The phone blared off at 1 am that night, waking Vashti before she scrambled for her cellphone and stared at the unknown number. The ringing woke her brother Jared who stormed into her room fearing the worst. Early morning calls were never good news.
"Hello?"
Her voice was soft, tired as she rubbed her eyes and tried to garner her surroundings. Jared stood in the doorway blinking rapidly to see in the dark as he watched his sister's shoulders go tight.
"Yes, this is Vashti Hollis, why?"
He couldn't hear what was going on but the terror that saturated and distorted her features let him know that he needed to sit up.
"Oh my God, yes I... is she okay? God please let her be okay!"
Her voice was rushed as she got out of bed and began to pace the floor and her body began to shake. She began to hyperventilate as she nodded her head vigorously to each word the person said on the phone. Tears sprang to her eyes soon and Jared got closer and held her arms to try and steady her as he searched her face for a clue.
"Which ... hospital?"
Vashti managed to choke out as she looked down at the floor and tears sprang to her eyes.
"Okay, okay I'll be there soon. Wait, what about the baby?" Vashti broke from Jared's grip as she walked towards her closet, he didn't hear what was said or her response but as he watched her come out with puffy cheeks and tears streaming down her eyes. He knew it couldn't possibly be good news.
"Sis, what's going on?" Jared asked as Tea shook her head to herself while looking for her keys. Stopping once she found them in her doorway, she wiped her tears back and took a big inhale before she spoke.
"Where's Destin?" The stare she gave him made his insides go cold.
"She's sleeping still, why? Did something happen to Devin? Was that Marquese?"
Another wave of sadness flowed over his sister as she leant against the door and quietly sobbed but shook her head. Devin, how could she tell him this? When could she tell him this? They weren't due back into Arizona until tomorrow but she had to tell him before the news did.
"Vashti" Jared's voice was low as he approached his sister "What is going on?"
With wide eyes Tea gazed up at her brother and slumped her shoulders before she gripped her keys and exhaled.
"Aya's in the hospital, something happened. Jared I just need you to, uh." Her speech stopped as her mind raced to Destin's face, she couldn't tell this to a six-year-old. It was really tearing her up inside.
"Just take Destin to our mother's, I'll call you both when I know more. I've got to go."
Vashti finally managed to get out her thoughts as she proceeded to her living room and grabbed her bag with Jared on her heels.
"Tea, can you even drive?" Concern was written all over his face as he watched her buzz around the room frantically. Eventually he reached out and grabbed her keys.
"Look I'll get Destin, I'll drop you at the hospital then take her to mom's. There's no need for you to end up in a hospital too."
Looking into her brother's face and taking in her own countenance Vashti knew to cut her loss. Yet the whole ride over she couldn't bring herself to look at Destin's bundled up sleeping frame, she couldn't believe things had happened this quickly.
Jared pulled up to the emergency room of the OASIS Hospital and watched as Vashti numbly got out of the car. Reaching out to her he lightly grabbed her hand breaking her focus and forcing her to look at him.
"Call me as soon as you can put yourself together okay?"
She nodded numbly before shutting the door and marching into the hospital. Looking around it was clear to see that tonight was a shit show. Approaching the receptionist, she eyed the officers to the left as she exhaled and tried to find her balance.
The sterile environment of hospitals always made her nervous.
"I'm here for Aya Booker."
Her voice was small, broken. She wondered immediately how Devin would sound when she told him, she had to tell him but first she needed to see if there was hope.
"Oh Mrs. Booker is in theatre right now, but I can get someone to brief you. You do know that this is an open case Ms?"
"Hollis, Vashti Hollis."
"Yes Ms. Hollis, so before I hand you over to any of our personnel. I believe those officers over there would like to speak with you. I understand one of them called you."
The volume of her speech caught the ears of the officers who now were focused on Vashti and promptly strolled over.
"Ms. Hollis, I spoke to you I'm Detective Barnes."
A portly black man greeted her offering his hands which she very shakenly shook.
"Let's discuss this in the waiting room of the Theatre."
It was colder than the ER. Vashti didn't know if she felt that way due to the police escort, or the blue furniture and light blue walls. Perhaps it was the fact that she was sat down with a cup of too-hot tea while the officers stared down at her from their notepads.
"Firstly Ms. Hollis do you know anything about Kaliko Enterprises?"
Vashti shook her head as her eyebrows furrowed at the name. Prompting the officers to look at each other before they scribbled something down. The ticking of the clock in the background began to make Vashti's skin crawl, she really just wanted to know if her friend was okay.
"I've never heard of it, look I just need to see my friend. I still have to call her husband."
Tea began to get up but the officers set her back down again.
"Calm down Ms. Hollis, her husband has been alerted and from the sounds of it he's on his way. He was the one who told us to call you since he knew that you spent a considerable amount of time at the home while he was away."
The information sunk into her as she eyed them suspiciously before she got offended.
"Wait you think I'm involved?"
"No Ms. Hollis that's not what we said, we just find it funny that the night in which you and Mrs. Booker didn't spend the night in the same home and you had her daughter was when this occurred."
"Bullshit, look Aya is one of my best friends. I asked her if she wanted to come by me instead but she insisted and I always keep Destin especially now. Aya's heavily pregnant and she can't drive her around that much."
The officers scribbled down notes while Vashti fumed in her seat. Tears sprung to her eyes as she couldn't believe what was being asked of her.
"Okay Ms. Hollis but are you sure you don't know or have any involvement with Kaliko Enterprises, Kaliko Club or Kenneth "Pace" Weathers?"
"Of course I don't, I have no idea who that even is." Vashti clarified "How is Aya? How is the baby? What even happened?"
She shot off questions a mile a minute and taking in her disheveled demeanor Detective Barnes looked at his partner who shook her head. There was no way Vashti was involved in this. Looking at her they could see that she looked evidently traumatized by the event.
Just as they were about to ask her another question a commotion erupted outside of the waiting room.
"WHERE THE HELL IS MY WIFE? AYA!"
Vashti shot up as the officers rushed out to console a distraught Devin Booker. Moving to the doorway Vashti couldn't help but to burst into tears as she watched them give her the same spiel that they gave her. Only thing, he was nowhere near as calm.
"NO! What happened!? Where is my wife!"
Devin demanded as he looked around, evading the officer's pleas. When his eyes landed on Vashti and he took in her demeanor he rushed over to her shaking his head.
"Vashti, what's going on? What happened? I THOUGHT SHE WAS WITH YOU!"
Devin's frustration echoed as he yelled at Vashti before an arm pulled him away, looking up Vashti threw herself into her boyfriend's arms while Tyler helped the officers pull a now red-faced and teary-eyed Devin into the waiting room.
"I tried to get her to come over Devin she insisted she wanted to stay home, she missed her bed. She missed you."
"YOU SHOULD'VE STAYED WITH HER THEN!"
Devin yelled back at Ti who curled into Marquese's arms as she found it hard to combat his fire.
"Mr. Booker, please calm down." Detective Barnes raised a calming hand as he stepped into the middle of the room.
"Yeah man, I'm sure we're all scared as fuck right now Dev."
Marquese echoed but Devin wasn't trying to hear it, he rolled his neck before he buried his face in his hands momentarily. When he looked up he let out a shaky breath before looking over at Vashti.
"Where's princess Vashti?"
"She's with my mum, she's safe Devin. I couldn't bring her here."
Balling his fist against his chin Devin nodded shakily before he looked over to the officers.
"Can one of you please tell me, what the fuck happened to my wife before I lose my mind? What about our daughter?"
Devin's insides clenched as he thought of the baby, what was going on? How'd all of this happen so fast? They hadn't even won the game, his ass should've stayed home with her then this would've never happened.
"Now it is understood that the home of Mrs. Booker was broken into by two well-known criminals associated with a very nefarious drug and gambling ring. Z and Moose, these two men are said to have forced their way into Mrs. Booker's bedroom before tying her up against a bed post and demanding information."
Detective Barnes started before Tyler cut into his account of events.
"Information about what, none of us messes with that shit?"
Devin let out an angry sigh of exasperation in accordance with his best friend's question before he continued.
"Well, it's believed that Mrs. Booker's brother allegedly owes Pace Weathers , their boss a large sum of money which he skipped out on paying. Upon her saying she didn't know Z became enraged and got rough with her initiating her labor. After this occurred we believe the situation got too hot. One of the assailants Moose said that when he saw your wife's water break he tried to convince his cohort to get her to the hospital. Instead Z decided to open fire."
The room went silent as they all hung onto his last sentence. No one had said anything on the phone about shots to either Devin or Vashti. The dread that swallowed their hearts now became suffocating. Devin found himself speechless as he put his head in his hands while Tyler patted his shoulder, tears also threatening to fall from his eyes.
Marquese held Vashti as her sobs grew louder and he tried to hold himself together.
"What happened after that?"
The way his voice shook even resonated with the officers who looked at each other before Detective Barnes glanced at his partner Detective Vega.
"Well, before Z fired security and the police arrived on the scene. Your wife let out a scream that we believe was from a contraction before the gunshot rang off. They followed her voice upstairs and busted into the room as Z finished firing three shots directly at her."
Devin let out a shaky breath as he folded in on himself. His wife couldn't be gone, Aya was still alive, she was okay, she had to be.
"Moose threw himself over her though and he received all the shots, two to his spine and one to his neck. Police tackled Z, he had many outstanding warrants so he went straight to jail. Moose however is now in surgery. Mr. Booker your wife passed out after the shots, we believe it was a mix between the shock and Moose throwing himself over her and the sudden weight as well as the pain of contractions. We believe she'll be okay physically but she's been rushed to theatre for an emergency C Section. When the doctors are done they will update you."
The officers gave them all a sad once over before they headed for the door.
"Thank you for your assistance Ms. Hollis. Do any of you know where we can find Amari Underwood?"
The entire room remained silent prompting Marquese to shake his head before the officers gave a curt nod and exited the room.
Vashti wiped her nose before she moved back from Marquese.
"Quese could you call Jared, update him and check on Destin? Tyler could you call Yara see if she knows anything about Amari and tell her what happened? I think she should now."
As she stood up shakily Vashti took a deep inhale while both men nodded to her requests before they excused themselves after giving Devin supportive pats on the back.
He didn't know how to feel. He slowly rose and wiped his eyes, smiling sadly he took in Vashti's pacing figure.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you Ti, I'm just I can't believe this." Devin's voice was a whisper as he fiddled with his hands while tears came to his eyes.
Somberly Vashti nodded before moving to his side where she placed her hand on his shoulder.
"I understand Dev, I do. I can't believe it either but a part of me blames myself too. I shouldn't have left her."
"You shouldn't have." Devin agreed before he cleared his throat and sat back in his chair "But you couldn't know. I'm just praying that they're alright. I can't lose my family Vashti, I can't..."
His voice trailed off as he broke down into tears at the thought. Leaving Vashti at a loss she rubbed his back as she allowed him to let it out. After about ten minutes his shoulders slumped and he breathed deeply before he looked back up at her with red eyes.
"Destin's good though?" The sorrow in his face rendered her speechless, all she could do was nod in response. "Yeah she is Dev."
"Good, I'm so sick of seeing Aya in hospitals honestly. Like how much can one person take damn!"
Shooting out of his chair, he rubbed his hands through his hair as he began to pace to deal with all the emotions that were surging through him.
"Yara's on her way but she doesn't know anything about Amari. You need anything Dev? Ti?"
Tyler's voice broke the silence that had reigned between the two grieving loved ones. Both however shook their head at his question prompting him to sit down and type away on his phone, probably contacting Devin's mother and brother.
"Destin's great, sound asleep and Jared says they'll take care of her for as long as you need and they're praying for the best."
Devin gave both Marquese and Vashti appreciative nod as he finally sat down. His mind was reeling with moments they'd had together. Their reconnection, Destin's birthday, their wedding, their honeymoon every night and morning looking at her face. Devin felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest by the uncertainty of it all. This had already robbed him of witnessing the birth of one of his daughter, a moment stolen from him twice with both of his daughters. For that alone he was pissed, if it threatened to steal more he'd be inconsolable.
How would he explain this to his daughter if things went the inconsolable route? Tears sprang to his eyes again as he thought about it.
Tyler, Marquese and Vashti began to pray but Devin sat in his seat immovable. He couldn't accept his reality at the moment.
"Mr. Booker?"
It had been forty-five minutes since any one had walked in but standing at the door was a wide-eyed Doctor, her neat scrubs marred with blood and her hair a mess. Her facial expression unreadable.
"Y..Yes" Devin's voice cracked as he stood up to meet her with his whole support system on his heels.
"Your wife got through just fine, and your baby girl too. They're both getting acquainted now and given through everything you went through as well as them we figured that you should see them both. However, we ask that it's just you, we're still monitoring them both so we don't want to crowd them."
"Thank God!" He let out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding as the rest of the room erupted in smiles at the news while he walked out.
Stepping through the white halls reminded him of how he'd even gotten back to Aya, found out about Destin. He didn't like it one bit, he didn't think anything would ever fill him with that much dread but here it was and his heart was still racing. Yes, Aya was fine as well as Dior and he was grateful but the events of the night had inflicted a trauma on him that he wasn't sure he could healthily cope with.
The doctor opened the grey door for him and he rushed to his wife's side, immediately hugging her shoulders and kissing her forehead while tears sprang to her eyes and she cracked a sad smile.
He was here, he was actually here and she couldn't wish for anyone better to bust through those doors.
"Devin, I'm so so sorry about this. I can't imagine how you felt."
She began to apologize as the little pink bundle in her arms began fussing. Devin lightly touched the headful of straight black hair that was wildly arranged on her head before he kissed his wife's forehead again.
"Don't apologize to me Aya. None of this was your fault, I'm just, juts happy we're still here together okay." Devin smiled down at her before he held out his fingers and touched his daughter's palm, she grasped his finger and smiled softly causing both her parents to smile.
"She's perfect." Devin remarked while Aya examined his face and felt safe in his presence. The events that happened to her were still leaving chills down her spine especially as she had blacked out, but this moment gave her the peace she needed to keep her head together.
"I'm never leaving you again." Devin stated before he reached out and took Dior's tiny body into his arms. She let out a soft squeal before she snuggled up against him "Any of you. Welcome to the world Dior Amaia Booker , as long as I'm here I'll always protect you."