Love Contract

by Andromeda

  I nod to the others, who nod back.

  "Let the Chief finish his speech, and then head to the lockers," Joy informs us. We nod and turn back to the man who's speaking.

  "You are all here because you want to be here. You have worked hard and are no longer interns; you are now residents, but don’t think that the job gets any easier. People will look up to you now; some of you might crack, while others of you might succeed. To some people, we are their last hope; there will be tears, blood, and sweat spilled here, but in the end it’s all worth it. Now get to work."

  I run to the female locker room and find the one with my name on it. Inside are two pairs of pink scrubs. Stripping, I put one pair on quickly, along with some sneakers.

  "What's your name?" a voice suddenly says next to me. I turn and see an Asian woman watching me.

  "Malaika Robinson," I say, putting my hair in a ponytail. "But you can call me Mala if you want."

  "Pearl Song," she says, holding out her hand. "I love your accent. I wish I had one."

  "Trust me, no you don't. People are asking me: 'Do all people in your country get high? Do they always have dreadlocks?'"

  "Assholes."

  We both laugh.

  "Yeah,” I say when we stop.” What are you here for?"

  "General."

  "Peds."

  She scoffs playfully. "Pediatrics? That's for babies."

  "No, that's maternal," Lilly says behind us.

  "Whatever," Pearl says with a roll of her eyes.

  We laugh again and walk out.

  Separating, I join up with Lilly, Ivan, and Ian at the elevator, which we take up to the 4th floor. The doors open and we're greeted by rainbows, glitter, and laughing. A kid walks up to me and smiles. Smiling, I bend down...and then he opens his mouth and pukes on me!

  "Cyrus!" a family voice says. We look up and see Joy march on over. "What did I say about puking on my interns?" He hangs his head, but smiles and runs off. Joy claps her hands and smiles. "Such a precious child. Now...let’s get to work!"

  I look at my puke-covered clothes. Merde!

  ********************************

  "That was hell!" Lilly groans, pulling her shirt down.

  It's 7:45 pm, and time for us to leave this hell hall, almost 12 hours…and I have a 36-hour shift in a couple days.

  "That was wonderful!" Pearl says clapping with joy. "Mala! I have my hands in a person's chest today. A person chest!"

  "I got puked on by like a hundred kids," I groan, putting my ruined scrubs in the cleaning bin.

  "My hands were in man's chest!" Pearl repeats. "A man's chest!"

  "I swear, if I didn't love children, I would put my head in the trash compactor."

  Pulling on my coffee-stained clothes, I get my purse and walk out with Pearl to the front of the hospital. Two guys stand there arguing.

  "No dude, you're wrong! So wrong!"

  "No, I'm right! Just admit it!"

  The white one sees us and waves us over. "Pearl, help us out here."

  "Alright," she says. "What's up?”

  "Who's faster. Superman or the Flash?"

  "The Flash," I answer quickly. "It's a proven fact and was revealed in several comics that the Flash is faster than Superman."

  They all look at me.

  "I don't how the hell you knew that," Pearl says.

  I shrug. "I have brothers."

  "Ahh."

  The two guys, one Caucasian and one African-American, look at me.

  The African-American one hoots and claps his hands together. "Told you! Gimme the $50!"

  The Caucasian one groans, but digs around in his pocket and hands him the 50-dollars.

  The African-American one kisses it and tucks it into his pocket. "Pleasure doing business with you," he laughs before giving me a side hug. "A woman after my own heart. I'm Kenny. And that pouted mess over there is David."

  David nods, but still continues to pout.

  "I'm Malaika, and that's Pearl."

  "I know her," Hamilton says. "We have the same resident together."

  "Yeah, we have Olivia."

  “I have Joy," I say.

  They all cringe. "Dr. Jekyll and Hyde?" Kenny gasps.

  "What?"

  "She's literally called Dr. Jekyll and Hyde," Pearl says. "Like one moment she's all happy and bubbly, and the next she wants to tear your head off!"

  Beep-Beep!

  I look down at my phone and see I have a text from my sister Grace.

  GRACE: Where are you? It's almost 8:00!

  I gasp and look at the clock. "Merde!" I growl. "I'm late picking up my siblings! I gotta go! Talk to you guys later!"

  "Bye!" they say as I run to my car.

  I'm almost there when a silver Audi comes out of nowhere and almost hits me. Thinking quickly, I tuck and roll over the hood, landing safely on the other side.

  "Asshole!" I scream at the car.

  I don't wait for the person to get out. I climb into my car and drive like a mad woman to the library, where my siblings and little one are waiting for me.

  "I'm sooo sorry," I say, opening the doors for them. "I lost track of time and met some new friends. How can I make it up to you?"

  They look at each other and grin. "Pitza!" they all cry at the same time.

  I laugh and smile. "Alright, pizza it is. I'm sure we'll find a good place."

  And we do. An old-fashioned Italian pizzeria called Rinaldi's Family and Friends. However, as we eat, I see a silver Audi parked across the street; that's...odd, didn’t I see a silver Audi a while ago? However, I brush it off and just enjoy spending time with my family. When we drive home, I see the silver Audi in my rearview mirror...following us? That gets me nervous.

  When we pull up to the gates of our apartment, I breathe a sigh of relief when the gates stop the Audi from getting in. I drive to our home and help my siblings and little one get ready for bed. After saying their prayers and settling down, I go to my own room and get ready for sleep. However, before I do so, I see car lights in my window.

  Greatly curious, I walk over and pull a curtain aside. When I peek out, my jaw drops. The silver Audi! It's parked right next to my car! I can make out a form, but I can't tell if it's male or female. Biting my lip, I close the curtain, turn off the lights and climb into my bed, waiting for sleep's embrace.

  Chapter Three: It’s Just Lunch

  Malaika

  "...And if you give him theses antibiotics, that should clear right on up,” I say, smiling at the little boy and his parents.

  "Does this mean I can go outside and play again?" he asks

  Bending down to his level, I nod. "Yes Damon, it does."

  He smiles. "I can play baseball again!"

  "That's right. But be careful, you know those pills I gave your mommy? They contain magical powers. But you can't tell anyone, alright?" He nods eagerly and I stand up. "Good."

  "Let's go Damon," his mother coos with a smile at me.

  "Bye Dr. Robin!" he calls, and runs off with his parents.

  I can’t help but smile at my nickname at the hospital. As I’m checking on a patients’ chart, I hear the lyrics of Beyoncé’s song Best Thing I Never Had, and know that it must be my phone. Opening the flip phone—I know it’s a disgrace but it’s the only thing I can afford right now—I see that it’s Robyn.

  "Hello?" I say, answering it.

  "Bonjou Manman!" a bubbly voice says at the other end.

  "Bonjou gato dous," I coo to Robyn. "How's the library?"

  "We're having a wonderful time. Gracie is going to take out to lunch in an hour. Can I have chicken fingers mamman?"

  I laugh. "Wi, you can.”

  She shrieks with joy. "Thank you, mamman. I have to go now. Mwen renmen ou!"

  "I love you too, sweet cake. Mommy will talk to you when I'm on my break."

  "Alright. Orevwa manman!" she says, telling me goodbye.

  I chuckle to myself as I tuck my phone into my pocket. My daughter is the joy of
my life; she was my saving grace after her father and I...separated. Well, more like he broke my arm and was thrown into jail. However, I am a bit perplexed at what to do. In less than a month, school will begin here but...all the schools here are either private or have crazy high expectations to get in; but then again, this is Richmond, Virginia...

  "Who was that?" a masculine voice says behind me, startling me from my thoughts and making me jump as I hang up.

  I turn around and stare into a pair of grey orbs: Giovanni. "Why does it matter?" I snap, my accent growing thicker as my anger raises.

  Giovanni holds up his hands. "I'm not here to fight. I'm actually here to apologize."

  I raise an eyebrow in surprise. "Is that so?" I ask, crossing my arms. "I'm waiting."

  "I wanted to say I'm sorry for spilling my coffee on you last week,” he says.

  I nod. "Good. Now goodbye."

  I turn to leave, but he grabs my arm. I gasp as an electric current shoots up my arm and spreads throughout my body. I've never felt such a shock before, and it feels so strange...but also sends a warm tingling through me.

  "Let me make it up to you," he says. "I'll...take you out to lunch."

  I open my mouth to respond when a nurse runs to me. "Doctor, we need your help."

  "What's wrong?" the man asks her, but she looks at me.

  "It's Yaya. She was attacked."

  I gasp. Yaya Clearwater was a girl that I had taken care of a couple days ago. A sweet Native American girl, she is 16 and loves animals, wanting to be a veterinarian. I remember her because she reminded me of my younger sister Ruby. Yanking my arm from the man's grip, I run after the nurse.

  "Wait!" he calls after me. "What about lunch?"

  I roll my eyes and turn around. "No!" I snap, then run after the nurse.

  I burst into the room and instantly take command. "Give me her chart," I bark at a nurse, "And brief me."

  "Patient's name is Yaya Clearwater,” the nurse says. “She was found in a park this morning after she didn't return from her morning jog. Status: post-trauma and she has major head trauma.”

  I nod. "Call radiology and tell them to get their asses up here so I can get her x-rayed. Call respiratory for a ventilator, and I want those x-rays yesterday! Understood?"

  They nod and get to work. I leave the room and WHAM—run into Giovanni again.

  "DAMN IT!" I scream at him. He lowers a hand to help me up, but I slap it away. "I don't want your help," I hiss. "I want you to leave me alone!"

  "I will," he says with a smirk. "If you go out to lunch with me."

  I roll my eyes. "Fine. When?"

  "Today. I'll pick you up in my car and I'll take us out."

  "Fine," I say, looking back down at Yaya's chart. "Whatever."

  A couple minutes later, I look at her x-rays and growl. "Damn it. Prep the O.R. Joy! Joy, come here please!"

  Joy runs over, and I explain the problem and she nods. "Get me an O.R. Mala, you're scrubbing in. Let’s go."

  I smile and go to the cleaning room, where I clean myself the right way and with the help of others, put on a gown and gloves. When I get inside, Yaya's already in surgery. She has two surgeons on her, a neurologist and a pediatrician. I stand next to Joy as she works, watching everything she does.

  "She's going to need a lot of recovery and rehab," the neurologist says sadly.

  "What kind of monster does this to a child?" Joy growls.

  "I think he's suffering," one of the nurse’s whispers to me. "The rape kit came back negative. And look at her nails: she clawed his eyes out most likely. She kicked his ass."

  I can't help but smile and bend down to Yaya's ear. "If you can hear me Yaya," I whisper. "I want you to know I'm so proud of you."

  Chapter Four: The Proposal

  Giovanni

  As I sit in the front of the hospital looking over the files in front of me, I can't help but be impressed. Patty really did dig down deep and find everything about Ms. Malaika Robinson. I know everything from her blood type to her social security number, to finding out her name means Angel in Swahili. So far I like what I see, I like it very much.

  I can't help but smirk to myself as I remember our little 'talk' this morning; how her hair flowed over her shoulders, how her emerald-green eyes are flecked with gold. How passionate and dedicated she seems to her job. I saw how she went to help the girl named Yaya; how nurturing and kind she was. She will make a wonderful mother. As a matter of fact, according to these records she has a little girl—a 5-year old I believe—named Robyn. A perfect name seeing how Ms. Malaika's nickname here at the hospital is Dr. Robin.

  My phone rings, and I look to see that it's my brother. "Hello?"

  "How's it going, fratellino?" he asks.

  "Honestly, I was in a crappy attitude this morning. But it got a lot...better..."

  "I know that tone, little brother," he says. "Who are you screwing?"

  "I'm not screwing anyone!" I laugh. "But I do have a date."

  "Who's the lucky, or in some cases, unlucky lady?"

  "None of your business," I say back. "And she's coming this way—goodbye!"

  I hang up the phone quickly as I see Malaika heading my way. I can't help but let out a strained groan. She's wearing a Y-back top with hip-hugger jeans. Her hips are going to drive me crazy; I know it already.

  She stands in front of me and crosses her arms. "Alright, let's get this over with."

  I laugh and put the files of her into my briefcase and stand up. "You make it sound like this is a bad thing."

  She rolls her eyes. "To me it kind of is, and seeing as you won’t leave me alone until I do this, then let’s get this over with.”

  “As you say, Malaika.”

  “How do you know my name?”

  “I have ways of finding things out…”

  “Of course you do,” she snorts. “We taking my car?”

  “No, mine,” I say, gesturing to the doors. “Your accent is strange to me, where are you from?”

  “Kingston.” She answers flatly.

  “Oh really?” I ask. “I would like to visit there, maybe you could give me a…personal tour…”

  She scoffs at me, and I chuckle. Leaving the hospital and walking to the parking lot, she suddenly stops when she sees my car.

  "That's yours?" she asks.

  I nod. "Yes. Do you like it?"

  "Yeah, but it seems...familiar. Like I've seen it before."

  I hold my breath. Ever since I had the idea, I have been following her in my car, watching her and her family. According to my records, she takes care of her younger siblings along with her daughter. I've seen them go to the park, the store, the library where she drops them off every morning before she comes to work, and then go to and from their home. I wrinkle my nose at the thought of the mother of my child staying at a place like that. There is no way I'm letting her stay there. She's either going to move in with me, or in an apartment’s that close by. I would prefer the former, but looking at her I know she'd want the latter.

  "It's a very popular car," she finally says. "And I remember now. It was in a magazine my sister was looking at."

  I exhale deeply and smile. That was a close one. "If you say so. Allow me to help you in."

  I hold the door open for her and she rolls her eyes. "I can do it myself. It's not like I'm pregnant."

  Not yet mia angela...I think to myself. Not yet.

  ********************************

  I drive her to a nice restaurant owned by a friend of mine. I learned from her files that she loves Chinese food, and thus I brought her to this wonderful restaurant. It's authentic; you can smell the freshness of the food, and it also has a calming aura.

  "Order whatever you want," I tell her as we sit down in a very private booth. "It's on me."

  Her eyes widen in delight, and I can't help but smile. She orders the pork fried rice with Char siu pork. It's basically barbecued pork marinated with plum sauce and honey for sweet flavor. For her desert, s
he orders two almond biscuits. I order sweet and sour chicken with chicken fried rice. I watch her as she eats, smiling as when she first bites into her pork, she softly released moan of pleasure the rolled off her tongue.

  Soon she will be moaning my name, I think to myself.

  I watch as she licks the honey sauce off her lower lip and have to clench my fist. I want so badly to reach across the table and pull her into a deep kiss, thrusting my tongue into her mouth. I wouldn't care that people would see us, but I can guess by looking at her that my kiss would be rewarded with a knee to the groin, followed by some swear words in whatever language she speaks.

  "So Angel," I say in the middle of our meal with a smirk. "Tell me about yourself."

  She looks at me with a raised eyebrow. "Why do you care?"

  "Well, I would like to get to know you. There's nothing wrong with simple conversation, now is there?"

  She thinks on it and shrugs. "Alright then. What do you want to know?"

  I already know virtually everything about her, but I would love to hear it from her own lips.

  "Let’s see..."I say, stroking my chin. "How many siblings to you have?"

  "I have four siblings," she answers. "But I live with 3: Grace, Jordan and Ruby. My oldest brother, Remy, is a Marine and is in the middle of the ocean somewhere right now."

  "Is there anyone else living with you?" I ask.

  She raises an eyebrow. "I have a daughter. Her name is Robyn."

  I can't help but smile. "You have a daughter named Robyn, and your nickname around the hospital is Dr. Robin."

  "Honestly, Robyn and my siblings are the best part of my life," she says. " I don't know where I would be without them."

  I nod, at a loss for words. I know she means what she has expressed; I can tell because of the way her eyes are shining. She looks so happy, so at peace. I'm balling my fists under the table to keep from reaching across the table to kiss her.

  "So," she finally says, breaking the silence. "What's your angle?"

  "M...my angle?" I'm caught off guard.

  "Yes, why did you invite me to lunch? What do you want from me?"

  I smile and sit back, folding my hands over each other. "It's simple really. I want you to have my child."