Onyx & Starr 4: A Forever Kind of Love

by Lady Lissa

  “Aye yo Kev, what’s all those sirens about?” I ask.

  “Yea, I just came from out there. Some chick came flying out the parking lot at the gym and got sideswiped by another car.”

  “Whaaat! Are they gonna be okay?” I ask.

  “I’on know man. All I can tell you is that it’s bad, real bad. The “jaws of life” are in the process of trying to get the chick out the car now. She’s a student over here, I think.”

  “Oh wow! Well I hope she’s okay. I hope they’re all okay,” I say.

  I head back in my room and grab my phone.

  “Hey baby,” Starr answers.

  “Hey lady,” I say, “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m tired. But, how was your day?” she asks.

  “It was good. It’s gotten ten times better now that I’m on the phone with you,” I respond.

  “You always say that,” she says and I can hear the smile in her voice. I know that she’s blushing as she is sitting on the bed with her feet wrapped under her.

  “That’s because it’s true. How’s my little man?”

  “He’s moving a lot. I think he’s getting tired of being in such cramped quarters,” she says with a laugh.

  “He’ll be out soon enough. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner,” I tell her.

  “Oh, I know. Thirteen days and counting.”

  “I hope you have him on V Day. That would be so special to me, to us. But, I know how uncomfortable you are, so whenever you’re ready,” I say.

  “Babe, this has nothing to do with me. It’s all him. I wish I could evict his little butt right now. I’m just kidding,” she says, laughing.

  “Well, it’s almost that time,” I assure her.

  “I’ll be happy when Friday comes. I can’t wait til my last day, at least for a few weeks. I feel like I’m dragging a ton of bricks around when I go to school. I guess it’s because I’m always so tired,” she says.

  “I know baby, but think of the end result. We’ll have a beautiful baby boy when it’s all over,” I say.

  “I know. Listen babe, I’m exhausted. The only reason I’m still awake right now is because I was waiting for your call. Now that you’ve called me and I know you’re alright, I’m gonna get some rest. Okay?”

  “Okay baby. I love you,” I say.

  “I love you too, babe. Have a good night,” she says as she begins to blow kisses through the phone.

  “You too. Call me in the morning,” I tell her.

  “You already know I will. Bye babe,” she says.

  “Bye my love.”

  We end the call and I fall back on my bed. I’m tired as hell. I fall asleep in no time. The next morning, my phone wakes me up. It’s Starr calling on her ride to school. After talking for a few minutes, we end the call and I close my eyes for a few more minutes. I finally crawl out of bed around nine, not wanting to be late for my first class. Once I make it downstairs and out the door, it seems like people are gossiping about some shit.

  I walk up on them to hear what they’re talking about.

  “Wassup y’all,” I greet the small crowd.

  “What up, Onyx? Aye, we was just talking about that car accident last night. That chick’s name is Luciana or some shit like that.”

  “Lucy, her name is Lucy,” this chick says, correcting Pete, one of my teammates.

  Lucy? Surely they aren’t talking about the same Lucy that had just told me she was pregnant by me last night. They can’t be talking about Mandy’s wacky cousin, Lucy.

  “Man, that car was smashed the fuck out. It flipped over like four times. They have pics of the car on the internet. You should check it out,” Nick says.

  “Word. That’s crazy,” I say.

  “Yea, they don’t think she’ll pull through. She’s in intensive care in critical condition,” Pete says.

  “Wow! Well, I’ll say a prayer for those involved. I gotta get to class,” I say, fist bumping my teammates.

  “Aight Onyx man, see you at practice.”

  I walk away thinking how crazy things are and how fast shit happens. I was just talking to, well arguing with, that chick last night and now she’s in ICU. Damn. That shit is wild yo. That just makes me believe that saying about how karma is a bitch. It definitely is because look how fast this shit happened. I just saw that girl.

  I get in my car and pull up the news segment about last night’s accident near campus. Sure enough a couple of pictures of Lucy’s car comes up along with the story about the accident. The reporter said she didn’t look both ways before she got on the road and flew into the path of a car that was already on the highway. The person in the other car had died at the scene of the accident. Lucy was taken to Grady Memorial where she is listed in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

  I say a quick prayer for her to be okay. As much as I don’t like the chick, I would never wish her any harm like that. I wouldn’t want her dead.

  CHAPTER 21

  Mandy

  Now I know that me and my cousin haven’t gotten along in a long time. I also know that I’ve threatened to kill her from time to time, but I never would have predicted that she would be in the hospital fighting for her life right now. When my mom called me to tell me she was in a car accident and might not make it, I grabbed my handbag and headed out the door.

  I arrive at the hospital in no time because Grady is right near campus. When I get there, I park near the emergency entrance and rush inside. My mom and Lucy’s parents are already here.

  “Mom,” I call out as I rush over to her and Aunt Miranda.

  “Mandy honey,” she says as she wraps her arms around me.

  Her eyes are red and puffy, just like my auntie and uncle.

  “How is she?” I ask.

  “We don’t know anything yet,” Auntie Miranda says.

  “We’re waiting for the doctor to come out and let us know something,” my uncle says.

  “What happened?” I ask.

  “She wasn’t watching where she was going and just jumped on the road. A car was coming and didn’t have time to stop, so they collided,” my auntie says.

  “She’s still in surgery. That’s all we know,” my uncle says as he wraps his arms around my crying auntie.

  “If my baby doesn’t make it, I don’t know what I’ll do,” my auntie cries.

  “She’s going to be fine, Miranda. Lucy is a very strong young lady,” my mom says.

  “Yea Auntie, she’s even stronger than me,” I say.

  About thirty minutes later, a doctor emerges from behind the closed doors of the emergency room.

  “I’m looking for the family of Luciana,” he says.

  We rush up to him, anxious to hear what he has to say.

  “I’m her mother. Please tell me how my baby is,” my auntie says.

  “My name is Doctor Wilburne and I just operated on your daughter,” he says.

  “How is she? Is she going to pull through? Is she going to make it?” my auntie asks.

  “Ma’am, your daughter was involved in a serious automobile accident. She has suffered some very serious injuries, but we were able to get her stabilized for the moment. She has a fractured spleen, crushed pelvis and a collapsed lung,” the doctor explains.

  My hand flies to my mouth because those are some very serious injuries.

  “Will she be alright doctor?” my auntie asks.

  “The next 48 hours are critical so if she makes it through, she should make a full recovery. Also, I’m sorry to have to tell you this but I’m afraid we weren’t able to save the baby,” the doctor says.

  “Baby?” we all say at the same time.

  “Baby? What baby?” my uncle asks.

  “You mean Lucy was pregnant?” my auntie asks.

  “Yes, she was about sixteen weeks along. I’m afraid your daughter’s injuries are very serious. She is in a coma in the intensive care unit. We will have to keep watch over her over the next 48 hours as they are extremely critical,” he
explains.

  Damn. Lucy was pregnant and now the doctor is telling us that she’s lost her baby. No one knew that she was having a baby. How could she have been pregnant and no one knew? Why didn’t she tell anyone and who the heck was she pregnant for? I didn’t even know she was seeing anybody. But then again, she and I weren’t even speaking, so how would I know.

  Then a little bell starts ringing in my head. Could Lucy’s baby have been for Onyx? That night she drugged him and took him to his room, did she sleep with him too? Oh God! Lucy was pregnant for my ex-boyfriend. How could she do that to me? How could she do that to him?

  I don’t have time to worry about that because she’s in there fighting for her life. I’m just hoping that she lives to see another day.

  “Can we see her?” my auntie asks.

  “Not yet. You can move to the fifth floor waiting area though. That’s what floor we moved her to. She will be allowed to have visitors in a couple of hours but you will only be able to go in two at a time. I’ll send the nurse to get you when she’s able to have visitors,” he says.

  “Thank you doctor,” my mom says.

  After the doctor walks off, my auntie begins crying uncontrollably. We walk to the elevator and wait for it to come to a stop. When it does, we all file in and my uncle presses the number five. The elevator comes to a stop on the fifth floor. We all get off and find the waiting room. All of a sudden, mu auntie just bursts into tears. She’s crying so hard that she is making me cry again.

  “My baby was pregnant and I didn’t even know it,” my auntie says after a few minutes.

  “She never told you guys she was having a baby?” my mom asks.

  “No, we didn’t even know that she was dating anyone. How could she keep this from us and where was she going at that time of night?” my uncle asks.

  “Mandy baby, did you know Lucy was pregnant?” my mom asks.

  “No. She and I weren’t exactly on the best terms. It all seems so silly now,” I say, thinking about the fights Lucy and I had recently gotten into.

  “Oh my God! I cannot believe my baby is going through this,” Auntie Miranda cries.

  “Let’s just pray that she will be okay Miranda,” my mom says.

  We all bow our heads and my uncle leads us in a prayer for my cousin to pull through.

  “Lord God, we come to you to ask that you please hear our prayers. We ask that you touch our daughter, Lucy with your healing hand and make her well. We ask that you grant her the strength to deal with the loss of her unborn child. We ask that you allow her to heal and become whole again after suffering such a tragedy. Please Lord, heal our baby girl and bring her back to us. We love her so much and we know that you are a God that hears all prayers. We come to you, O’ Lord so that you may grant us this one wish. I know we don’t call on you often and that this is a big request, but we know if anyone can heal our baby girl, it’s you Lord. In Jesus name we pray…” my uncle says.

  “Amen,” everyone responds.

  I begin to cry hard, uncontrollable sobs because it just hit me that my cousin could actually die. All the fighting we’ve been doing over the past year wasn’t even worth it. I pray that Lucy doesn’t die. I never got the chance to apologize for all the shit that went wrong with us. We weren’t even on speaking terms when this happened. If she were to pass away, it would be without speaking to me and hearing how sorry I truly am.

  I especially feel bad because when I found out that Gregory raped her, I never reached out to her once to find out if she was okay. I never called her once to see if she wanted to talk about it. I never contacted her since the last fight we had and now she’s fighting for her life.

  “Please God, just let Lucy be okay. I promise if you heal my cousin, I won’t ever hurt her again. I love her so much and I was so stupid. Please God, just let her be okay,” I pray as my mom holds me and tries to comfort and soothe me.

  It seems like forever before the nurse finally comes to get my aunt and uncle to see their daughter. My mom and I are left sitting in the waiting room.

  “Mom,” I say.

  “Yes baby,” she responds.

  “Do you think God answers prayers? I mean, do you think he heard me and Uncle Matt praying for Mandy?”

  “I do think, no make that I know that God heard you guys. He will do his best to answer those prayers. I’m sure of it,” she says.

  “Mom, do you think Lucy knows that I love her?”

  “Of course she does. You two had arguments but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re still blood related. When you two were growing up, we couldn’t keep y’all away from one another. Just because you guys argued, doesn’t mean she doesn’t know how much you loved her,” my mom assures me.

  “I hope so mom. I just want the chance to tell her how sorry I am. I don’t want Lucy to die, Mom. I love her and I don’t wanna lose her,” I say as I begin to cry again.

  My mom wraps her arms around me and says, “She’s not going to die sweetheart. Lucy is a fighter and she is going to fight. You’ll see, she’ll be okay.”

  I don’t respond, just keep crying as she holds me tight. Twenty minutes later, my uncle emerges and says, “One of you can go in. Miranda couldn’t tear herself away from Lucy, so you guys will have to go one at a time. She’s in unit four.”

  “That’s perfectly alright. Mandy you go sweetie. I’ll be right here when you get back,” my mom says.

  I nod my head and press the button on the wall, signaling to the nurses that I need access to the ICU. The door swings open and I walk through. I look for unit four and when I find it, I walk towards the door. I take a deep breath before pushing the door open. When I walk in, it takes a couple of minutes for me to catch my breath. I wasn’t prepared for the sight before me.

  Lucy looks so small and fragile connected to all those tubes and stuff. She has an IV in her hand, a tube down her throat, all kinds of monitors connected to her chest and finger. Tears immediately start to slide down my cheeks again. I don’t know if she can hear me but I need to talk to her.

  “Hey Lucy, it’s me, Mandy. I know that I’m probably the last person you expected to see, but I’m here. I’m here because I love you and I wanted to apologize to you. I’m so sorry for all the fighting we’ve been doing. It’s all my fault. I’m sorry and I promise if you make it through this, I’ll never fight you again. Please come back to us Lucy. We all love you so much,” I say before I break down again.

  My Aunt Miranda looks at me but she’s so broken up, she can’t offer me any comfort. I kiss Mandy on her forehead before leaving the room to get my mom. I can’t believe that’s my cousin lying in that bed, so fragile, clinging to life.

  I walk into the waiting room and tell my mom, “You can go mom. Aunt Miranda is crying really hard.”

  My mom rushes through the double doors as I take a seat in the waiting room to wait for her. I pray my cousin pulls through. I log onto my Facebook account and ask my friends to please pray for my cousin who is in critical condition. I log right off but not before I see the prayers starting to pile up under my post. I heard there is strength in numbers. Hopefully, these will be enough numbers to have God working overtime.

  CHAPTER 22

  Starr

  Two weeks later…

  Hearing the cries of our baby boy as he enters the world is the best sound I’ve ever heard. Having Onyx, my mom, Maggie and Miss Renee in the birthing room means everything to me. My dad, J.T., Junior and Mr. Thomas were waiting in the waiting room for us to go get them. When I push our baby out, the smiles in this room are so bright. The five of us are really lighting up this room right now as our baby is screaming his little lungs out is a priceless moment.

  “CONGRATULATIONS! IT’S A BOY!” Doctor Crawford says with a huge smile as she lays my son on my stomach. Tears are flowing from me and Onyx’s eyes as we share in this blessed moment of our young lives.

  Onyx leans over and kisses me, “I love you so much. Thank you for giving me Onyx Junior,” he sa
ys with tears in his eyes.

  “I love you too and you’re welcome,” I say.

  “The nurse needs to weigh him and clean him up. I need to finish taking care of you, then I’ll be done. But you have a beautiful and healthy baby boy. Congratulations again! You did great!” Doctor Crawford says.

  The nurse removes my baby from my stomach all too soon and says, “I promise to bring him back in a few minutes.”

  I’m so emotional that I can’t speak. All I can do is nod my head. I can’t believe that I just gave birth. I’m a mother now to a little boy.

  “He’s so beautiful baby,” my mom says from the area where they are cleaning up our little one.

  “Thanks mom,” I beam, “How much does he weigh?” I ask.

  “Seven pounds, twelve ounces,” Miss Renee says.

  “Wow!” I say.

  “He looks just like Onyx,” Miss Renee beams proudly.

  Of course she would say that, but I don’t mind because Onyx is so handsome. I’ve stated more than once while I was pregnant that I wanted our son to look just like his daddy.

  Maggie walks over to me and wraps me in her arms, tears sliding down her face.

  “My little sister is a mommy. I am so proud of you and I love you,” she says.

  Since I told her that I was pregnant, Maggie and I have become closer than we’ve ever been. She has been a wonderful support system and listener. She has been there for me like she never has before, especially while Onyx has been away at school.

  “Thanks sis. I love you more,” I cry.

  “He has all ten fingers and toes,” my mom says.

  “Well, you’re all cleaned up. I have another delivery so I have to run. You two take care of that beautiful baby. I’ll be by to check on you tomorrow,” Doctor Crawford says.

  “Thanks so much Doctor Crawford,” I smile.

  “You’re welcome,” she says and walks out the door.

  Five minutes later, the men walk in carrying balloons, stuffed animals and flowers. All Onyx and I can do is revel in all this attention from our family. My dad walks over to me and kisses my forehead.