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“Shayla, sissy, look at me, look at me.” Tearing my eyes away from Trey, I find Kingston. He has David down; the tiny little shit didn’t stand a chance against my brother.
“That’s it, stay focused on me.” I hear Gwen scream and I try my hardest to not look at Trey; I don’t want to know what’s happening. “Don’t look away from me, it’s going to be okay.”
Trey’s voice booms in the apartment. “Yes, I need an ambulance and the police, someone broke into my apartment and attacked my pregnant fiancee.” I take a second to go against Kingston’s wishes and look back to Trey. He has Gwen’s front pushed up against the wall, his arm pushing into her back, between her shoulder blades, keeping her immobile.
I sob, hating that he’s not defending me from just anyone, but instead it came to this. He is fighting the enemy, his own flesh and blood.
Giving them the address, he hangs up then looks to me. “Baby, shh. It’s okay, look at your brother, focus on him, okay?” I hear the worry, the pain, the disbelief all rolled into one coming from him. He doesn’t want me to see him battling his mother, he knows it’s fucked up, he knows this is the worst of any situation we’ll ever face and he doesn’t want me to break alongside him.
I nod, tearing my eyes away and looking to Kingston.
“You were a mistake, Trey. I never wanted you! Do you hear me? I fucking hate you!” Gwen yells, then grunts. I know he pushed her face against the wall, making it harder for her to speak.
“Your words don’t fucking hurt me anymore, Gwen, so save them for someone else.”
David tries to get out again and Kingston punches him in the side, causing him to wail out in agony. I close my eyes, I can’t witness this, it makes me ill.
Sirens sound off, coming through the open windows. It is almost over.
Within five minutes we’re all surrounded by some sort of officer or paramedic. After taking Gwen from Trey then handcuffing her and David, both Trey and Kingston rush to my side, slowly pulling the tape off of me, carefully trying not to hurt me.
“Baby, you’re okay, we’re going to get you checked out. We did this once before, remember?” I nod as two men poke and prod at me, checking all my injuries.
“Stay strong, sissy, we got this,” Kingston promises. I don’t say much, lost in the twilight, completely numb inside. The only thing I can think of is getting to the hospital and checking on our baby. The rest will come later.
When they see the blood coming from the open cut on the back of my head, they place me on a gurney. And for the second time this year, I’m rushed to the hospital from an attack. Except this time I’m not alone—my baby.
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WAITING NERVOUSLY FOR MY ULTRASOUND, I pick anxiously at my fingers. I have no concussion, shockingly; she didn’t hit me hard enough to cause one, just hard enough to cut skin. Thank God for my thick skull. I have a bruised neck again, just like before…with Evan.
Trey sits next to me, his hand holding mine while he rubs my back as we wait for the doctor. We just finished giving our statements to the officer. Gwen and David were arrested. I’m sure a trial is to come, they don’t have money to cover this up, and I won’t let them get away with a slap on the wrist like Evan did. Thirty days in jail with probation isn’t enough for those two pigs. I’m not doing it for me, I’m doing it because they put my child in danger, and I will make sure they pay for that.
I left out all the extra vile things Gwen said about Trey, I told them about her wanting the money, but I kept the rest to myself. Trey doesn’t need to hear that, we both suffered enough tonight. We went through hell and in a few minutes from now, when that doctor walks in, we may never leave hell if our baby is hurt.
“I’m sorry…I should’ve been there.” Trey breaks the silence.
“Stop, don’t,” I warn him, bringing his hand to my lips and kissing his knuckles. “You did nothing wrong, I won’t let you blame yourself, we aren’t doing the blame game anymore, Trey. We aren’t.” For over a decade he has played the blame game and it’s time to end that stupid war raging inside him.
“I promise I’ll protect you from her, I’ll make sure she pays for what she did.” I look to him and see the promise deep in his eyes and it passes through my soul.
“Good. I agree.”
“Knock, knock, Shayla, Trey.” Dr. Barrett enters and my nerves calm, he came in to be here with us, I didn’t want anyone else.
“Dr. Barrett, thank you for coming to us tonight,” Trey says, shaking his hand. A warm smile touches his face and he looks between us two, stopping to focus on my appearance.
“I don’t mind, that’s what I’m here for, I’m sorry about the attack.” He doesn’t speak further, Trey must’ve told him about everything. I appreciate his willingness to not linger on the subject. I don’t want to talk about it; I want to see my baby, hear the heartbeat.
“Thank you.” I nod as he takes a seat in front of the table I’m perched on.
“All right, go ahead and lie back and we’ll check on the little one, okay?” I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I cry, not even attempting to hide it, beyond scared.
“There are no signs of bleeding, which is good. Any pain?” he asks as he enters the transducer farther.
Keeping my gaze on Trey, I tell him I’m not feeling too much pain, just a dull ache. Trey stands beside me, tearful like I am. We’re keeping one another grounded, trying to pull strength from each other. But little strength is to be given in two broken people.
My lip trembles when he moves around without any noise or sound, confirming my fears—or so I thought. When angels sing, I imagine the sound to be as beautiful as this—the very pronounced, loud sound of a heavy heartbeat reverberating off the four walls of this tiny room.
