A/N: This is a story that I've been holding onto for awhile. The title is based on a song of the same name by the group Nickelback. I hope you enjoy it.
"This has got to be hell. It has to be. Who would willingly volunteer to watch a bunch of sex-crazed high schoolers damn near have sex on a dance floor." Andrea Holden the World Literature teacher at Kings County High sighed as she took a sip of her diet soft drink.
"I think you are being a little overdramatic," chuckled Michonne Moreau-Grimes who taught Anatomy and Physiology at the high school.
"Whatever. I would rather be at home binge watching some mindless show than watching mindless kids. Speaking of shows have you caught up on The Office yet?" her eyes glowing at her longtime friend. She hoped that Michonne had at least started watching the television series by now. Andrea wanted to have someone other than Eugene from Mechanics to talk about the funny cringy antics. Eugene always seemed to ruin the experience by over-analyzing all of the small nuances of the background characters which annoyed her to boredom.
"No, not yet. Unlike you miss free time, I have been swamped with all of the end of the year crap."
Michonne and Andrea along with other staff members were chaperoning the Kings County Homecoming Dance. Michonne and Andrea were standing in front of the large stage where the recent production plays of Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet were performed but was now decorated with a large crass display of a large moon and stars in the center of the stage. Underneath the proverbial stars were two large Golden Thrones that had large puffy cushions of red velvet for the seat and back of the chair. To the right of the display was DJ Yeun-matic also known as his everyday name of Glenn. Glenn who is currently dating Maggie the Advanced World History teacher. Maggie recommended him to Principal Deanna but left out the part that they were dating. Glenn was doing a great job of hyping up the crowd of teenagers. His brightly colored neon green t-shirt with the words 'Who's your Daddy' printed in bright reflective letters and dark sunglasses added to the ambiance of mild chaos. The strobe colored lights from the DJ stand flashed across the faces and bodies of the students and reluctant staff members.
The air conditioner was running at full blast, but it didn't seem to cool the hot bodies that were on the makeshift dancefloor gyrating and twerking as the bass reverberated off the painted concrete block walls. The pungent smell of Axe body spray and fruity bath and body works lotions mixed together with the collecting sweat and pheromones to create a charged nauseous mixture of funk. The random flashes of light from cell phones lit up the dancefloor as many students took selfies and video capturing the small moments of ruckus forever.
Their job was to make sure that the students didn't get out of hand but as Michonne looked upon the entangled limbs and bodies, she figured the only way to get them apart was to pull out the fire hose and cool them down. Michonne was in a pair of black tights with a flowy white V-neck shirt. She had on her trusted light purple sweater to help fight off the chill of the air conditioner, but tonight the room is more stifling then cool. She tugged at the jacket pulling apart the buttons and opening up the fabric using the flaps of the jackets to cool herself while sipping from her bottle of water.
"Bitch!" the vulgar word pierced through the loud music. Michonne turned her head to her left in the direction that it came from in time to see Lori Baxter push Jessie Anderson to the floor. The young woman's huge poufy red tulle dress helping lessen the impact of the harsh push.
"Shit," Michonne said under her breathe.
"What?" Andrea craned her head to look around Michonne to see what had caught her attention.
"Lori Baxter up to her same mess. I'll be right back."
Michonne made her way along the side of all of the dancing kids to the intense scene where Jessie was struggling to get back on her feet. Her own poufy red form-fitting tulle dress was making it impossible for her to stand up by herself.
"Are you ok?" she asked her. Her voice full of concern for the young lady as she helped her to her feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine… I slipped," she mumbled as she tried to adjust the material.
"No, you didn't," Michonne said narrowing her eyes at Jessie for the bold lie she just told. "I saw what happened." Michonne turned her attention to Lori who was standing with her arms folded across her chest. She was glaring at Jessie as if she wanted to rip the young girls hair out by the roots. Her boyfriend Shane, the star player of the school, was tugging at her elbow trying to get her to move away. The small crowd of students that had gathered to watch scattered when they saw Michonne approach.
"So you want to tell me why you pushed her."
"That bi-," she started her brown eyes shooting a venomous look toward Jessie. Michonne raised her hand stopping Lori before she could finish her vulgar statement.
"Watch your mouth around me, young lady. You know I don't play when it comes to that."
"That… girl said tha-"
Shane at that moment stepped in front of Lori his eyes wide as he stuttered through his words "It was just a misunderstanding Mrs. Moreau that's all. You know how girls are." His dark blue suit with matching open-collared shirt complemented his rugged dark features and gave the impression that the current senior was older than he was. It was no wonder he was so popular in the school.
Michonne narrowed her eyes as they passed over his blanched face and back to Loris flushed one. "It didn't look like nothing to me so how about you slide yourself to the side and let Lori tell me what happened."
Michonne saw his body tense at the statement. "Why? I already told you what happened."
"Don't make me have to repeat myself, Shane. Move back."
Shane stepped back a few steps hanging his head as he went.
"Now Lori… let try this again."
"Nothing happened Mrs. Moreau." Michonne turned to Jessie who was finally standing steady on her feet and pulling at the fabric of her dress. A few strands of her high bun hairstyle now hanging loose. Jessie pushed the strands behind her ear with trembling fingers. Her face flushed. "I walked into her on accident."
Michonne closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was not in the mood for games tonight but if they were choosing to drop it then she was going to let it be that. "Is that right Lori?"
"Yeah… that's what happened," Lori's eyes ran up and down Jessie's frame in disgust as she spat the words out.
Michonne brow wrinkled as she looked between the two teenagers "Now is there going to be any more trouble."
"No ma'am," said Jessie as she tugged on her earlobe her eyes averting to the main dance floor.
Michonne eyed Lori daring her to challenge her at that moment
"No Mrs. Moreau," Lori said through gritted teeth.
Michonne had no idea what was going on between the two girls. The former friends were extremely close their freshman year, but once their sophomore year started and Lori began dating her star football player boyfriend, they drifted apart. The star football player who at this moment was sweating bullets behind his girlfriend as the former friends prepare to go to blows. Well one was ready the other seemed deflated at the idea of fighting.
"Good. Enjoy the rest of your night."
Shane tugged at Lori's elbow again trying to quickly pull her from the tension-filled scene. Lori pulled from his grasp giving him a slight push as she marched quickly to the side exit of the gym recovering from the jolt Shane trotted after her. Michonne watched the pair exit through the heavy double doors. As the doors closed she could see Lori slapping Shane across the face and storming away. A stunned Shane racing after her. Michonne shook her head as she turned back to Jessie.
"So now do you want to tell me what all of that was about?"
Jessie winced placing her hand on her lower back her face flushing more as she started to walk away. "It was nothing but thanks."
Noticing her discomfort, Michonne curtailed her frustration a bit. She took a few steps towards the sophomore who came to be one of her favorite students this year. "You're welcome. I'm glad to see that you made it." She said as she eyed Jessie continuing to rub at her lower back "I haven't seen you in class lately." Dropping her hand slowly from her back Jessie features turning downward as she absently answered.
"Yeah, I've been doing my work in the library," she said her voice sounding slightly strained.
"Any particular reason why. I thought I was your favorite teacher and now you're avoiding me. My feelings are hurt." Michonne gave a small chuckle and smile at the young lady.
"No, you're still my favorite Mrs. Moreau. I'm sorry for not being in your class anymore. It is just better for me to do my work in the library but I will be back."
The small smile left Michonne as she eyed her. She had no idea what was going on with Jessie, but she did notice a significant change in her from the beginning of the year to now. The once bubbly student who was eager to participate in class soon began to pull away. She no longer stayed after school to help Michonne or to earn extra credit points. Michonne reached out to Mr. and Mrs. Anderson about her concerns expressing how she felt there was something deeply affecting Jessie but the parents just brushed the concern off saying it was just hormonal teenager changes. Michonne was taken aback at the lack of concern they showed for their daughter's wellbeing. It seems managing the family hardware business was far more important to them.
"Well, I will be glad to see you back." Placing her hand lightly on Jessie's shoulder she leaned her head in closer to Jessie, so her next statement remained between them "Look I know something is bothering you deeply, but I'm not going to pry. Just know that you can always come talk to me. No judgements, just my undivided attention… ok?"
Jessie turned her face to Michonne her pale blue-green eyes began to mist as she breathlessly replied with a quiet "ok", nodding her head.
"Ok...now go back out there and have some fun." Jessie turned, heading toward the cluster of decorated tables located near the refreshment booth. Her puffy strapless red tulle dress flaring out as she walked towards the tables. Biting her bottom lip, Michonne couldn't help the quiver that she felt in her stomach as she made her way back to Andrea who was standing in the same spot.
"Everything ok," asked Andrea as she offered a cup of punch to her friend as she approached.
Declining the offer Michonne expression of worry fixed on her face. She turned her attention back to the students who at the moment were trying to perfect the Kid-Play or what looked like a terrible mockery of the dance. "Yeah. Looks like Shane Mosely maybe in trouble again," she stated.
Andrea scoffed "What else is new. He's the star football player with all the typical raging hormones of a teenage boy. I'm surprised Lori isn't knocked up yet. Hell, I'm surprised half of the cheerleading squad isn't waddling around."
Michonne shook her head at her friends forwardness, but it was what she needed to pull her from the fog of worry that was tugging at her "You are a mess."
"I'm only speaking the truth. Do you want to sit down?" Andrea waved her arm in the direction of an unoccupied chair that was a few feet behind Michonne. Michonne waved off her friend's concern. The last thing she wanted to do was sit down because if she did, she would probably not want to get back up.
"Nah. I'm fine. Let's just keep walking."
Michonne and Andrea continued their chaperone duties along with the other members of staff. Michonne tried to keep an eye on Jessie as she walked around but when she saw her chatting with her friends, she relaxed her hovering and enjoyed the continued rantings of Andrea and the antics on the dance floor.
As she watched the kids start up a haphazard soul train line she felt her cell phone vibrate. She pulled the phone from her sweater pocket she smiled as she read the text from her husband who was also working this evening.
Hey love. How is everything going? I know how it's going for Andrea as she is posting about her stint in hell on Twitter lol. I talked to Carl he is fine. Your parents are spoiling him rotten like usual. Make sure you're taking care of yourself, and I'll see you when I get home. Love you
She placed her phone back into her pocket and smiled at the thought of her sweet husband. He was working late as they were trying to purchase a house. Their little 2 bedroom apartment was becoming kind of cramped, so it was time to find something bigger. Taking this brief moment, Michonne peered in the direction of the tables that she last saw Jessie, but she wasn't there. Her friends were still there, but it seemed that Jessie may have finally gone home. Michonne glanced towards the refreshment table when she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and that was when she saw the end of Jessie unmistakable red dress disappear into the restroom.
Michonne lost track of the time as she and Andrea continued to chat away as they strolled around. As they made their way back to the refreshment table, Aaron the computer technology teacher approached. His face flustered as a small line of sweat beaded on his forehead.
"Hey have either of you seen Abraham around." He asked. Abraham was the school maintenance man. A loud, burly man who has been at the school for as long as Michonne could remember.
"No, I haven't. Why"
Running his hand over his face as if he was at his wits end. "The girls' bathroom is locked for some reason, and I need him to unlock it."
"You know there is another bathroom on the other side of the gym right," Andrea said matter-of-factly.
"Yes I know that but do you know how many of these girls are trying to wear their mama's heels. It will take them 30 minutes to just walk 5 feet, and I don't want anyone to be pissing themselves while trying to walk."
Andrea sighed. "Fine, I'll help you find him. Chonne will you be ok while I help him."
"Yeah go ahead I will be fine."
Andrea and Aaron headed off to go locate Abraham. Michonne turned her gazed towards the restroom in question curious as to what could be going on she headed in the direction of the restroom. Most of the students had returned to the dancefloor as a slow song was playing through the speakers. Maneuvering her way through the multiple bodies slow grinding onto each other she had to stop a few times and pull some couples apart as they were getting a little too physical on the dance floor. Once she made it back to the other side close to the tables that when she saw Jessie exit the bathroom her face ashen.
"Jessie" she called out.
The girl jumped at hearing her name called. Her eyes scanning quickly to find the source. As she made eye contact with Michonne she averted her eyes and quickly took off down the darkened hallway. Michonne walked quickly to the same hall, but Jessie was nowhere to be found. That same quiver in her stomach from earlier was back but more pronounced this time.
Michonne returned her attention to the bathroom Jessie just exited. As she was about to enter a student approached, but Michonne stopped her and told her the bathroom was closed and to come back later. The student frowned but turned to leave wobbling on unsteady feet in unfamiliar shoes. As she entered the brightly lit restroom, she immediately caught the scent of blood. The coppery smell was potent to the point that Michonne had to hold back the overwhelming urge to puke. There were 5 bathroom stalls lined along the right side and multiple wash sinks along the left side. The white floor tile contrasted with the black tile along the walls. The look gave the restroom a sterilized hospital feel, but this was a high school restroom, so there was nothing sterile about it. Michonne walked down the row of stalls pushing open each door just checking for anything unusual. Once she reached the final stall she saw the blood in the toilet. The water was tinged a light pink color with small splotches blood along the rim.
Oh, it's just her cycle she concluded. But that didn't explain why Jessie took off like she did. Michonne couldn't believe that kids were still embarrassed about something so natural. Tearing off some toilet paper Michonne dabbed at the droplets on the seat cleaning it as best she could. Once finished she flushed it all down. As she stepped out of the stall, she caught sight of more droplets on the floor, but these were larger scattered droplets of blood going from the toilet to the trash can nearby. The tall gray receptacle was full of red-tinged toilet paper mixed in with brown paper hand towels.
Michonne figured Jessie must be bleeding heavily. Poor Jessie, Michonne thought. The worst possible place and time for your cycle to start. Michonne shook her head as she remembered how ashen and scared she looked as she left. That poor girl's night just kept getting worse, Michonne realized.
"Abraham is not going to like this mess," she said out loud. Her voice echoing in the small empty space.
Michonne stepped toward the nearest sink and began to wash her hands. She dried her hands with a few brown paper towels then discarded them into the bin. Taking a moment, she started to straighten some locs that had come loose from her bun and freshened up her lips with a new coat of lip-gloss. She was about to head towards the door when her ears perk at the faint sound of rustling. Jumping at the sound, Michonne scanned the floor for the four-legged vermin that she was currently sharing space with, but there was no sign of the mouse, possum or even raccoon. The rustling continued, although faint Michonne deciphered it was coming from the trash bin. Curious on how the mouse or whatever got into the container Michonne knew she had to free it, before it scared any of the students. She lifted the top of the container ready for the creature to jump out and scurry off. She gasped, dropping the top as she tried to come to grips with the sight in front of her.
"Oh my god," she gasped placing both of her hands over her mouth. It was so small about the size of small watermelon still covered in blood with bits of mucus sticking to its skin. The baby was still scrunched up its legs and arms tucked tightly together as if it was still in a mothers womb. Michonne pulse raced a she reached a shaky hand towards the tiny form. She feared the worst as she slowly removed some of the discarded bloody brown paper towels. She feared that the baby was no longer alive. The baby suddenly moved its little arm fitfully. Caught off guard at the sudden movement Michonne jumped back placing a hand over her mouth to stop the small scream that was stuck in her throat recovering quickly from the small scare she rushed back and pulled the newborn from the pile of dirty discarded towels. She lifted the light cherubic form from the heap. The coldness of the room causing the baby to jerk its tiny limbs out wide and whimper.
"Shhh… shhh, it's ok… I got ya." She whispered. Michonne scanned the room for something to wrap the precious angel into. Not seeing anything suitable she shrugged out of her light purple sweater jacket and swaddled the babys tiny shivering body into it. It was at that moment that she saw the umbilical cord still attached. Tugging on the delicate cord she pulled the placenta out of the trash and placed it in the closest sink. The swaddled baby now warm moved its head side to side as if to bury itself deeper into the soft, warm fabric. Michonne took a moment to look the baby over. Small tuffs of dark brown hair were caked with dried blood to its pointed head. The puffy red face with wisps of dark hair along the upper rim of the eye. The newborn eyes were still closed as there was a small coating holding them shut. Small pouty lips that were moving as if the infant was trying to cry. Remember the little that she knew about delivering babies Michonne rinsed her index finger and pushed her finger in-between the infants lips to scoop out any mucus that may still be lodged in its mouth. As her finger slowly and delicately probed its mouth, Michonne heard the booming voice of Abraham cursing about the bathroom being locked. She could also hear Andrea telling him to keep his voice down.
The bathroom door opened and in came Abraham followed by Andrea.
"Holy Mary Mother Jesus and Joseph. What the hell happened in here?"
Andrea pushed Abraham out of the way as she quickly made her way to Michonne. "Michonne are you ok?" Andrea stopped short as Michonne turned towards her friend and the tiny bundle came into view.
"What the fuck Michonne? What happened?" Andrea eyes traveled along her friend's figure and back to her face "Whose baby is that?"
"Let's worry about all of that later. Abraham call 911 and have an ambulance meet us out front away from the dance."
"Yes ma'am," he said absently as he remained focused on trying to figure out the scene in front of him.
"Abraham… not a word to anybody about this. We have to handle this delicately."
"Andrea I need you to help me tie off the umbilical cord. Do you have a hair tie?" The blonde nodded her head as she removed one of the 3 extra hair ties she always keeps on her wrist.
"Abraham. Go now," Michonne voiced firm and steady.
The brawny man hurried off as Michonne clutched the newborn close to her chest and Andrea clamped off the cord.
Michonne was still clutching the baby tight to her chest as the ambulance pulled onto the school property. Abraham locked the bathroom after Michonne left with the baby to ensure that no one went back into the restroom.
The blue and red lights of the ambulance flashed across the building illuminating the night. The vehicle approached with its sirens off as requested so as not to draw any unnecessary attention. The paramedics did a quick check of the infant and determined that the baby was full term but they needed to still take her to the hospital so Dr. Green could do a full exam. Michonne was reluctant to relinquish her hold on the infant who was still resting comfortably snug in her sweater. It was determined fairly early that the baby was a girl as the paramedics cleaned her off as best they could while cutting the umbilical cord. The face of a healthy little girl appeared once they had cleaned up her tiny face a bit.
While the paramedics still examined the baby, Michonne heard the unmistakable sound of her husband's truck speeding down the road. The heavy-duty truck quickly pulled into the parking lot screeched to a halt next to the ambulance. Jumping from the vehicle Rick face full of concern for wife's safety.
"Chonne are you ok," he said as he approached her hurriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she released a thankful sigh. Rick gave his wife's disheveled appearance a once over. Her locs were loose and draped over one shoulder. There were speckles of blood on her white top, and dust covered her black leggings. He pulled her into his chest and placed his head on top of hers as he soothingly rubbed her back.
"When Andrea called me I panicked and ran every light. I was so worried about you."
Michonne wrapped her arms around her husband laying her head on his chest. The warmth of his body relaxed her tense muscles. She inhaled deeply the natural scent of her husband mixed with the detergent she washed his clothes in. It always reminded her of fresh rain and could always bring comfort to her. Her eyes fixed on the inside of the ambulance as the paramedics continued to do necessary observations and tests of the baby girl's temperature.
"She just left her there… If I hadn't seen her and went to go check who knows what would have happened to her." Her voice quaked with emotions as the full scope of the night washed over her.
Rick continued to stroke her back as he felt his wife begin to break down in his arms "I know sweetie, and it's a blessing that you found the baby when you did."
"She was in the trash, Rick… in the trash with the dirty towels… as if she was nothing," her voice cracked even more "I should have known something was going on with her. All of the signs were there, but I didn't connect them till tonight. She had been calling out for help for so long. Rick, why didn't I see it...why?" Michonne was openly sobbing into Ricks' chest. Her tears soaking the front of his blue denim button-up shirt.
"Sweetheart you can't blame yourself for this. The important thing is that you were there for that baby and saved its life."
Raising her head, Michonne wiped at her face and nose with some tissue the paramedics had given her earlier. Her brown eyes now red from her crying looked into her husbands comforting blue eyes. "It's a girl….the baby is a girl… so small but the paramedics say she looks healthy. They are about to take her to the hospital, but I don't want to leave her. Can we go to the hospital?"
"Sure, of course, we can. Come on let's get you in the truck."
"No" she sniffed "I want to ride in the ambulance with her. Will you follow us?"
"You know I will babe. I'll be right behind you the whole way."
"Thank you" she breathed as she raised her head and planted a loving kiss to her husband's lips. As they parted Rick pulled his wife in close again before speaking once more.
"Babe."
"Yeah"
"Who is the mother?"
"Jessie"
Ricks' face fell slightly at the news. "Do her parents know?"
Michonne removed herself from her husband hold placing both of her hands on his chest as she looked upon his handsome features. He was growing out his beard, and the small mix of grey with his dark brown curls always made her heart flutter "I don't think so but please don't tell anyone till we get to the hospital."
"Ok, but you will have to say something when they come to ask you."
"Yeah I know," she sighed heavily.
The paramedics motioned toward Michonne indicating they were ready to head to the hospital. Rick helped his wife into the back of the vehicle and closed the doors firmly. He saw through the window his wife was now cradling the baby girl to her chest looking down at the infant as any worried mother would. Her hand instinctively going to her own protruding belly and rubbing the life that was growing inside of her. He slapped the back of the door indicating it was safe for them to drive off.
Rick walked back to his vehicle and climbed into the cab. Leaning his head back against his headrest Rick sighed inwardly as he contemplated what he was about to do. He pulled out his phone and searched through his contacts for the name that he had avoided for the past 2 years.
"Hey yeah. It's Rick. There's something you need to know…."
A/N: Thank you for reading. At this time I'm keeping this as a one shot with a horrible cliffhanger. If I can figure out completely where I would like this to go I will continue it. Please remember reviews are always welcome.