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Oɱɳιʂƈιҽɳƚ Jυʅყ 11ƚԋ Lσʂ Aɳɠҽʅҽʂ, CA
The morning after the shooting, the sterile lights of the hospital illuminated the exhausted face of Ivory who had been sitting in the same spot all night into the next morning. She'd gone quiet, not wanting to talk to anyone or see anyone, and luckily for her, everyone understood and decided to leave her alone.
Her sister and nephew were there for a little while, until Julez became resteless, he didn't want to leave, but once he started to fall asleep, Ivanna decided to take him back to their hotel.
Nayeli though, sat by her side, refusing to leave Ivory there by herself and also waiting for Isaiah who was down the hall, receiving treatment for the bruises and cuts he had sustained during the scuffle. Her head rested in Ivy's lap as she slept, something Ivy was a little envious of at the moment, given that she couldn't get a wink of sleep all night. Her body simply stayed slumped in her chair, her eyes staring blankly at the linoleum floor.
She couldn't close her eyes anymore or even try, her mind was too much of a whirlwind of worry and regret. When it came to any attempts at sleep, her eyes shut and all she could see was the scene at the gallery over and over in her head, her mother's slap, Xaier's retaliatory strike, and the sudden eruption of violence that had followed.
Ivy's head couldn't shake the image of Xaier collapsing, blood pouring from his mouth so fast onto her custom gown that she wasn't even capable of changing out of just yet. Her tired eyes stayed red from the hours of crying, in all honesty, she was still crying. She felt guilty.
Maybe if she hadn't allowed her emotions to take over and caused such a scene with her mother and the press, Xaier might not have been shot. The weight of her actions bore down on her, making her chest feel tight and her tears wouldn't stop falling down her cheeks. Each passing moment filled her with a deeper sense of regret, wishing she could turn back time and prevent the tragedy from unfolding.
'This is what I get for finally having a backbone huh?' Ivy thought to herself and let out a scoff. She wished she would've just kept her mouth shut and behaved herself like she usually did.
As Ivory continued to be lost in her thoughts, silent tears steadily falling from her eyes, a doctor approached her slowly, his expression serious but calm, not wanting to alarm Ivy. "Mrs. Arcane?" he called out to her.
Ivory tapped Nayeli lightly to wake her up, her eyes opened up slowly, and as soon as she saw the doctor, she immediately stood up, a little too fast making her legs shaky. Ivory stood up as well, helping Nayeli stabilize herself since she was still half asleep and probably dizzy. "Hello,that's me," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I'm Dr. Ramirez," he introduced himself. "I'm the lead in this hospital and I've been overseeing Mr. Cadieux's care."
"How is he?" Ivory asked, gripping Nayeli's hand in hers, her heart now in her throat.
