Between Love And Hate

Chapter Nineteen

Janelle

After I'd called the police, I hid at a safe distance from the warehouse. I only came out when I saw two police cars speed past me.

I ran out of my hiding place. Still clutching Raven's phone.

A year ago, I would gladly tell Raven to fuck off and how much I hated her. I would have been happy if she left my life. But I wouldn't say the same for today.

Today, I felt her slipping away and as I ran towards the police car, I knew in my heart that I didn't want to lose her.

Well, I had a minute to explain to the police officer outside. One was shouting over the phone for an ambulance. Someone had been shot. It took me time to register everything.

The sirens going off and disturbing the peace of the neighborhood, the paramedics screaming at the top of their voice, someone being shoved into the back sit of a police car and an officer trying to get me to talk.

The wallpaper on Raven's phone was a picture of me and her at the play ground. We were at the hospital now.

And while I sat in a corner with Brittany, still in shock, I could hear the doctor talking to my parents and Raven's family.

"She'll be fine. She's our brave little girl. I mean, she risked her life to make sure Janelle was fine."

Mr Grey had Mrs Grey's head pressed against his chest as he comforted her. My mum tried talking to her. She'd kept on talking about how she wanted to thank Raven for saving my life.

And Kattie? She was a crying mess. She was way worse than I was. She sat between her dads, pausing once or twice to say she didn't want to lose Raven.

Even Brit was unusually quiet, a small line of tears running down her face.

I was too confused to regard anyone. I didn't know how long I'd sat quietly. How long I'd been quietly observing.

My legs moved, I got up and later found myself in the restroom. I broke down, sliding down the door until I hit the floor. I let the tears out. Maybe I'd been holding back too long.

Life's like this you know. Gives you something that's worth everything and then tries to take it back from you. 

The doctor didn't say if she was stable or not. All I'd heard was "the wound is deep and apart from that, she has a few bruises and cuts and she's broken an arm. All I can say now is she's in critical condition."

"please God..." I sniffed, "you just can't take her from me. You just gave her to me. I can't lose her. Please... "

I broke down again. I don't know how long I spent in that toilet stall, but Raven's mum found me. She wasn't crying anymore and she had a painful smile on her face.

"She'll be fine, Love. I can't tell you just how many times she's been in trouble. Is it at Texas? Or back in Africa?" She chuckled, pain clearly written in her eyes.

"When she was born, the cord was around her neck. She didn't die then. She got bitten by a rattle snake once. We thought she'd not survive it, but here she is. Or was it that time when Samuel tried teaching her how to swim for the first time. He left her in the lake to go get juice, she was just four and in a lake without anything to keep her afloat. She drowned."

She turned to stare at me, a hopeful smile on her face. "She's been in so much trouble but here she is. I don't think she'll ever die. She has a tendency to escape death in the weirdest way possible. She's just got a gunshot wound to the record. I'm proud to be her mum."

I stared at her for a short while, her hopeful smile still plastered on her face. It took me time to realize that she was hugging me.

I was back with everyone moments later, sitting right next to Kattie.

"You should go see her."

"huh?"
 
"You should go see Rave. She'd be mad if she found out you didn't go to see her." She was smiling now.

"I don't know, Kat. I'm just scared, I guess."
She chuckled softly.

"She was just as scared as you are now years ago. I was in a critical state back when we were kids. She was so scared she'd refused to come see me for a whole week. When she finally did, I was near dead. She cuddled with me through out that day up until the next morning. She didn't care if I smelt like drugs or anything. And after that, she didn't leave the hospital until I got better."

She sighed, like she had been relieved of a great burden. We sat together for a while until Morgan arrived, dragging Kattie away to go cheer her up.

I pulled my hair up into a messy bun. Making up my mind to go see Raven was difficult. I couldn't picture myself looking at her on a bed with needles and plasters and what not on her body. Before now, she looked flawless.
Memories filled my head, up until the last minute,

"I love you..."

Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!!!!
I got up as fast as I could. Right now, I was flash, if not faster than flash. I got to her room within seconds. I opened the door and she was just right there, peaceful and beautiful even with those plasters every which way on her body.

I took a gulp of air. If she could say the words, then I could say them too...

Author's Note :
Ah, Yas Yas Yas Yas Yas Yas Yas Yas Yas!! I'm almost done. ♥️♥️
I went through a depressing phase in order to write this chapter. I'm not really great at picturing sad moments and stuff. And yeah, I'm a depressed soul, y'all better know. And thank you, alot, for reading this far.
-♥️, Wekson.