The Come Up

Chapter 37 - 6 AM

"Thank you." I say as his eyes flicker open in the chair across from me. He looks confused and then looks around trying to gather his thoughts. He wipes drewl from his mouth and checks his phone. 

"Any time." He answers. 

"I think I'm going to head back to Albany.  I have a class at 12. I'll come back and pick you up if you need me to." He says kindly. 

I get up as he does and walk with him out to the hospital lobby. 

"I'll be okay. I think I'm going to stay here for a while. I need to find out how Flex is doing and I want Mom to see me when she wakes up." I respond. 

Devin stretches his hands out and I fit my small body into his arms and feel the warmth surround me. 

"Thank you. For real. I really don't know what I'd do without you Dev." I mumble on his shirt that smells just like laundry detergent. 

"What are friends for?" He says into my hair. He pulls away and takes his keys from his pocket. 

"So we're friends now?" I ask with a childlike smile. 

"I still kind of hate you, but yes. I consider you my friend." He salutes me and then walks through the hospital exit. As soon as he is outside I see the flashes of a camera. Paparazzi had stayed out in the cold all night waiting for information on Flex. 

I shake my head and head back to my Mother's room upstairs when Dr. Ben stops me. 

"Do you know the contact number for any of Mr. Brian's family?  We can't seem to get in touch with anyone close to him. 

I think back on how much I really know about Flex and shake my head. I was just now learning his real name so that should show just how much I knew. I've never heard him speak of any family members or even close friends aside from those in the entertainment business. Did he have anyone? 

"I'm sorry. I don't know any of his family members. I think myself and my Mother might be as close as you can get to that." I say static. 

I think back to Trev who I would say is Flex's adopted son but I knew they wouldn't accept that. And I knew that even if they did, it's not like they would call him out of prison and send him to the hospital. 

"We can usually find a past relative in our books but since you are the closest we have to it, i'm going to give you the information. Is that, okay?" He asks. 

I nod my head and before I can worry about his lack of a family, I begin to worry about his condition. 

"Mr. Brian is in critical condition and we have been struggling to save his life for hours now. He received two gunshots in total, both in his abdomen. The bullet that pierced his right lumbar region has been taken out. The second bullet is lodged into very important tissue around his stomach and this is where the complication lies." 

Dr. Ben continues to speak but I can no longer hear him. The world around me goes mute and I know that in seconds I will begin to cry but I try my best to let him finish. 

Even though I can no longer understand what he is saying. 

I imagine Mom waking up to the one man she has ever looked at since my Father got put in prison and finding out that he might not make it. I imagine her pulling through her head injury and gunshot wounds to find out that he couldn't pull through. 

I imagine breaking down on stage performing songs that he made the beats to. 

I imagine the uproar of his fans stemming all the way back from the 90s when he produced his first Grammy winning track.