Chapter 15

“The Hidden Truth”

—Jayla's POV—

“Why aren't the doctors telling us anything?” Jayceon asks, as he paces the floor of the hospital waiting room.

“I don't know, love. But I need you to keep positive. Look at me,” I tell him as I grab his face gently. “Your Mama is a strong, healthy woman. She'll be okay, I can feel it.” He only nods his head then wraps his arms around me. “I need to speak with the family of Maggie Knight.” A tired looking young man in green scrubs says, as he walks into the waiting room.

Jayceon and I speed walk to the guy and he motions for us to follow him into the hallway.

“I'm her son. What's wrong with my mom? Did she..is she gone?” Jayceon asks with fear in his voice, as his grasp on my hand becomes tighter.

“Your mother is alert and okay; stress was the reason she fainted. She's asking to see – Jayla. Afterwards you can go in to see her,” the nurse tells us both, after looking at the chart in his hand.

“Me? Why does she want to see me?” I ask out loud to no one in particular.

“I don't know, love. Jayla, thank you for being here with me.” Jayceon says as he pulls me close. “You don't know how much it means to me to have you by my side.”

“I will always be here for you, Jayceon,” I tell him before kissing his cheek.

I walk into the chilly room to see  Maggie sitting up in bed with her legs underneath her. “I'm so glad you're ok, we thought we lost you. You wanted to speak with me?” I ask her after giving her a loving hug.

“I didn't mean to startle anyone. Is Jayceon okay?” Maggie asks me, then pats the bed beside her legs wanting me to take a seat.

“He is okay, just very concerned about you. Are you feeling better?” I ask her after I sit down next to her.

“Jayla, how long have you known Khyla? Do you know her very well?” Maggie questions me, with concern etched on her face.

“I only met her this weekend, she is dating my bestfriend, Zoella. Is something wrong? Do you know Khyla?”

Suddenly, I'm very curious. Everyone, other than Zoe, recently met Khyla. So why is Jayceon's mom asking about her?

Maggie nibbles on her thumb and seems to hesitate a moment before answering. “I-I don't think so. Maybe I have just heard her name before. I j-just want to make sure she is a good person for my son to be around. By the way, thank you for bringing light into my son's life. He's a changed man since he met you.”

I feel my face begin to flush as Maggie and I turn to the sound of the door being pushed open.

“Mama! Thank God you're okay. Oh Mama, you died in my arms. I-I can't— oh, Lord.” Jayceon says as he rushes over to us and throws himself in her arms. The tears begin to flow down his cheeks as I watch the two of them embrace each other.

Tears start to pool in my eyes so I scoot over so I can stand up, but he pulls me into a hug with them.

“I can't ever lose either of you. You two are my life, my world, my..my everything.” Jayceon says as he continues to sob.

“Shh baby, I'm okay. I never died, honey. What are you taking about?” Maggie asks, as she consoles her crying son.

“Y-you had no heartbeat, you were just - just gone. Lifeless,” he continues.

Maggie wipes his tears with a tissue then rubs his back. “Jayceon Blaise, you were scared, you didn't feel in the correct spot. I only fainted because of stress, dehydration and lack of food. I'm really okay, my sweet boy.”

“Really? I didn't feel correctly?” He asks her, looking like he's about to laugh from shop. Maggie just shakes her head, then laughs at his reaction. “Oh! My! God! How stupid am I?”

The rest of our friends come in to visit, each of them holding flowers and balloons.

“These are for you, Mom. You're a second mom to me, so you're not allowed to die on us!” Zayne tells Maggie as Menha hands her a small basket of pink carnations. Attached is a small, fuzzy white bear with ‘Mommy’ etched in bold pink writing on the tummy. “I know you love white bears, so, Menha and I bought you this as well.

“Thank you, my sweet boy,” Maggie tells him as she pulls him and Menha into a hug. “Menha, it's wonderful to meet you.”

As Zoe walks to hand Maggie a balloon and roses, I notice she is swaying a little. She didn't drink anything at the party, so why is she swaying?

“Hi, I'm Zoella. It's.. it's very–” Suddenly, Zoe falls back into a seizure, hitting her head on the floor.

“Zoe!” I shout out as I scramble down in the floor time help her. “Someone go get help!”

There is blood pouring out of Zoe's mouth, nose and the back of her head when the group of nurses and doctors rush in.

“Talk to me! What happened?” The blonde nurse asks as she turns Zoe's head sideways, protecting her from injuring herself more.

“Her name is Zoella, she passed out and started seizing.” Maggie informs her since she's the calmest of us all. Everyone is crying, Zayne has his arms around Menha, holding her in place. Hayden is holding Lilly back from going to help Zoe. I'm crying into Jayceon's shoulder and Maggie is holding Khyla, rocking her back and forth.

“What is her medical history? Has she had a seizure before?” The same nurse asks as she injects some type of medicine into an IV in Zoe's arm. Everything is so chaotic I didn't see the IV get put in. Zoe's body instantly relaxes then I feel Jayceon exhale deeply.

“No, not that I know of,” I answer. Any kind of information like that she would have told us. Zoe has never had a seizure before, so why now?

“Yes, she's been sick. This is her third seizure this week!” Khyla speaks up as she walks to where they are loading Zoe up onto the stretcher.

“Who are you to the patient?” The blonde asks her in a sassy tone.

“I'm her girlfriend! Is there a problem with that?” Khyla asks defensively, raising her voice.

“No, not at all. They're two versions, so which is it? You say yes, she says no.” Nurse smart ass says, pointing towards me.

“I'll come with you and explain her grave condition.” Khyla says as tears cascade down her cheeks. “Jayla, I'm so sorry we hid this. I will explain everything when I get back.”

Grave? What the hell does that imply?

I watch as a sedated Zoe is taking out of the room by the team of nurses, followed by a hysterical Khyla.

“Jayceon,  what is happening?” I sob into his chest as he tightens his hold on me.

“I wish I knew sweetheart. We just have to pray for the best.” No matter the situation Jayceon always comforts me and becomes my strength.

“I need to tell y'all something,” Hayden says while clearing how throat.  “When we were at the cabin, I overheard Khyla and Zoe arguing.”

“Okay, what does that have to do with Zoe being sick?” Zayne questions him before sitting down with Menha on his lap.

“Zoe tried to take her life almost a year ago. Khyla saved her from going through with it,” Hayden explains. “They were talking about an illness as well. Nothing made sense – until now.”

“Oh, Hayden! Why didn't you tell me? Why hasn't she came to us, Jay” Lily asks, looking at me.

“She was sick majority of the time we were at the cabin. The second day we were there, Jayla and I walked into the kitchen while she was puking, some of it was blood. She tried to hide it but I saw it,” Jayceon tells everyone.

“Was that when you had a carry her to her bedroom, because she was too weak to stand?” I ask him as tears begin to fill my eyes once more.

“Yeah. She dropped a wet washcloth as I was carrying her, when I picked it up I noticed a lot of blood on it.”

Jayceon and I look over to his mom, I notice her hands are pressed together with her eyes closed, she's praying. When her eyes open, Jayceon leads me over to the bed and we take a seat beside of Maggie.

“Jayce, I think all of you need to prepare yourself for some shocking news.” She tells Jayceon, as she places her left hand on top of mine and his.

We are all silent, just holding each other, until Khyla walks in. Her eyes are red and blotchy, just like her nose; she looks like hell.

God, please tell me she's gone!

“If you all will follow me, I will tell you what's been going on with Zoe.” Khyla speaks in a small voice as she wipes under her eyes.

Jayceon looks over at his mom, not wanting to leave her. It's like, she can read his mind. “Go baby, I'm fine,” she reassures him.

We all follow Khyla up to the intensive care unit then to a room that Zoella is in. I don't think anyone, especially myself, was prepared for what we saw.

Zoe’s petite frame is laying in the middle of the large hospital bed. I see heart modern wires attached to her, a blood pressure cuff around her arm and a large tube going down her throat.

One of my best friends is unresponsive and on life support. How did it come to this?

“Oh, Zoe!” Menha cries out, as she rushes over to her and takes Zoe's free hand in her own.

Tears fall from my eyes as I say a silent prayer. I'm not overly religious, but I believe in God and the power of prayer. I look up to see Khyla on the other side of Zoe's bed, holding her other hand.

“Khyla, what the hell is going on?” Jayceon asks, before I lay my head on his shoulder.

“Maybe you all should sit down. This news will be shocking to –”

“Fuck sitting down! We deserve to know now, Khyla! We've been in her life since we were kids!” Lily demands with a raised voice. Hayden pulls her closer to him, then rubs his hand along her arms. He whispers  something to Lily, causing her to nod and take a deep breath.

“Khyla, please explain to us why Zoe is laying in this bed on life support. We need the truth,” Menha pleads as Zayne wipes her tears.

“I wanted to tell you all everything, but Zoella didn't. I have to start at  the beginning for you to fully understand her story and illness.” Khyla begins after jumping up to sit on the platform by the large window.

Everyone takes a seat with their partner and turns their attention to Khyla. I refuse to leave Zoe's bedside so Jayceon brings over a chair, then pulls me onto his lap so I'm still able to hold on to Zoe.

Zoella and I met around fifteen months ago at a bar. We hit it off, so we started dating soon after that. She hadn't told anyone that she was pansexual, it was actually her second night out at a gay bar. Things began getting exclusive between us, so I asked her to be my girlfriend. She started spending nights at my house around four months into our relationship. That's when I noticed she seemed to be sick, not a cold type of sick.” Khyla took a deep breath, as her eyes looked over at Zoe.

“What type of sick?” I ask her, not really wanting to know.

Khyla closed her eyes as she continues talking to us. “She was vomiting a lot, coughing up blood, passing out, had chills. She was always in pain and never spoke about it to anyone, except me. Around five months ago, I made Zoella go see her family doctor. He discovered that she had inoperable stage four leukemia. He gave her six to nine months to live.”

★A/N★

– Thoughts?

– Did you expect this plot twist?

– Shame on you who thought I would kill off Mama Maggie! 😂

– What do you want to see next?

– Any special POV requests?

**This isn't edited, so kindly point out any errors.**