“As soon as they let me know something, I’ll come get y’all,” I assured them.
“I’ll make sure Dame is keeping everything else under control,” Brooklyn commented. Dame was in California on business with another one of his athletes. He’d messaged me several times for updates that I didn’t have. By now, Naomi’s name was making its way through the sports waves.
Sighing, I took a few deep breaths and walked back into Naomi’s room. As with the last few hours, she laid quietly in bed, eyes closed, chest slowly rising. I guess I should’ve been grateful. Her monitor showed that all her vital signs were normal. That was cool, but I needed more than a machine telling me my woman was alive.
I wiped the moisture from my eyes, praying that this was all somehow just a big dream. Naomi’s parents were hours away. They were likely losing their minds.
Being in love was stressful as fuck. Back when I didn’t give a fuck about a woman crossed my mind. I’d never want to go back to that nigga, but if anything happened to Naomi, no other woman would get what I was giving her. To me, Naomi was my soulmate and her being in this hospital bed had me anxious, worried, and…stressed the fuck out.
Peeping at the monitor steadily beeping, it was the only thing giving me hope right now. According to it, Naomi’s blood pressure was normal, and so was her pulse and oxygen. Just as I felt relief, a wave of worry eclipsed it. Naomi hadn’t once awakened since she’d collapsed, and the doctor was taking too fucking long to come back and tell me what the fuck was wrong. Frustrated, I was heading out of the room to the nurse station to raise hell when I saw the doctor walking towards me. I went back into the room with him on my heels.
“I’m still waiting for a few tests to come back,” he said without preamble. “What I do know so far is London’s blood count is significantly low, and she’s also pregnant.”
My mouth didn’t hit the floor, but my heart did soar. Naomi was having my fucking baby!
“Aight, cool,” I answered, fighting the urge to cry because a nigga was happy. “So, when she gon’ wake up? Isn’t this unusual?”
“Actually, it isn’t. She’s an athlete and most times, their bodies are put through rigorous training and conditioning. In a word, she’s tired.”
“Okay, but she hasn’t been sick. Aren’t pregnant women usually sick?”
The doctor chuckled. “All pregnancies are different. What one woman goes through, another may not. I’m going to have an ultrasound technician come in and do a thorough exam of the fetus to make sure everything looks okay.”
“Aight.” I sighed. Now, I had more worry heaped onto me. Hopefully, our baby was safe after this.
After the doctor left the room, I went back to Naomi’s side. The chair I’d vacated next to her bed became my seat once again. Sitting down, I took her hand into mine and stared at her beautiful face. She looked so peaceful.
“Hey, Baby.”
I was out of the chair and in my mama’s arms in an instant. Like a little boy, I clung to her as she rubbed my back. Twice her size, I still held on to her like she was twice my size.
“I left your dad in the waiting room with Zoo and Brooklyn, just in case,” she said.
Aside from how I felt, I grinned.
“Have you heard anything yet?” she questioned.
“She’s pregnant.”
If we weren’t in this hospital room, my mama would’ve screamed. Her face transformed into sheer excitement as she quietly clapped and jumped up and down.
Laughing, I said, “Don’t go tellin’ all my business either.”
She popped me on the arm and smacked her teeth.
“As happy as I wanna be right now, I’m scared as hell. I saw her hit that court and it took all the life outta me.”
My mama’s hands palmed my face. “Let’s go outside and talk. One thing I know is that, although sleeping, she can still hear your voice.”
Agreeing, I followed my mom out of the door, but left it cracked, so I could keep my eyes on Naomi.
“What else did the doctor say other than her being pregnant?” she asked.
Sighing, I ran my hand over my waves and said, “Her blood count is low. The doctor hasn’t said what he plans on doing about it until a few more tests are done. And she has to have an ultrasound to make sure the baby...” Shit I couldn’t finish my statement. Mybabieshad to be okay. Swallowing a clog in my throat, I tried again. “They’ve gotta check the baby.”
Again, my mama’s hands cupped my face. “I know you’re worried, but we’re not gonna worry until they tell us to.”
I heard what my mama was saying, but until I got to see Naomi’s eyes, wasn’t anything going to settle my spirit.
