Breathe (Tay K)~COMPLETED

40🌺: Mistake

Ebony|E 🦋

"You sure youn wanna go to the hospital?"

"I'm sure." It was quiet for a minute.

"If you staying because of me—"

"Ion wanna go." I told him, biting my lip. Terry had a full house at the hospital last night. I couldn't take the questions. Simply because I didn't have the answers.

"Okay...you wanna go out to eat? Yeen ate all day."

"Not hungry." I mumbled, shifting in the sofa.

"Welp, we goin'. You need to step out for the day." I groaned as he got up.

"Come on." He pulls me up by my hands.

"Hmmph!" He sucked his teeth.

"Just put the shoes on." He says.
*

"Boy, I hope this place ain't nasty." I said as we got out of the car.

"I came when I first touched down. They good." He said, clicking the car door shut. When we walked in, it was a little busy, but not much. I was about to pick a small area to sit, when Tay stopped me.

"Come on." He said, leading me to a booth. I followed him and we sat down.

"How you feelin'?" He asked, looking concerned.

"Aight." I shrugged. "You? Look like Yeen slept in days."

"Jet lag." He dismisses it so simply. "Seeing you made it better, though." I chuckled.

"Corny, but thanks. You still not off the hook." I said quietly, grabbing his hand. He gripped it.

"I know." He whispered as he looked down at my hand. "I know." He repeated. I looked at everything but him.

"I remember one night—I was still staying in a dorm then—, I was texting you back to back to back. I'm talm bout blowing yo shit up. Boyyy, I coulda killed you that day." We both busted out laughing. It wasn't awkward or not genuine, it was just faint.

"It was our anniversary?"

"You damn skippy." I smiled, wiping a tear discreetly. "That was the night I decided to step away." Now, there's the awkward silence.

"E, I'm s—" I held up a hand.

"No need to say it again. You're here now, right?" He nodded.

"Oh my God, is that TayK? Holy shit, dude!" I sighed, not even turning around at the sound of voices. He just gave them a 'wassup' nod.

"Can we sit with y'all? Just for a minute?" I looked at Tay in disbelief when he nodded with a blank expression.

"Um, excuse me—oh my damn!" I jumped up and hugged the familiar faces. Ziggy and Black were here. Now, they actually kept in contact with me.

"Missed you lil sis." Black said, squeezing me. He let me go and we all sat down after I hugged Ziggy lame ass for a long time.

"What brought y'all here?" I was all smiles. We had been talking about meeting up for the longest.

"We heard our lil sis needed cheering up. Hopped on the next flight down here."

"Awwww!" It seemed like time went to fast as we ate, and went back to my apartment to watch movies. After a while, the three boys were asleep, sprawled out everywhere. It gave me time to think.

Time to realize that I should go see Terry. At least once. I eased from under Tay's body and slipped on my shoes.

"Where you going?" I heard a sleepy voice ask. I turn around and Ziggy was rubbing his eyes.

"To the store really quick. I'll be back, okay?" I whispered. He nodded and tossed to get comfortable again. I went out the door quietly.

The drive to the hospital seemed longer than ever. I questioned my desire to go at least twice at each traffic stop. When I finally got there, I looked at the intimidating building for a minute before continuing in. It was so quiet and empty since it was late.

Seventh floor, I recalled as I stepped onto the elevator. It pinged, and I stepped out. The sound of my footsteps essentially distracted me from my nervousness as I approached the door. Three knocks.

"Come in." A dry and tired voice seeped through the thick door just enough for me to hear. I opened the door and stepped into the dimly lit room.

"Ebony, hey." Terry sat up in the bed a little, voice so soft.

"I'm sorry I'm here so late."

"Don't apologize." This was the first time I caught a glimpse of the man in the corner. He greeted me silently, and I did the same awkwardly.

"Suicide watch." Terry told me. I sat in the chair on the bedside.

"I'm sorry." I told him, sniffling. "I am."

"Hey...I told you. You don't have to apologize. Thank you for being straight up with me. And for the record, you saved me. Found out ian really wanna die too late. I did that outta spite. Them pussy niggas killed my cousin." He mumbled.

"Oh my God, AJ?" I asked, feeling my eyes become glossy. He looked at me with a cold stare.

"No..." He whispered. "Kaylee." I felt my heart drop and a tear drop with it. Kaylee was super young. Maybe six. She was pretty much Terry's world. I squeezed his hand and he squeezed it back. A split second later, he let it go.

"Ion want you to think you gotta be here." He says. "I told you—"

"And I'm telling you—I'm here for you. As you your friend—whatever the hell I gotta be." The door clicked open and we both looked over. I groaned internally at the silhouette in the door. Terry told me a lot about his mother. Things I have drawn to about her are as follows:

She's a major bitch.

"Hell you doing here?"

"Ma, this is my gir—ex girlfriend. Ebony, this is my mama." His mama shuts the door.

"What brings you here so damn late? Haven't seen you come any time else." She states.

"Ma, cool out, she's the one who called for me." He tells her firmly.

"And she's the one who cheated on you, right?"

"Son of a bitch, Abdul's big mouth ass told you, didn't he? E, I was under the meds still." He said. All I could do was sit there.

"She's right, though. I shouldn't even be here." I shrugged and informed him with a broken voice as I got up. He squeezed my hand.

"But... you just got here."

"I know, I'm sorry. This was a mistake. I'll call you later, okay? We can keep talking." He let go of my hand and looked at me, shocked. I blew him a sad kiss, then stepped out into the hallway, thinking about how I couldn't get home sooner.