I won’t be there to comfort her, won’t be there to turn on the radio and dance with her under the porch lights. Her mind will feed her lies and she’ll believe them. not because she wants to, but because I’m not there to prove her maker wrong.
“I get it,” she says, dragging me out of my won head. “It’s part of the package.” She forces a smile.
“You remember what I promised you?”
“You promised me a lot of things.”
“Gonna make good on all those promises, girl,” I say as I bend my knees, grinding my teeth through the pain as I stare into her dark eyes. “Gonna marry you. Gonna fill that house with a bunch of babies. Gonna grow old long before you but with you right by side, keeping my ass young.” I wink at her. “But the promise I will keep before all of those is the one I keep telling you.”
I pause, watch the flicker of hope spark in her eyes and know that she’s on the same page. She knows the words I’m about to say. She lives by them. Just as I come alive when I say them.
“Girl, I’m coming back for you,” I confirm.
And I will.
I’ll always come back for my girl.
“Reina!” Jack’s screams echo off the walls of the hospital, shrill and unnerving, demanding attention.
Lacey’s body grows rigid and I force her eyes back to mine.
“Go back to Reina,” I watch her struggle, biting her lip as she decides whether she will listen. “I’ll go to him,” I assure her, prying her hands off my jacket and kissing her quickly.
Hesitantly she starts for Reina’s room and I question why the fuck I denied Motrin, knowing that dealing with Jack ain’t going to be any kind of easy.
I’ve been poked and prodded and still I can’t hear fucking shit. It feels like someone is holding my head under water and I don’t fucking like it. Not one fucking bit. I need to get to Reina. I need to make sure she and the baby are okay. Without a fuck left to give, I maneuver myself off the stretcher, leaving the plastic surgeon working on my back behind me.
Swiping the curtain back, I stumble out of the cubicle and into the chaos of the emergency room. Doctors try to grab me and usher me back to my stretcher but I push them out of the way.
“Reina!”
I know her name sounds like a scream because of the burn in my throat but to my ears it’s less than a whisper.
Another doctor steps in front of me and before he opens his mouth, I fist his scrubs in my hand and glare at him. Ignoring his moving lips, I shove him to the side as a hand closes around my arm. I go to shrug the person off me, no one will stop me from getting to my woman. Forcefully, I’m spun around and meet Blackie’s worried eyes.
He says some shit I don’t comprehend and I lift my hands to my ears.
“Can’t hear shit. I’m fucking deaf,” I growl, well I think I growl...
I follow his eyes as he glances over his shoulder and points to the cubicle behind him where Lacey is sitting with Reina. My feet take off, leaving Blackie and whatever words he’s blabbing behind me and head straight for my girls. My eyes dart between them and the monitor that Reina is hooked up too. I can’t hear the familiar sound of our baby’s swooshing heart beat but I spot the steady numbers flashing next to an image of a heart. The wedding dress she was wearing has been cut off her and she’s in a hospital gown with a big strap across her belly. Her eyes find mine and I can tell she’s both exhausted and in pain.
Ignoring the burning sensations rippling over my back, I make my way to her bedside. I kiss Lacey’s cheek, trading spots with her and turn my eyes back to Reina.
“Someone tell me what’s going on,” I say, lacing my fingers with Reina’s and turn to my daughter. I draw in a deep breath and try my hardest to remain calm and patient as she speaks and I try to read her lips.
“Slow down,” I tell her as I continue to concentrate on her mouth and each word she enunciates I try to read from her lips.
Stopped labor for now.
Continuing to monitor.
Bedrest.
I lift her hand to my mouth and hiss in agony as the skin on my back feels as if it’s being torn apart. My eyes zero in on the bracelet on her wrist and the name it reads.
DeCarlo, Reina.
That’s not supposed to be.
Turing my eyes back to hers I shake my head.
“We’re supposed to be married,” I say, not giving a fuck if my voice is loud or low. I may not have taken my vows today, but I made a promise to Sunshine, told her there wasn’t anything that would keep me from marrying her.
Some fucking wedding, I gave her.
“Can’t hear shit, Reina. Don’t know if it’s permanent or some fluke shittin’ thing but my heart still works and that thing beats for you, always will. Made you a promise and I like to think I’m a man of my word. If you don’t mind marrying someone who can’t hear you but someone who’ll always love you, then let’s do it.”