Cherry's Dawn || Skipper and Monty

Cherry's Dawn || Chapter 17

Author's Note: As a disclaimer, this idea is 100% fictional. Triggering themes ahead.

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November 1996 – Bryant Gumbel Interview

SKIPPER

"Do you own pair of pleated khakis? Would you ever wear my shoes?" Bryant asked if I'd ever wore normal fashion. With every moment, I shook my head.

Sweet Mayte couldn't fight the giggles that escaped from her lips. She'd been perched on the arm of my chair this whole time. I looked down to find his designer shoes glistening under the light, but immediately propped myself back into the chair, sickened as a joke.

"Hail no!" I answered with a different voice.

The entire studio broke out in laughter when I spoke up in a different voice. Even with a hand over my mouth, I found myself chuckling along with everybody else. Not even seconds later, we all settled, but a stagehand hurried into the room with a flushed expression on his face. Before Myte or I could blink, two other employees rolled in a television.

There was only silence and I looked around nervously for answers. Bryant kept his voice low with the stagehand. Myte held my shoulders lovingly, but I never calmed down. Her embrace faded as nothing that could help me for once.

One of the two other employees handed Myte a remote before long and whispered to her, but I still couldn't hear anything. We all gazed at the television in absolute silence. A news anchor read off his teleprompter with short of that usual monotone.

I couldn't believe my ears.

"This just in. We have sad news coming from the entertainment world. Controversial performer Brenda Michelle Hughes attempted suicide early this morning around three am. Surrounding neighbors of a Los Angeles penthouse notified law enforcement after hearing troubled groans of distress. We plan to explain further information as details continue emerging, but Hughes is currently being treated at a nearby hospital..."

Monty! my thoughts cried.

"Turn that shit off!" I screamed through a raspy voice and flowing tears. "Mayte, let's go!" Without question, she slumped away from my chair and rushed out alongside me and the usual bodyguards.

Bryant wouldn't even move and lowered his head in shame at the confusion. I didn't even care about this interview anymore. Joy had been sucked right out of our previous moments. If I could reach Los Angeles right now, even with Matye at my side, nothing else came first.

___

Regardless of the hours and jetlag, I marched without warning to the front desk. Mayte worried over my risk of press intrusion, but I never gave a damn right now. The herd of bodyguards surrounded us as expected. A blonde secretary popped out her eyes, but Mayte walked up first with a quiet voice.

"Please don't make a fuss." she whispered. "We're here to see a patient named Brenda Hughes."

"Are you two members of her immediate family, ma'am? We don't want to annoy patients with unnecessary visitors." the blonde rushed typing on her computer. Squared glasses on her eyes forced my heart to drop and nearly evaporate.

"Please let us in." I slowly crumbled. Heads turned watching all of three of us. "We're good friends. She's known me for years. Please."

A black and female doctor with quite ponytail rushed in beside us. "She's actually mentioned you since waking up from consciousness. . We're absolutely considering a mental evaluation. Come on!"

__

Beeping of monitors filled my ears as soon as Mayte and I walked under the threshold. Before my eyes, Monty sat up in the hospital bed as pain shot into her scarred left wrist. Clearly bruised and wired up, Monty winced at the pain, but faked a smile for us with tears in those ebony eyes.

"I never thought you'd come, Skipper. Hey, May-May." I walked carefully in her direction and slowly reached out to pushed back her short and beautiful curls. I kissed Monty's now sweat beaded forehead, but slowly movement that would probably led to more pain in her wrist, I'd never seen her beautiful skin damaged like this before.

Mayte could only wave shyly at this moment and I completely understood. She ducked out into the hallway alongside the exact female doctor and creaked the door shut. My had turned red from tears as my heart pounded constantly.

I tried to avoid hold her hands and risk another jolt of her wrist. Honestly, weak, I fell into my knees, questioning every single terror in my mind.

"Why?" I asked her. "Why do this to yourself? So many people love you. I love you. Mayte loves you."

Monty winced trying to sit up against the white pillows once more. hushed reassurance. Tears escaped her eyes and mine bit by bit.

"Since we haven't connected recently, I've moved onto other people. I met this entrepreneur named Tony in Miami and we hit it off. One thing to another and we had sex that night, but we kept in touch afterwards. Fast forward and we moved in to together. Things couldn't be any better, but I got sick and just start puking out of nowhere. Eventually, I somehow missed my period..."

Oh, no. I thought to myself.

"You're pregnant and he's left you?" I asked in a quiet voice.

In this moment, her voice dropped and wouldn't look up at me again. "No, he just left this place for meeting, but..."

"What?" I asked, scared out of my mind. I took everything in not to hold her hands and pressure weight from her wrists. This paranoid habit now reached my brain as time dragged on this God-forsaken room. Sanitation wafted for my nose in a disgusting manner.

"I lost the baby this morning..."