Baby Dearest

You Can Look At Me

PLS, the way i just wrote smut for this book while in class. 😭😭 you'll get it soon enough

"Hi, we're here for April Sancton," I spoke to the receptionist at the front of the hospital. The lady with brown hair piled on top of her head chewed gum obnoxiously as the tips of her fingers glided across the keyboard.

"It's about time that poor little lady had some visitors," her name tag read "Julia" as she focused on the screen in front of her. "Y'all must be her children though. I'm sure this ain't too easy on y'all," Julia went on. I turned my head towards Josh as we shared a mutual look before returning our eyesight back to the receptionist.

"She has a friend or two visit. Miss Maybelle is a lovely woman, so smart and thoughtful. However that gentleman never says much when he's up here... Doesn't do much neither as far as I know, just sits and looks at her," I looked back at Josh again, my eyebrows strained together and we both mutually and silently agree she was talking about Kane.

"He hasn't been up here but once or twice though," Julia's pops her gum before scribbling on a note card in pen. "Handsome fella, your little ma has something to look forward to when she wakes up," she smiled to herself before holding the notecard in front of me.

"She's in room 301, second floor, take a left from the elevator," I slowly took the small piece of paper from the young woman and nodded at her.

As Josh and I headed for the elevator, I looked over the card which had the exact same directions she delivered verbally in chicken scratch.

Hospitals were never my thing. The only times I had been in them was my birth, the birth of my brother, and well, the last time. Our family wasn't that big so I had never seen a family death, had a sick family member, that cared about their health, or births.

Once we got to the room, my throat tightened. Room 301 was right in front of us and Josh didn't hesitate to open the door. He took steps in until he realized I hadn't followed right behind him. Instead, I parked myself on the bench right outside her door.

Josh looked back at me before taking steps my way. "Joshua, no," I knew exactly what he wanted me to do. He wanted me to sit beside our mother, hold her cold hand, maybe even hysterically cry like they do in those soap operas every grandparent watches.

Josh shrugged his shoulders and sat next to me, back slumped and his chin resting in the palm of his right hand.

I looked down at him, wondering what he was doing. He could obviously feel my stare, side eyeing me to confirm his suspicions. "If you're not going in there, neither am I," he said defeatedly.

"You asked to come up here Joshua, I didn't."

"I wanted you to come with me, or else I could've just asked Kane," he mumbled the last part.

I looked up at my surroundings and into the room that held my unconscious mother before sighing and standing up in front of my baby brother.

"Get up," I said as he looked up at me before heading to the door. "If you're gonna guilt trip me into seeing her then let's go," I shrugged and he stood up.

"Whatever it takes," Josh mumbled before stepping in front of me to get inside.

Josh had pulled two chairs up by our mothers bedside and sat in the one closest to her.

"Hey mom," he said.

I rolled my eyes. This was just like the soap operas I had to watch with grandmother when I visited.

Josh took a long breath in and a shaky breath out before stating it was him. "You know, Nicole is here too," he gave a sad smile down at his shoes

"I've been thinking about you this whole time," he promised her, and at that moment I was transported back to a previous thought of mine.