Even If It Kills Us (On hold)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Here is a quick recap before the chapter just in case you forgot! If you haven't you can skip the first couple of pages.

Malik (Adonis's cousin) plans to do better with his life. Damien stabs Malik at the end of the year party which lands him in the hospital but luckily, he fought through it and is recovering. He is also back with Namiko.

Trevor (Malik and Adonis's best friend) is still getting treated for leukemia all while working on his music career.

Ember has an encounter with her cousin Damien at the end of the year party and they are still not on good terms. She finds out that her father (X) is awake. Also, Ember is feeling bad about her mom being in prison, so she plans to find help to set her free all while trying to be there for her brother. (Justin) Who is growing and learning by the way. He's starting to become upset because they are keeping secrets from him.

Adonis is still not on talking terms with his mother (Katrina) and little sister (Paisley.) Remember his mother tried to get rid of "the problem" (His unborn child) by paying Ember off. Paisley is doing a little too much for him. Adonis is also trying to be there for his friends, and family while he is focusing on his boxing career.

The thunderstorm picked up while Ember sat inside her car, staring out at the cars that sped by on the street. There were a few people running along the sidewalk trying to get out of the bad weather. It had been raining all day up until nightfall.

As the heavy rain tapped against the window, Ember rested her head in her hands while chaotic thoughts crowded her mind. She came up with an excuse to leave work two hours early.

After clocking out, she sat in her car and let her tears fall. For the past few months, she had been holding on to them, hiding her emotions and avoiding talking about anything because she would hate to be a burden to anyone.

Inside the cup holder, her phone started to ring, breaking her thoughts. The phone had been ringing repeatedly and most calls were from Ian, her uncle. She was afraid to answer, yet she's curious about what he wanted. Ian never called or visited unless he was talking with her father about business. She had been avoiding every one of her family members on her fathers side. Although some were calling to genuinely check up on her, she wasn't in the mood to talk. More than likely they were calling to question her about what happened between her parents.

Ember let out a deep sigh as she started up her car.

Stressed was an understatement. She was working overtime, trying to figure out how she was going to pay her way through college. Medical school was quite pricey. There were other things like having enough money to purchase things that she needed, helping her aunt with Justin and the bills because her aunt couldn't do it alone.

Although Adonis offered his help, giving her money, she politely declined. He was already doing enough for her, and she hated to dump all her problems on him when he and his family were going through their own.

The phone rang again. This time her eyes darted down to the caller ID. Uncle Ian's name flashed across the screen. She wanted nothing more than to throw the phone out of the window and run it over because the constant ringing was driving her insane.

"Why won't he just leave me alone?" Ember asks aloud. Ian was not going to stop until she answered his call. Ember hesitated a bit before picking up the phone. "Hey uncle Ian."

"I have been calling you all day, Ember. I don't like to be ignored."

"Busy day at work."

He snickered, "How are you and Justin doing?"