-the next day-
No POV
The next day around the garage was freakishly calm. The Team worked in silence, not wanting to utter a word. Mia decided to close up the store today and work on paperwork in the office. Anything to keep her mind off of Letty. Dom worked on an engine inside of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. He hadn't done so much as breathed loud enough for the others to hear. His face showed no expression. It was almost as if he was in a daze while working on the engine. Every once in a while Dom would walk into the bathroom and come out teary-eyed. They all knew he was still upset, but they didn't bother him. They were still in shock of what happened.
Jesse and Leon worked on putting the engine back into a Viper together. They knew it didn't take two people to do the job, but no one wanted to work alone except Dominic. The two spoke barely audible conversation on the ladies in their lives; Diana and Bianca.
"Where's Bianca?" Jesse asked, not looking up from the engine.
"Out buying flowers." Leon responded in the same monotone he'd been using all day. He noticed the confused look on Jesse's face that screaned 'explain'. "For Letty. Buying flowers for Letty, Jess." Jesse nodded and continued his work on the engine.
Vince was installing a NOS system into a Ford Focus. He looked like shit; his hair was ruffled all over the place, he was sweaty, and was in sweatpants with no shirt. It was obvious he didn't get much at his apartment. He had droopy eyes and looked like he hadn't seen a razor in his life. But he didn't care. Letty was his little sister. Since the day she moved in down the street from him and Dominic, he'd taken a liking to her. He was always overprotective of her and was always there for her when Dominic messed up. He truly cared about Letty and it broke his heart to see her in this situation.
Sasha was sitting on the floor while Diana braided cornrows into her hair. They spoke in a whisper about the events of last night.
"I can't believe what happened to her. I mean everything was so perfect. Then bam! Shit just falls apart." Diana spoke, brushing Sasha wavy, long brown hair.
"Yeah." Was all Sasha could speak. She wasn't in the mood to talk about Letty. She just wanted payback for what happened to her big sister.
The silence of the garage was interrupted by the arrival of a taxi. Everyone looked up from their positions as Mia exited the office, curious to who could be here. Yelling was heard as an upset Tony came running into the garage.
"Sasha mom's in the hospital! We need to get there quick!" He yelped, stopping at the entrance of the garage. Sasha shot up from her place on the dirty floor and ran to Tony. The entire room dropped what they were doing and rushed to their cars. Sasha and Tony jumped in the back of Diana's Volkswagen as she sped off towards the Cedar Sinai Medical Center. Ironically, the same hospital that held Letty.
xxx
Entering the building, Sasha and Tony bolted to the clerks office for the second time this week.
"Maria Rodriguez please." Sasha asked hurriedly. The clerk flipped through her clipboard and pointed down the hall.
"Room 104." She said. The group ran towards the room but was stopped by security guards.
"You can't go in there." One of them said, holding back Sasha.
"Get your fucking hands off her!" Vince growled, shoving the guard away from Sasha.
"My mother's in there. I need to see her." Sasha replied, pushing passed them. A doctor. exited her mothers room with a grim expression on her face. She was a fairly attractive doctor; she had bronze tanned skin with redish-grey hair. She looked to be in her early 40's and in good shape. She motioned the group towards another room.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Kate Rose. I'll be taking care of your mother. I have some information for you, but first I have a few questions." She began. The crew nodded and took seats around the room. "Ok. First off, what's the relationship between you guys and Mrs. Rodriguez?" Dr. Rose inquired.
"She's mine and Tony's mother. I'm Sasha. She has another daughter in room 207, Leticia Rodriguez." She introduced, extending her hand for the doctor to shake. Dr. Rose took it, smiling a half-hearted smile.
"Nice to meet you. Now do you live with your mother?" She asked, looking over her glasses on her face.
"Tony does. I live with them." Sasha said simply. No point in telling this lady the whole situation, she figured.
"Ok. I understand you were aware of your mother's cancer?" She asked. Sasha nodded. "I'm afraid I have some bad news. It seems as though Mrs. Rodriguez's condition is far worst then we thought. The cancer is spreading rapidly throughout her body. Right now it's made its way to her lungs and kidneys."She explained. Sasha felt a lump making it's way to her throat. But she didn't care. She didn't have the strength to try to push it back down. Dr. Rose felt the need to continue, "Now we can continue giving her the medication, but she'll be very weak. The medication keeps the cancer from spreading to her heart. Even a few days without taking it could mean serious fatigue. We're going to keep her here at the hospital in case she shows signs of improvement. Your mother might survive for a few more months, but I'm afraid it won't be longer than two or three before the cancer makes it's way to her brain. We're going to run a few more tests on her then you can go see her. But please be aware that she needs her rest." Dr. Rose finished with a tiring sigh. She rubbed Tony's shoulder as she exited the room.
"Great. Just what I fucking need. What a fucking week." Sasha said exhausted. She rested her elbows on her knees and put her head in her hands. She couldn't deal with all the stress that's been dropped on her these past few days.
"Hey I'ma go see Letty." Leon said, exiting the room and walking towards Letty's.
xxx
Leon's POV
I knocked as I entered Lett'ys room. She still looked the same from the previous night. Still wrapped in bandages ... still bruises ... still unconscious.
"How is she?" I asked Dr. Reese as I approached the side of her bed.
"Well not much better then yesterday. We're struggling to keep the baby alive. It was fine yesterday, but with the tube we used for feeding her, it seems to be causing complications with the baby. If we take the tube out, it'll be difficult to feed her. We don't know what's going to happen next. We need her to wake up. Maybe you or one of the others can come talk to her? See if you can help her come out of it a bit?" The doctor asked, checking things off on his clipboard. I nodded as he departed from the room.
"Let c'mon babygirl. You're stronger then this. You gotta pull through. We can't go on without you girl. This family is gonna fall apart without you. You have to fight this mija.Remember how we always planned to go to Vegas and party? Well how we gonna party if you're cooped up in a hospital bed? Jesse won't have a drinking buddy anymore; I won't have a Playstation 2 buddy anymore; Mia won't have her best friend anymore; Sasha and Tony won't have their big sister anymore; V won't have his eating buddy anymore; Dom won't have the love of his hls life anymore. The racing world won't have their queen anymore. See Let, you mean a lot to everyone. You play a major role in all our lives. You have to pull through babygirl. Don't worry, we're gonna get those assholes who did this to you. C'mon mija, pull through." I whispered, letting a single tear slip down my cheek. I removed my toothpick from my teeth and kissed her forehead.
I walked back into the room that held the Team and informed them on the news. It didn't lighten the mood in the room; in fact, things got more gloomy.
xxx
Jesse's POV
My eyes fluttered open as I turned to the clock on the end table.
9:45 p.m.
I was laying down in bed, arms wrapped around Diana, when I got this wicked sweet idea. I eased my way out of our bed, trying my damnest not to wake Diana up. I slipped on baggy sweat pants and a blue hoody and ran out the room. I tiptoed down the stairs, trying not to disturb anyone. Most of the crew was sleeping, other's just wanted to lay in bed for the rest of the night. I ran out to the Jetta and grabbed the keys from the glove compartment. I ran around to the trunk of the Jetta and popped it. I grabbed a backpack that held my emergency stash and took out 2 grand, stuffing it into my hoody pockets. I jumped back into the driver seat. I blasted Lynrd Skynrd through my CD player as I zoomed down the road. I drove for ten minutes before I pulled up outside a large, tan house. I got out and locked the Jetta and walked around to the back of the building.
"Yo Jakob. What's up man?" I greeted as my old friend Jakob walked away from his puppy kennels.
I've known Jakob for years. We met at The Racer's Edge when me and Leon first moved out here to L.A. He said he saw me in action one day at the races and wanted to do business with me. He wanted me to work on his team. He even offered to pay me money; I worked for Dom for a place to live. As much as I could use the money, I couldn't leave the Toretto house. I loved it too much. I told him I'd have to decline on his offer but maybe one day. Of course it was a lie, but he didn't need to know that
"Here to take me up on my offer?" He asked, shaking my hand firmly.
"Ahh not just yet. I do need something else though." I said, walking over by his kennels. "Which two are you willing to give up?" I asked him. Jakob gave me a skeptical look, clearly confused on what I was talking about. "The pups Jake. I got two grand. Which are you willing to let me buy?" I explained, holding the cash in my hands.
He looked down at the money and smiled. "Hell for two grand, you can choose which two you want." He said, taking the money from my hands. I walked over to the kennels and squatted down to eye level.
"I need friendly, lovable pups. Maybe you have a few that were just born-" I asked, eyeing Jakob over my shoulder. He joined me near the kennels and looked around.
"I got a fresh batch. About a month old, wanna see 'em?" He asked, nodding his head in the direction of a cage to the far back of the yard. I nodded and followed him to the cage. He led me to a batch of pitbull pups running wild in their cage. I looked at them all thouroughly before noticing two sleeping beauties in the back. One was all black with white around it's eye; the other was all black with white under it's belly. I was fascinated with them.
"Those two." I said, pointing to sleeping Pitbulls. Jakob nodded and opened the cage door, closing it once he was in. I stood up and waited for his return. He picked the puppies up, causing them to awaken. Jakob picked up two leashes off the top of the cage and locked them onto the collars of the pups. He sat them down on the ground and handed me the long leashes. "Thanks man."
I walked the animals back to the Jetta and lifted them into the passenger seat. I went around to the driver's seat and sped off back towards home.
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What was Jesse's sudden urge for a puppy??? Read and find out. I won't have chapter 42 up until I get some more reviews. I wanna make sure everyone's back to reading after that little hiatus over Thanksgiving break. Well read&review please.
---Kita