Page 16 of Only You

“She called me this afternoon, and this was what I heard on the other end.” I listened as Nina confirmed that when she killed my father, Tayla did not know. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then, the sounds of gunshots rang out through the phone’s recording. I counted five shots. Tayla had two gunshot wounds.

Nina had tried to kill her. The other shots?

“Did she get her?” Steph shook his head.

“D and I were having lunch. We got there as fast as we could. There was a trail of blood, but no Nina.”

“Does JoJo know? I asked Steph.

“She does, but she needed a minute. Today was a lot for everyone.”

“That wasn’t the first time she’d called me this afternoon, though,” he said, pausing.

“She apologized and told me that she would fix this whole situation. The last thing she said was for me to promise to care for him. I thought she meant you until D explained.” I turned my pissed-off expression to Devin.

This nigga keeps more secrets than the government.

“Brice, this is Bryson Ezra Washington, your almost four-month-old son,” Devin said. I looked down at him. His face was the perfect mix of mine and Tayla’s. The uninhibited drunken night I’d spent fucking my best friend until we drained each other flashed in my mind. It was also the first time I’d ever let my true feelings for her break through the ice. I guess I wasn’t the only one who had trust issues.

Why didn’t she tell me?

“Steph, could you look out for him until after my shift? I need some time,” I solemnly said. He nodded.

“Thanks, man,” I said as I climbed out of Steph’s truck.

To say I was shocked would have been an understatement. I spent the rest of the night in and out of Tayla’s room. After eachof my patients in the children’s hospital, I would find my way back to her side, afraid that she wouldn’t make it through the night.

CHAPTER 10

Tayla

The beep I heard added to the pounding headache happening inside my head. I also felt the dizziness, even though I lay perfectly still. I assumed I was in a hospital.

Open your eyes, Tay.

My eyelids were so heavy that I couldn’t lift them. I focused on my other senses to confirm. The sterile smell of the room hit my nose. I was also covered by heavy blankets that felt like they weighed my body down. My hand felt cold as the IV I felt attached to pumped fluids into me. They couldn't have been doing what they were supposed to because I still felt like I was dying.

Open. Your. Eyes.

I tried and failed again to open my eyes as my body's fatigue wouldn’t allow it. I vaguely remember being saved by Stephon and Devin. I’m not even sure how they’d known where to find me. I was just glad that they’d shown up when they did. Then I heard the door close in the background, and heavy footsteps trailed a path towhere I lay. He had squatted beside me. I could feel him exhale as it fanned across my face before he took my hand and began to speak quietly.

“Tay, Baby, you gotta pull through. I did everything I was supposed to, but now you gotta do your part. The job isn’t done. We need you; I need you. Shit is just fucked up in my world right now. It’s been fucked up since you left, if I’m being honest. Just open your eyes, Tay, please,” Brice said. I could hear the stress and worry in his tone. I also heard the undertones and promises of Ice. He was ready to go to war. When he said the job wasn’t done, I knew that Nina wasn’t lying in that parking lot beside me.

Shit!... Wait, we? Does he know about our baby? Does JoJo know about any of this? I’m trying, Brice! Open your damn eyes, Tay!

My eyes refused to give me even a sliver of light. To add to my distress, my mouth wouldn’t move either. I tried to let his presence calm my mind. It wasn’t until I felt his lips press softly against my forehead that I began to relax.

“I’ll be back, Tay. I need to finish my rounds,” he whispered before I heard his footsteps trail the path to the door, which opened and closed the same way he had come in. After some time had passed, the door opened again.

Brice?

I tried to listen, but whoever was in the room wasn’t making a sound. Then my hand was lifted, but it wasn’t Brice. It was a woman’s touch. I could smell the faint, sweet, and floral scent she carried with her. She stood beside me motionless before I felt my arm lift and a sensation flow through it. My headache immediatelysubsided, and I no longer felt any pain. I felt high. I let the euphoric feeling take me higher until I blacked out.

Brice

Something was wrong. Tayla should have been coming around and should have awakened by now. I’d gone over her chart and surgery write-up one hundred times, trying to find any clue as to why she was damn near comatose.

The last time I returned to Tayla’s room, her heart rate had slowed substantially. Her face, which had shown a returning brightness again, looked blue and devoid of oxygen.

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