DÉJÀ VU - Chapter 18: Chapter 18

"Father God, mi really cyan do dis. I know I don't talk to you a lot and I apologize. But please don't let this girl bleed out and die. Amen." She prays. "Oh God mi can't even manage har." Sade-Lynn speaks, the last part mostly to herself.
"Whew!" She sighed deeply as she held Xanai's unconscious body, trying not to drop her.
She eventually got her into the car, but when she put her down, her arms were killing her.
"Mi did know seh dah Soriah deh a bad company eno!" She hissed, looking for her phone to dial Kairo.
Upon locating it, She grabbed her phone, taking her eyes from the road for just a second to unlock it.
She drove slowly as she looked for Kairo's number. "Oh seet here." She speaks, audio calling him. She stuck her AirPod in so she wouldn't have to hold the phone in her hand.
It rang, and rang, and rang, and finally, he answered. "Hello?" His voice rasped.
Oh him just a wake. She thought.
"Kairo? I'm in Kingston right now and I have Xanai but she's currently unconscious, probably because a how much blood she lose. Should I get her to a hospit-"
"A Sade-Lynn dis right? Mia guh meet yuh,which hospital yuh closest to?" He rushed.
"Um, Nuttall's is up the road."
"Gwaan up a Nuttall, mia meet yuh. Fuck dawg!"
Why Xanai? She always a guh through some shit.
She did nothing to deserve this.
While talking to her Sade-Lynn, he didn't realize a tear slipped from his eye, but, when he did, he hurriedly wiped it away.
Men cry too... his subconscious retorts.
Sade-Lynn gripped the steering wheel tightly, her heart racing like it wanted to break free from her chest. The car moved steadily up the road, every second feeling like an eternity. Blood still seeped from Xanai's wound, and she kept glancing back every chance she got.
"Hold on, Nai, just hold on," she whispered, her voice shaky.
The 'Nuttall Memorial' hospital sign finally came into view, and she swerved into the driveway, tires screeching slightly. She jumped out, flung open the back door, and struggled to lift Xanai out. Her hand still throbbed from the break, but she pushed through the pain.
"Help! Somebody help me!" she cried out as she stumbled toward the entrance.
Two nurses rushed out with a stretcher, their eyes wide when they saw the blood.
"What happened to her?" one nurse asked as they wheeled Xanai inside.
"She... she got stabbed... she's lost a lot of blood," Sade-Lynn gasped, breathless.
"We're taking her straight to emergency. Are you family?"
"Best friend," she answered, tears pooling in her eyes, but she blinked them away. "Mi affi... I just need to make sure she's okay."
The nurse nodded and disappeared down the hall with Xanai. Sade-Lynn dropped into one of the hard plastic chairs in the waiting area, her hands resting on her lap, sticky with drying blood.
"God... please..." she murmured.
Just as she tried to calm herself, she heard footsteps rushing in. Kairo.
His eyes were red, hair messy, and his face full of worry.
"Where is she?" he asked, his voice rough.
"They're working on her now," Sade-Lynn whispered, her voice nearly gone.
Kairo sat beside her, both of them silent for a while.
"How did this happen?" he finally asked.
"I honestly don't know. I tracked her phone down to that...place. I went and found her... unconscious. She neva memba me. Act like she never see mi a day ina har life." She sobs.
Kairo didn't know what to do or how to feel. He obviously felt bad but he doesn't know if he should comfort Sade-Lynn or not.
"She aguh memba man." He replies, half afraid Xanai wouldn't remember him either as he placed a friendly pat on her shoulder in assurance.
"Yeah," she nodded. "I think they tried to set her up for something, and when she resisted... they stabbed her. Maybe even drug her."
Kairo got up and started pacing. "Fuck... them aguh dead enuh! Dung to di fetus inna belly a dead," he hissed through gritted teeth.
Sade-Lynn wiped her face. "Right now, I just want her to live, Kairo. I can't lose her."
The room fell silent again, the tension thick. Outside, even though it was around 7pm, the city of Kingston kept moving as usual, people unaware that a life- no- lives were hanging by a thread.
"Miss Sade-Lynn Reed?"
She jumped up, her heart stopping mid-beat. "Yes, I'm here. How is she? Is she okay?"
The nurse sighed. "We've stabilized her, but she lost a lot of blood. She's critical right now, and we're monitoring her closely. Still unconscious, but, alive."
Sade-Lynn collapsed back into the chair, a mix of relief and fear swirling inside her.
"Thank you, Father God," she whispered.
Kairo didn't really show it but he released a breath he didn't know he was holding, saying a silent prayer to God.
Kairo sat beside her again, not too close, before speaking, "Mi nuh know bout you, but mi always aguh deh yah fi har. Matter of fact mi nah leff yah unless a wid har, alive."
"You don't even have to ask, Xanai is literally my only friend, not to mention the only one I trust. I would rather die with her than lose her."
Dat soun....lean. A want she want mi ooman? He thinks.
"I'm not gay, but I love her- platonically, of course." She speaks to which he nods.
I love her more, romantically. He thinks.
And so they sat, united in silence, both knowing that this wasn't over. Not until they found out why the night had ended like this... and who was really behind the blood that stained their hands.