Chapter 15
Dionne Henry
On and Popping
“And your sure everything is going to be okay? I don’t want anything to happen to my baby,” I cried to the doctor that was in my room, after he just finished showing Tank and I our baby on the monitor.
Even though he’d showed me everything, and he assured me that I was fine, I still had doubts, and I was scared.
Hearing those gun shots, seeing the bullets fire our way, it put me in a panic state, so when I tried to move my legs, so that I could run back inside the hall, I lost my balance, tripped and fell, and I landed right on my stomach.
When Rico got me inside, and on the floor, I just remembered kicking and screaming.
One, I was scared because my man was outside, and I didn’t want him to get shot.
Secondly because of the way that I fell, and the cramping that instantly started, I thought that I was going to lose my baby.
Because we’d literally rushed to get me to the hospital, we had to get whatever doctor was working in the ER tonight.
It was a middle-aged Indian man. It wasn’t what I wanted.
I wanted to be able to call Tamera, so that I could meet with her, but Tank wasn’t trying to hear any of that.
He rushed to get me over to the emergency room, and luckily, it was a slow night tonight, so they were able to tend to me fast.
“Dionne, I know what happened tonight was scary, but I promise you that you and the baby are okay. From everything that we saw, it all looked good. I checked thoroughly, and there weren’t any signs of placental abruption.
You don’t have any internal bleeding, and all your amniotic fluids levels are exactly where they need to be.
The only thing that I want you to be worried about right now is getting home, so that you can get some rest. You are going to stress yourself out right now in ways that you don’t need to,” he assured me.
Tank was sitting right at the foot of the bed, and while the doctor was talking to me, he had his hand on my growing stomach, just keeping it there, taking in all the things that he was saying.
Tank was so quiet. I knew he was quiet because of what happened tonight.
He was angry. That much showed in the way his jaws continued to flex.
We had yet to even talk about it. I still didn’t know who was responsible for shooting at his party.
The second him and I got in his car, the only thing that we were both worried about was getting me to the hospital, so that we could make sure our baby was okay.
During our time here though, he’s accepted a few calls, and I’m sure he was talking to his friends, and they were more than likely updating him on everything that was going on since we’d left.
“Okay,” I responded, keeping it short, even though I still wasn’t too convinced that everything was okay.
It’s almost like he could tell because he let out a friendly laugh, and instead of walking out of the room, like he was going to do, so that he could start my discharge process, he chose to come closer to the bed, and he continued with his smile.
“I get that your worried Dionne. I see worried, expectant mothers all the time. You took a hard fall, and your pregnant. I think every mother in the world right now would be worried, but I’m assuring you that your fine.
Baby is stable. Heartbeat is where it’s supposed to be, and the ultrasound that I showed you, should have given you all the reassurance that you needed.
Let me start with your discharge process, so that you can get home, and get the rest that you need,” he finished.
Instead of responding, I just nodded my head at him.
“Thanks doc,” Tank responded.
The doctor nodded his head, giving us both a warm smile, and then he left out of the room. He closed the door, so that we could have privacy, and once he was gone, Tank turned and looked at me.
The tears that were lingering around on my face, he wiped them away with his hands.
After that, he picked my legs up that were in the bed, so that he could sit them in his lap.
There were cuts and bruises on my ankles, and knees from the fall that I’d taken.
The inside of my hands were cut up as well.
Luckily, I had a good nurse, who saw the bruising, and she cleaned them up for me, and put bandages on them.
“Who was that?” I finally asked the million-dollar question.
“That’s Rico shit. That nigga Toby that he popped, that was his cousin Jax, and I don’t know the rest of them niggas, but I’m sure they came with him to get at Rico.
After this, it should be over. All them niggas in the car died,” he let me know, and there was so much anger in each word that came out of his mouth.
I didn’t want to keep talking about it because I knew that it was going to further piss me off, so I kept quiet.
I removed my feet from his lap, so that I could stand up. Tank stood as well, so that he could assist me in getting out of bed.
“Where you going?” he wanted to know.
“Nowhere. I’m about to put my clothes back on,” I said, my words holding very little life.
“You mad at me? Bae, I didn’t have shit to do with that,” he let me know, ready to start pleading his case.
“I’m not mad at you, Tavion. I’m mad at this entire situation.
I’m mad at the way this could have ended.
Just about everyone that I care about was out there tonight, when we walked out of the hall.
Me, you, my best friend, my sisters, my girls, everybody.
Good thing my parents left, and your mom left.
I don’t like it when shit like this happens.
I can’t help but to think about the bad.
My mind is fuckin with me because I’m thinking about the way this could have ended,” I shared with him, untying the gown from the back, so that I could take it off, and slip my clothes back on.
“You can’t be flooding your mind with all that negative shit though, bae.
Nothing tragic happened. Everybody is alive.
Other than you falling, no one else got hurt.
The baby is good. Your girls good. My people good.
Come on. I ain’t trying to dwell on this shit for the rest of the night.
Let’s finish celebrating my birthday. You said that you had one more surprise left for me.
I still want to see what it is. Don’t let this fuck up what we got planned,” he argued, pulling the gown off me, and he took it, tossing it on the bed.
All I was wearing now was black, lace underwear.
He picked my dress up, that was folded at the foot of the bed, and instead of having me put it on myself, he pulled me closer to him, and he rose the dress over my head, putting it on for me.
I didn’t have to do anything. He put my arms into the sleeves, and he pulled the dress down my body.
My trench coat that was resting at the foot, he picked it up, putting it on me as well.
I was wearing hospital socks, and my heels were down on the floor.
“You putting the heels back on?” he asked.
“When we walk out, I will. Not right now,” I expressed, coming even closer to him, so that I could wrap my arms around his neck.
Tank was sitting down on the hospital bed, with his hands on my behind, while looking up at me.
“Let me see the ring, baby,” he called out, just trying to make light of the situation.
Tank just knew how to handle me. He knew how to sway my mood.
Leave it to me, I would sit around, and dwell on what happened for the rest of the night.
I had a terrible habit of not knowing how to let things go, especially when it was something that bothered me.
Tank wasn’t like that. He dealt with issues when they arose, handled them, and he wouldn’t really bring it up again.
He knew that bringing up the ring would be something to make me smile.
It worked because I took one arm from around his neck, and I showed him the ring.
Like he wasn’t the one to purchase it for me, he took my hand, examining it, and he let out a loud whistle, in love with the ring, just as much as I was.
“That’s the most I ever spent on jewelry, baby. Every bitch that I ever dealt with before you, they really going to hate your ass now,” he voiced, and I rolled my eyes at him, not going to feed into that.
“For real. Ima post this on social media in the morning. Prepare to go viral, baby,” he let me know, and at the same time, the doctor was walking back into the room.
He smiled at me when he saw me, happy to see me out of bed, and no longer crying. He assured me again that I was fine, and he kept stressing for me to go home, and get some rest.
“Ay doc, do we gotta refrain from all sexual activity tonight?” Tank asked him, and like that was the funniest thing that he’s ever heard in his life, he cracked up in laugher.
“Dionne is fine to do anything that she was already doing. Just allow her to get some rest,” he said.
“I will. After the fact though,” Tank replied, and I playfully slapped him in the back of the head, as he stood up from the bed.
The doctor laughed again, sat the paperwork on the bed for me, and he wished us a good night.
Once he was gone, I sat back down on the bed, so that I could slip the heels back on.
Of course, my man asked me if I needed him to carry me, or if one of the nurses should come in, and put me in a wheelchair, but I told him that I was fine, and that I could walk.
He held my hand the entire time, walking me out of the hospital. We made it over to his car, where he opened the door for me, assisted me with getting inside, and then he closed the door. He went over to his side, got in, and he pulled out.
“Don’t go home. The surprise isn’t home. Let me put the address in the GPS,” I told him, reaching my hand up, so that I could put it on the screen, and type in the name of the hotel that I’d booked for us tonight.