be operated on, so that this hospital can make some money and potentially create a lifelong visitor. You’re my chiropractor and we don’t want to be here and —”
Dr. Kyi: “Listen dawg, I have ethics that I am required to adhere to.”
Malkolm: “Yea, and they are being unethical. So, here’s what’s going to happen: I’m going to call the nurse in here and tell him I’m feeling an increase in pain. He’s going to bring me morphine and likely ask you all to leave, other than my beloved Sylvie here. I’m going to convince him to give us enough time to get this done. And I mean now.”
[Dr. Kyi and Sylvie observe him reach for the ‘help’ button, look at each other, and choose to let him do so]
[Nurse Lewis enters the room]
Nurse Lewis: “Is everything okay in here?”
[while Malkolm illustrated his pain to the nurse, other family and friends in the room remained quiet, knowing how stubborn he is and how only his beloved could convince him otherwise]
Nurse Lewis: “If I give you any more morphine your loved ones are going to have to leave.”
[proceeding unsuccessfully to convince the nurse to let them stay for another thirty-minutes, Sylvie offers up fifteen as a compromise]
[Nurse Lewis agrees, administers the morphine into his IV, and leaves the room]
Malkolm: “Baby, if you don’t want me to do this, I won’t.”
Sylvie: “What are the risks here, Dr. Kyi?”
Dr. Kyi: “Shock-inducing pain that hopefully will subside quickly from the drugs that are already affecting his system and severe tissue damage if I miss.”
.
[Sylvie and Malkolm look at one another, still holding hands; speaking without a spoken word; remembering that the risks were worth mutual agreement and accepting that there really wasn’t going to be another option that they would agree on]
Malkolm: “What’s it been for us so far? Like five years?”
Sylvie: [smirks] “Ahh, I see. So you can’t count now?”
[Sylvie, caressing Malkolm’s hand, glances over at the x-rays, causing him to grin: she is still the same]
“Do it.”
— —
Correspondence concerning this written work should be addressed to
“Baki”
