Page 65 of Book Bae

“Daddy, is Myraj gonna sleep for a long time?” Malachi asked with large, frightened eyes.

I kissed his forehead and held him close to me. “No, li’l man, not much longer. They’re gonna make sure that she and your sister are okay. You’re gonna ride with Mai, okay?”

“Mkay.”

I kissed him again before I handed him off to Mai.

“He’ll be fine. Don’t worry about him; just take care of those two,” Mai instructed.

I bobbed my head and hopped in the ambulance. I couldn’t take my gaze off Myraj. She was unconscious and looked so lifeless except for whenever the seizures gripped her. I was terrified. I just wished that I had taken her to the hospital when she first complained about the headaches.

They administered the hydralazine no sooner than we took off in the ambulance and immediately began monitoring my daughter’s heart rate as well as Myraj’s.

I called her mother as soon as I could and told her what I knew before requesting that she meet us at the hospital. When I finished that call, I prayed the entire ride to the hospital, asking God to spare Myraj’s life and our daughter’s life. We hadn’t even settled on a name for her yet. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing either of them.

No sooner than we arrived at the hospital than a whole team of neurologists, respiratory specialists, obstetricians, and nurses surrounded her and rushed into a room.

“Mr. Livingstone, you cannot come in here. We were told that you rode in the ambulance on the way over, but there will be no negotiations about this,” the brunette nurse with kind blue eyes explained.

“She’s scared. I know she is. If she can just feel my presence⁠—”

“I understand your concern and that you’re afraid as well. This is a very scary time for everyone involved. That’s not unusual, but I assure you that we have this under control. We’re professionals, and we operate best when we can focus on the patient and no other factors. Is that understood?” the nurse asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Just make sure that you understand if something happens to my woman or my baby, y’all might as well say your goodbyes to your family members.”

“Mr. Livingstone, my name is Nurse Trina. I will be out here checking on you as often as possible and giving updates. Please remain calm so that you don’t get put out of here, and the doctors, nurses, and specialists can focus on your wife and daughter. I need you to remain calm, pray if you have faith, and let us do our jobs.”

“A’ight, then get busy doing that shit!” I demanded angrily. I knew it wasn’t her fault or theirs, but I was losing it. She walked away from me, and I stayed outside of the room and looked into the room through partially opened curtains over the window.

I knew that I was being irrational, but I didn’t know what else to do. It felt like Malachi’s birth all over again—something going wrong, worrying, praying, and not sure what my little guy’s future would shape up to be, if he survived at all. We had all been worried about Malachi being born addicted to drugs and alcohol. Now my baby girl was going through a different predicament, but no less stressful.

In this scenario, I felt completely hopeless. It occurred to me that she referred to Myraj as my wife. I felt like a veil was lifted and God had opened my eyes to the possibilities and the truth. I didn’t just care about Myraj; I loved that woman with all my heart. I had gotten it wrong three times before, and Arabella was wrong; three strikes didn’t mean I was out. My best was waiting for me. When we got on the other side of this, I was making that woman my wife.

“Where is she?” Mr. Nicholson’s voice boomed throughout the space.

I spun around to see Mr. and Mrs. Nicholson rushing up to me with Myraj’s brothers, DJ and Blake, right behind them.

“Right here in this room.” I pointed.

“What are the doctors saying?” her mother asked.

“They haven’t said anything yet. They kicked me out of the room. They stopped the seizures, and they are working to get her blood pressure down,” I explained.

“What about the baby?” Blake asked.

“I don’t know anything.” My jaws clenched, and Mr. Nicholson gripped my shoulder.

“Be strong, son. They’re going to pull through this. My daughter is a fighter,” he stated.

I looked up and saw my entire family rushing toward us.

“Micaiah, we came as soon as we heard. How’s she doing, Son?” my dad asked.

“I don’t know right now. They’re working on her, Dad, but—I don’t know. How did y’all know?”

“Mai called us. Is Myraj responsive, Micky?” my mother asked.

“She wasn’t when I saw her last. She passed out, and she hasn’t been awake since then. I don’t know what this means, if there will be any long-term effects or what. She’s been having back-to-back seizures, and they only got them under control when we arrived here.”