KATHRYN

"Andre I-"

My phone blared, "Shot Clock," by Ella Mai. I looked at the screen and saw Phrey's name across the top.

"It's Phrey,"I mumbled.

Andre grabbed my phone and placed it behind his back. I reached for it but he didn't budge. He stood there with glossy eyes.

"Ya really gon ignore ma question?"

"Doesn't Phrey have Amarah?" I asked, "What if somethings wrong?"

"If somethin was wrong he woulda called me,"Andre mumbled. "Na answer ma question."

I looked down at my feet. This was the first time we've ever been so close. Who knows if I'll have another chance to tell him how I feel?

"Honestly Andre, I was just doing my job. My job as a RN is to protect the patients. You know I don't half ass any job. I put my all into my work, so that means I put my all into you,"I explained. His face fell into a deep sadness. "I'll continue putting my all into you. Obviously this wasn't a coincidence Andre. We fell into each other's path for a reason. Maybe we're supposed to fall in love. Maybe we're supposed to co-parent. Maybe I might do it again. Maybe you might do it for me. You're in my life for a reason."

"So, that mean ya like me ta?"

"I just got out of a terrible divorce. I don't want a re-" I stopped in the middle of my sentence and watched the sly smirk appear on his face. "I'm not saying I'm interested Andre, but I think you're extremely attractive."

He pulled me into a hug. I laughed as he twirled me around. This was the fun Andre I liked. He was always so serious and dreadful.

"Ya want a piece of this An-drink don't ya?"

I stared at him, "That was a different level of corny."

A loud banging on the door interrupted our conversation. I looked at Andre. He shrugged. I opened my top drawer and grabbed my small shot gun.

Phrey bought me one because he wanted me to be protected. You'll never know how many have threatened me within the past few months.

"Ya ain't gon shoot nobody. Put that shit down,"Andre mumbled.

"Shut up 'for I pistol whip you hoe."

"Phrey got you thinking you big and bad," He laughed. He took the gun out of my hand and cocked it. "If anybody shooting it's me."

I followed him to the door. He held the gun behind his back and looked into the peephole. He chuckled and swung the door open. Darnell stood on the other side looking frightened.

"What's up ni-"

"They-they...fuck man,"Darnell cried.

I pushed past Andre and held Darnell's hand. I knew it was bad because he couldn't even say what happened. The same thing happened when he told me his parents were killed in an accident two years ago.

"Darnell?"

"They shot PJ,"He cried.

"What?"Andre shouted kind of loud. Darnell jumped at the sound, "Fuck ya talkin bout man?"

"They shot PJ-Just um, just come with me."

I grabbed my phone out of Andre's back pocket and saw the 20 missed calls from Phrey. I had a few from Darnell but mostly Phrey. Andre took out his phone and saw 67 missed calls.

Darnell motioned for us to go to his car. I looked at the black Tahoe, and noticed it was Phrey's. He opened the door and I looked at the blood stains on the front seat.

I placed a hand over my mouth as the tears flowed from my eyes. Blood was everywhere, like PJ tried to escape. I looked over at Andre and watched a few tears fall from his eyes.

"What tha fuck?"He whispered.

"Phrey and them was uh, at the gas station. Phrey went in to buy something. When he came out he uh, he saw PJ. They shot him in his chest, and twice in both legs,"Darnell said as he held my shaking body.

"PJ 'Ight? Right?"

I looked over at Andre as he held his chest. My body shook at the sight. It wasn't right. None of this was right.

"When I got there, he was already in the ambulance. I don't know what's goin-"

"Where?..."Andre spoke softly. "Where is ma daughta?"

I looked up at Darnell and saw his face fall. I closed my eyes to keep the tears from falling.

"They uh, they took her man. I looked everywh-"

"FUCK!"Andre screamed at the top of his lungs.

I watched Andre hit the car with all his might. I ran to his side to keep him from doing anything he might regret. Darnell held him back as he shouted.

Amarah...they took her. Thoughts of her being tortured, raped, and beaten ran through my mind. My innocent baby. I almost lost her a month ago and I could lose her today.

"Phrey went to look for her. He thinking somebody from Mafia took her. You want to come with?"

Andre nodded through the tears. He walked to the other side of the car and opened the door. Darnell placed his hands on both of my shoulders.

"We're going to find her Kathryn,"He whispered.

"My baby,"I cried.

"PJ needs you right now. Phrey wants to be there so bad but he can't. Please go find out what's going on."

I nodded. Darnell placed a kiss on my forehead and got into the car. Andre had his head in his hands. Tears dropped to the floor as he cried.

My heart burned as I thought of the scene. PJ being shot, Amarah being ripped out of her car seat. PJ trying to get her, but they shoot him again. Phrey coming out of the gas station seeing the results. Phrey calling the police. Phrey noticing Amarah is gone. Phrey leaves to find Amarah.

I went into the house and threw on some sweatpants. I grabbed my keys off the counter and got in my car. Truth is I was scared. I was scared of the outcome. I was scared of who would come out of this alive. I was scared of who wouldn't come out is this alive.

"Why?"I asked through tears. "She's a child, God. Why?"

The sound of sirens brought me back to reality. I looked at the hospital in front of me. This is where I almost lost my life. This could be where PJ lost his.

"I'm her uncle, Patrido,"The guys spoke.

I sat up in my hospital bed and shook his hand. His grip was nice, and instantly made me fall in love. He was about 5'8. His brown hair complimented his darker skin tone. His eyes were a hazel color that matched his hair.

"I'm Kathryn, but you can all me Kat."

"You can call me PJ,"He mumbled. "I know good and damn well you can't say Patrido."

I giggled, "Tomé un español en la escuela secundaria, Patrido."

"So you bilingual?"

"I was required to learn a language since I'm a RN. I'm actually multilingual. I speak fluent Swahili."

"I known you fucking lying."

Little did he know I was actually lying. I can't speak Swahili but I can comprehend most of it. My father was fluent in it. In fact his whole funeral was spoken in Swahili.

My father would be so proud of me if he was here. I hate that he died before I graduated. He couldn't even see me succeed. God knows my mother didn't show. I didn't have family there when I succeeded. The most I had was a congrats text from Zamia.

I opened my car door and felt the breeze hit my skin. It was starting to become chilly again with all the rain we were getting. I grabbed my umbrella and covered my hair.

The nurses greeted me as I walked in. I haven't been to work in a week. I had a few vacation days and since they were about to expire, I decided to take them. These few days have been very peaceful without Mrs. Hall.

"Back so soon Mrs. Stevens?"Mrs. Hall asked.

"Don't fucking try me Mrs. Hall," I gritted.

She smiled. She scurried away making me laugh. I knew she wouldn't dare fire me, because it would look terrible on her part. Hell I could put in discrimination complaint and she would get fired. I really been contemplating it, but I liked scaring her.

The ER was busy as usual. Since it was the weekend, we had a lot of older patients. Usually young men and women. Accidents were more common on Saturday nights like this.

I grabbed a file off the first door I had. It wasn't PJ's.
It was some girl who was getting her arm amputated immediately. I placed the file back and continued to go through most of them.

Room 256

I looked at the file. It was definitely PJ's. I opened the door and saw the staleness of the room. Nothing was in there. An empty room, with no feelings.

"Looking for someone?"Chloe asked.

I turned around, "Yeah, a patient was just brought in a few hours ago. Where is he?"

She picked up the file, "Oh." Her face dropped as she looked up at me. "It says he was pronounced dead at 12:45."

"Dead?"My voice croaked.

"Yeah, Patrick Johnson. It says over dose-"

I sighed in relief. I just had the wrong room. I thanked her and left out. I checked the room next to it and of course, my gay spanish speaking friend lay on the hospital bed.

I opened the door and walked inside. He was all patched up. I could see where they removed the bullets from his legs. The bullets didn't go through. They just lightly grazed his skin.

His chest heaved up and down slowly. I pulled back his hospital gown and looked at his wound. It went straight through his heart. How he survived was oblivious to me. I placed my hand on his chest.

"Gracias Jesus,"I whispered.

ANDRE

Phrey stood in front of me talking to Kat. I looked at the police officer as he searched the scene. These fucking pigs weren't doing shit to find my daughter. They sent out a few amber alerts, but they haven't moved since.

"Thank ya Kat...Yea' we lookin na...I'll keep in touch ma'....Bye."

He handed me my phone. I turned it off and placed it inside my pockets.

"Ya need to calm down. They gon find ha,"Phrey whispered.

"They just standin hea. Fuck ya mean they gon find ma' daughta?"

"Look I got some of ma' niggas lookin fa ha. They keepin a close eye on Ebony. If she got ha I swea' to God I'm killin ha this time," Phrey whispered again. "I promise this anotha one of ha lil stunts. I'm not spa'ing ha again. I don't ca'e if ya still got love fa tha bitch. She dying regardless."

I shook my head. Last time I told Phrey to leave Ebony alone. I ain't want him to have blood on his hands, especially since she was married to a lawyer. Shit wouldn't look good on anybody part.

"Gentlemen?" A officer spoke. "We found the license plate that took her. We're searching all over town for her tonight. Please don't lose hope so soon."

"I'm not giving up on Marah. I neva would."