SALUBRIOUS

The Alternate Ending

Reread all of it to refresh your memory!

It didn't take long for a scheduled meet up day to be established between the siblings. The designated place of meeting was a park, being that they felt like a restaurant wasn't an appropriate setting. "It's so gloomy out." Dakota spoke from the passenger side, causing Nas to look over. It was a rainy day, which resulted in the Sky being dark and cloudy. "Yeah...it is." Nas agreed.

"How you feeling?" Dakota questioned while breaking off a piece of her cinnamon roll and dropping it in her mouth. Nas his shrugged his shoulders, "I don't even know, to be real. I'm not nervous—but it's weird." He replied the best way he could. It seemed as if they closer they got to the park, the darker it became.

"Sit in the car since it's raining—I don't want y'all getting sick." Nas instructed while parking his car. "Alright." Dakota replied.

"I think she here." Nas spoke, subtly looking around. Dakota grabbed his face and placed a kiss on his cheek. "It's gonna be fine." She assured, looking into his eyes. Without replying, Nas removed his seatbelt and hopped out of the vehicle. It didn't take him long to spot his sister sitting at the gazebo that was a straight shot away from him. After every step, the wind picked up. Just when Nas was seconds away from his sister. A great flash of lightning struck, along with winds that were strong enough to land him on his back.

Once Nas opened his eyes again, he was faced by Fatima, but in a completely different setting. A hospital bed, where he was connected to various beeping machines. "Thank God." Fatima spoke, causing Nas to furrow his eyebrows together. In an attempt to lift his hand, he discovered that he was handcuffed to the bed.

"Why they got me handcuffed to the bed?" Nas answered, still shaking his arm in hopes of unbinding himself from the bed. Fatima looked at her brother with her eyebrows furrowed. "You shot daddy and killed him, Nas...they're taking you to jail now that they removed the bullet from your arm." She explained, causing Nas to furrow his eyebrows back at her.

"I already went to Prison—five years ago." Nas argued, gaining a confused look from his sister. "Nas...that happened today." She spoke, making him feel like his whole world crashed in a matter of seconds. He was bewildered to the point that he set off one of the machines he was hooked up to.

"Where's my wife?" He questioned while subtly looking around the room. "What wife?" Fatima questioned as if his behavior and concerns was startling her.

"D-Dakota—she's the reason we back around each other after five years." Nas explained. It was evident that he wasn't jogging his sister's memory at all, which made him start to wonder if he even knew what he was talking about.

"So, if I shot him, then why am I handcuffed to this hospital bed?" Nas asked. He was somber. It felt like he was being punished and sent to an alternative universe. "Because daddy knocked the gun out of your hand and shot you first." Fatima answered. Before Nas could reply, the hospital room door opened and caught their attention.

"There she goes, that's my wife!" Nas shouted at the sight of Dakota walking into the room with a pair of navy blue scrubs on her body, gaining a confused look from the nurse. "It might be the medicine, no worries. I just came to check on him, because I heard one of the machines going off." She replied.

"Dakota—baby, it's me, Nas." Nas spoke on the verge of tears. He was slowly accepting his fate, if Dakota didn't remember him, then maybe he was out of his mind and imagined everything. "How do you know my middle name? " She raised her eyebrow. Nas looked at her name tag and read the name Jasmine.

"Cause I'm your husband! We got married last month, and you pregnant right now with a lil' boy! Your name is Dakota Jasmine Smith" Nas argued. Dakota chuckled while writing something on the clipboard. "My name is Jasmine Dakota, hun. But like I said, I'm sure it's the medicine and it'll wear off in a few hours." Dakota spoke.