Jaden stirred awake in the hospital bed attached to machines with an IV in her hand and wearing a hospital gown.
She groaned, having the worst headache.
"Hey babygirl," Mama said softly, holding her hand.
She cleared her throat, "What... what happened," squinting her eyes, trying to get used to the light.
"You fainted some hours ago. The doctor said you're suffering from exhaustion and dehydration. You haven't been taking care of yourself?" She rubbed Jaden's cheek.
Mama could see it in Jaden's face that she'd been going through it. It reminded her of when Jaden first came to stay with her, just a silly little seventeen-year-old girl fighting demons. Barely sleeping, barely eating. Mama took her to the adult school every day and helped her pass her GED test. Sat by her side at night when she cried because she was afraid to sleep. When Jaden turned eighteen, and finally wanted her own space, mama helped her get an apartment. When Jaden met some girls who danced, Mama warned her but told her she'd still support her either way. Michelle came to the club faithfully to make sure her little Jaden was okay.
"Where's..."
"Desmond is out of surgery and is resting upstairs. Once you feel better, you can go see him." She told her, already knowing.
Mama had known of Demon but didn't know him personally until they'd met at the club through Marquis. She knew Big Ken, everyone did. Because he was Kenneth's firstborn, Desmond already had respect in the streets.
A nurse entered the room to check on Jaden's vitals and remove the empty IV bag. Before walking out she took out a notepad and wrote something down, "Miss Collins when was the first day of your last menstrual cycle?"
"I don't have a one. I have an IUD." Jaden confirmed.
"Oh," the nurse looked at Jaden's chart again. "Okay, I'm gonna need to draw some blood. For some reason, the urine sample we took when you were admitted gave us a positive pregnancy test." She stated before walking out the room.
Jaden's body tensed. She couldn't be pregnant again. Her birth control had been in place for nearly three years now, and she still had two years to go, so it wouldn't make sense.
Moments later the nurse returned and drew blood for the lab. Before leaving out the room, she let Jaden know she'd have results back in less than an hour.
Jaden nodded silently and the woman left. She turned to Mama, "Can I go see him now?"
"Let them take the IV out your hand first then we'll go, " Mama paused and looked towards the door, before speaking, "Jaden, do you think you might be pregnant?" She whispered.
Jaden shrugged her shoulders, unsure. She became nervous thinking about it because she knew Desmond said he didn't want children, but she was afraid to go through another abortion after the depression and guilt she went through the first time she went that route.
"Do you want to wait until after she comes back with your results?"
She shook her head. She needed to see Desmond now. She pressed the call button and another nurse came in shortly after.
"Can we take out the IV?" Jaden asked.
The nurse looked at her chart before answering, "because you were dehydrated, I can't take it out yet, but I can disconnect you and put a cap on it just in case we need to give you another bag."
Mama spoke up, "She's going to go visit another patient, so go ahead and do that for her."
"Sure thing, ma'am." The nurse said walking over. She removed the tube from the IV and put a cap on it, then she used medical tape to tape the extra IV cord to the back of Jaden's hand. "Be careful not to catch it on anything or it can rip out." She warned.
Mama took out her phone and made a phone call, "She's coming up now." She said before hanging up.
They exited the elevator, and two men moved from in front of the door and walked in front of them. Jaden knew them to be Mama's men.
As they approached a door it opened and Marquis walked out. He looked at Jaden with sad eyes.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"I'm good. Just a broken nose. Make a nigga look gangster out here." He laughed a little.
She reached out and hugged him tightly shocking him. They released each other and he stepped out of the way. "Go see him."
Jaden slowly walked inside the room. Hearing all the beeping and machinery made her anxious. She slowly pulled the curtain back and saw Desmond laying in the bed. He looked like he was sleeping. Her feet felt heavier the closer she got to him.
"Come on over here," he said with a raspy voice, startling her because his eyes were still closed.
"Are you okay?" She whispered getting closer.
"I am now." He said, taking long slow breaths.
"Desmond, they said you died, twice." She said with tears in her eyes.
He reached his hand out for hers.
"I'm here now. I'm not goin nowhere."
She held his hand and noticed his knuckles were swollen and bruised, "Are you in pain?"
"Nah, the shit they got in this IV, I can't feel shit." He laughed softly, holding a pillow close to his chest.
"What happened?"
"I was shot through the chest, and my lung collapsed. It's a tube in it now, but it'll be out before we go home."
Jaden silently looked him over. "What about this," she lifted his hand.
"Don't matter. You safe now."
"Who shot —"
There was a knock at the door interrupting her. Someone came inside.
Mama appeared from behind the curtain, "Come on babygirl, the nurse needs to see you,"
"Okay," she said, before turning back to face Desmond, "I'm gonna come back."
He smiled, "I'm not goin nowhere."
She leaned over and planted a kiss on his forehead before leaving the room.
She silently walked to the elevator with Mama by her side. Once they reached her floor she went directly to her room.
The nurse was waiting, with a large machine.
"Jaden, so it looks like you are pregnant. We need to do an ultrasound to see how far along you are and tomorrow we're going to get you over to the OBGYN department so they can get that IUD out before it causes any complications with baby,"
Jaden cocked her head to the side, looking at the woman with wide eyes, "How is that possible?"
"Well it's not impossible, but it's also not very common. Nearly one in one hundred women conceive while having an IUD." The nurse explained.
Did I have to be one of them?
♟•••••♟
YOU ARE READING
All the King's Men ( An Urban Love Story )
General Fiction*COMPLETED* EDITS COMING SOON. "I'll go to war with God behind you." Desmond King grew up a product of his environment but with street smarts and a little book smarts on his side, he found a way to survive and feed everyone around him. He's been abl...
