Love Yourself (JB+AG)

[56]

Ariana

Thursday, 4:03 am

The sound of my phone vibrating on the nightstand is what wakes me up, and I groan at the fact that it's only four in the morning. It took me long enough to get to sleep.

I pick up my phone and see a number that I don't know. Since Justin's not awake, I answer it myself.

"Hello?"

"Ariana, it's me. Come to the hospital right now." Frankie says.

"Are you serious? I was just there."

"Ari, it's mom. I'm here to visit them and me and dad went out. When we came back, mom was lying on the floor in the living room with blood pouring out of her stomach."

I drop my phone and scream. Justin is awake immediately.

"Baby, what's wrong?"

"M-my mom. We have to go to the hospital, n-now."

I sit up and pick up my phone, realizing Frankie was still on the line. 

"Frankie, we're on the way."

"Okay." Getting out of bed makes me nauseous, and I almost fall.

"Be careful, Ari. You're still sick."

I nod and pull on one of Justin's sweatshirts.

"They're not gonna let you in wearing only that." Justin says.

"Trust me, they will."

"Okay, let's go."

We both go down the stairs to see all three police officers standing there.

"We heard you scream. What happened?"

"My mom. Something happened to her. We're going to the hospital, again."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Justin grabs his keys and we leave the house.

I guess the only time we can have a break is when we leave this city.

4:33 am

"I wanna know why there is so much traffic at this time in the morning." Justin parks in front of the hospital and we both get out of the car.

I swear if some dumb nurse wants to stop me from seeing my mom. No matter how much I hate her, she's still my mom.

We walk up to the receptionist desk and a tired looking nurse looks up at us.

"How may I help you?"

"I'm looking for my mom."

"What's her name?"

"Joan Grande."

"She's in room 224, but-"

"Thank you."

"Ma'am, wait." I ignore her and walk to the elevator, Justin behind me.

We go the second floor and make our way through the hallway where doctors and nurses are rushing around. Justin finds her room before I do, but he lets me go in first.

"Ariana." My dad and Frankie say at the same time.

I could tell they had both been crying.

"Where's mom?" I ask, looking over at the empty bed.

"Ari, someone shot your mother in her chest. The doctors did everything they could, but she didn't make it. They already took her to the morgue." Dad says, walking over to me.

"I wanna see her." I say quietly.

"Ariana-"

"I want to see my mom." I snap.

"Okay, Ariana. Okay." He puts his hand on my shoulder and leads me out of the room.

Justin stays with Frankie as my dad takes me down to the morgue, in the basement.

"Frankie told me you were already at the hospital tonight. What happened?"

"I was sick so Justin brought me here. They told me I had a fever and that I was almost two months pregnant."

"You're pregnant?"

"That's what I said, yes."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks."

While my dad also forced me to be with Derrick, he was a lot more understanding. He actually acted like a dad.

He pushes the door to the morgue open, and a gust of cold air hits us. As if I wasn't already freezing because of the fever.

"Excuse me. Can I help you?" Someone says.

I look up and see a man dressed in white and light blue. His clothes are stained with blood, which kajes me want to throw up.

"We're looking for Joan Grande."

"Are you in relation to her?"

"She's my wife. This is our daughter. We just want to see her."

"Follow me."

We follow the man through the morgue and I keep my head down. There are plenty of dead bodies to look at that I don't want to see. My mom is near the back, covered with a white sheet.

The doctor takes off his bloody gloves and puts a fresh pair on before pulling the sheet off my moms face.

I take one look at her before covering my face with my hands. My dad pulls me into his side with one arm and thanks the doctor before guiding me out of the morgue.