party monster | the weeknd

thirty four

Taylor

"Abel!" I shriek, watching him slump to the floor as he holds the stab wound. "Abel!" I kneel down and cradle his face, heart thumping.

"Shit," he groans, sweat plastered all over his forehead. His eyes flutter closed for a few seconds before opening again.

"I'm going to call the ambulance," I say, hands shaking.

"No!" Abel tells me, latching onto my arm. "No, you can't."

"Abel, you've been stabbed!" I snap, looking at him like he's nuts. "You need to go to the hospital!"

Abel shakes his head. "No!" he says angrily. "They'll call the police and then I'll get questioned." He grunts in pain.

"Okay, okay, fine!" I snap, mind going crazy. "Are you able to get up?"

Abel nods slowly and I help him up, making sure I don't trip over anything.

We walk slowly into my apartment and I close it with my foot before shuffling into the living room with Abel.

I make Abel lay down on the couch with a pillow under his head.

He groans in pain, hand still clenched around the bleeding spot.

"Move your hand for a second," I tell him, my throat dry.

He does as I tell him and I lift up his shirt to examine the wound, hissing under my breath.

The sight of the stab wound instantly makes me feel sick, but I try my best not to vomit.

The wound doesn't look that deep which is a good thing because it's treatable.

I rip a piece of material from his shirt and hold it over the stab wound. "Here, hold this there," I tell him. "And don't you dare close your fucking eyes, do you understand me, Abel Tesfaye?"

Abel chuckles lightly, eyes on me. "Yes, baby mama," he says and I quickly rush to the kitchen to wash my hands.

I open drawers and slam them shut,  grabbing particular things that I need to help treat Abel's stab wound.

Since my mum works in a hospital, she knows how to deal with shit like this.

I remember her telling me how to treat certain wounds a couple of years ago.

Thank God all that information she fed me is coming to use.

I rush back to Abel to find his eyes closed and I quickly put down the towels and bandages before slapping him across the face.

His eyes fly open and he blinks at me, breath uneven. "Taylor," he groans. "That hurt."

"I had to make you wake up somehow," I tell him through gritted teeth as I grab the towel I got from the kitchen.

I move the piece of blood-soaked fabric away from Abel's stomach before setting the towel on the wound and holding it down to stop the bleeding. Abel hisses at the pressure.

"Sorry," I apologise. "It'll stop the bleeding. Just don't think about the pain, get your mind off it - talk to me."

Abel grunts and then starts nodding. "I - I'm annoyed you d-didn't let me kiss you," he says, stuttering over his words.

I smile weakly, putting more pressure on the towel around the wound. "Well, maybe it's a good job I didn't let you," I mutter, feeling myself getting annoyed.

I push the thoughts away, not wanting to get annoyed at Abel or shout at him for lying to me.

Hyghly and Hawk must've done this to him. And why would they do that? Because Abel obviously didn't pay them off yet, which means the asshole lied to me.

But I can't be angry at Abel right now - imagine if he didn't even make it out of his apartment to get to me, he'd be dead. The father of my unborn child would be dead before even meeting his son or daughter.

"Where did you learn to treat a stab wound from?" Abel asks.

"My mum," I answer. "She's a nurse."

Abel nods, staring at me for a long time. "I lied to you, Taylor," he tells me as I move the towel away and quickly place a large bandage over the stab wound. "I didn't pay them their money. I'm sorry."

"Now's not the time to talk about that, Abel," I say, feeling his head to find that it's on fire.

I grab another towel before soaking it in the cold water and placing it on his forehead.

Sighing, I move away and cross my arms. "So they did this to you? Hyghly and Hawk?" I want to know and Abel nods, staring at me.

"I'm sor -" he starts to say, but I interrupt his pathetic apology.

"Don't," I warn. "Just don't, okay?"

Abel licks his lips. "You're not going to stop me from being around you, are you?" he asks, eyes flickering to look at my stomach. "You're not going to stop me from meeting my child?" He looks at me with pleading eyes.

I chew the inside of my cheek and just shake my head, silently, not wanting to speak to him.

Abel smiles and reaches for my hand, but I pull it away from his grasp.

"What are you going to do about Hawk and Hyghly?" I ask, pulling my robe tighter around me. Abel shrugs in response and I feel the anger boiling up inside me. "You're not going to report them for stabbing you?" I snap angrily.

"I can't, Taylor," Abel tells me. "Imagine they get someone to come after me, or you. We're going to have a baby, I can't let that happen."

"It already happened though,  didn't it?" I hiss. "They stabbed you! You could've fucking died!" I feel hot, angry tears running down my cheeks. "You haven't even met your son or daughter and you could've died," I whisper, choking on my words.

Abel grabs my hand and squeezes it. "I'm sorry," he says, but I just shake my head, not wanting to hear any more apologies.

I wipe the tears away from my face roughly and sniff loudly. "You should get some sleep," I tell him, getting up.

Abel nods, not saying another word. He shifts around and I watch as he closes his eyes.

Slowly walking over, I kneel down and brush my lips against his forehead.

Abel opens his eyes and looks up at me. He grabs my hand and brings it up to his lips, kissing it. "Thank you," he murmurs against my skin. "For practically saving my life."

I nod and pull away from him before going to the kitchen.