by Zi'ere
She had never been so upset and hurt at the same time as a result of something Emani had said or done to her. There had been many tiffs between the two, but nothing like Emani’s behavior that night.
“You’re ready to boot me out on my ass but when those two skanks were here the other day did you end up telling either one of them to get the hell out of your house?” Emani stood in the doorway to the bedroom.
“I damn sure didn’t because neither one of those skanks would ever treat me the way you do! I am only going to tell your ass to get out of my house one more time before I put you out my damned self!” Amina was shouting as loud as she could.
She needed Emani to understand that she was dead serious.
“I’m not going anywhere until we have a talk about the stability of our organization and how it relates to Purple Label, Laini, and Zoey’s rat-like asses!” Emani shouted back at her.
Suddenly the front door slammed. Amina breathed a sigh of relief.
“What in the world is going on in here? I can hear the screaming from the terrace!” Carlos was climbing the stairs two at a time.
“I want this evil wench out of my house and she better not ever darken my doorstep again! I don’t care if you have to drag her ass out, put her out right now!” Amina could no longer control her tears.
“Since it is like that, I will make sure you feel the same pain as your two side-kicks! You are dead to me! When you need me, I won’t care if you’re on your knees begging me for help, I will act as if you are a stranger in the street!”
“Ok, that’s it! You have to go!” Carlos had been standing on the landing trying to understand the screaming match that was taking place before him.
Amina knew that he had never seen her act this way with anyone, let alone Emani. She also knew that he had been present to witness how Emani had clowned the night she came home from the hospital. She also knew that Carlos was aware of the suspicious meetings with Angel. Amina knew that he would do whatever she said and get answers later.
“Oh, so you’re kicking me out too? Wait until Darrell hears how you kicked your own sister-in-law out on the street!” Emani continued to issue threats.
Carlos placed his hand over her mouth and lifted her body off the floor. He half walked and half dragged Emani to the front door. After he swung it open, he tossed her out. Amina stood at the top of the stairs crying and watching the entire scene.
“Baby, lock the top locks. She has a key to all of the bottom locks.”
Instead of following his wife’s orders, Carlos set the alarm on the house. It wouldn’t matter who had a key, if someone opened a door the police would be on the way. He ran up the stairs again to get to his wife. Amina was shaking like a leaf and still crying.
“She had the nerve to tell me that it wasn’t guaranteed that I would even have our babies! What kind of sister says that about her own flesh and blood?” Amina was inconsolable.
Carlos held her in his arms and walked her back to bed. After he got her two aspirin for her headache, he sat beside her and listened to the dialogue between the two women. Amina was careful about leaving out the part where she texted Stephanie to check up on him. In a matter of seconds Emani had cast enough doubt that left her thinking one of the people she trusted most was somehow unfaithful to her. She begged for forgiveness within the space of her mind and soul.
“I will get a locksmith out here tomorrow.” Carlos rubbed Amina’s hair, face, and arm as she washed the aspirin down with the still full glass on the nightstand.
“Something has to be done babe. I can’t continue to live in turmoil like this. It’s stressing me out and you know that is the last thing I need.”
Carlos nodded his head in agreement. Without getting undressed, he climbed in the bed and held Amina tight in his arms until she fell asleep.
31
In the middle of the night Carlos was knocked off the mattress from the high voltage shock Amina’s pacemaker gave her. He merely had his hand wrapped around her waist as usual. Amina felt her body rise off of the bed and then drop down again. She was in shock and extreme pain. She knew something was terribly wrong as she wailed out in pain. She heard Carlos on the phone talking to a paramedic dispatcher. She felt as if her eyelids were glued shut. The awful noise filled her head once again. She felt as if her body were flopping like a fish out of water.
As she was being lifted and placed on a stretcher she felt her husband’s hands on her body. It seemed as though he was trying to have a finger on her at all times. Inside of the ambulance Carlos began to talk to Amina close to her ear.
“Baby, I know that we haven’t been together for years but the little time we have been together has made an impact on my life. This is our second attempt to produce our love for the entire world to see. I already told you that it’s all about you. Nothing else matters to me if you are not by my side Amina. I know that you are tired of being alone and sitting in the bed day in and day out but I need you to fight for me. Fight to stay to here with me Mina please! I loved you since the first time I laid eyes on you. Even though you can’t tell me right now, I know you love me too. I will never put on airs and say that I will be okay if you are not here with me. I’ve needed you before I knew you. I needed before you said you would be my girlfriend and then my wife. I know you are a strong woman. I know you are a fighter. Don’t give up on me babe.”
To Amina it seemed as though he talked for the entire ride to the hospital. She could hear the things going on around her but she couldn’t open her eyes to see anything. She felt heat on her body. She assumed it was from the high beam lights that gave the medical professionals light to see her. She no longer felt Carlos’ hand on her nor did she hear his voice. She began to get scared. For the first time since this entire ordeal started. Amina could admit that she was truly scared of what the outcome would be with this new episode that brought her to the hospital this time. In a matter of seconds she began to get a cool feeling that started at her left wrist and spread throughout her body. A few seconds after that, she felt no pain and she could no longer hear voices. She didn’t feel the heat from the lights anymore. She wondered if she was dead.
Amina was dressed in a long flowing baby pink dress that touched down to her ankles. The top was strapless and was a simple sweetheart neckline. She had matching slippers on her feet. Her hair was long and went passed her shoulders, much longer than it had been when she fell asleep the night before. She ran her fingers through it more than once and it felt healthy. She smiled. She ran her hands down the front of the gown. Her belly was now protruding much pass her then four month bump, at that time she had to adjust and get used to the extra weight. She felt as if she were already nine months pregnant. As she continued to rub her belly she could feel her angels moving and kicking inside of her. Her smile broadened.
In an instant she was standing in one of the hospital waiting rooms. Amina saw her husband shedding tears like she had never seen any man do in her entire life. His mother was sitting beside him, but even she could not console her son to stop crying. Amina turned behind her and watched her father in law weep as well. He was standing tall and strong like he always did but his spirit was obviously broken. To Amina it seemed as if he was trying to keep his distance. If his wife signaled for him, he could be at her side in less than five footsteps. In what seemed like an instant the rest of the family was rushing in. No one said a word. They all took in the sight of Carlos being broken down. One of the only women in the world that could get to him could not even get him to hold his head up. The others took the seriousness of the situation from there. Tissues and handkerchiefs were passed around the room. The women got down on their knees to pray. The men attempted to stay strong for the benefit of the women but were unsuccessful. Amina looked around the room at her family. There was not a dry eye in the room. In noticing how much of an impact she had on her married into family, she noticed that her sister wasn’t there with her husband. Darrell stood on Steph’s left side while Ced stoo
d on her right. Anger began to fill Amina and the room began to fade away before her. She panicked and the room became clear again.
Laini ran into the room holding Zoey’s hand. No one said a word to her and it appeared she was too afraid to ask the million dollar question. Daddy Greg embraced her and said that the doctor’s had not said anything to them since Amina had been brought in. Amina felt Laini’s heart rate slow down and she could even read her thoughts.
‘If the doctors had not said anything, at the very least they could be hopeful that Amina was still being worked on.’
Although Laini didn’t know Steph really well, she chose to kneel beside her in prayer. Zoey followed suite. As soon as John and his wife Samantha had said their penance they sprang into action in pursuit of answers. John’s profession of a neurosurgeon made him rock star status at any hospital. His wife had come into the family as his partner in love and professionally, Samantha held a master’s degree in nursing. Amina decided she needed to follow her brother in law if she wanted to know what was going on.
“Hello Wendy, I’m Dr. Johnathan Haywood and this is my charge nurse also my wife, Samantha Haywood. My sister-in-law was brought in by ambulance and I would really appreciate it if I was able to give the news to my brother on the condition of his wife. Her name is Amina Haywood. Her doctor is Dr. Corey Frasier who is one of the physicians in my private medical group. My sister-in-law is also just a little bit over four months pregnant with triplets.”
“Yes doctor, give me one second.” Wendy picked up the telephone and only pressed three buttons.
Amina stood behind John and Samantha. She witnessed how they comforted each other. It was evident that they were hoping for the best but prepared for the worst news possible. Amina felt warm on the inside. Suddenly she was pulled back from the nurse’s station. She tried to reach out to Samantha but she was snatched away too quickly. Her feet never touched the floor as she was brought back to the triage room where her flesh made body was lying on the exam table. She spotted Dr. Frasier working like his own life depended on his moves. Amina’s body was surrounded by nurses and aides.
She hovered close to the ceiling to see that Dr. Frasier was performing open heart surgery on her. Her breast bone was being stretched open by a steel clamp. It was horrific to look at the doctor hold her heart in his hands yet she could see her babies inside of the almost clear sack in her abdomen. She could feel her babies moving in her stomach but she did not see them move while she was wide open on the table. Dr. Frasier was yelling at her to fight for her life as he massaged her heart. Two direct shocks to her heart with the electrical juice as high as it would go, Amina’s eyes popped open.
“Here she is, she’s back ladies and gentlemen!” One of the nurses standing next to the vital machine shouted over all of the commotion in the room.
Amina realized she was no longer watching the story unfold from the ceiling, she was now present in her body as normal and she was in pain.
“We are still getting good numbers on the babies!” Another nurse shouted.
“I count three different heartbeats and I have fetal movement on all three girls!”
“Pushing twenty-five milligrams terbutaline!” Another nurse shouted.
Amina felt the coolness in her veins again almost immediately.
“Pushing twenty milligrams fentanyl for closure.” A male doctor shouted.
Within minutes Amina’s chest was sewn up with stitches that started below her rib cage to between her breasts. Although she had seen all of her insides, she was expecting to be in pain but she was not. She couldn’t feel her legs though and settled on the notion that she was numb from the neck down. She wanted to rub her belly but she couldn’t move her arms.
“Everything is still stable Dr. Frasier.” Even though he heard the words from the other doctor, Corey checked the monitor for himself.
“I’m going to talk to her family. I need to be in here if the slightest change occurs!” Dr. Frasier made eye contact with each professional in the room.
“Yes doctor.” All of the staff returned an answer.
Amina was drifting off to sleep but she understood he would be back should she need him again.
32
The next time Amina opened her eyes it was still night outside. She didn’t talk, she turned her head to face the window and saw the moon. Carlos shot up from out of sight to block her view of the stars in the sky.
“Hey sweetheart, how are you?” He began to rain kisses all over her face.
She couldn’t answer him due to her throat being dusty dry. She squeezed her eyes shut to bare the pain. Carlos picked up on the hint and put a small cup with a straw up to her lips. Amina drank the entire cup before she allowed the straw to fall out of her mouth. Tears began to well up in her eyes.
“The babies?” The only two words she could get out at the moment that was the first and only part about the situation.
“Our three little girls are doing just fine.” Carlos smiled at her while delivering the second set of sweetest news she’d ever heard.
She took a deep breathe. She closed her eyes and thanked God for sparing their babies. She felt as if she had the right to want to live again. She still had her babies.
“What happened?” Amina had to know what she had done wrong to end up in the hospital again.
“You had a heart attack babe.” Carlos admitted.
“What caused me to have a heart attack? I have been obeying every single order they have given me. You’ve been feeding me right and I have been taking my meds on time, every day.”
“You had a gestational overdose Mina.” Carlos looked down at the floor as he spoke.
Amina’s eyes got big in shock. “What do you mean I overdosed?”
“You overdosed on Potassium.”
“You know I don’t take potassium pills because they are too big. I have just been doing my bananas in fruit salad, how did I overdose on fruit?” Amina was truly confused.
Without waiting for an answer she cried out in her heart and mind- ‘I didn’t take Potassium. How could I overdose on it if I didn’t take it?’
“I’m sorry baby. I said that wrong. Let me start over, the doctors said that there were lethal amounts of Potassium in your system which is what caused you to go into cardiac arrest. The pacemaker did its job and knocked your and the babies heartbeats back out to where they needed to be. But then you coded on the exam table. You were laying on the table dead for almost forty five minutes. You have been asleep for almost a week now.” Carlos paused in case Amina had questions.
She didn’t say a word. She looked at him speechless.
“I haven’t left your side no longer than a few minutes to go into that bathroom. And then I would make it back to this bed since you have been here.” He pointed to the large bathroom in the hospital suite.
“I had Dr. Frasier to tell me exactly the amounts and how it was that so much potassium got into your blood stream. Turns out you ingested it with lemonade.” Carlos paused again. “We know that Bella made the lemonade. But, we also know that Bella has been with you since you left your parent’s home. We also know that she adores you. And we know she is anxiously awaiting the arrival of what she calls her grand babies.”
“No, please don’t tell me Emani did this to me!” Amina could only whimper.
“Darrell found the bottle of Potassium capsules in her car. She had opened the capsules and emptied every last one of the, one hundred pills into a handkerchief and then mixed the powder into your glass of lemonade that was on your nightstand.”
Amina immediately remembered going into the bathroom as an excuse to check up on Carlos while she went potty. She stayed in a little longer than usual because she was waiting for Steph’s reply to her questions. When she had made it back to her bedroom, Emani was on her side of the bed seated next to her glass even though she acted as if she was snooping on Amina’s lap top. Amina had been looking for the right educational and training programs for Felicia to tak
e to become an educated protégé’. They needed to get Felicia and Yvette trained as soon as possible. There were only a few lessons Mrs. Gert needed to take and they were not as serious as the other classes that were needed by the other assistants.
Emani had played it off so well. Amina recognized the smug look she had on her face the entire time she was casting doubt on those Amina cared the most for, her unborn babies.
“Remember she told me she wasn’t even sure I was going to have these babies?” Amina spoke through tears.
“Yes sweetheart, I remember all of that. I made sure I reminded her husband about how she acted that night. I don’t know how I can put this without upsetting you.” Carlos looked down at his feet as he talked.
“You don’t have to tell me anything. Wipe that bitch off the face of this earth. I will see her in hell before I see her strut around like she has a halo and angel wings another day. Send her to meet her maker. And don’t doubt for a second that I don’t mean exactly what I am saying right now. My feelings will never change. She tried to kill four people that night! She didn’t show me or my babies any mercy. The next time I think if her, I will be deciding what I want to wear to her funeral services should I even so choose to even attend. I may just opt to have her cremated remains dropped off to the house, saving all the expenses of a wake, feeding people, a funeral, caskets, plots, then feeding people again at the repass. She’s not worth all of the money that would be spent. She certainly isn’t worth having to watch the entire family be greeted by the community on what they would think would be a devastating loss that was truly a blessing for her family. Then there is always the idea of letting Bren handle her daughter’s final wishes respectfully.”
Carlos looked at her with respect and admiration. Yes, she was definitely a Haywood. She might have been admitted as a timid woman refined like an old wine, that held grace and dignity. Amina would be discharged as a boss. She looked at her husband as she attempted to ease her breathing. He looked proud and had a smirk on his face at the same time. She had seen that look many times but she had always seen it when he looked at his baby sister.