Kristoni Barnes
June 10th
I let out a long yawn as I walked into my apartment, before kicking my shoes off and rubbing my sore feet.
I looked over at the clock on the wall and it read "7:45 AM." I sighed with exhaustion as I made my way towards my room.
Before walking into my room to take a much-needed shower, I stopped and peaked in Charli's room to find her wildly sprawled across the bed. I quietly walked over to her bedside and kissed her forehead, before closing her door and walking into my room.
As I walked in the room, I noticed Cain was sitting on my bed smoking before his eyes met mine. I absolutely hated when he smoked in the house, but I refused to say anything to him as I got undressed and quickly went into the bathroom.
I stepped into the hot shower as I tried to burn off all of the previous night's activities. But no water was hot enough to get rid of the damage that was already done.
I let the water run through my scalp as I was stuck in my thoughts. Why would he make the mother of his child do some type of sick shit like this?
After staying in the shower for as long as possible, I got out and took care of my other business.
I walked back into the room and noticed Charli asleep on Cain's chest with a frown on her face.
"What's wrong with her? She was just sleeping in her room," I said while climbing into the bed to catch up on two hours of sleep before I would have to go to work.
"She doesn't feel good, you need to take her to the doctor."
"I have to get up in two hours Cain, can you please take her?" I said while rolling over on my side closing my eyes.
I felt him pinch my waist causing my eyes to shoot open.
"I got shit to do, so you need to take her," he said while getting up and putting her in his spot.
I sighed and started to rub Charli's hair to wake her up.
"Come on sweets you have to get up so Mommy can take you to the doctor," I said as I watched her stir around and whine.
I picked her up and walked her to her room to get her dressed and ready to go. I decided on taking her to the doctor's office that I work at as a pediatric nurse. I wanted to get there as soon as possible since we didn't have a scheduled appointment.
I felt like I was running off of absolutely nothing but when it comes to my daughter, everything gets put on the back burner until I know that she is okay.
I carried her on my hip as I grabbed her an applesauce to go pouch from the fridge on the way out of the door.
As I was placing Charli in her car seat, I noticed that Cain's car was already gone. I'm positive that whatever he claimed was more important than his daughter's health, wasn't.
I made sure to bring my scrubs with me so I wouldn't have to come back home after checking to see what was wrong with my baby.
I quickly grabbed Charli out of her car seat and carried her into the empty doctor's office with me. I walked up to the receptionist's desk where my closest friend, Kendra, sat.
"You're here early, Charli doesn't have her check-up today does she?" She said while looking up the appointments scheduled for today in the system.
"No, she wasn't feeling well this morning, so I wanted to bring her in before regular appointment times today."
"Aw what's wrong with my little baby?" she said while reaching over to rub her head.
"I don't know, it feels like she's running a fever and Cain said she wasn't feeling well since early this morning.
I caught her roll her eyes at the mention of his name. "Why didn't he bring her? You came in to work earlier than usual."
"He said that he had something else to do," I said while shifting my weight from one foot to the other.
"This early in the morning? You know what, that's a conversation for another time today. Let me tell Dr. Johnson you need to see her for an emergency," she said while getting up from her desk.
Kendra already knew everything about Cain and I's relationship from the abusiveness, to what he makes me do outside of my legal job. I couldn't go through all of this by myself, so I felt comfortable enough to share what was going on with me with her and my aunt.
"Okay, she can take her in exam room #4."
I walked into the back and placed Charli on the table before rubbing her head and kissing her forehead.
"Goodmorning Kristoni, I see you're in early with the little one. Let's see what's going on with her, so you can get her back home."
After checking her vitals and taking some blood samples, she checked her body for any other telltale signs.
"Okay well based off of the skin rashed, her high fever, and blood tests, I'm going to diagnose her with Roseola," she said while writing something down.
My head immediately snapped in her direction. I was expecting to hear that she had a little cold, not something that sounded like this.
"But before you get upset, she will be okay and this should go away in about a week or so. I'm going to give you an anti-inflammatory and fever reducer for her to take twice a day, and make sure she gets some rest and a lot of fluids."
I sighed in relief but I was still visibly upset about it.
After getting her prescription, I decided to take the day off of work to be with Charli. I had a feeling Cain would find some reason not to watch her.
After picking up her medicine from the pharmacy, I made my way home.
I struggled to make my way to my doorstep with her in my arms, I was tired of living in an apartment simply because I had to walk up two flights of stairs and I wanted a home to call my own. Somewhere where I can get away from Cain.
As I was putting my key in the door, I could hear loud talking and laughing on the other side. I looked down at my phone and it read "9:03 AM." Who the fuck does Cain have in my house this early in the morning?
As I walked completely in, I noticed Cain and another man sitting on the couch in my living room. I absolutely hate when he brings people I do not know, to my apartment unannounced.
I dropped my keys on the counter before taking Charli to her room to give her some of her medicine and put her back to bed.
"Here sweets, you have to take some of this so you can feel better okay?" I said while dressing her back in her pj's and grabbing her medicine.
She nodded in response while rubbing her eyes, making my heart hurt a little more than what it already did. I know Dr. Johnson said it wasn't anything serious, but this is my only baby and the smallest things will put me on the edge.
I decided to cut up some fruit for her to eat before she went back to sleep. I walked back into the kitchen and felt Cain's eyes follow me, but I ignored it.
I heard him call my name but I decided to act like I didn't hear him since I'm pretty sure he wanted to show off in front of his company.
I was cutting some apples when I felt a hard grip on my arm, scaring me half to death.
"I know you fucking hear me calling your name," he said while gripping my arm harder, causing me to wince in pain.
"Get off of me," I said while dropping the knife on the counter from me losing circulation in my hand from his grip.
"Don't fuck with me Kristoni. After you finish whatever you doing, make us something to eat," he said before letting me go and pushing me into the cabinets behind me.
I watched as he walked off into the back towards my room. I rubbed my arm while looking down at it and I noticed a bruise starting to form from the grip he had on me.
While rubbing my arm I looked up and met the eyes of his friend that was sitting on the couch. I quickly looked away in embarrassment and returned to what I doing, so I could feed Charli.
I had to find a way to get away from Cain and soon.
