REDEMPTION

TWENTY EIGHT

And if there's a thing that you need
I give you the breath that I breathe
And if ever you yearn for the love in me...
_______

"Beyoncé, all tests say that Ginge is doing even better than can be expected. Why don't you go home to shower, change, and get something to eat?" Sakin suggested as he walked into Ginger's room.

The sorrow in his eyes was too much to hide as he looked at Beyoncé, who was sitting by her daughter's bedside, her sad eyes rimmed red with distress and grief.

"I'm not going anywhere," Beyoncé reputed and shook her head. "She's going to wake up... I know it, and I want to be here when she does."

Sakin pressed his lips together and thought carefully about his next words. His trained eyes easily surmised that the more Beyoncé pushed away sleep, food, and taking care of herself, the worst off she would be until she would be the one in a hospital bed being cared for. But how could he tell a mother to leave her dying daughter's bedside? Thankfully, Baby saw the concern that Sakin had for Beyoncé's wellbeing because she was the only one who could get through to the mourning woman.

"Bey, baby I'm worried about you. It's been days and you haven't left here. You've had nothing to eat and nothing to drink. I need you to come with me and let me take care of you. We can come right back after, okay?"

When she didn't say anything in response, she pressed her hand against her back and began to rub gently. Something about her touch gave Beyoncé peace even in the most devastating of situations. She didn't want to leave Ginger's side for a single second, but she also knew that her strength was fading, and fatigue was setting in. If she came to-when she came to-Beyoncé didn't want Ginge to see her in anguish. She wanted to be the mother that she knew, because she didn't need her baby girl to worry.

"Okay," was the only word that she could get out, but it was enough to send a jolt of relief through Baby's heart.

"Okay," she repeated with a nod of her head. "Let me call Ms. McIntyre to see if she can stay with Ginge while we're re gone."

Growing up in the way she had, hardened Beyoncé's heart to the point that she didn't experience emotions the way most would consider 'normal.' She had little to no regard for the lives of people who she felt deserved to feel her wrath and felt no guilt about extinguishing them and their family members without a blink of an eye. She was used to pushing her own needs and desires to the side in order to fulfill her responsibility to the streets, and she suppressed her own emotions with ease after years of training herself to feel nothing.

But now she was experiencing a situation that she wasn't equipped to deal with. Beyoncé was at the brink of losing her mind. Her heart was torn, and the immense pressure of appearing strong for everyone around her was destroying her.

Baby could see that Beyoncé's soul was crumbling right before her very eyes, and although she was also hurting, she knew that her own pain couldn't measure up to hers. In this moment, Beyoncé needed her strength because hers was nearly gone. When a person was at their lowest, the only person who could lift them high is the person that is by their side. She was that woman for Beyoncé.

"Let me bathe you," she said, grabbing Beyoncé's hand. She didn't say a word, but she allowed her to lead her into the master bathroom. Beyoncé's mind was so full of thoughts regarding her child that she had no room to consider anything else.

Luckily, Baby would think for get and tend to her every need so that she didn't need to.

She ran the water in the shower until it was the perfect temperature and undressed Beyoncé carefully, running her hands over her body as she did it to provide her with some comfort.