Tempted To Love a Rosemont Menace
Chapter One Xalori Carson
“Mommy, I can’t breathe.”
Nasir’s tiny voice was barely a wheeze, but it sent panic ripping straight through my chest. My fingers tightened around the steering wheel as I sped through every red light in Hollow District, narrowly missing a sedan that had the audacity to honk as if I wasn’t racing to save my child’s life.
“Hold on, baby. We almost there,” I whispered, forcing steadiness into my voice.
The lights of Hollow District County Hospital blurred ahead, but Nas’s small frame slumped further into the passenger seat, his breathing shallow, choking gasps filling the car.
My heart hammered against my ribs, my hands trembling as I skidded to an abrupt stop in front of the ER entrance.
Fuck parking rules and fuck tickets, I’d let them tow the car away if it meant getting Nas help faster.
I jumped out, nearly twisting my ankle, yanked the passenger door, and scooped Nasir’s limp body into my arms. His small head drooped heavily against my shoulder, and fear stole my breath. My legs felt numb, like my soul had detached and floated away.
“Somebody help me!” I screamed, bursting through the emergency room doors.
Several nurses glanced up, their faces unmoved and distant as if my panic was just another disruption in their night. Nobody budged an inch.
“Ma’am, you need to fill out paperwork before—”
“I already know what you ‘bout to say!” I snapped, cutting her off as she reached for that damn clipboard. “I don’t have insurance. My old job just cut my benefits two months ago, and I ain’t found a new one yet.
But bill me, send it to collections, garnish my nonexistent paycheck.
I don’t give a fuck, just get my baby a doctor before I flip this whole place upside down! ”
The nurse eyed me with thinly veiled judgment, her face tight and dismissive, like I was just another broke and desperate mother causing trouble.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but without insurance, we require upfront payment—”
“Upfront payment?” My voice cracked with a bitter laugh, disbelief slicing through me. “My four-year-old can barely breathe and you’re talking about money?”
Her expression stayed blank and detached, as if she hadn’t just shattered my world. “Hospital policy states—”
“I don’t give a fuck about hospital policy!” My voice erupted, raw and shaky. “My son is suffocating, and you’re standing here worried about a payment?”
She pressed her lips together tightly, glancing away before returning a cold and detached stare. “If you can’t cover the costs, I can refer you to public clinics that—”
“Are you serious?” Panic clawed its way up my throat, my body trembling as helplessness threatened to drown me. “You’d really let my child die over money?”
“I don’t make the rules.”
Rage surged through me, hot and violent, pulsing through every nerve. I was seconds away from snatching that clipboard and beating the shit out of her. I forced myself to swallow the bile rising in my throat, blinking back the furious tears[KS1] Breaking down wasn’t an option, I had to fight.
I stepped closer, ready to beg, plead and scream, do whatever it took but before I could say another word, a deep and dangerously calm voice filled the room.
“Yo, what the fuck is the hold up?”
I turned sharply, catching sight of him as he stepped to my side, instantly shifting the air around us. His presence took over, demanding attention without even trying, swallowing the entire room whole.
The nurse blinked up at him. “Sir, this doesn’t concern—”
“It does now,” he said, leaning in, his tone dangerously low. “You got this woman begging for help while her kid struggles to breathe, and you’re talking ‘bout some fucking policy?”
She opened her mouth again, but he had already pulled a thick stack of cash from his pocket, slamming it down onto the desk. “There’s your upfront payment,” he growled. “Now do your fucking job before I shut this whole place down and leave you living in a cardboard box.”
His command shifted everything in an instant.
Within seconds, a stretcher appeared, and Nasir was gently pulled from my arms, leaving a hollow emptiness inside me.
Relief should have flooded in, but instead, anger twisted in my gut.
I was his mother; I shouldn’t have needed a stranger’s help to save my child.
I spun toward him, ready to curse his ass out but when our eyes met, my voice faltered. His gaze was fierce and possessive, a silent claim that knocked the breath from my chest for reasons that had nothing to do with fear.
“Why would you do that?” I asked, my voice tight.
He didn’t flinch, his stare unwavering. “Because I could.”
My jaw tightened defensively. “I didn’t ask you to.”
A slow, devastating smirk curved his lips, dangerous and inviting. “And yet,” he murmured, tilting his head slightly, “here we are.”
I stepped back, suddenly needing distance. I didn’t know him, didn’t want to owe him, and didn’t want to feel this pull. But standing there, watching the one person who intervened when no one else cared, I felt my walls cracking and that terrified me more than anything else.
“I believe the word you’re trippin’ on is thank you,” he drawled smoothly, hands sliding into his pockets as he stepped away like he didn’t just flip my world on its side.
“Thank you.” I whispered reluctantly, hating how soft, shaky, and genuine the words felt.
I collapsed into an empty chair, my head falling back against the cold wall as I closed my eyes. My fingers tapped anxiously against my knees, the sterile scent of bleach and despair pressing in on me, suffocating my senses.
God knew I was trying. Trying to breathe, to hope, and to convince myself this nightmare wouldn’t end like before. But hope slipped through my fingers, fragile as sand.
It had been exactly one year since I’d last sat here, waiting desperately for a miracle. One year, since they’d shattered my world with words that still haunted my dreams. One year since I’d buried my daughter and pieces of myself alongside her.
Now here I was again, same day and same damn suffocating fear.
I wanted to scream; to tear this place down brick by brick but it wouldn’t help Nas. Instead, I sat still with my jaw clenched, forcing panic down deep inside, waiting for answered-prayers or my world to collapse all over again.