Chicago

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

It all felt like a nightmare and she was wondering when she was finally going to wake up. When was she going to be able to live a comfortable life without looking over her shoulder to see Derek standing right behind her? She felt like she had worked so hard to start rebuilding her life again only to be knocked right back down. She felt trapped, lost and alone.

She barely got any sleep as she lied in bed terrified. She sobbed the hours away and before she knew it, the sun was rising and it was officially a new day. The intense rays of the sun made her want to shut her tired, stinging eyes but she couldn't. She was restless.

Her first visitor of the day was her nurse. She came in the room serving a tray of hospital food that Chai had no plans on eating. As hungry as she was, she couldn't stomach anything. Her anxiety levels were dangerously high and the only thing she could think of was her safety.

"Good morning, Chicago! Ha, see what I did there?"

Chai would've rolled her eyes if she had the energy to. It was a typical joke that most people made when they realized she was named after the city. As if the nurse couldn't read the room, she continued on with a rant about her name.

"I see what your parents did there. Did they ever tell you why they named you Chicago?"

She kept quiet. She never bothered to ask why she was named  Chicago. The name seemed like an easy way out of coming up with a more unique, thoughtful name. But knowing her mother, the name had more meaning than she could imagine.

The nurse noticed she still wasn't getting much from Chai. She decided to shed more positive light onto the dark cloud that was Chai's aura.

"Well, I think it's a gorgeous name. Despite all that goes on here, Chicago is a beautiful city. Makes for a more beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

Chai almost burst into tears. Her kind words was the one thing she needed at a time like this. A time where she felt so worthless.

"You're on a strict diet today. Low sodium, low sugar and lots of calcium! I'm not going to force you to eat it right now but it's right here for you whenever you're ready. Please eat it and take your medication. I'll be sending your family up soon to see you, is that okay?"

"It's fine."

"Okay, good. If it gets too overwhelming, just hit the button and I'll escort them out. Last thing you need is your blood pressure rising again."

Within thirty minutes, visiting hours began and the hallway runners transitioned from busy nurse and doctors to concerned family members and friends. It didn't take long for Brynn and Asaad to come rushing into her hospital room with worry smeared on their faces.

"Chicago, what happened?"

Brynn didn't even bother to make herself comfortable as she stood a good distance from her sister's bedside. The hospital gave her major PTSD and seeing her sister on the bed, looking as tired as her mother once did, overwhelmed her.

"I'm doing fine Brynn, thank you."

Brynn took an exhausted breath, "Chicago, we just spent hours in that waiting room, staying up all morning worried about you. The least you can do is tell us what happened."

Chai wanted to. She really did but she just couldn't get Brynn involved anymore. Last time she got hurt and lost her baby. Chai still felt guilty about it and just couldn't imagine putting her in danger again.

Brynn's concern was met with silence. She grew frustrated and looked to Asaad to see if he could pry the answer out of Chai.

Asaad took center stage, "the nurse told us that you suffered a severe anxiety attack and your vitals were really high. Is this something you've suffered before?"