Prologue
“Oh, my God, Mily! What the fuck happened?” Shy squealed, too afraid to go any closer than five feet. Mace on the other hand was already dialing the police, if Carti hadn’t been lying there in a puddle of blood, he wouldn’t have done it.
Milyon kneeled over Carti, crying and talking to him, lowly. “Carti, baby… please wake up. I need you. Please, please don’t leave me like this, please…” She sobbed, barely able to get her words out, her hand rested on the side of his face, and the other holding his hand. His grip was loosening by the second.
Carti was slipping away, his breathing became faint. He struggled to keep his eyes opened, “I-I… love you, Mil’. Know ‘dat. You… you got my heart, ma.” Carti said, barely above a whisper.
“I love you too, Carti. Please, stay wit’ me! Please, baby… Oh, my God. I can’t breathe. Lord, please, please don’t do this. Baby, keep breathing for me, I can’t live wit’ out you, Cartier. Call the police!” She had heard Shy and Mace come in, and didn’t know that Mace was already on it. She then heard him talking.
Milyon’s heart was beating rapidly, while Carti’s heart was approaching its last. Milyon smacked his cheek, gently trying to wake him but his eyes had closed shut. “No, no, no. No, please… please…” Milyon cried. Just then, Carti released his last breathe, and his grip on her hand was gone.
Mace went over to Milyon who was still kneeling over Carti’s body, crying into his chest. “C’mon, sis’. The ambulance is on the way.” Mace tried pulling her arm, gently. He couldn’t stand to see his sister like this.
Shy stood off to the side, her hand over her mouth, she let out silent tears for Carti. Milyon snatched her arm away. “No! No, please just leave me alone. Just don’t touch me, please.” She said to her brother but never taking her eyes off of Carti. Mace then noticed his gun sticking out of Carti’s waist band; he then went to grab it. He didn’t want his nigga catching a gun charge, if he made it out of this. He then stuffed it into his waistband, and went to put on his Timbs which were already by the door.
Just then, they heard the sirens, Mace went to open the door after he stuffed his feet into his boots. The paramedics climbed out of their vehicles. There was a fire truck right behind them, along with two police cars. Mace held the door open for the paramedics to come in. They came in asking questions about what happened, Mace only told them Carti’s name, and some other basic shit. They quickly lifted Carti’s body, along with Taylor’s, and put them on stretchers.
The police began doing their job, asking questions and shit too. No one could answer but Milyon and she was too shaken up to speak. She watched as they took Cartier’s body, still crying.
“What hospital are you goin’ to?” Mace asked the paramedic as they put the bodies into separate ambulances.
“Henry Ford.” A white paramedic responded, he had a receding hair line. Mace nodded, he walked back into the house to get Milyon who stood in the doorway, watching. “C’mon, Mil’. We gon’ follow behind them.” He said, reaching for her hand.
Shy appeared behind Milyon. “Hol’ on, Mace. She don’t have on no shoes.” Shy said, grabbing Milyon’s shoulder. Milyon followed Shy, she was dazed. Shy helped her put her Ugg boots on, and they both headed out of the house. The police stayed behind and did their job.
Milyon was too afraid to ride in the ambulance; she was scared he wouldn’t come back. She was afraid that the paramedics would look at her and say, “Sorry, ma’am, we did all we could do.” Milyon didn’t want to hear those dreadful words, she would prefer not to be around if they couldn’t bring him back.
The two got into Mace’s Audi, Milyon in the front, and Shy in the back. They weren’t able to put on their seatbelts on before Mace stepped on the gas-pedal, following behind the ambulance.
“Who was the bitch?” Mace asked, still looking at the road.
Milyon to her time responding, “Her name is Taylor. Carti used to fuck wit’ her but she’s crazy so he cut her off…” Milyon sighed, deeply. She continued, “It’s a long story, I don’t wanna talk about it right now.” She said, and said nothing else. Mace already knew who Taylor was, and he had a feeling she was the bitch laid out in the foyer. He also had a feeling she wasn’t dead.
No one said anything else, the radio wasn’t even playing. Milyon stared out of the window, crying silent tears. She didn’t know what would happen to Carti but she prayed that they could bring him back. She felt like a terrible person, she felt guilty for not shooting Taylor’s head off of her shoulders. But, she’d never handled a gun before besides when Carti took her to the shooting range; she barely passed the test to get her license to carry a gun. She didn’t expect that she would actually have to shoot Taylor; she thought that Taylor would give up and just go. Milyon was so wrong. Milyon just wanted to go with Carti.
The ambulance was speeding through red lights, and stopping traffic, shit, so was Mace. He didn’t give a fuck. Mace actually ended up in front of the ambulance, he arrived at the hospital before they did.
Mace pulled into the crowded parking lot, circling around two times before he finally found a parking space, he pulled into it, not caring whether the park was straight or not. He hoped out of the car, and ran to the emergency room doors, Shy followed behind dragging Milyon by her hand. Milyon was completely afraid of what Carti’s fate was. She wasn’t mentally prepared for what she may hear.
They knew the ambulance hadn’t arrived yet, so they waited patiently until they saw the truck pull in. What a fucked up Christmas. It always seemed that Milyon would have to endure the most bullshit when she was supposed to be having the time of her life. First, her birthday when Mace got shot and now, Carti gets shot on Christmas.
Milyon went to sit in a chair in the emergency room waiting area. She slowly sat down, and stared off into space for a moment, the tears started once again. Her hands then covered her face, she sobbed loudly into them. Shy quickly went to Milyon’s side, rubbing her back for comfort. “Let it out, Mil’. Just let that shit out.” Shy said.
“I just… I just w-wanna die, Shy. I can’t live without that man; I swear to God, I can’t. You don’t understand.” Milyon said, barely able to speak.
Shy shook her head, “No, don’t say that, Mily. You don’t mean that… just calm down.” Shy said, hugging Milyon. Just then, Mace came over to them.
“Aye, I just saw the ambulance pull in. But I think they’re going through a different door. So, we gotta wait.” Mace said, but instead of taking a seat, he went over to the receptionist desk. He asked them if they had any updates on him, knowing that they probably didn’t.
She stopped doing whatever she was doing on the desk-top computer and looked up at him, “He was just checked into the hospital. It won’t be long before they start to work on him. When they have any updates, one of the doctors will come out here and speak to you and your family personally, okay?” the white, middle-aged receptionist replied. Mace nodded, he sat on the other side of Milyon who was still crying. He didn’t know what to say to her, he wasn’t good with these kinds of situations.
Milyon started to breathe hard, and loud. Mace and Shy looked at her. She was still crying but she was holding her chest, like she was in pain. “Mil’, you good?” Mace asked, looking at his sister.
Milyon shook her head ‘No’. “I c-can’t breathe,” she opened her mouth, sucking in air. She continued, “And there’s a lot of pressure on my chest… I need to go get some water.” Milyon said, and then tried to stand up. But as soon as she got on her feet, she was too dizzy to keep her balance, she almost fell back into the chair but Mace caught her and sat her down.
“Whoa, whoa. Just sit right here, Mil’, aight? I’ma go try to get a doctor.” Mace said, hoping out of his seat, and ran over to the receptionist. The receptionist replied that a nurse would be out soon.
No more than three minutes later, a Hispanic nurse came out, and walked over to Milyon, Mace, and Shy. She automatically noticed Milyon clutching her chest and assumed she was the one that she needed to speak to. “Hello, dear. My name is Nurse Rodriguez. I’ll be your nurse, you can follow me.” the nurse stood in front of Milyon. She helped Milyon up and then led her through a set of doubled doors. They then came into an area where there were many patient rooms; she took Milyon into one, and helped her sit onto the patient chair. The nurse asked her what was wrong.
Milyon replied, faintly. “I can’t breathe, and my chest feels funny… like, there’s a lot of pressure on it. And I feel a little nauseous, and really dizzy when I stand.” Milyon explained. The nurse then pulled out her tools to check Milyon’s temperature, her pulse, respiratory rate, and blood pressure. The nurse already knew what the problem was. She told Milyon to feel out the register form, and that she would be back in a bit because she needed to handle some other patients coming into the emergency room.
Milyon sat there, drinking the small cup of water, and filled out the information. She could barely write due to the trembling.
Over five minutes later, the nurse came back. She took Milyon’s register form, she told her that a doctor would be in any minute now, and that she should continue to breathe in and out deeply, like meditating.
Milyon was stuck with her thoughts. She wanted Carti. She prayed to the Lord that there would be a miracle. She wondered why she could never be happy for too long, why? What did she ever do wrong? She knew she was a screw up sometimes, and she blamed herself for being too afraid to kill Taylor. But no one would ever understand the kind of position she was in unless they had experienced it before. She was still young, and she was learning lessons every day. She’d been close to death numerous times, she couldn’t take it anymore. Why was death taunting her? Why wouldn’t they just take her? She just wanted to let go.
Soon, the doctor came in. He made small talk with her and told her that she was probably experiencing a panic attack. He said that it could be due to many things— stress, depression, etc. He said he was going to give her a blood test to get closer to the source of her panic attack. He prescribed her some medicine; it would prolong the panic attacks from happening, so they would happen less or not happen at all.
He then handed her a cup to pee in, and led her to a restroom, she peed in it, missing by a lot. She wiped the small container off, and then wiped herself. She washed her hands, dried them, and opened the door to leave the restroom. The doctor met her in the hallway, took the container, and then led her out down the hall to the lab testing area.
A nurse walked her into a room, and hooked tubes into her arm. They poked a long ass needle inside of her, and she watched as the blood left her body, running through the tube. After that, they told her that they would contact her with the results, and the result would also be sent to her house. Milyon was fine with that, and afterwards, they sent her on her marry way.
Milyon didn’t notice that her symptoms had subsided, and she was back to breathing normal. She hoped it wouldn’t happen again. That shit was nerve racking.
She left out through the same double doors that she’d come through. She entered the waiting area of the emergency room to see Shy and Mace, still in their same seats. She headed over to them; they asked if she was good. She told them that it was a panic attack and the doctor prescribed her some medicine for it. She asked them if they’d gotten any information back on Carti, they shook their heads ‘No’. They all sat and waited, anxiously.
After waiting over twenty minutes, a male doctor came out, asking for the family of Cartier King. They all stood up. The tall, white, gray-haired doctor approached them. “Hi, I’m doctor Carcowski. When Mr. King was brought to me… he was nearly dead. He was not breathing and he had a very faint heartbeat. We were able to revive him with several rounds of cardioversion by use of electricity. He lost a lot of blood which compromises brain function, causing him to slip into a coma. Mr. King’s left lung was punctured by both bullets, in the same spot, we did remove the bullets. The type of gun that was used couldn’t have been that powerful or Mr. King would be dead.” The doctor explained and everyone listened intently. They were all very thankful that Carti survived.
The doctor continued, “We had to perform what is called a Catheter Aspiration where a small bore needle may be inserted between the second and third ribs into the air that has filled in between the lung and chest cavity. This technique is used to release the air that entered into his lung when he was shot. This operation was unsuccessful, so we inserted a tube into his chest; the tube is attached to a suction device which will remove the air over a course of hours or even days, this is to prevent the lung from collapsing. If his lung collapses, then his condition may become life threatening. This is what we want to prevent form happening, so he will be undergoing tube treatment and he will be placed on life support until his lungs are healed, and until he is able to breathe on his own.” The doctor paused, assuring that they’re following him. They nodded.
The doctor continued on, “Again, Mr. King is in a coma due to the amount of blood lost. We do not know when he will awake but we will continue to have him on life support. We do not know how long we will be able to have him on life support because we aren’t sure if his insurance will cover that expense—” the doctor said but Mace interrupted him.
“That won’t be a problem doc’…” Mace said, he pulled out a knot of money and the doctor said he would have to go to the receptionist’s desk for payment options and that’s exactly what Mace did. When Milyon asked if they could visit him, he said that visiting hours were over; it was past ten o’clock at night. He told them to come back early tomorrow. After Mace paid the receptionist in thousands, they left.
Mace rode past Cartier’s house, making them detour. They saw that the police had put yellow Caution tape in the doorway. Milyon said that she didn’t want to stay the night there alone, so they all headed back to the apartment building.
Mace made sure they ladies would be fine before he headed to his own apartment which was only floors away from theirs. Milyon said nothing; she simply went to her room and closed the door, Shy decided to give her space.
Milyon took a long, much needed bath. She then climbed into her bed, naked, and fell asleep with thoughts of Carti drifting through her mind.
***
The next morning, everyone awakened, prepared to go to the hospital to visit Carti. Milyon had Mace stop at a floral shop to get some flowers for him, even though she knew he wouldn’t like them. She picked out red daisies.
When they arrived at the hospital, Mace let them out at the door so they wouldn’t have to walk in the cold. Milyon told Shy that she was going to go and see if her doctor had her blood test ready. She got onto the elevator, and got off when she reached her designated floor. She automatically went to check in with the secretary who said that she would have to wait for a while because she didn’t schedule an appointment, she waited. Refusing to wait too long because she needed to see Carti.
Over twenty-five minutes later, a nurse called her to the back. Had her have a seat and then told her that the doctor would be back momentarily.
Moments later, the doctor did come back. “Hello, Ms. Carter. How are you?” he asked, shaking her hand. Milyon replied fine and asked about her blood test.
“Well, I have both your blood test results and your urine sample results right here.” He said, flipping through some papers on his clipboard. Milyon nodded, anxiously. The doctor continued to speak, “Now, I did not find any signs of infections or diseases in your blood test result. While, I found that you are five weeks pregnant according to both your blood test and your urine sample. Congratulations.” The doctor said.
Milyon thought she had heard wrong. How could she be pregnant? She was on birth control. But then, she forgot that she was supposed to go and get her shot right before they left out of town. She sighed deeply. She shook her head. “You said I’m pregnant, right? Are you sure?” Milyon asked, she chuckled slightly knowing she sounded crazy asking the doctor if he was sure.
The doctor chuckled too, “Yes, I’m positive. Would you like to see the results?” The doctor asked her, she nodded and he showed her every sign there was that indicated she was one hundred percent pregnant.
“But, I didn’t have any symptoms. I wasn’t throwing up or anything like that.” Milyon said, confused.
The doctor nodded, “Well, the symptoms are sure to kick in soon. You said you’d been nauseous though, right? Well, that’s a symptom. Also, this can be partially the cause of your panic attack, which happens to a lot of pregnant women in their first trimester. It may go away, and it may not. I can’t be too sure since it was your first panic attack but if you go and pick up the medicine I prescribed for you, you should be fine. If not, call me ASAP. Okay, Ms. Carter?” The doctor said, looking at Milyon who was staring blankly into space.
“Ms. Carter?” The doctor called out.
Milyon snapped out of it, “Yes, yes. I heard you. I will call you if anything happens. Thank you. Can I have these?” Milyon said, holding up the results he showed her.
“Yes, you can have those. I have copies but you’ll be receiving a copy of your blood test in the mail soon, also. Again, you should contact me if your panic attacks become frequent.” He said. He then went onto talk to her about her pregnancy, like if she would keep it or consider other options, she said she wasn’t sure. He pinpointed a few things she should know about pregnancy, Milyon half listened. He then suggested she go buy prenatal vitamins from her local pharmacy, and then scheduled her next appointment.
Milyon nodded, “Okay, thanks Doctor Cacowski.” She said, heading to the door.
“No problem, and congratulations on your pregnancy.” He said, opening the door for her. Milyon thanked him, even though she didn’t mean it. The last thing she needed was to be pregnant. Milyon got onto the elevator, heading to see Carti.
A/N: Surprise... it ain't even Feb.. I will still update regularly if anything changes I will let you guys know, I promise. Enjoy.
Ps. Y'all need to get off my homegirl Milyon, she is not the enemy.