63. Four
Four
Ilay in the bed. My eyes still wouldn't open no matter how hard I tried to force them to.
I could feel Cori next to me. Her body pressed against mine.
Her breathing was even, which meant she was asleep.
I ached to hear her voice. Even if she fussed at me for taking that bullet.
I wanted to see her eyes. Shit, feel her lips against mine—anything at this point.
My arms were strapped down to the railing, and there was a tube down my throat. I'd been intubated enough times to know that if I fought against the machine, the alarms would sound, but I didn't want to scare her.
So, I'd wait.
The door opened, and I felt the moment Cori's breathing changed. She was awake. She shifted; the pressure I once felt from her being next to me was no longer there.
"Your cousin is on her way," I heard Nine say. His steps were even; then he hesitated, and the sound of a bag being moved echoed through the room. "She said if you aren't at least chewing something by the time she gets in here that she’s going to stuff it down your throat."
"I'd like to see her try," Cori replied with a soft laugh. "I'm already on edge."
"Which is why she said you needed to eat," he replied.
I heard the bag be set down, then someone moved.
More than likely, Nine placed whatever he was carrying on the small rolling table.
"Please eat. I don’t want to hear his mouth when he wakes up about the fact that you've lost weight from not eating. "
"I'm not hungry," Cori softly replied.
I felt my eyebrows damn near touch, or at least I think they did. I couldn't open my eyes, so I doubt I had control over any of my facial expressions.
"Eat Corinthians, please," Nine requested. "Even if it's just a bite or two. I got you a burger from your favorite place."
She sighed, "Fine." She unwrapped her burger. "Have you found the information I asked you about?"
"Take another bite before you ask me about killing niggas," Nine chuckled. There was silence, then he grunted. "I did. Wasn't hard to find once I knew I was looking for it."
"Meaning?" She asked. I could hear her softly chewing.
"Robert didn't have shit to his name, but SP," Nine answered. "Now I'm not saying he's broke, but he doesn't run too much of anything."
"So the shit we dealt with as kids, it wasn’t his to run?" She asked.
"No," Nine replied. "That was funded by someone else. Robert was the face and possibly even the name, but that was it."
"Who ran it then?"
"Still trying to figure that out," Nine said. "And as soon as I do, I'm going to handle it."
"No, you're not," Cori disagreed.
"He's my cousin-"
"And he will be my husband," she stated matter-of-factly.
No lie, hearing her say that shit made me smile.
Even if my mouth didn't move, my soul did.
I'd been waiting for her to come to terms with the fact that we were destined to be together.
No lie, I would've rather not gotten shot for her to realize it, but I wasn't going to complain.
"We dealt with this together. It's our story, not yours.
If Uri doesn't wake up, then it'll just be me ending it. Not you. Not anyone else."
"I'm just here to help."
"You did, you got me to eat," she laughed softly. "Now I just need him to wake up."
***
I don’t know how much time passed as I listened to Cori, Nine, and eventually Cross talk. My body would only allow me to listen for so long before everything went dark.
"Uri," Cori softly said into my ear. "I need you to wake up. I'm begging you at this point to wake up. I need you." She moved her face, then kissed me. The incubation tube was gone. "Wake up."
"That nigga is not Sleeping Beauty," I heard Krude say. "You can't just kiss him, and he's gonna wake up."
"He could," I heard Ex chuckle.
"If that dramatic ass nigga wakes up from that shit, I swear I'm punching him in his shit," Krude fussed.
"What the hell are you doing?" Ex asked.
I felt the bed shift, and then Cori sighed. I only knew it was her because she laughed softly after.
"Krude," Cori laughed. "What are you doing?"
"Kiss that nigga again," he said. His voice was closer now, which meant he was probably the reason I felt the bed shift.
"Why?" Cori asked him
Krude sucked his teeth, then grunted. "Girl, kiss that dramatic ass stuttering nigga again so I can see something," he said. "We just seen you kissing on his ass when we walked in. The man can't consent, and you in here slobbing him down. You lucky I didn't call the people on you."
"I wasn't slobbing him down," Cori replied. "I just kissed him." She laughed. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nigga ain't even brushed his teeth in a few days. Had a tube down his throat and you kissing on him?" He asked her in surprise. "Yeah, you legit love that nigga because I would never. I love Megan, but I'd wipe her mouth out or something first. I can't do morning breath like that."
"I highly doubt that's her concern," Ex said.
"You know what, you probably right. That nigga light skin, I know he nasty. He probably eat ass," Krude said. "He stuttered until her. I know they do freaky shit. That's the only way that stutter stopped like it did."
"How many times did Madea drop you as a baby?" Ex laughed.
"Not enough," Cori answered.
"Anyway," Krude replied. "Kiss that nigga so I can see something."
"What do you have planned, Krude?" Cori cautiously asked. "Because if you plan to hold his nose or anything like that, I'm telling you right now, don’t."
"That's a good idea, but that's not what I planned," he grunted. "Now kiss his chapped lip having ass. You kissing all on him and ain’t put a drop of ChapStick on him. Mouth hot and lips chapped. Just a fucked-up combination."
"Krude..."
"I'm going to kiss him just to shut you up," Cori agreed. I knew she was annoyed with Krude, but I also knew he was getting on her nerves on purpose. If he kept her talking then she wouldn't fold into herself, get lost in her thoughts, and start blaming herself for things she couldn't change.
I felt Cori's lips against mine again, and I wanted nothing more than to kiss her back, but I couldn't. Right after she ended the kiss, I felt the bed shift again, then...
"NIGGA, WAKE YOUR ASS UP SO WE CAN GO KILL FOLKS!" Krude yelled into my ear.
I was going to beat his ass when my eyes finally opened.