The One She Loved

Chapter twenty-four,

missed y'all.

Asanté leaned backwards on the bed, his eyes fixated on his bloodstained clothes that were wrapped up in a plastic bag. Donald and Esther were speaking to the nurse, occasionally sneaking glances at him. Anaïca sat at his bedside, her eyes filled with worry as she stared at him.

Esi stood on the other side of him, wiping her face with a piece of tissue. Since he'd been out of surgery, Asanté had not said a word. His family figured that he was still in shock and trying to process what happened.

They asked him if he remembered what happened but he remained quiet. The nurses and the doctor assured his family that once the anesthesia wore off, he would be a bit more alert and conscious. They encouraged the family to try and comfort Asanté as much as they could in the meantime—he would surely need it.

Bits and pieces were slowly emerging in Asanté's mind. As bullets continued to fly through the house, Asanté's life began to flash before his eyes. He hadn't known peace since the misdeeds of his brother.

He hated that his life was one big disappointment after another. Any other person was sure to commit suicide if they'd been through what he had—and Asanté had contemplated it many times.

Up until the following weeks, Asanté was slowly finding himself giving into the thoughts.

If he was going to die, why not do it on his own terms?

The only person who kept him afloat and from acting on his thoughts, was Luvie.

Earlier when he had asked her if she could adjust to life without him, it was a thought that been floating around in his mind since he began to feel suicidal.

Asanté's eyes gradually floated over to his cousin, a weird look on his face as reality finally started to settle in. He sat up and tried to remove the blanket from his body but Esi and Anaïca stopped him.

"Sioni," he murmured, pushing their hands away. "I need to check on Sioni,"

"And you'll be able to but right now you need to rest," Esi placed her hands on his shoulders and tried pushing him back down.

He slapped her hands away with a frown, "I wanna see Sioni, I don't wanna wait. I need to see her now," he swung his legs over the bed, grabbing onto bed rails.

"Okay, we'll take you to see her, just give us a minute." The nurse told him, stopping him. Asanté winced in pain, immediately laying back down, peeking down through his hospital gown to see what was causing his pain.

There were bandages wrapped around his abdomen and also around his thigh. He furrowed his eyebrows, eyeing the bandages in confusion. "W-what happened?"

"Tay...you, um, you were shot—you and Sioni," Donald said, Asanté's heart dropping into the pit of his stomach as the flashbacks instantly hit him.

Tyra, Faven and Mali ran out of their house, Faven on the phone with dispatch as they approached Luvie's house. A few neighbors finally emerged from their houses after the gunfire came to a halt.

"Sioni!" Tyra kicked at the front door, attempting to break it down. Mali pulled her to the side and slammed his body into the door. "Sioni! Can you hear me?! If you can hear me, hold on!"