Thick & Thin

Chapter Twenty-Six; This Too Shall Pass

With a thick aura of tension surrounding the room, Kelly fidgeted in her chair and bit her nails.

A habit she thought she had kicked at the age of seven had clearly resurfaced.

Rubbing her sweaty palms against the front of her pants, she stood up along with Michelle and Tina once they saw one of the doctors coming towards them with a look of despair written all over his face.

"How is she?" Tina clutched the worn piece of tissue in her hand and asked him.

"I'm sorry." He started, realizing that this was the part of his job that he hated the most. "We tried stabilizing her but we couldn't stop the bleeding..we did everything we could."

Kelly frowned; not wanting to let the information click. Before anything else was said, she jumped at the feel of someone touching her arm.

"KELLY!" A familiar voice bounced off of her eardrums ruining the simple nightmare just in time.

While fluttering her eyelids open apparently confused, Shawn's face quickly came into focus. 'What the hell?' she thought.

"Sorry 'bout that!" she patted the dampness on his shoulder and ignored the disgusted look he was giving her.

Somewhat relieved that she was only dreaming she sighed but quickly drooped back into a depressed state when she noticed Tina's tear-drenched face and bloodshot eyes across the room; Michelle sat right beside her, seeking comfort and giving a little at the same time. Once again, she had dropped all concerns of her own problems to console someone else.

This was all so unreal to her at the moment. She only hoped that, she'd wake up again in the next 2 minutes; sleeping peacefully in her bedroom.

"What time is it?" She asked Shawn in a groggy-like tone.

"Almost 1 (a.m)."

Grunting; she clutched the opening of her jacket and crossed her arms letting her eyes wonder around the waiting room again. Surprisingly on a Friday night, there was only one other person in there other than their party.

"Y'all still not talkin'?" Shawn referenced to the blank stares Kelly and Michelle kept throwing at one another. They hadn't talked for weeks until the urgent phone call she had made many, many hours ago and still had yet to speak when they arrived at the hospital.

Kelly shrugged. "I guess not. I don't know. I'm over it." She said breathlessly, hoping he'd move on the next topic or remain quiet like he had been.

Noticing one of the doctors approaching, Kelly swore she felt her heart flop to her stomach; automatically replaying the dream she just had over in her head.

Just like so, Tina stood up and asked him the same question.

Preparing themselves for the worst, they all held their breath and waited for him to speak. Instead of hearing what they wanted, he threw them for a complete loop.

"Were you aware of your daughter's pregnancy?" He discretely questioned Tina, but the three behind her- heard him loud and clear. Being as though she was still early off into bearing new life, he wasn't sure if she had told anyone yet or if she was even aware of it herself.

In result to the head on collision, Beyoncé was now suffering from a minor head injury and internal bleeding in addition to a few cuts and bruises. It wasn't until a full cat scan was done, that they realized that she was in fact once pregnant and may have had a miscarriage because of the wreck. According to the paramedics, it took them nearly an hour to remove her from the foiled car, where she was found unconscious. She could've easily died if they had gotten to her any later.

Tuning back into reality, everyone stood there in shock for more than one reason of course.

"When are we going to be able to see her?" Tina asked holding her hand up to her mouth. She'd figure out how to address the 'baby' issue later.

All of the medical terms he was throwing at her now were unnecessary in her case and weren't doing anything but confusing her sensitive mindset even more. All she needed was a simple answer and to know whether or not her daughter was in a stable condition.

"She still hasn't woken up, but you have to remember, that's sometimes common in situations like this. You should be able to go in, in a few minutes Ma'am, don't worry. She seems like a strong individual and we're doing everything we can." he gave her a reassuring nod and went to make sure that the room would soon be cleared for visitors.

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Two at a time, they were able to go in. The hospital room was dimly lit, making the situation even more depressing.

Beyond tired and clearly frightened by all of the machines surrounding the room, Tina was forced to cut her time short and tend to her terrified grandson. He had never seen his mother in that condition and easily correlated hospitals with everything negative. How else was he suppose to react at that age?

"You girls can go in for now!"

She said looking around for Shawn who seemed to have disappeared after hearing about the miscarriage news. Figuring that he was probably dealing with that in his own little way, she left it alone.

Bracing herself for whatever she was about to see, Michelle stood up slowly and watched as Kelly went in with ease, but once she made it all the way in- reality hit her.

Standing on the opposite side of the room, Kelly started choking up as her eyes darted back and forth from Beyoncé's lifeless body to the ventilator helping to progress her breathing. "Oh my god." she muttered taking a deep breath and looking away.

Refusing to go into a full break down, Kelly straightened up and watched Michelle walk over to the other side of the bed; taking Beyoncé's hand in hers.

"She's going to be okay Kelly." Michelle said barely above a whisper. "She's too strong to let something like this get her. Knowing B, she'll probably be up and calling me to go to the mall with her once she gets out of here."

Kelly chuckled not even putting it past her, but she doubted if she'd be getting a phone call from her.

Breaking the silence, once again, Kelly cleared her throat and twiddled with her fingers. Michelle looked at her.

"Look Chelle, I'm sorr-" she began to genuinely apologize about their little mishap, Michelle smiled meekly and cut her off.

"I forgive you." She shook her head and corrected herself. "We forgive you." In a joking manner but keeping up her arrogant poise, she added. "We were wondering how long you'd be able to make it with out us."

"humph. Obviously not that far." Kelly chuckled and wiped the stray tear rolling down her cheek. "I didn't mean all that stuff I said. I was just angry with myself and ended up taking it out on everyone else."

"It's alright." Somehow ending up on the same side of the room, they hugged and locked arms before leaning and saying a silent prayer for their friend.

"Okay!" Kelly sighed minutes later. "I need to get out of here before I start crying again or something!"

Proceeding to go back into the hallway, they both came to a holt noticing a figure standing in the doorway. Shawn stood there; somewhat blocking their exit.

He was so fixed on the sight behind them, it seemed as though he was completely oblivious to their presence.

"Come on." Michelle whispered and Kelly followed; giving him some time alone.

Making it seem like they left the room completely, they stood in the doorway with Shawn's back towards them. Nosily, they looked on in awe.

"I'm sorry." He dropped his head before biting his lip and blinking away the tears blurring his vision.