How Is This Love? (BWWM)

29.

When I got to Archibald's, there was an ambulance along with a series of foreign cars parked randomly in front of his building.

I parked my car on the street and quickly went up to Archibald's condo, not asking questions about the commotion going on outside and in front of the lobby.

When I got to his door, Laura stood outside with her arms folded across her chest, tears were streaming down her face.

I know I was probably the last person she wanted to talk to but I still decided to give it a shot.

"Hey, is everything alright?" I asked her, gently placing my hand on her shoulder. Laura jerked jet body away from me, twisting up her face in disgust.

"Thanks to you, grandpa Archie had a heart attack!" Laura screamed at me, causing me to jump.

How did I make Archibald have a heart attack?

I attempted to walk into Archibald's condo but Laura blocked the doorway.

"Excuse me," I say politely, moving around but she continued to block me.

"You're not getting in." Laura states, a little snarky.

"Can you please move out of the way? I need to see my boyfriend." I tell her, starting to get upset.

"No!" Laura yells. It only took me a few seconds before I got tired of her antics and shoved her bony ass out of the way. I needed to make sure Archibald was okay.

When I actually made it inside the condo, the first thing I noticed was the shattered bottle of scotch in the kitchen with glass cup lying next to it.

I noticed one of the paramedics in the living room so I made my way over to him.

"What happened?" I asked, frantically. My face was starting to get hot, I didn't want to start crying before I got any answers.

"I'm sorry, ma'am. Who are you?" The paramedic questioned me.

"I'm his girlfriend." I state, confidently but somehow embarrassed as well.

The paramedics eyes widened in shock and he directed me to the bedroom, I'm guessing where everyone else was.

I found Archibald lying on the bed with an oxygen mask over his mouth, another paramedic checking his vitals, and Heather hovering over him with Marianne's hand resting on Heathers shoulders.

When the family acknowledged my presence, they all shared a disgusted look between them. I'm guessing Laura had spilled the beans about Archibald and I's relationship.

"You little, whore. Get out of here!" Marianne yelled, bitterly.

Ignoring her, I walked towards the bed and placed myself by Archibald's side, wrapping my hands around his. "Archibald, it's me, Karma." I say softly, my voice cracking as my eyes filled with tears.

Slowly, he fluttered his eyes open. Using his free hand, he removed the oxygen mask from his mouth and attempted to speak.

"Go to Miami. I'll meet you there." Was all he said. He dug around his pocket and handed me a key.

Huh.

"I'm not leaving without you," I tell him. Hell no.

"Please, just go." Archibald struggled to breathe and speak at the same time so I knew now was not the right time for an argument.

"I love you." I tell him, tears streaming down my face as I placed a kiss on his hand, slowly releasing it.

"I love you too," Archibald replies, a weak smile briefly flashed across his face.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." I heard Marianne exclaim. Once I was no longer by Archibald's side, I stood face to face with her.

"Is there a problem?" I confronted Marianne, who rolled her eyes and huffed before speaking. She folded her arms across her chest and served me a disgusted look. Almost as if she couldn't stand the site of me.

"I always knew you would be trouble..." Marianne muttered. "You young, money-hungry, home wrecking whore." Marianne spat at me.

This caused me to laugh a little. I was far from a home wrecker.

"And you laugh... you laugh as if you are not the cause of him being this way!" Marianne continued. "He's on his death bed because of you."

Now, she was starting to piss me off.

"I am not the cause of anything. And I am certainly not a home wrecker." I say, simply. "You and Archibald's relationship had ended long before I entered the picture." I snapped at her.

For some reason, I had forgotten Heather was also in the room with us, talking to the paramedic. She didn't jump into the conversation until she'd heard me giving Marianne a piece of my mind.

"Karma, you should leave. You don't belong here." Heather intervenes.

My neck had became rubber and I snapped it around to face her.

"I don't belong here?" I questioned her statement.

Heather cleared her throat and nodded quickly. "You heard me." Before this mishap, I had never had any issues with Heather. I'm guessing her finding out about her father and I, sparked some attitude out of her.

"You just don't want me here..." I thought out loud. I looked back over at a lifeless Archibald, and then placed my hand over my stomach. I didn't need the stress. Our baby didn't need the stress either.

"We've got to get him to a hospital, immediately." The paramedic announced loudly. "His heart beat is all over the place."

Marianne rushed over to Archibald's side. I attempted to do the same but Heather gently grabbed my arm.

"I know you mean well. However, I don't think he'd want you to see him like this. I'll keep in touch." Heather tells me.

My face flushed with tears as I made my way out of Archibald's building. The love of my life and my child's father was on his deathbed. My heart couldn't take any of it.

Was this Karma for the life I chose to live?

Taking my clothes off for money, sleeping with a man who was technically still married, cheating on him with a psychotic drug dealer, conceiving a child out of wedlock?

God was punishing me. I just knew it.

Not wanting to linger around any longer, I hopped in my car and drove.

I drove all the way to Miami.

However, my soulmate didn't make it there.