Derek
In a cold sweat.
That's how I wake up when I don't wake up next to you.
All alone.
That's how I feel when I can't dream of you.
Such a fool.
Is who I am for hurting you.
Pure agony.
Is what I feel when I know I can't be with you.
"Baby, don't you hear me talking to you." Derek was snapped out of thoughts. He was sitting at his kitchen island in his condo with a bear in his hands. His eyes trailed slowly up her milky tanned legs as her back was facing towards him. She was only wearing one of his shirts leaving all her assets exposed as she comfortably moved around the kitchen making his lunch.
" I swear you need to get your hearing checked. I've been telling you need to get checked out by a doctor regularly, if you're going to keep taking fights like this without much rest. You promised me you would slow down... Babe...baby"
Adrienne swiftly turned around and snapped at Derek for not paying her any attention. Her sudden movements made Derek look up at her face.
" I'm sorry I got distracted." Derek said with a smirk. Adrienne rolled her eyes as she turned to finish making Derek's sandwich.
"No need to be sorry. I'm just the wife you sleep with when it's convenient." Adrienne snarkly said. She forcibly placed his plate of food in front of him with an attitude.
" Aye cut it out. I said I was sorry. What I can't look at you now ? I can't help but admire your beautiful ass with your titties flopping around and shit"
Derek eagerly took a bite of his sandwich since he hadn't eaten that day. He had a long day of meetings and training. He had another huge fight booked for the next month even though he just fought two weeks before.
Adrienne just looked at him putting her attitude on display with her arms crossed and scowl on her face.
"What the hell do you want Adrienne? You've been nagging me ever since I walked in the door." Derek put his food to the side giving Adrienne his undivided attention. He watched as she walked around the island to be face to face with him.
" I want you to give a damn, Derek. We had an appointment with Angel's doctor and you missed it."
" That was today?" Derek sighed realizing his mistake but pissed off that Adrienne didn't just say that from the beginning.
" Yes, today. It was clearly on the schedule. Angel's ear transplant appointment at 10:30am and Angel's dietary appointment at 11:45am. You told me to make the appointments back to back like this so you could be there. If you would have answered your phone you would have been reminded." Adrienne fussed.
" I was busy. I'll make sure to make the next one." Derek said simply about digging into his sandwich again.
" That's it?"
" What else do you want me to say? I was busy. Something you would get used to being if you would get off your ass." Derek retorted as he looked around the junky apartment. There was dirty laundry and toys everywhere. Adrienne had her text books on the kitchen table with mountains of baby bottles on top." I shouldn't be the only one working my ass off trying to pay off these medical bills. We had a deal. I work and you take care of the house. I shouldn't have to come home to this."
" Are you serious? Derek, I can't believe you right now. Do you know how hard it is to take care of a child? Nonetheless a child that is allergic to practically everything but my damn breast. But I can't feed her enough. It's hard trying to figure out when is the best time to give her medicine because I'm afraid she would just throw it up anyway. You don't have to hear her screams when she's afraid because she can't hear her mother say it's okay. I try hard to get through school and take care of her at the same time. The least you can do is show up." Adrienne was fed up but so was Derek. They were both doing the best they could.
" I show up for my daughter."
" You show up half assed, drunk with your money and your dick hanging..." Adrienne was cut off by a slap of his hand across.
"Watch your fucking mouth" Derek said angrily. As soon as the words came out his lips, he felt sick to his stomach.
" Get the fuck up and go do something. Over her arguing with me. I'm trying to eat damnit" Once again every word he spewed out tastes like poison.
" I should have left your ass a long time ago like my unc told me too but nah my punk ass was in love with you. Better yet you should have left like everybody else did. You do the right thing then all of sudden aint nobody cares."
At this point Derek wasn't talking to Adrienne. In fact he was nowhere near Adrienne, he was alone staring at himself in the mirror. His surroundings had warped into a different setting. There were no toys around and no scent of Adrienne's sweet perfume. He was no longer in the kitchen but in his gym, his mirrored self taunting him.
" What kind of man puts their hands on a woman? A punk ass bitch. Yeah You're a punk ass bitch Derek" Derek shouted at himself. He took a sip out of the bottle he was holding. The liquor burned as it went down.
He threw the bottle across the room, then laughed at the sight of this mess he made.
" You should have picked up the phone dummy. Now she's dead and there's nothing you can do about it. Your momma is dead and now..."
Derek suddenly woke up out of his sleep in a cold sweat. His chest burned as he tried to catch his breath. His body began to shake as he let out a cry. He had spent hours drinking his sorrows away finally passing out on his couch. His dreams were torture as he thought about had transpired between him and Adrienne. He desperately did not want to be anything like his step father, but his dreams showed a darker version of Derek.
" I need help. Momma I need help." He said out loud, contemplating where his life is going to go from here.
____
Adrienne
Adrienne opened her eyes to see a bright light shining down on her. She tried to shun her eyes away from the light but felt extremely heavy as if she was weighed down. She began to panic when she finally realized something was lodged in her throat. She then heard someone come in the room seizing her movements.
" She's awake." a lady came into her view wearing pink scrubs. " Nurse Angela, she's awake. " she hollered again.
" Oh good. Hey sweetpea, you remember me?" Nurse Angela finally came to view. Adrienne realized she was in the hospital. She wanted to speak but couldn't with the tube stuck in her throat.
" I'll go get Dr. Green. I'm sure you want this out of your mouth." Not wanting to be alone with anyone she wasn't familiar with, Adrienne grabbed onto Nurse Angela's hand and pleaded with her eyes to not to leave.
" Okay sweetie. I understand. Go get Dr. Green and her parents, quickly. Oh honey don't cry, it only makes it worse."
It was a matter of a few minutes when Dr. Green burst through the door. " How's our girl doing?" Dr. Green asked as he went to wash his hands and put fresh gloves on. " Your parents are on their way up."
" She's doing okay. She's a bit scared, that's all. I'm sure she is ready to get this breathing tube out of her throat." Nurse Angela explained as she wiped Adrienne's tears.
Soon after both Diane and Jason came into the room." Momma's here baby."
Instantly, Adrienne let go of Nurse Angela's hand and grabbed onto Diane's. Adrienne wanted to cry harder but couldn't with the breathing tube in the way. It only made her want to cough.
" Is she in pain Doc?" Jason asked, seeing Adrienne in hysterics. Nurse Angela tried her best to console her but Adrienne still wouldn't calm down.
" She shouldn't be with the high dosage of medicine she's on. Let's get this tube out. Ready Angie?" Both Dr. Green and Nurse Angela were at either side of Adrienne putting both Diane and Jason at the foot of the bed. Adrienne refused to let go of Diane's hand so she had to move in closer but still remained out of the way.
" Okay Adrienne I want you to take a huge breath in when I tell you to, Okay? On three. One... Two... Three deep breaths in." Nurse Angela turned the breathing machine off. " Good. Blow it out now real big that's it" Dr. Green pulled the tube out of Adrienne's throat as she blew out air.
Adrienne gasped for air and began to cough. The other nurse came in just in time to help as Adrienne began coughing up fluid. " Turn her over on her side, gently. " Dr. Green stated as he helped Nurse Angela do so as the other nurse held a bucket to Adrienne's mouth. Once she was done they placed her back on her back in a sitting up position and wiped her mouth.
" It's okay Adrienne." Diane tried to soothe.
" Her BP is rising. All other vitals are good " Dr. Green looked up from checking Adrienne's abdomen and where the incision was made and looked at her monitor. The surgery went well. They were able to remove the clot and stopped any other bleeding they saw without disturbing the baby. It wasn't an easy surgery though. At one point, Adrienne's heart stopped from loss of blood. The removal of the blood clot had caused an artery to bleed. Thankfully, Dr. Green was able to access the problem quickly and stopped her from bleeding any further. The baby's heart rate is still not where they would want it to be but hoped it will approve as Adrienne gets better.
" Does Adrienne have a history of panic attacks?"he asked.
Both Jason and Diane said yes at the same time . They looked at each other before starting the routine to get Adrienne to calm down.
" Give her 10 milligrams of Tranquilene and 5 milligrams of Aspirin by I.V. push" Dr. Green ordered. " I know you're scared, but it's very important that I ask you some questions. Squeeze my hand for yes, if you can't speak"
" Are you in any pain?... No...Okay good. Do you know where you are?"
" hospital" Adrienne whispered as her lips quivered. She was trying to calm herself down but she was a bit overwhelmed.
" Do you know why you're here?"
Adrienne squirmed again, not wanting to think about it. While she was coming off anesthesia, she had nightmares but couldn't wake herself up due to the amount of medication she was on.
" Okay, you don't have to discuss it now. " Doctor Green continued his exam by checking Adrienne's reflexes and her eye movement. Something he never got a chance to do before going into surgery. " I would say she is in the clear for head trauma. Her reflexes are sharp. She's alert and coherent. Her CT scan looks promising. The stitches should heal up nicely. Maybe with a slight scar. "
Nurse Angela came over with a cup of water for Adrienne as both Jason and Diane listened intently. Adrienne accepted the water calming down a bit but was still on edge.
" You mentioned complications with the surgery earlier. What should we expect moving forward?" Diane asked Doctor Green as she wiped Adrienne's face with her fingers.
Adrienne relaxed in her mother's touch as she eagerly drank water. She can feel her mothers worry exuding from her. Diane's face looked sunken in as if she had not slept in days. A frown was edged on her forehead with her eyes glistened with worry.
"I should have told you." Adrienne whispered as she looked up at her momma.
" What you say baby," Diane spoke unintentionally, interrupting Dr. Green's assessment. Dr. Green of course understood and relaid the last few details to Jason, who looked just as worried as Diane.
"I'm sorry." Adrienned cried. " I didn't mean for this to happen."
" Uh uh, we're not going to do that, Adrienne. You're not going to blame yourself for anything. Don't you worry about nothing, Momma is going to take care of you and Jason will find the people who did this to you. You just worry about getting better and baking up this surprised grandbaby of mine."
Adrienne sighed. This is definitely how she didn't want her mother to find out. " Is the baby okay? I swear I didn't know I was pregnant until a couple of days ago."
Diane looked up to Doctor Green for help.
Doctor Green overheard deciding to answer for Diane. " We will have to wait and see. Right now the baby is stable but is significantly underweight. Your parents were telling me your appetite has been lacking for a while now. Considering how far along you are and the stress you've been under, this could be the reason. However a baby generally does not gain most of its weight until the last few weeks. Try to relax for now and we'll order more tests."
Doctor Green excused himself after telling everyone to page him if there were any more questions. Soon Nurse Angela left after explaining that Adrienne is still using a urinary catheter to use the bathroom and will come back to remove it once the doctor gets a go ahead. Adrienne was quite embarrassed to hear that she wouldn't be able to feel when she needs to use the bathroom due to the numbness she still felt from surgery. How could she let this get so far left? Adrienne could not help but feel guilty from keeping this from them for so long. This is not how she imagined telling them. Adrienne had made up her mind after a long night thinking after Diane blew up on her that she couldn't keep this in for long. Yet here she was in the hospital, with a sick baby inside her and exposed.
" Stop crying sweetheart. You'll get yourself sick again." Jason said as he came around the other side of the bed and sat in a chair. " Me and mommy are right here."
" I can't stop. I'm so sorry." Adrienne hiccuped.
" Shh" Diane got in bed with Adrienne carefully trying to hurt her. " Come here baby. shh"
Diane engulfed her in her arms and began to rock her back and forth. It could be medicine or it could be Diane's warm embrace that gradually put Adrienne to sleep. Nonetheless, Adrienne was quiet and relaxed
_________
" I hope you know, Imma whoop your ass." Emery said cooly towards Ashley who was sticking to her story about not knowing anything about the attack.
They were all still in the private waiting room, telling Jason's team all they knew about Adrienne's attack, the party, and anything else that was worth mentioning. They were finished giving out information they could give but Jason's team liked to work closely just in case anything else pops up. The boys were waiting on the all clear to leave to go see Derek, who still hadn't answered their calls or showed up to the hospital yet.
"You ain't whooping nobody's ass. Chill. She doesn't know anything." Tyler defended.
Emery scoffed." I will whoop your ass too for being with the bitch." Emery was beyond pissed off and was consolable at this point. James, Emery's boyfriend, continued rub on her back knowing there was no use in telling her to be quiet.
" You'll regret talking all this lip, Emery if the girl really is telling the truth." Kevin reasoned.
" Shut Up Kevin. The point is she had ample amount of time to tell me that Chloe was acting obsessed. That's why she is getting her ass beat. All up in our faces like she's innocent. If you were so uncomfortable with Chloe asking you about Adrienne to the point, you move out of her house, don't you think you should have spoke up and said '' Chloe is coocoo for cocoa puffs" Besides I didn't even know you lived with Chloe and I've been your friend longer than anybody here." Emery fumed.
Emery shifted in her seat trying to control herself. She was not about to act a fool in this hospital for the sake of Diane and Adrienne. As soon as she gets word that Adrienne was okay and that she can leave, she was going to whoop somebody's ass and ain't noone or nobody is going to stop her. Emery was sweet as can be but one thing she hated was being played, especially when it's behind people she loved and cared about.
" I'm sorry, Em. You're right I should have said something but I honestly didn't think it would have come to this. She's my cousin and I didn't think she would be capable of doing anything crazy. And I still don't" Ashley explained.
" You better believe it because all flags point to her and her momma. And you best believe your ass is getting kicked." Emery retorted.
Suddenly, Jason walked in the room with a frown on his face. He obviously heard what Emery said. Emery wasn't fazed by it. She said what she said and she meant every word.
" Emery" Emery looked up at Jason innocently.
" Diane is asking for you," He said to Emery. Diane really didn't ask for Emery but knew if he didn't get her out the room she would explode.
" How is she?" Helena asked. She and the rest of the team have been working hard in compiling notes ignoring the teens drama.
" umm, she's okay. She's not up for talking right now. I don't want to put her through any more stress by talking about it. At least not today."
" We understand." Boss man spoke. " Oscar and I will speak to the local police on your behalf and Helena will write up a file on the information we have already. We will start fresh tomorrow.. Go be with your family, we got the rest."
Boss man and the rest of the team began gathering their things. Jason then turned to the boys who were silently waiting to see what they should do. " I need yall to go check on Derek and bring him here. Something doesn't seem right with him not answering his phone. And Ashley please go home. I understand you want to be here for Adrienne but you're making it worse by being here "
Jason did not care if Ashley went off and told her family about their suspicions, nobody will be able to run or hide until he finds who did this.
Jason made his way back down the hall toward Adrienne room. Once he got closer he noticed Diane passing the floor in the hallway.
" What's wrong, babe? Something happened to Adrienne?"
" No, she's asleep. I just needed a minute. Emery is in there with her." Once her husband was close she grabbed onto him needing a embrace. She took in his scent and sighed.
" You're okay?" Jason asked already knowing she wasn't but asked to see what was on her mind. "I mean are you feeling alright? I can go home and grab your medication, if you need me to."
" No, I need you right here. I just keep thinking about Adrienne's attack. I can't seem to wrap my mind around who would do this or even why. If they did this to get back at me this is one way of doing it. Three men? Was that even necessary." Diane ranted angrily.
" Try not to think about it. I'll find out who did this and handle them. I promise."
Jason was confident in finding them and knowing his team they were out looking for loopholes as they spoke.
The couple was silently in their embrace for a while then suddenly Diane got a thought.
" Jason, I was molested three times by Joe. Please tell me it's a coincidence that Adrienne was gang raped by three men." Diane broke the embrace to look at Jason.
"Who else knows this other than me and your therapist?"
" I don't know but I had plenty of wild nights with Dathan and Shuga. Some I don't even remember. There's no telling what I said to Shuga. For a hot minute, she was the only one I trusted enough to be around me outside of work. I was 16, with it fresh on my mind I could have confided in Shuga while drunk."
Jason sighed, bringing Diane back into his arms. He kissed her forward trying to release her worry even if it was just for a second.
_____
What do you think? Talk to me it helps me write lol
Love all of you lots
Your Girl Draya