Belonging

Chapter One (new)

Close-third person (Xavier-centric)
Grady Hospital, Atlanta, GA
5:19 PM
—

Today was one of those days.  

The kind where everybody in the city forgot what careful even meant, so a twelve-hour shift turned into eighteen.

Xavier hadn't sat down in almost four hours. He moved through the halls of Grady like muscle memory --- steady, controlled, exhausted but sharp. Nurses calling his name. Interns asking constant questions. Monitors beeping. Somebody crying in the background of it all. 

He was currently suturing up a patient. 11, male, basketball incident. Kid fell head first into polished wood. He'd be fine by the end of the month. 

Way too much blood for a kid this small. 

Xavier had worked clean, calm, efficient. Hands steady even when the parents has showed up half way through with swollen eyes and way too many questions. 

"Remember, let me know if you can feel this at all. " He reminded empathetically.

The teen barely glanced up from his phone, just hummed in response while tapping away. 

Xavier closed up the wound with one final insertion and stepped back with a sigh. "Okay, I'm all "done here.  I think your parents are gonna be back in a few with Dr. Brown, " he looked outside of the room's door to see if they were near--- they were. 

But when it was over, when the stitches were clean and the bleeding controlled, he stepped into the empty corridor and let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. 

He thought about his mama for a moment, he usually did after days like these.

—

"Ma, I'm fine."

He balanced the phone between his ear and shoulder while trying to unlock his car. 

"No, I ain't overworkin' myself. It's just busy today. "

His mother clicked her tongue. "You say that every time I call you, Xay."

He smiled tiredly, "I'ma come see you this week, I promise."

"You better, and drink some damn water, you sound tired as hell."

"Well quit that damn job, you know how many people would hire you right now?"

He laughed softly, clicking his seatbelt into place, "Love you, Ma."

"Boy, don't han-" The call ended. Silence filled the car. 

He sat there for a second longer than necessary . Then he started the engine. 

—

It took him 15 minutes later than usual to get home. Atlanta traffic was disrespectful as hell.

By the time he pulled into his apartment complex, his head was pounding faintly and his back ached in that deep, dull way that only long shifts caused. 

He could hear his baby before he even saw her. The bell around her pale-pink collar rung softly behind the wooden door. 

Xavier closed the door behind him and locked it up before dropping his bags to the side and sliding his shoes off. He collapsed onto the floor, gently picking up the small gray kitty, Stella.