Again, Makhai looked at me and smiled.
“Yeah, I did.”
“Hope you at least sniffed the pussy this time.”
“Ay, chill, Lord, she can hear you.” Makhai laughed, but I didn’t find anything funny. Him and everyone he was associated with were assholes.
“Shiddd, I don’t give a fuck. My question still stands. Fuck you mean?”
“Nobody in your circle has decorum, I see.” I rolled my eyes at Makhai.
“I ain’t even said shit,” he laughed.
“Whatever, Makhai.” I turned to look out the window while wondering exactly what I was about to walk into.
He talked with his asshole of a friend for a few more minutes before disconnecting his call. I was glad that he didn’t strike up aconversation after that because I wasn’t in the mood to deal with frivolous conversation or any ignorant shit.
Ten minutes later we were pulling up at the hospital. Makhai wanted to park in the front, assuring me that his car would be fine, but I insisted we park under the deck. I didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to him because if word got out that he was there, it would without a doubt be a shit storm.
After parking, he helped me from the car, but we waited in the parking garage for a few seconds so I could call the number back to let the nurse know I was there. Once I’d done that, she met us in the lobby to escort us up to the NICU wing. It was pretty empty, but she still took us to an empty room so that we could talk privately.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself formally earlier, I’m Andrea Nichols.” She extended her hand.
“Diamond,” I accepted her hand then pointed back at Makhai. “This is my friend, Makhai.”
His hood was pulled down pretty low, and the room was dark, so I knew she couldn’t see his face that well, which I was grateful for.
“It’s nice meeting you both.”
“Same,” Makhai replied. “Can you tell us what’s going on, please? You got my girl worried as fuck.”
She couldn’t see it, but I discreetly elbowed him for his choice of words. He didn’t have to curse to get his point across, and I wasn’t his damn girl. I’d just told the woman we were friends.
“Okay, is this about my sister?”
“Yes ma’am. Gwen came in two nights ago. She delivered a baby girl early yesterday morning.”
“She what?” I snapped.
“She had a baby.” The nurse replied softly. “A healthy little girl. A little underweight, but she’s doing okay.”
I felt my knees weaken. Had it not been for Makhai standing behind me, I probably would have fallen. He held onto me, ushering me over to a chair which I sank down in.
“I—I didn’t even know she was pregnant,” I said barely above a whisper.
I had just seen her and I never would have thought she was freaking pregnant.
“I figured that could have been a possibility,” she replied gently. “After birth, your sister left. She didn’t sign any discharge papers, didn’t tell anyone where she was going. She just got up and… left.”
“What?” I asked in disbelief, my voice cracking a little because the news was crushing. Gwen had done some wild shit, butthiswas by far the wildest. “She left? She just left the baby here?”
“Yeah, she did,” the nurse answered somberly. “I went through her things before social services came to take over. There wasn’t much—just some clothes, a small bag and a notebook with your number and the wordsisterwritten in large letters above it. I called because I didn’t want the baby to go into the system without someone knowing.”
I just sat there in silence and disbelief after that. I was truly floored learning that my sister was not only pregnant but abandoned her child at the hospital. She knew what we’d gone through without having our own parents, and what it turned her life into. I didn’t understand how she could do that to her own child.
“C-can I see her?” I finally asked, peering up at the nurse.
“Yes, of course,” she nodded and waved. “Follow me.”
