Breathe.

18

Ryan Irons

"Keith just texted, he asked where we were going." Z mumbled as I looked for a parking space.

"Tell him that we're heading into the hospital." I answered as Daya texted him back for me as I parked.

Zendaya and I walked into the hospital, frantically looking for Toni. I noticed she was pacing the hospital waiting room and quickly rushed over through the crowd of people. When we got over there, I noticed Kelly and Janet sat there.

I looked back at my best friend and she mumbled. "It's not the time. I won't start nothing."

Nodding, I believed her and let it go. When Toni saw us, her arms swung around Zendaya as they hugged. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head as she cried into Daya's shoulder. "Guys, I can't lose her. I can't lose anyone else."

"It's gonna be alright. She's a fighter."

When she let her go, she told us. "She was okay. She was walking and talking. Even laughed. Then the next moment she was barely breathing. Kelly helped me get her here."

Our eyes fell on Kelly and Janet whom didn't hesitate to meet eye contact with us. I didn't speak but Zendaya mumbled. "Thank you. You didn't have to do that."

Shit— maybe I should have told myself the speech I told Zendaya cause the last thing I was about to do was say thank you.

Kelly nodded. "It's no problem."

Zendaya sat down a couple of chairs away from Kelly and Janet. I was about to as well but stopped when I noticed Toni was pacing again. Speaking softly, I caught her attention. "Nafessa wouldn't want you in this waiting room pacing around. You know she's a fighter. She's not going down without a fight. Take a breath Toni, she's gonna be alright."

She nodded before coming sit down next to Daya. I could tell she wasn't alright, but right now I needed her to calm down before something happened to her. Zendaya noticed her leg. "What happened to your leg?"

"I think something scrapped me hard. The lady said the gash wasn't deep, but it was enough to turn my grey shirt a deep red. I'm fine though, I'm just worried about Fessa."

Zendaya threw her arm over Toni's shoulder. "It'll be alright T. She's gonna be fine."

"But what if she's not Daya?" Toni asked softly. "She literally made sure that I was okay and put herself in harms way. Her first instinct was to put me under her. If she's not okay— I won't be."

"And you still haven't gave that girl no cat?" Zendaya joked causing us three to laugh.

I shook my head. "It's not the damn time Z."

"I'm just saying." She chuckled before raising her hands in surrender and getting back serious. "No, but honestly, whatever happens, we are gonna be here every step of the way."

Noticing how awkward it was with Kelly and Janet sitting. I mumbled. "You two don't have to wait... we got Toni."

Kelly shook her head. "No. It's fine. I would like to know if she's okay as well."

"And she's my girlfriend so whatever she wants, I'm cool with." Janet mumbled as if she was tired of being here.

"Do you ever give a crap about anyone but your self?" Zendaya questioned irritated by her tone. "If you wanna bounce, convince ya girlfriend, nothing's keeping you here."

"Obviously my girlfriend just said she wanted to stay." Janet shot back and received a look from Kelly.

"Obviously she don't need you on her side 24/7. Go ahead and dip Miss Jackson, trust me, no one wants to cause bodily harm to your girlfriend as much as we would like to cause it upon you. We will get your girlfriend home in one piece." I muttered with venom in my voice.

Janet rolled her eyes. "I just said—."

"Aht. Aht. Ssh."

"I didn't ask a question so don't respond. I said what I said." I finished as I rolled my eyes right back at her.

Nafessa Williams

My eyes fluttered opened and I closed them when I realized a light was in my eyes. Slowly opening them this time, I noticed it was the room light. Looking around, I caught sight of the heart monitor and I tried to sit up but someone spoke. "Aht. Lay down."

I knew it was my mother's voice and I looked over at her as I asked weakly. "Ma, why am I here?"

She walked over and began messing with some bag that was connected to me. "A broken rib. You, my dear daughter, are a warrior."

"A warr—." I trailed off when I thought about Toni. "Where's Toni? Is she okay?"

"Toni's fine. She needed stitches and that's it. A few cuts and bruises but nothing that won't heal and fade away. Still she seems the most worried about you my dear."

"What happened? I can't remember much after I got pulled in."

My moms eyes met mines. "Into the tornado?"

"Yeah. It was dark but I could hear stuff flying by me or maybe me flying by it. Something hard hit me and it knocked the wind out of me and then suddenly I hit the ground in pain but I got up to find Toni. That's about all I can remember, is making it to her and then it went into a long blur after that." I took a deep breath because it was still hard to breathe.

"How hard was the hit?" My mom asked me suddenly.

"I knew my rib had broke. I heard it. Then I couldn't breathe."

She noticed me struggling to keep my breath. "Fessa, can you breathe now? Does it hurt? Is it hard to breathe?"

I nodded when the pain settled harshly. "Yeah. It hurts pretty bad."

"Baby, you punctured your lung. I'm gonna put you back to sleep now okay? It'll be alright, you'll wake up and be able to breathe. I don't want you to panic, and I don't want you to fight the medicine okay?"

"No. Let me see Toni mom."

"You can see Toni for twelve days straight as soon as you get out of surgery."

"Surgery?" I questioned quickly. "Mom no, what do you mean surgery?"

My mom didn't answer but put an oxygen mask around my head as she hit her pager. I tried to take it off and she smacked my hand and shook her finger signaling for me to stop. The look on my mothers face alone scared the hell out of me and I didn't truly know how to feel. Nurses came in but didn't speak much. What the hell was happening? I wanted to know. I knew two things though.

Toni is going to kill me again if I die and.... I do not want to die on a table! That's not how I want my damn story to end.

It began getting hard to stay awake and before I knew it I found myself falling back asleep feeling like I was floating on a cloud.