Page 13 of Walk Thru The Fire

“You could’ve stayed yo’ whining ass home then, nigga.” I frowned. I headed into the hospital, ignoring that nigga because I didn’t have time for his shit.

When I got inside, I went straight to the elevator, heading up to the floor that Mrs. Janice said they were on.

“Shit gone be straight, bro. Kash is strong. She’s gone be straight,” Buck offered. I declined a response because my words were stuck. I couldn’t concentrate on shit but putting my eyes on Kasha and Jace.

The elevator dinged and opened on the third floor and stopped. I stepped out with Buck on my heels. I didn’t bother with going to the nurse’s station. I followed the signs to the family waiting area and headed there. It was surrounded by glass, so I was able to see inside. I spotted Jace inside sitting with his grandparents. He noticed me and took off in my direction.

“Stacks!” he bellowed as he ran in my direction. When he got close, I pulled him into a hug as he wrapped his arms around me.

“Wassup, lil’ homie? You straight?” I pulled back and examined him, and he looked to be fine.

“Yeah, I’m straight. Ma isn’t, though,” he responded somberly.

“She’s gone be straight, man.” I tussled his hair as his grandparents approached us. They greeted Buck and shook his hand before Mrs. Janice started speaking.

“Thank you for coming, Jackson. When I got that call, I thought the worst. They haven’t told us anything yet. Only that she was dropped off and unconscious,” she informed.

I nodded.

“Did someone say when the doctor would be out to update you?” As soon as the question passed my lips, a middle-aged black woman, adorned in a lab coat, appeared.

“Family of Kasha Sims?” she announced.

“Do you see anybody else in here?” Buck interjected.

“Man, chill.” I gave him a warning look because I didn’t need his dumb ass to get us thrown out.

“That’s us,” her father spoke up.

“Like I was saying, we finally got Ms. Sims situated. We ran a few tests after you informed us she was diabetic. Her blood sugar levels were extremely low from the lack of insulin. That caused her body to go into shock and into a hyperglycemic coma.” Hearing her say coma caused my heartbeat to stall.

“Wait. You said she’s in a coma? How the fuck that happened?” She needed to start explaining herself and now.

“It happened as I stated, because her body went into shock due to the lack of insulin. We contacted her doctor back in Cannon Hills and saw that she had to administer her insulin daily. According to her mother, she’s been away from home a little over two months. She may have thought she was in the clear,” she stated.

“How long will she be in a coma?” her mama asked.

“That depends on Ms. Sims. Like I stated, her body went into shock, so that could mean some sort of trauma happened. I haven’t contacted the authorities yet. I wanted to leave that up to you all.”

“No need for that,” Buck interjected. “We got it.”

“When can we see her?” Mrs. Janice asked.

“You can see her now, if you’d like. Since it’s just a few of you, you all can go back.” Her parents thanked her, and she disappeared.

“Jackson, you can go ahead,” her mama urged.

“Nah. Y’all go ahead. I just came to make sure Jace was good.”

“Stacks, you not gone check on my mama? She said she missed you,” Jace voiced. The shit was tearing me up to see my lil’ homie like that.

“Come on, Jace. You can come with us and give Jackson a minute.” His grandfather rubbed the top of his head and left with Mrs. Janice in tow. When they left, I sat in the nearest chair so I could catch my breath.

“You good, bro?” Buck asked from beside me.

“Man, I can’t go in there and see her like that. This shit is fucked up. The fuck was she even doing with this nigga?” My head was all over the place.

“That’s only some shit that Kash can answer. Shit may sound stupid coming from me but hear her out, bro. We know Kash. She wouldn’t be on no fuck shit like that,” he tried reasoning.

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