Independence

Forty-Three

Ariyah Maeve Raines
18
September 2023
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My eyes popped open when I felt a pain in my lower belly making me sit up. I looked to the side of me to see Mari still sleep extremely close to me with his head under the blankets.

I felt that same pain in my lower belly again making me reach towards the nightstand to grab my phone to check the time which was 3:27 A.M. I felt something wet in between my legs making me pause for a second before slipping my hands down my leg and pulling it back out to look at me fingers.

I couldn't clearly see what it was cause of how dark the room was but it was definitely something. I got up from the bed as my heart started racing while I waddled towards the bathroom in Mari's room.

I turned the lights on and walked further into the bathroom seeing blood on my fingers making my heart drop as I looked down to see blood dripping down my legs just as the pain shot through my belly again just 10x worse.

"KAMARI!" I let out a screeching scream as I clutched my belly with one hand and the other grabbed the counter while tears streamed down my face.

"Baby? What happened where are you?" I could hear the concern in his voice as he ran into the bathroom, sleep still evident in his face.

"O–our baby Mari OHH FUCKK IT HURTSS" I sobbed while he ran towards me and examined me until he laid eyes on my legs and the blood dripping down from it. The room door busted open before Ma and Saiah ran in the room shortly after.

"What's wrong, what happened?" Ma quickly walked into the bathroom with Saiah behind her while I still stood in that same position since it hurt to move.

"She's bleeding mommy, what do I do?" Mari asked, I could hear the worry in his voice as Saiah ran back out of the room while Ma came towards me. Another pain shot through my body making me bend down and sob louder.

"It h-hurts pleaseee help ma, it hurts s-soo badd" I cried shaking my head as she looked at Kamari who looked like he was about to cry too.

"Papa, I know you're worried right now and you don't like seeing her like this but I need you to be strong for her okay" she spoke him through it while also trying to tend to me.

"Breathe baby breathe– okay, I need you to grab all the hospital bags you guys packed and do everything we practiced for okay. Calm down for me please, I don't need you fainting right now. Your dad is downstairs getting the car ready, have him help you while I help her real quick" she spoke to him before placing a kiss on his forehead and gently pushing him towards the door.

"I need you to breathe mamas, cm'on do it with me. In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and out 1, 2, 3, 4, 5" she spoke softly while I mimicked her as I tried not to think about the pain. We did it a total of 5 times before Isaiah came rushing in the room letting us know the car was ready and packed.

"Can you walk or does it hurt?" She asked me and I shook my head as I tried to quiet my sobs but I failed due to how sharp the pain was. Saiah gently swooped me up bridal style before rushing downstairs with me with Ma right behind us.

Ma got in the back with me while Saiah drove and Mari got in the front seat with a sleeping Zari in his arms as we rushed to the hospital.

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Leilani Marie Johnson
24
September 2023
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"Bae, you're gonna have to step on it" I spoke attempting to not alarm Kamari since Ari's eyes were getting droopy. She was losing a lot of blood and it was causing her to lose consciousness.