“Ma’am, I can’t share the patient’s information with anyone besides next of kin.”
The air in the car got thick suddenly, and I started to feel nauseous thinking something was wrong with Vani or even worse, his mom. “Uh…um, okay. I will tell him to call back as soon as he gets back in the car.”
“Thank you, and please let him know it’s urgent,”she told me, disconnecting the call right after.
I went to mine and Vani’s text thread and sent her a text to see if she would respond. If she didn’t, then I knew it was her in the hospital, but if she did, then I had to assume it was his mother.
Vani Girl: I’m at home. The gala over?
She responded in seconds, making my heart sink straight to my ass. Xyleek was a damn momma’s boy if I’m being honest, and I couldn’t bring myself to tell him something had happened to her. I tried to keep myself together, but it was hard and moments later, Xyleek and Dean returned to the car.
“That was like nine minutes and thirty seconds,” he joked after sliding inside. “What’s wrong?” he asked the second he saw my face.
“Xy…you got a phone call,” I passed his phone to him. “You should call them back.”
“You answered? Who was it?”
“T-t-the h-hospital,” I forced the words out, swallowing down the lump in my throat. “The nurse wouldn’t tell me…who’s in the hospital, but I texted Vani, and she’s home so that only leaves…”
A weird look flashed across his face before he hopped back out of the car. I watched as he paced back and forth with his phone to his ear. I wanted to get out and comfort him, but I also knew how he got when he was pissed the fuck off or scared. The last time I saw him scared was when Vani had a motorcycle accident a few years back. He was on ten thousand then worrying about his baby sister, so I knew he was about to go crazy for his mother.
“We’re going back to Virginia,” he spoke in a tone that told me not to ask him shit when he got back in the car.
Scooting closer to him, I took his hand in mine and gave it a comforting squeeze. I didn’t know what waited for us back in Virginia, but I prayed hard that his mother was fine. Xy couldn’t handle a loss like that, and I feared it’d rock our relationship to its breaking point.
Chapter Nine
Xyleek
The moment Gabriae opened her eyes, I was liable to choke her simple-minded ass out. I knew she was unconscious, so she didn’t know how many times those stupid ass nurses called me, but that was beside the point. The damn point was that she had me in a fucked up predicament with my shorty, and I wasn’t feeling that.
I had to get my mom to lie and fake like she had been in the hospital just to cover up the truth. Lucky for me, I had a mom that was always with the shit when it came to me, even if she didn’t like it. How the fuck was I supposed to tell Drek about Gab? I wasn’t. Gab was supposed to be in my past, yet, she had weaseled her way into my present. And if she didn’t have a damn good reason as to why I was listed as next of kin, then she was gon’ end up in a grave.
I didn’t like having to lie to Drek after I told her I wasn’t on bullshit anymore. Thanks to Gab though, I had already spun an intricate web of bullshit and hoped it stayed far away from my front door. I wasn’t in the mood to be dealing with anything besides bliss and happiness.
I watched as Gab slowly blinked and looked around the hospital room before her eyes landed on me. “Xy.”
“Gab,” I returned, short and cold.
“I feel like I’ve been hit with a boulder,” she groaned, attempting to move around in the bed.
“You gon’ be hit with a bullet next,” I whispered under my breath, standing up and moving to her bedside. “Why do you have me listed as your next of kin, Gabriae? We’re not family.”
Blankly staring at me for a moment, she turned her head and gazed out of the window. “You were a good friend to me, and I don’t have anyone else, Xyleek. My parents are dead, and my sister doesn’t talk to me. I figured if something happened to me, at least someone knew.”
I heard the words coming out of her mouth but none of them amounted to a good enough reason to have me on her paperwork. The thought of killing her right where she lay was pressing against my brain. I didn’t need that kind of attention at the moment though.
“Listen, I’m glad you straight, but I can’t be up here, Gabriae. I can’t explain this bullshit to my lady, understand me? I can’t, and I don’t even want to try. Call your sister or one of your friends or anybody but me to be up here with you because I can’t.”
“Really, Xy?” Her head snapped in my direction, causing her to wince in pain. “We’ve been friends for three years! I could’ve lost my life, and you can’t explain to yourladywhy you’re at the hospital making sure your friend is okay?”
Sucking my teeth, I flicked the tip of my nose and exhaled deeply. “You’re not a regular friend, Gab. My dick has been inside of you, so no, I can’t explain that shit to her. She wouldn’t be cool with that.”
“Then you need to re-evaluate your relationship. Just…get out, Xyleek. I’ll be fine,” she spat, turning her head away from me again.
Shrugging, I walked out of the room where Dean was standing, waiting on me. Without saying a word, we got on the elevator and departed from the hospital. My other bodyguard, Ashaun, was at my jewelry store with my phone in his possession. I needed it to look like I was there so that Drek didn’t check my location while I was at the hospital. I told her I had an important business meeting with a client, so I’d be tied up for the next hour or so. I knew that was enough time for me to slip in and out of the hospital after they called to tell me that Gab had woken up. If I told Drek I was in a meeting, then she’d wait until I called her so that she didn’t interrupt business. See? Intricate web of bullshit that I wished I didn’t have to spin in the first place.
“Everything cool?” I asked Ashaun the second I got back into my office.
