Sabrina Woods

It had been almost two hours since I'd arrived and had been pacing from the chair and back to the understocked vending machine to keep my mind from spinning. Joseph sat in the chair across from mine, twisting his wedding ring around his finger, his eyes were on the floor, unfocused. Michelle's mother and father had been sitting alone together in the corner waiting for Michelle's brother to show up. 

I was trying so hard to figure out what I would say to her. What could I possibly say to my best friend who had her only dream ripped away from her at such a young age? What could I ever say that would be remotely comforting to her? I couldn't help but feel guilty that I already had a child- not at all guilty for having Hallie of course, just that there wasn't a way for me to comfort Shell without seeming like I was somehow rubbing it in that there is no way for me to understand what she's going through.

"Mrs. Blanchard is out of surgery and has asked to see you, Mr. Blanchard. " The nurse said with a soft smile.

I nodded and crossed my legs for the tenth time in the stiff blue chair in the waiting room, a smile on my face as I watched Joseph pop up from the chair and quickly follow the nurse towards the back.

"What about me? I'm her mother." Mrs. Rowan said, standing up with her purse clutched in her hands.

The nurse awkwardly looked from Joseph to Mrs. Rowan, and cleared her throat softly. "I'm sorry, Miss....." she paused as she looked around to possibly find what to call Michelle's mother. "...She only asked for her husband."

"Mrs. Rowan, maybe we can go in and see Shell after. I'm sure she just wants to talk to Joseph right now." I said reassuringly, my eyes meeting with hers. The nurse gave me a thankful smile and continued to lead Joseph to the other room.

Mrs. Rowan slowly sat back down in her chair, still eyeing after the two, even once they were no longer visible. 

I bit the inside of my cheek as I watched her, my heart thudding in my chest as I thought of what I could say to Michelle's mother without sounding insensitive. She and Michelle's father had been like second parents to me, even before my parents died. She had always been kind and loving- enough so, that she let me stay with her family when I had nowhere else to go. It felt like I had a responsibility to say something comforting to her, to tell her I was here if she needed to talk to someone, just as she had been there for me when I needed someone while going through such a devastating loss.

Before I could even say anything, KJ turned the corner to see us sitting across from each other and met us with a small smile. He towered over me; He had a lean yet muscular build that prominently showed through his tight blue tee-shirt, and it surprised me. The last time I saw him, he seemed to be much more... scrawny.

His eyes hadn't changed, though. They were the same deep brown that glistened with golden tints when he walked in the sunlight. His eyes matched the umber-brown melanin that kissed his skin, leaving his lips a dark pink. I'd always teased Michelle, saying her and her brother looked like twins.

"Hey, KJ." I said, standing up to give him a light hug. "Your sister is out of surgery, we're just waiting to see her."

KJ looked down at me and nodded, a hint of a smile still lingering on his lips.

"You look good, Brina." he said before walking over to his mother.

He unzipped his jacket and draped it behind the chair next to his mom, and draped an arm over her shoulder as he spoke to her.

I hadn't seen Michelle's brother in a couple years. We used to spend every holiday together after my family passed- He and his wife used to drive up for the holidays, but as the years went by, we saw them less and less. Michelle always said it was his wife, Nadia, that kept him away but I always had an inkling that it was KJ who wanted to stay away.

The same nurse who had escorted Joseph out a few minutes ago returned to the lobby and spoke softly. " Mrs. Blanchard will see you now."

The four of us looked at each other and back to the nurse before standing up and shuffling behind her as she lead the way to Michelle's hospital room.

* ੈ✩‧₊˚

It felt like an eternity had passed before I was able to actually talk to Michelle when we got into the room. Mr. and Mrs. Rowan clung to their daughter, tears abundantly falling for their lost grandchild and sputters of random condolence words that Michelle didn't seem to want to hear.

Her parents had finally taken a seat in the room next to the bed while KJ and Joseph stepped out to get something to eat. At this point, I had plenty of time to come up with what I wanted to say to Michelle, but it appeared as though my mind had come to a complete blank as my eyes finally met her dark brown ones.

I wanted to tell her how much I loved her, how much our friendship and sisterhood means to me, how much Hallie and I loved being apart of her life, but none of the words came out. I just stared at her, my eyes searching hers as I looked for anything to say.

"You've always had such a way with words." she whispered, her lips turned up in a small, sad smile.

I couldn't help the tears that dropped down from my eyes, a quiet laugh escaping my lips as I wiped at my face.

"You know me, the powerful force of a stare." I joked.

My face relaxed as I looked at her again, this time taking her hand in mine. "We'll get through this, Shell. Just like everything else, I promise." I whispered, my eyes locked on hers. "I know I'll never be able to understand what you've gone through and what you're still going through, but-" I was quickly cut off by a deep, unsuspecting voice from behind me, causing me to jump in surprise.

"You're right. You don't know," Mr. Rowan spoke for the first time to me this evening, his tall figure standing up from the chair and made his way to the other side of Michelle's hospital bed. "Too bad your sister isn't here to explain it to you." he spat, his hands clenched around the bed rail.

My eyebrows furrowed as I processed what he said, at the same time both Michelle and Mrs. Rowan called for him.

"What does that mean?" I asked, my eyes darting from Michelle, to Mrs. Rowan, and back to Mr. Rowan. When he didn't say anything, I asked again, this time my voice trembling. "Mr. Rowan, what does that mean?"

His eyes narrowed and his fingers clenched around the bed rail even tighter, his dark knuckles turning white from strain.

"It means, our daughter will never be able to give life to a child of her own, while your sister willingly killed hers."

"Khalil." Mrs. Rowan seethed from behind me, her jaw clenched. "Sit down."

My eyes were blurry from tears as I looked down at Michelle, my eyebrows still furrowed as I looked to her for an explanation.

She seemed to mirror my expression; she was hurt- but I wasn't sure if it was because she was hearing this for the first time too, or because she was surprised her father said anything at all.

"That's not true; Sam was never pregnant," I said, more tears running down my face. "She would have told me if she were."

Mr. Rowan rolled his eyes and sat back down in the chair next to his wife. My eyes followed him, seeing Mrs. Rowan staring at me with wide eyes, anticipating what I would do next.

I looked back at Michelle and gave her an apologetic look as I let go of her hand, my eyes now focused on the door.

"Sabrina, don't go. He doesn't know what he's talking about- you know Sam wasn't pregnant!" Michelle called after me, but I couldn't turn back around to look at her and her parents.

I looked down at my phone to see it was nearing seven, and I had to get home to Hallie anyways. I'd told Penelope I would be home by then, but of course she insisted she would stay all night with her favorite little girl.

My heart was thudding against my chest as my anxiety crept closer and closer, an asthma attack not too far behind.

I quickly walked out of the room, my eyes searching the hall and waiting room for KJ and Joseph.

It felt like the room was spinning and I was moving in slow motion, looking in every direction to spot the man I was looking for, my hands trembling as I shoved my phone back into my pocket. My eyes finally landed on him.

KJ was leaning against one of the front desk counters, legs crossed in front of him, phone to his ear. He was smiling as he talked into the phone, clearly in a conversation.

I couldn't wait.

It felt like my legs weighed one hundred pounds as I reached him, grabbing his arm.

"Is it true?" I asked, my voice loud and sharp. His expression turned confused as he looked at me, his eyes darting around us to see the multiple people looking our direction at my sudden outburst.

"Brina, I'm on the phone with Nadia, she's-"

"Hang up the phone." I said, my teeth clenched together as I stared up at him. His eyes didn't leave mine as he told Nadia he had to go, and hung up the phone.

"Tell me the truth," I breathed, the tears building behind my eyes again. "Was Sam pregnant?"

The question seemed to come as a shock to KJ, he stared at me stunned for a moment.

I didn't have time for him to process the question I'd asked him, I needed to know.

"Was she? Tell me, dammit!" I yelled, my hand shoving his shoulder. His body hit the wall in surprise, his eyes widening as he stayed silent.

"Brina.. lets just go somewhere and talk, okay? You know Sam-"

"Apparently I don't know Sam. Why won't you just answer the question?" My voice was raising higher and higher as my head spun faster and faster.

KJ cleared his throat as he looked around, running a hand over his jaw.

"Yes." he whispered harshly.

I felt bile start to rise in my stomach as I stared blankly at him.

"But she..." he looked down at the floor and back at me, his shoulders shrugging slowly as he gestured. "..terminated the pregnancy after your parents told her she had to."

My chest tightened at the mention of my parents.

"They knew?" My voice was barely audible.

KJ grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the secluded waiting room. My body felt weightless, it was like I couldn't feel the ground beneath me as he pulled me towards a chair and told me to sit down.

"When did this happen? What happened?"I managed to ask. I reached for my inhaler that was stuffed inside of my purse.

KJ leaned down with his elbows on his knees in the chair next to me and ran his hands up his face and over his head.

"Sam told me right before we graduated," he said quietly, his eyes still trained towards the floor. "She said your parents found the pregnancy test a couple days later and told her if she didn't get an abortion, they wouldn't pay for her college and she wouldn't be allowed to live at home."

I couldn't process the words coming out of his mouth fast enough. It felt like my body was numb as I tried to put together a sensible timeline from the information he kept spewing out.

Sam was pregnant.

She wanted to tell you but they wouldn't let her.

We broke up , it could have been anyones at that point.

I mean, we both didn't want a baby at seventeen and eighteen.

Do you really think you would've been better off knowing?

Who am I kidding, of course the baby was mine.

I stood up while KJ was still talking and kept my eyes on the exit as I walked towards it.

"Brina, where are you going?" I heard him call after me, but I proceeded to walk away, my arms feeling like deadweight as they swung at my sides.

I walked outside and felt an immediate rush of cold and harsh air whisk against my face, cold rain mixing in with my tears. I continued through the dark and empty parking lot to my car, locking the doors as I got inside.

I stared at my steering wheel for what felt like forever, shivering under my soaking clothes. My phone vibrated in my pocket every once in a while, but I didn't have the arm strength to pick it up and look at the caller ID.

After a few minutes, I managed to slowly turn my car on with the push to start.

As everything turned on, including the blasting hot air, my phone connected to the bluetooth allowing the ringing to come through the car speakers. I clicked the answer button on the steering wheel without checking the name that popped up.

"Hello?" My voice was hoarse as I spoke. I tried to clear my throat as I realized it was completely dry and sore.

"Sabrina, are you okay? What's going on? " I heard Spencer's voice rumble through all four of the car speakers. An instant relief rippled through me as I heard him, dissolving the numbness through my chest.

Unfortunately, this also allowed the pain to creep its way back into my chest, and the small amount of relief I'd felt was quickly replaced by panic.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I tried to speak. "Spencer, I-" I turned my head to look at the clock radio, seeing it was now nearing 8:30 PM. I gasped and finally pulled my phone from my pocket and saw the few calls from Penelope and a text from her, as well as a missed call from Spencer.

"Oh my god! I am so sorry, I'm on my way right now!" I cried, wiping my eyes and turning my windshield wipers on. "Oh god, please tell Penelope I'm on my way. I am so sorry I did not realize it was so late." I was sobbing and the tears wouldn't stop, even as I pushed down the e-brake and put the car into reverse. 

"Sabrina, talk to me. What's going on? Please don't drive right now, you sound upset and you don't want to drive like that," Spencer said quickly.

I sniffled and cleared my throat, looking behind me as I reversed. "No, I have to get home. I am such a flake, I cannot believe I'm so late."

I put the car into drive once I'd fully backed out of the space and pushed it into drive through still blurry eyes. I stepped on the gas to get the hell out of the parking lot and wiped my eyes again to try and clear my vision. I could hear Spencer pleading with me as I used the back of my wet sleeve to wipe my eyes.

I went to tell him I was fine, when I realized someone was walking into the crosswalk from the exit of the hospital to the parking lot. I slammed on the brakes as I yelled, "Oh, shit!"

My car seemed to turn into a fucking boat as the tires locked up and hydroplaned against the wet ground, my car spinning in circles. I was screaming, terrified that I couldn't see anything, terrified I'd hit this person leaving a hospital and that they might just have to be readmitted. 

Once my car had finally stopped spinning in circles in the parking lot, I clenched the wheel as I seemed to be afraid I'd start spinning again.

I immediately started looking around for the person who had walked out in front of my car, but didn't see anyone.

I got out of the car and ran towards the crosswalk, my head turning in every direction. I could still hear Spencer trying to talk to me from my car speakers, and my chest tightened as I realized he'd just heard the entire ordeal.

As I walked back towards my car, my eyes spotted a cut out of a parent and child with the sign 'Slow! Sick parents and adults are crossing!'

I stared at the cut out, my head tilting to the side in irritation. I laughed a little, my soaking wet hair clinging to my face as I started walking back to my car (which was now horizontal to the curb) and laughed.

I sat back down in the car, shutting the door.

"Spencer?"

"Sabrina, what the hell is going on? What happened? Are you hurt?" he asked.

I laughed a humorless laugh again and leaned my head back on the seat rest. "I am hurt more than you could ever know." I wiped my eyes and pulled my e-brake back up. "Can you come get me?" I whispered.

"I'm five minutes away."

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AUTHORS                                    NOTE.

AH GUYYSSSSS I AM SO SORRY!!!!! I'd originally planned to update this SO MANY TIMES in the last few weeks I just didn't have the time. I should be able to update again soon though, don't worry! I've just been swamped with work/school.

Also, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU!!! Welcome to all of the new readers, I love you all!!! Your comments and feedback really mean the world to me.

I'm sorry this chapter doesn't have too much Spencer in it, but I promise you'll get a bunch in the next chapter! This was just a super important part I wanted to write in ASAP so I can start getting into the juicy stuff ;)

UPDATE: HERE ARE PICS OF THE ROWAN/BLANCHARD FAMILY

Kofi Siriboe as Joseph Blanchard

Ashleigh Murray as Michelle Rowan Blanchard

Lance Cross as Khalil James "KJ" Rowan Jr.

Djimon Hounsou as Khalil James Rowan

Alfre Woodard as Kaleah Rowan

Please vote/comment/share! <3 ry

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