Page 73 of Dr. Bell

“Clear!” I ordered. This was my second time shocking this young man, and his heart wasn’t trying to give me anything. Blood stained his clothes, the gurney, and the floor. This was not supposed to be the life of a nineteen-year-old.

Ian Journey was a standout college baseball player until he got hurt just days into the season. His shoulder injury sidelined him and subsequently made him drop out of school. He’d been running with Eshaun’s crew ever since. Eshaun was pronounced dead at the scene, and two of his closest homeboys were in county on gun charges related to the shootout between Eshaun’s and Jacky’s crews.

Gunner was sick of it, and so was I. Even though I made money saving these niggas’ lives… I was frustrated as fuck.

You can stop all this if you want to.

I could’ve. It would’ve taken me becoming someone I tried hard not to be. At some point, these niggas had to learn to work shit out on their own.

Even if that means the whole city will go up in flames?

Even if the city had to suffer. Lessons were learned most in hard times. Plus, these streets would’ve rather dealt with a few rival gangs, than that of the monster inside me.

“Clear!” I zapped the young man again. Hearing the beep signifying a heartbeat spurred myself and the room into action. The monitor read his heart rhythm while I continued working on removing the rest of the bullets from his body.

This shit was exhausting.

Pretty stood next to me, covered from head to toe as she moved in step with me. Performing surgery with her was poetic. I had my wife by my side as my second hand and saving a life at the same time. My two worlds collided in the craziest way. I was here for that shit, though.

Hours later, after getting Ian stable, I was inside my office resting my head against Pretty’s breasts. She had her arms around my neck and didn’t mind when I kissed on her. This was the first time she’d ever let me do this while we were at work. So, I basked in it.

“This is why you need me here,” she said. “Can you imagine enduring all this chaos without me?”

“Hell, nah, my baby. Don’t even remind me of what it was like without you.”

She giggled. “Good. Then that means I can work up until my due date.”

“I’ain say that, now.”

She smacked her teeth and tried prying my head off her breasts. I held tighter and dug my head in like I was trying to bury my face between her titties. She threw her head back and laughed.

“Get up,” she said, attempting to take a serious tone.

“Nah, you tryna play me,” I replied, anchoring my arms around her so she couldn’t budge. Her pussy rubbed against my dick, causing him to spring to life. “Look what you ‘bout to start.”

Scoffing, she squirmed on my lap. “Stop being nasty before I never come back in here.”

“Stop before I have you screamin’ up in here,” I countered.

She wanted to laugh but didn’t. “Come on, Adir. I’m serious. We have all this security, and you’re here.”

“And I still want you at home nestled safely there. If you ask me, I’ve been lenient as hell, baby. I wanted you to stay home once that ultrasound confirmed what we already knew.”

She groaned.

“Don’t be like that. I just wanna protect you. Can’t have anything happening to you. I’d lose my mind. Is that what you want?”

“Of course, not,” she hurried and said, no doubt remembering the dungeon incident.

“Aight then.” I kissed all over her face until the frown she wore disappeared. “We cool?”

She answered my question with a sweet kiss. I felt some type of way about that. Feeling like I hurt her feelings fucked with me the rest of the day. When she left to go home, she offered me a joyless smile, and I stayed behind like usual but wished I’d left with her.

Inside my office, I contemplated how to put a smile back on my lady’s face. Her feelings were valid, and I never wanted to invalidate them. My need to protect her overrode any logic where her working here was concerned.

“Duh, nigga,” I mumbled to myself. Seconds later, I had Jabari on the phone.

“‘Sup?” he answered.

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