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I hardly had time to process everything because I felt the pen hit me on the bottom of my right foot, and my leg kicked, showing that my reflexes were working. He did the same thing to both of my legs. Next, he came around and tested my knees. When he picked my hands up, I did have feeling. There was feeling in all my body. I reached down and touched my belly with my right hand. There was definitely a baby still inside of me.
“Yep. You and that beautiful baby are definitely two fighters. When you name him or her, make sure you give them a special name that shows the world the type of strength that they have. Denim, I want you to know that I have been dealing with cases like yours for many, many years. What you just fought through was hard enough to fight through on your own, so imagine doing it with a baby. A baby that I projected wouldn’t make it when you were brought into this hospital almost three months ago. You are lucky to be alive. You and the baby. We’re going to get these tubes out of you, and I’ll page an ultrasound technician to come in, so you can see your baby and hear the heartbeat.
“Your children and your mother have been listening to the heartbeat and seeing the baby every day. That part is always the highlight of their day, but I’m sure nothing tops you waking up and joining them again. Welcome back,” the doctor told me and then placed a hand on my shoulder before he walked out of the room.
Two hours later
“You gonna come home today, Mama?” Khari asked as she lay on the bed with me.
This little girl had been talking my ear off from the second I opened my eyes, but I loved every moment of it. To the right of us, my mother had Rylo sitting at a circular table, and she was braiding her hair. The tubes were finally out of my throat, but my throat was still so sore. It really felt like I had swallowed a bunch of rocks. I did basic things today once I woke up. With the help of the nurses, I sat up in the bed, and I even stood up for one whole minute.
I broke down crying once it hit me that certain basic things, I would have to learn all over again, like simple standing and walking. I hadn’t worked my legs in so long that walking would be a process for me. The nurses had already let me know that I would have to start physical therapy once I was discharged from the hospital. They were talking ab
out keeping me there for another week or so. It was so crazy how I had been in this bed all this time, but the second I woke up, I was actually ready to go home. Something about this hospital room was so depressing.
The only thing that brought me joy was being around my kids and my mother. I was shown an ultrasound of my baby not too long ago, and that had me emotional as well because this baby was definitely fighting its little heart out. Knowing who my daughter’s real father was and knowing who the real father to my new baby was just brought me so much pain. That man was the reason I was there.
When the kids weren’t listening earlier, my mother put me back in the loop of a lot of things, but mainly she was just catching me up to speed and telling me the amount of time that Reggie was looking at spending in prison. It was good that he would be put away for a very long time, but I wanted him dead for what he’d done to me.
“Not today, baby. Soon, though,” I told Khari.
I lay with my head on the pillows propped up behind me, and I could feel myself growing tired, but I knew this little girl wasn’t done talking my ears off yet.
“Mama, I got two little brothers or sisters on the way. You got a baby coming and Normani,” my daughter said, which surprised me.
I looked at my mother, and she quickly looked away, which let me know that she had to have known that news too.
“Uh, huh, Mama. Normani has a baby coming too. You know her and daddy got married? Yep, that’s where I been living, but I go to grandma’s house too. You and Normani got something in common, Mama. Y’all both gonna have big bellies,” Khari said, followed by her sweet, innocent giggle.
My baby would tell everybody’s business, so if you didn’t want your news spread out in the world, then it was best you didn’t talk around her. Before my daughter brought up Normani, I promised that I’d forgotten all about her. When Khari mentioned her name, that’s when Billion’s grandmother’s party came back to me, and I thought about the encounter that Normani and I shared in the bathroom. I thought about the things that I’d said to her. Truthfully, I thought that I’d run her off, but I guess I didn’t.
I was given a second chance at life, so this time around, I didn’t want to be on the same bullshit I was on before this happened. All I cared about was getting my shit together, so I could take care of all three of my children. I was now a single mother, and I knew I had to get it together for my children. The second I finished my physical therapy, I wanted to get the hell out of Miami and take my kids with me.
“Khari, go to sleep and stop telling everybody’s damn business,” my mama fussed at my daughter.
Khari laughed, snuggled under me, and in less than two minutes, she was snoring. I knew she had been tired all along, but she was fighting her sleep, so she could stay up and entertain me.
“Where’s he?” I asked, referring to Billion.
“I called him. He said that he would be here later. He would come by and sit up in here with you at least once a week. I admired him for that because well... you know. Denim, I’m happy you’re up. I have been praying for this moment since the moment I called you on my lunch break, and you didn’t pick up the phone. I don’t need you putting yourself in situations where I’m forced to almost lose you again. I know you may not want to go back to that apartment, so you and the kids can move in with me. Hell, I would actually prefer it that way. I won’t mentally be okay after this happened for a while, so I just want to be as close to you as I possibly can.
“In a few months, you are going to be a mother of three children. I just want to tell you to focus on that. Keep it at that, and then everything else should fall into place. You have a second chance to do what you weren’t able to do the first time around,” my mom said.
For whatever reason, her words tugged at me, and it caused me to become a little bit emotional. Before I knew it, a tear had fallen from my eyes.
“You probably think I failed as a daughter, huh?” I asked as my voice cracked.
She quickly stopped doing my daughter’s hair and walked over to my bed. She reached down and wiped the tears that were steadily falling from my eyes.
“What? Denim, why the hell would you even think something like that? You are the only child that I got! Do you piss me off from time to time with some of your actions? Umm, hell yeah! Is your mouth slick to the point where I want to slap you in it? Damn right. That don’t mean that you failed me as a daughter! Everybody makes mistakes, but we learn from our mistakes, so that’s all that matters.
“You have this look in your eyes right now, and I can tell that this experience has scared you straight. I already know that you’re getting ready to do this good, spiral change in your life, and I’m dying to meet the new you. I’ll never think that you failed as a daughter. Always remember that,” she told me.
She leaned in, kissed me on my forehead, and then she went back to finish Rylo’s hair. I thought I was sleepy, but I couldn’t find it in me to fall asleep. I just ended up lying down for a couple of hours, dreaming about the day I would finally be able to head back home… well, my mother’s house because I knew that I would never step foot back into my old apartment again.
I was just about to reach for the remote, so I could turn the channel on the TV, when all of a sudden, I heard knocking at the room door. I assumed that it was one of the nurses coming back, but when I smelled that very familiar cologne, I smoothed down my dreads because I knew that they were all over my head. I didn’t want to look crazy in front of him for whatever reason. I saw the get well soon balloons in his hands before I saw anything else. Then he came into view.
“Get your ass up out that damn bed, Denim. I thought you would be up and running through this shit,” Billion came in the room, talking shit.
