Page 42 of Still Made For You

“His pulse was present, but they ended up giving him oxygen while they loaded him into the ambulance. Since I wasn’t able to reach you, I ended up calling your grandmother as well as your aunt. I’m so sorry this happened. He seemed fine when I checked on him a few hours ago.” Rhena whimpered into the phone. She and my father had gotten close since she’d been working for us, so I knew this incident frightened her.

“This isn’t your fault, so please don’t blame yourself. More than likely, his symptoms were present long before he passed out, and he chose to ignore them.” My father hated people fawning over him, so I knew he’d probably hidden his symptoms from her to avoid going to the doctor. The older he became, the more stubborn he was.

“We ate dinner together, then watched a couple of episodes of The Real Housewives. I checked his temperature, and everything checked out fine. I must have missed something.”

“I’m out of town right now, so it’s’ going to take some time for me to get to the hospital. If there are any updates given before I make it, please call me immediately.” There was no time to focus on what could have happened. My father needed his family, and I’ll be damned if I lose him like this.

“Okay, we’re in the lobby right now, so just let me know when you make it, and I’ll meet you at the front desk.” Disconnecting the call, I searched around for my shoes.

“Are you okay?” Saya’s voice echoed behind me. With everything going on around me, I’d spaced out from my current surroundings.

“My father was rushed to the hospital. I have to get there to see what’s going on.” Locating my belt, I grabbed it then headed out of the room. God, please save him. While I was aware of his current prognosis, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to my father. When the doctors diagnosed him with lung cancer, they assured us his chances of survival were promising with aggressive chemotherapy. It was one of the reasons I agreed to keep his secret from everyone.

Worrying the family prematurely would only cause more panic and my father did not want to put that on anyone unless it was truly necessary. Personally, I thought us children deserved to know even if he decided to wait to advise the rest of the family. Hence why I’d given him the ultimatum in the first place. Now, the choice no longer belonged to him. While searching for the keys, I heard the sound of feet shuffling down the hallway. Glancing up, Saya appeared with a sleeping Saint in her arms.

“What are you doing?” The words blurted out as I watched her move about the room.

“I owe your father my life, and I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t see him with my own eyes. Besides, you are in no condition to drive, no matter how strong you pretend to be. I’m assuming you were looking for these?” I looked down to see my keys in her hands.

She passed Saint to me before grabbing two bags and another set of keys. I stood there frozen as she continued to grab her things. Saint nestled his tiny face into my neck, and I could hear his light snores as his head rested on my shoulder.

“Come on. I’m going to move his car seat into your truck, and then we can head out.” She explained, turning off the lights as she headed towards the door. I followed her lead, making sure little man was covered with his blanket. The weather wasn’t too bad, but the morning air would surely startle him.

Once Saya assembled his car seat, I placed him down into his seat. She hovered over me for a moment until I gave her a look to let her know I wasn’t pleased.

“Get in the car. I’ve got this,” I assured her. He wasn’t the first child I’ve been around, so I had a little practice with these things.

“Fine,” I heard her huff before she walked away. I’d been so focused on making sure Saint was secure, that it took me a moment to notice Saya sitting perched in the driver's seat as if she belonged there.

“Umm, excuse me. What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I inquired, trying to whisper to avoid waking her son.

“I know these roads much better than you; besides, you’re in no condition to drive. I’ve got this.” In all the years we’ve known one another, I’ve never been the passenger. The annoyed look on her face told me this wasn’t up for debate, and I couldn’t afford to waste any more time. Reluctantly, I hopped in the passenger side of my own whip.

“Be careful with my shit. Drive the speed limit, too, because your little ass isn’t on my insurance.”

“Yes, daddy,” She giggled before pulling off. I wanted to address her comment, but I needed to focus on what was going on with my father.

My phone rang in my hand showing my mother’s contact on the screen. Her and my father’s history was tumultuous, to say the least, so I wasn’t sure what she was going to say. Bracing myself, I picked up the phone to answer her calls.

“Hey baby, are you at the hospital?” she asked, letting me know that the news about my father must have traveled fast.

“I’m headed there now. I was out of town. Where are you?” The clock on my dashboard read 6:37am which meant her work shift hadn’t started yet.

“At the house, I thought you were already at the hospital, so I was going to go into work late to be with you.” This was one of the many reasons why I loved her. Regardless of anything, my mother would do whatever to make sure I felt supported.

“Naw, you don’t need to do that. It’ll be another hour or so before I make it into town. If you want, I’ll send you an update once I get there.”

“No need. Your granny has been keeping me updated. You know she still loves me.” She snickered. My mother was the family’s favorite out of all the mothers of my father’s children. They’d met in middle school, so she’d grown up around everyone.

“I bet she did.”

“Wait a minute. You said you were out of town. Where the hell did you go without telling me? You always let me know when you’re going somewhere.” My mother and I had a very close relationship, so we told each other everything.

“My bad, it slipped my mind, and I hadn’t planned to be there overnight, so I didn’t think to tell anyone.” The only reason Law knew about it was to make sure someone had my location in the event things went left.

“Okay, so where did you go and where did you spend the night at? That’s not even like you.” Glancing over at Saya, I peeped the smirk on her face.

“Ima let her tell you herself since she’s over here grinning and shit.” Saya’s face dropped as I passed her the phone.

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