None of it felt real to her. One minute she's watching her husband walk through the doors of the reception, giving her reassurance that he wanted to make things right with her, despite not talking as much as they used to with how adamant she was with certain social movements. But as she sat on that cold floor with her husband's bleeding body in her lap, she felt hopeless. Usually people say their last words to make the farewell hurt less, but Simone couldn't find herself doing so.
Because she had faith that Angel will make it. He has to make it.
The ambulance arrived and placed Angel on the stretcher, while Simone followed close behind. Alex and Derek were speaking with the police, while Mrs. C stared down at the stretcher in front of her, except there was a white covering over the body. Simone blinked tears away at the sight of the venue, shards of broken glass laid on the floor and a pool of blood in the middle of the room. Why did this have to happen? Her hand went to her chest as she started to feel herself panic again.
"Ma'am, do you know this man?" One of the female EMTs asked her.
"Y-Yes. He's my husband, please save him! I need him here, please!"
"We will do the best we can. For now you need to sit in the front ma'am, I don't want you to stress yourself out-"
"No! I need to be back there with him!"
"Ma'am!"
The room starts spinning and Simone held a hand to her forehead, suddenly feeling light-headed. Next thing she knew, she saw black and heard someone saying her name repeatedly.
-
a month after the wedding
SIMONE
It was extremely hot in Atlanta. Simone took the navy blue scrunchie off her wrist and placed her hair up into a high bun to get some relief. She steps up on the mini ladder to get the round, burgundy vase Miss Bruce had in the salon to put away another bouquet of flowers they received.
The door suddenly opens and in comes Mrs. Carlotta and Bruce, discussing some of their clients, but Simone jumps once she heard a loud clap behind her.
"Simone, what have I told you about the ladder?" Carlotta scolds, rushing over to help her down.
"Relax Miss Carlotta, I was just getting a vase for the flowers." Simone dodged her hands and stepped down herself, folding her arms. "I can still do things on my own."
"Now we're just trying to be careful...you remember what the doctor told you-" Bruce starts to say, but Carlotta held up a hand.
"We're not doing none of that right now," She says firmly. "Simone, can I talk to you for a few minutes?"
In all honesty, she didn't want to talk about anything. Miss Carlotta has been going through her own grief after her sister, Cassie died that day. Most of her time went into Gravity Media and Simone knew it was only to keep herself busy. Take 3 hasn't done any songs ever since the shooting, they were going through their own turmoils. Star has moved into a bigger house with Jackson, while working on co-parenting with Noah. They both agreed on supervised visits until Noah proves that he's capable of taking care of Davis with no issues. Alex and Derek have moved to LA for their safety, and to get a new start. Derek was growing short-tempered and paranoid as long as he was in Atlanta, and Alex found his behavior rolling onto her. It was for the best.
As for Simone, the whole state of the reception venue and the fact that she might lose Angel got to her. She ended up passing out in Alex's arms and woke up in the hospital herself. Once she remembered what happened she was set on finding Angel and seeing him, but the way Mrs. Carlotta rushed to her side in a hurry made her confused. Just like the news that she gave her before she fell back on the bed and started crying, completely unphased by Star and Mrs. Carlotta holding her.
