Page 129 of Love Overdose: St. Louis

The forms came next.

A nurse placed them on a rolling table and explained the risks. Bleeding. Infection. Damage to brain tissue. Seizure. Stroke. Death.

Each word cut into me.

As soon as I signed my name, the staff began moving Malik toward the door. I leaned over him and kissed his forehead. His skin was warm beneath my lips.

“Mama’s going to be right here.”

I slipped the Spider-Man figure beneath the blanket beside his hand.

The nurse let me follow until we reached the locked doors to surgery.

Elijah stood beside Malik’s bed with a surgical cap covering his low fade.

I caught the front of his scrub top.

“Bring my baby back.”

His hand covered mine.

“I will.”

The doors closed behind them, and I stood staring at the door.

My mom found me sitting in the hallway outside the surgical waiting room.

She hurried toward me with her coat still buttoned and her purse hanging from one shoulder. I stood, and she pulled me into her arms.

“What happened?”

I tried to answer, but nothing came out. Naomi reached us moments later. She took my coat, guided us into the waiting room, and found three seats together.

“Elijah is operating,” I managed.

Amelia pressed both hands to her mouth.

“He got here?”

“They called him. The hospital cleared him.”

She sat beside me and gripped my hand. Naomi took the other. The clock above the television changed one minute at a time.

Christmas decorations remained throughout the room. Red ribbon circled a fake tree near the window. Paper snowflakes hung from the ceiling. A cartoon reindeer smiled from a sign asking visitors to keep their voices low.

The television played without sound.

I watched the double doors.

After the first hour, Christian arrived with Xander. Christian crossed the room and wrapped his arms around Naomi before bending to kiss my forehead.

“Anything?”

“Not yet.”

Xander sat across from me in a double-breasted coat, jeans, and penny loafers.

“Elijah is the best there is,” he said.