If Only You Knew

Hurricane

Aniyah's POV

My surroundings began to fade as I tried to focus on the doctor in front of me. All I could focus on was his blood-soaked scrubs. I imagined my man laid out on the operating table, bleeding out. The thoughts alone sent me into a panic. Veronica holding me tighter seemed to snap me back into reality.

Clearing my throat and blinking away the burning salty tears that clouded my vision, I gave my full attention to the doctor.

"We unfortunately were not able to fully remove the bullet from his abdomen without the risk of paralysis. We were able to finally get him a blood transfusion and stabilize him but right now he's still sleeping. If you all would like to come back and see him it would have to be two at a time." He explained, too coldly for my liking.

He explained like Zay's life wasn't at stake. To him, it was just another day. But it was much more than that to everyone else in the room. I almost lost my man, the father to our child. It made my skin crawl seeing all the workers in this building treat this situation like it meant nothing to them.

"I'll take you back." Jermaine spoke softly as he took my hand in his.

He kept a firm grip as we walked and with every step I took I fought to keep it together. My legs felt so weak that I could collapse at any moment, but I knew Zay would want me to at least pretend to be strong for him. So I did.

As we rounded the corner and entered room 407, my heart shattered at the sight. A few monitors beeped in the distance as I saw my baby laid out in the hospital bed. It made me sick. Isaiah looked almost lifeless with a gray look over his once smooth chocolate skin. His beautiful hair was messy in his old braids and he looked to be in pain, even in his sleep.

He was hooked up to all these wires and there was a long tube coming out of his mouth. "I can't do this." I croaked.

I tried to turn and leave but Jermaine held me close. "No. Hey, look at me." He turned me so that we were face to face.

"He's gonna be ok, Nee. He'll live. Be grateful for that!"

I took in his words and nodded as we turned to the doctor. He was right, even though he was all messed up at least Zay was alive. Before long he'll be healed and we could move on from this ugly mess.

"He's stable but it's still rocky right now. He went into shock many times during surgery so we decided it would be safer to leave a piece of the bullet which is lodged behind his small intestine."

"So what does that mean for him?" Jermaine asked.

"Right now we have an ET tube in to help him breathe until he can do so on his own. We got him stitched up and I'll have a nurse come in to explain wound care once we discharge him."

"When can we leave?" I sniffed.

"It all depends on how quickly he recovers. Could be two days, could be two weeks, could be longer. His vitals look fine though, and we're monitoring him around the clock. I'll give you all some time, but press that red button when he wakes up."

We nodded and he gave us that fake white people smile before turning and finally leaving the room. I studied Zay's face and noticed a small bruise on his cheek. Jermaine was the first to speak.

"If you can hear me, son, I want you to know as soon as you heal up we need to scrap. You scared the shit outta me, outta all of us!"

I held his cold hand. "I'm so glad you're ok." I whispered.

Jermaine prayed over him before kissing his son's forehead and standing. "You know I ain't with all the sad shit so ima go. You staying in here?"

"Of course! You can send two more people back." I instructed as I tightened my grip.