“Okay. I need to get to my ba?—”
“Nah shorty. He has been discharged and he’s good. You on the other hand gotta stay here for a minute. You got influenza. Fuck you been walking your ass around here with mucus and fluid in yo’ lungs for. You ain’t feel that phlegm when you cough?”
“The flu?”
He laughed. “Yeah, but by you having that compromised immune system and all it hits your system a little harder than most. They had to give you fluid and all that good shit.”
“Okay, so? I can go home and fight this.”
He shook his head no. “Yeen just hear me say fluid in your lungs? Hardheaded ass.”
“Where is my phone? What is my baby doing?” I asked.
“At the ranch with Pops and Dana. He’s good. Now tell me something.” He handed me my phone.
“What’s up?” I asked, lying my head back and looking at my brother.
His eyes narrowed, before he spoke. “How the fuck you know that nigga North?”
“Why? It’s not that deep with us.”
“Fuck outta here. He’s hit your line about six times. How do you know him?” He peered at me for an answer.
“I hired his sister at the shop, and it’s been downhill from there.” It wasn’t downhill per se, but right now that’s how it was. With everything going on I hadn’t even thought about North, even though at this moment I would’ve loved to be wrapped up in his arms. I couldn’t take myself there though, the situation he and I had didn’t work for me.
“What do you mean downhill?”
I laughed. He would catch that part even when I wasn’t tossing it. “Nothing worth mention—” My sentence ended abruptly when his phone started ringing.
“Hold that thought. Let me see what I’ve missed. I've been up here with you all this time.” He stepped out of the room almost at the same time as a nurse in pink scrubs came in wheeling a machine.
“Glad to see you up, Ms. Jacobs.” She smiled warmly in my direction. Then she reached for the chart at the foot of my bed. She looked it over before we locked eyes. “Congratulations. Are you ready to see the fetus?”
“What fetus? I think you have the wrong room. I’m not pregnant.”
The expression on her face shattered and then she looked down and double checked the chart. “Omyia Jacobs, right?”
I nodded.
“I’m sorry they must not have done their rounds, but you’re indeed pregnant. The blood test came back positive. I’ll give you some time to settle in with the information, come back in about an hour to check and see how far along you are.” She started to wheel the machine out of the room just as my brother reentered.
“What was that about?” he asked seconds later.
“Nothing, wrong room.”
He looked at me for a moment before nodding his head. “How are you taking all of this?”
“Like I need more than a joint.” I shook my head. He had no idea what all I now had on my mind. The moment he left I needed to have a conversation with the OBGYN. There was no way I was pregnant because I never missed a birth control pill. I took those damn pills every day at the same time just like they instructed, so what the fuck was this?
My brother stuck around for a while, before he had to leave. I needed the time alone though, and as if on clockwork right after he left the nurse walked her ass right back in with that machine. This time she had the doctor with her, and I asked all the questions I needed. They confirmed that I was indeed seven weeks pregnant which was one less thing that I needed to worry about. At this point I was mentally exhausted and over everything. As much as I wanted to check out and avoid everything in my life, I knew that I couldn’t.
I went home about two days later and all I needed was space. I needed space so that I could figure out what the hell I was going to do. A baby wasn’t what I needed right now, especially since I already had one without a father. This was just all too much, and I couldn’t focus.
My father was bringing my baby in the morning which gave me the time I needed to get reacquainted in my home. So, I ordered pizza and decided that I was going to spend my night watching Grey’s Anatomy. I was a season and a half behind, I guess I could stand to focus on the issues of fictional characters instead of my own. At this point I needed it more than anything.
The sound of my door being unlocked interrupted my thoughts. When I looked up my door was opening and noneother than North was walking through it holding a pizza box and the RC that I specially requested.
Standing to my feet, I walked into the kitchen area and leaned against my island just looking at him. What on earth did he want?
