Claiming Slice

by Eden Rose

  My heart kick starts again and I let out a breath I didn’t even know I had held in. “They’re okay?” I ask to make sure.

  “Yes. However, they are going to be here for a while due to their injuries.”

  “What injuries?” The Bear barks.

  The doctor shakes his head. “I can’t release that information due to HIPPA.”

  Feeling frustrated, I shake my head and look over at the doctor. “I want to see my girl, Jen.”

  He nods his head before turning back to the double doors to get back into the emergency section. “Just be prepared,” the doctor states.

  His cryptic speech is only making me more nervous about seeing my woman. I will tell you that I have every want and need to take out all of Jen’s family for putting her through everything that have done to her.

  The second that he presses the lock to get into the sliding door, I’m barging through the room to look at the lifeless body of Jen. Her hair is pushed back from her head and her skin is so white that she matches the sterile sheets.

  Chantal’s lying next to her but she’s awake. The Bear barrels through the room until he’s on the bed with her and kissing her head. “Shit, baby. Don’t do that to me again. You’re never leavin’ me again. You hear me?” He demands while kissing her repeatedly all over the face.

  I sit on Jen’s bed carefully so I don’t disturb her. My fingers itch to touch her skin to make sure she’s real and when I do, her skin is cold. She’s so cold that her lips are blue. “What happened? Baby, please. Come back to me,” I beg her.

  Seeing her sleeping in the bed doesn’t do much to ease my guilt of not helping her when I could have. I had the opportunity to help and make sure that none of this shit happened to her, but I didn’t do it. I was too fucking selfish.

  Now she pays the price.

  Chantal’s lightly crying and rubbing at her skin. Joe’s watching her movements with shock but I’m too focused on Jen. “What happened, Pinky?” He asks his woman.

  “Uh, I went over there to her house after she left you… I could hear screaming in her apartment but when I came up there, a man was dragging her pants up her leg. It was fucking awful.”

  My body feels electrocuted with each word that she says. “Then what happened? I would like to know who I’m gonna kill.”

  “Not without my help you’re not doin’ shit!” The Bear growls.

  Chantal jerks a little but turns her head to breathe in her man. My jealousy flies through the roof. I want Jen to be tucking her head into my chest to allow me to comfort her but she’s sleeping. “Why the hell is she still sleepin’?”

  Just when I’m about to resort to begging more, Jen startles in my arms and opens her beautiful eyes for me to see. “Jen? Baby?” I ask her to make sure that I’m seeing what is happening.

  “Hi,” she croaks.

  JEN

  My mind must be playing tricks on me because it’s telling me that Noah is here in bed with me. Wait, Slice. He’s brushing my hair out of my face like he cares about me and his emotions in his voice scares the shit out of me.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask him.

  My head hurts along with every inch of my body. It feels as if I’ve been hit with a sledgehammer repeatedly. The worst pain, though, is the pain between my legs.

  Slice rubs my hair back from my face and I can feel how tangled it is from him doing that. “I’m here because you’re my girl and I want to be here.”

  I wiggle out of his arms but he doesn’t let me go. “Don’t say shit like that,” I bark out at him. I’m in too much pain to be dealing with him saying shit like that to me. Plus, I’m vulnerable enough to believe it.

  The nurse and the doctor come strolling into the room with wide eyed expressions on their faces. “Well, hotties, seems like the little women are awake,” the nurse with big hair and a voluptuous figure states.

  I must be drugged up because I start laughing and so does Chantal. “Hotties?” My friend gasps out. “Joe, have you been laying on the charm?”

  Joe grunts a little before answering her. “Little kitten, I’m all charm. You know that.”

  “Gag!” I blurt out.

  The doctor chuckles but then he gets serious. “Chantal has already been briefed about what happened to her. It’s your turn. Do you remember what happened?” He asks me.

  I look into his kind eyes that have laughing wrinkles around them and wrinkles around his mouth. He seems nice enough for me to trust him but I’m more worried about what Slice is about to hear. “I don’t remember much. I remember when my husband barged into my apartment… but that’s about it.”

  “Your husband?” The doctor asks while looking at Slice.

  My heart beats faster in my chest but I can’t do anything about that now. “He’s not my husband,” I blurt out.

  “Who is he?” The doctor inquires.

  “He’s—”

  “I’m her man,” Slice interrupts me to answer.

  “What the fuck?” Joe growls.

  I’m not going to forget how they left me out to dry because they refused to listen to what I had to say. I’m not going to forget how they kicked me off their courtyard because they refused to even acknowledge me. I’m not going to forget any of this.

  “Do you want them to listen to what I’m about to tell you? Your injuries are pretty severe, Mrs. McSimmons,” the doctor states.

  Giving up the fight that is not even worth me trying to fight, I surrender. I shrug and the doctor continues. “First!” I beg remembering something. “How is the baby?” I ask. I feel so selfish for forgetting about the life that is inside of me. I was only thinking about myself but then I remembered that it’s not about me anymore. It’s about the baby.

  Slice’s head flies back like I shot him. “What baby? You’re pregnant?” He demands. He jumps out of the bed and begins to pace around the room.

  “Should we come back?” The doctor offers.

  I shake my head knowing that it’s only going to get worse before it gets better. If he leaves and comes back, there could be a murder in here. “No. Please tell me!”

  He smiles while looking down at his clipboard. “Your baby is fine. From what I could see, everything looks good in there.”

  “You’re pregnant?” Slice yells.

  Joe climbs out of bed and strolls over towards Slice with a look of hate. “You need to calm the fuck down and listen to what the doctor has to say.”

  I look over at Chantal in hopes that she could comfort me and she nods towards me. “It’s going to be okay,” she mouths.

  “My main concern is my patient. If you can’t calm down enough to listen to what happened, I’m going to have to ask you leave,” the doctor informs Slice.

  Tears are spilling over my cheeks and I’m gasping for air trying to calm down enough to listen to what happened. Slice looks over at me with a look of anguish and guilt. In a matter of three steps, he’s cradling me in his arms against the hospital bed. I have no idea how he managed to move my body without jarring me too much, but he’s lying where I was and now I’m on top of his torso.

  “I’m so sorry, baby. Shit,” he whispers against my ear. He kisses my cheeks repeatedly to let me know he means it, but I don’t know if it’s true or not. How am I supposed to know that anything he says is true? He left me like I was trash.

  “Mrs. McSimmons,” the doctor states but stops when Slice growls at him to change how he’s addressing me. “Jennifer, I’m sorry to be the one that has to tell you this, but you show sexual trauma.”

  My heart races faster in my chest and I can’t help but gasp at the air to swallow as much as possible. My world feels like it’s been knocked off kilter. “No,” I whisper defiantly.

  “I’m so sorry, but are you sure you don’t remember anything?” The nurse probes gently.

  I shake my head. “But my baby… Is my baby okay?”

  “Yes. We can get you an ultrasound if you want one,” the doctor offers helpfully.

&n
bsp; “Yes, we want an ultrasound ASAP,” Slice states.

  The nurse and doctor leave the room to get the equipment that is needed but Slice is holding me tighter to him. “I’m so sorry. Fuck, I’m so sorry. So, god damned sorry, baby. Please forgive me?” He begs me.

  “I think she’s probably overwhelmed,” Chantal states from the bed.

  In my selfish ways, I totally forgot that my best friend was lying in the bed next to me. “Are you okay?” I ask her.

  Joe answers for her. “She’s going to be fine. She… My little kitten is gonna be fine. Don’t worry.” He kisses her forehead a few times before whispering to her gently. “I love you so much, baby. So fucking much. Don’t do that to me again. I mean it.”

  She nods her head and smiles at him.

  SLICE

  I’m a fucking asshole. There’s no other way to say that. I’m an asshole who left his woman unguarded when her psycho husband was roaming the streets looking for her. I shouldn’t have left her like that. I should have listened to what she had to say to me regarding her husband.

  But I didn’t.

  I was too pissed off that she lied to me that I couldn’t listen to anything she had to say. Because of that, I missed out on finding out I had a baby on the way. I’m going to be a father. Holy shit! I’m going to be some kid’s dad.

  “You’re pregnant?” I ask her again.

  “Yes. I’m about three months along,” she answers for me.

  I do the math in my head trying to make sure that she’s pregnant with my kid. She elbows me in the side hard and bares her teeth at me. “Of course, it’s yours, you fucking dick!”

  I break out in a chuckle. “Hey, I didn’t want to assume.”

  “You don’t have to be here.”

  Chantal gasps next to the bed while The Bear rubs her head. “Let them figure it out,” he whispers.

  “There’s no other place that I want to be at. Just so you know, we’re done playin’ fuckin’ games. From now on, you’re mine and I’m yours. I’m not playin’ around anymore. You’re pregnant with my baby and my baby will have a mom and a dad.”

  Her eyes widen as she listens to what I have to say. “Are you sure about this? I’m still married… After everything you said to me… What makes you think that I want to be with you again?” She asks me.

  Each word is like a stab in my heart. “I love you, Jen. I’m so fuckin’ sorry. I’m gonna do what I can to make it up to you.”

  She shakes her head gently against my chest. “Let’s wait and see what you’re thinking after we look at the ultrasound.”

  “The ultrasound isn’t gonna change shit,” I murmur.

  “You’re gonna be a daddy!” Chantal hollers from her bed. “I’m gonna be an aunt to the most spoiled rotten baby in the world!”

  Almost as if on cue, the ultrasound technician rolls through the door with the machine. “Are you ready to see your baby?” She asks.

  The technician is a pretty cute woman with long red hair and puffy lips that most guys would go crazy over. I smile at her but hold Jen closer to me. Now that she’s here in my arms after I was so close to losing her for good, I’m not letting her go.

  “Oh, hey, The Bear,” the tech says towards my president with a slow smile on her face. “Haven’t seen you in a long time.”

  “Oh, sweetie,” Pinky says with a giggle. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”

  My lady is laughing in my arms but she’s trying not to. We both know what kind of relationship the tech had with the president. It’s also funny because he doesn’t remember her name even though they have clearly fucked.

  “Ah, hey,” my prez hedges trying to tread water. “This is my ol’ lady, Chantal.”

  Chantal giggles louder than ever while adjusting herself in his hold. “Hey, are we going to get this going so we can see the baby?”

  The tech blushes, clearly knowing that my prez doesn’t remember her name and goes about prepping Jen for the ultrasound. The blue junk makes her shiver but it’s when she started touching her with her hand is when she started to freak out.

  Her body tightens up and she starts to shake her head from left to right frantically as if she’s trying to get away.

  “Wait!” I stop her. The tech looks confused but stops what she’s doing so I can handle my woman. “Baby, you don’t have to do this,” I let her know. The last thing that I wanted was for Jen to get more upset than she already is. It’s bad enough that she’s suppressed what she went through earlier today as it is.

  Feeling completely useless, I hope that I’m helping her somehow.

  Growing up, I went to school with a rape victim and she didn’t allow people to touch her for years. Something about triggering the memories of what happened. I don’t know what happened to Jen, but I will make sure that she’s okay before we leave her.

  “I want to see the baby,” she whispers.

  “Don’t touch her with your hand,” I bark at the tech.

  A few minutes go by and all four of us are anxiously waiting to see what the baby looks like on the screen. Hell, I just found out that I’m going to be a dad and it feels like I’ve been waiting forever.

  Suddenly, a blinking appears on the screen and the sound of a bas takes over the room. “There’s your baby,” the tech says.

  The baby looks small and helpless but it’s mine. My heart beats faster while my breathing picks up. “Holy shit, that’s our baby,” I whisper to Jen.

  “Look!” Pinky says and extracts herself from Joe. “It’s so tiny!”

  “Would you like to know what you’re having?”

  “Yes!” Jen and Chantal both chant at the same time.

  Jen’s beautiful eyes turn to look at me with wonder. “Do you want to know what you’re going to have, daddy?”

  Hearing her call me that… it’s a strange feeling that’s hard to describe. I’m surprised that I’m going to be a father but I’m more surprised that this beautiful woman is carrying our child. After everything that I did to her, she’s still carrying my child.

  “Yes,” I murmur while still looking at Jen.

  “Looks like… It’s a girl!” The tech announces with wonder.

  “Fuck!” I hiss out. “A girl. Damn!”

  In this moment, I vowed to myself and to her- silently- that I would do whatever it takes to make her happy. I would do anything for her and our daughter no matter what.

  JEN

  Chantal and The Bear could leave the hospital after she was cleared by the doctor. She had a concussion from where her head pounded against the floor from Jimmy. The doctor said she’s going to have a headache for a while, but nothing that’s going to change her life. Also, the bullet wound in her arm will be healed after some time. It’s just a flesh wound and the doctors don’t seem too worried about it.

  Me, on the other hand, I’m being kept overnight. After my friend and her boyfriend left, I could get the information that I wanted to know from the doctor. For some reason, having them hear what happened to me was too much for me to bare.

  “You lost a lot of blood which is why you passed out like you did. Fortunately, your baby is fine but we had to stich you up a little from the trauma. I’m sorry, but it seems as if you were raped. Do you remember anything?”

  I shake my head. Tears are pooling in my eyes threatening to spill over but I do my best to stop them. “I don’t remember anything about that part.”

  I go through all the memories that I could to see if anything makes sense, but nothing does. There’s not one thing memory that sheds any light on what happened to me. The only thing I could remember was Jimmy yelling at me about stealing his money again.

  The doctor smiles, as he nods his head. “Where are you planning on going after you are released tomorrow?”

  Noah doesn’t give me the option to answer because he’s already butting in. “With me. She’s not leaving my side.”

  Feeling like I don’t have a choice in the matter, I don’t say anything
but look at my hands. So, what now? Now I’m supposed to forget that Noah didn’t give me the option to say anything regarding my being married? Am I supposed to forget that he told Chantal yesterday that I’m just a piece of ass? No, I can’t forget it.

  I won’t.

  “I advise you to speak to the therapist that’s on duty right now before we can release you. I want to make sure that you’re not suppressing anything vital from me. Any information is more information for the police to be able to find the man who did this to you.”

  “Thank you, doctor,” Noah says effectively dismissing him. “She will talk to him.”

  “She’s right here,” I blurt out and look to the left where Noah is sitting on my bed. He’s turned at the waist to have one of his arms over my blanketed legs almost as if he’s protecting me.

  “I will go and get the therapist. Thank you,” the doctor states and spins on his heels.

  “What the fuck is up with that?” Noah asks me.

  “You expect me to forget that you made me feel like shit because you found out that I’m married? You expect me to play happy family?” I spit out. My voice rises in volume as my anger heightens. “You just left me like I was nothing. When the fuck did I have time to tell you that I was married? Did you want me to come out and tell you when we were fucking? It’s not like you took me out on a date or something.”

  All the hurt that I have kept to myself has bubbled up and now it’s spewing out of my mouth like word vomit. “You hurt me!” I yell.

  Noah jerks back from me and paces the room like he’s caged. I follow him with my eyes while my traitorous body heats up uncomfortably.

  “You hurt me, Jen! You hurt me really fucking bad when you didn’t tell me you’re married! When were you going to tell me? After I proposed to you? Before you gave birth to our child?” He hammers his questions at me with a wild look in his eyes.

  “I didn’t have the time to tell you. Plus, I don’t exactly like the fact that I’m married to Jimmy in the first place.”

  This gets his attention and he walks back towards me with his gaze softening. “Why did you get married to him?”