Two Weeks Later
Ana
"Just let it out baby," Christian coos in my ear while he rubs my back.
I groan as I push my head further into the toilet and vomit again. Christian pulls my hair back once more and continues to rub my back soothingly.
I have started the dreadful part of morning sickness a few days ago, and I feel like death. I'm nauseous all the time, and this is the second morning in a row that I have gotten sick. Since I have found out that I was pregnant, I have felt great. I still had my energy, but since this awful morning sickness showed up, I have felt like shit ever since. I have no energy at all, which sucks in itself, but with all the nausea, I feel ten times worse.
Finally, after emptying my stomach, I sit back on my legs and wipe my mouth with my hand. I make a face and stare at Christian's that shows nothing but concern.
"Are you okay baby?" he asks.
"No. I hate this," I whimper.
I try to breathe through another round of nausea that hits me suddenly once more. It doesn't help. I place my arm over my mouth before I feel I am about to get sick again, so I hurriedly put my head into the bowl and squeeze my eyes shut. Christian pulls my hair back again and rubs my shoulders. I groan and start to dry heave once more. After about a minute, I fall into Christian's side and start to cry. I hate this.
"Shhh," Christian coos into my hair. He runs his fingers through my hair as tears run down my face.
He flushes the toilet and gently gets up with me still in his arms. He leads me over to the sink and turns on the water. He fills a foam cup with water and hands it to me. I wash my mouth out and spit into the sink. That is disgusting. Christian leaves the bathroom for a second without saying anything. I am too weak to ask him where he is going, so I lean over the sink and place my cheek on the cold tile causing me to shiver. I whimper and close my eyes as the nausea returns for the fifth time this morning. Fuck. Why won't it stop?
I can't take this anymore. This nausea is already killing me. When it started, I was just nauseated during the day. All day every day and I didn't get sick once. Now, that is all I do. I hate getting sick. I can't stand hearing or witness people vomiting. I have horrible anxiety about the act of vomiting actually. Every time Christian has gotten sick in the past, I break out in a cold sweat when he gets nauseated or when he has the signs of running to the toilet. I don't know why, but I hate seeing it, and I absolutely hate hearing other people get sick. Ugh, thinking about it now makes me want to run to the toilet once more. What is the phobia called? Emetophobia?
I close my eyes and will the nausea away. I hear the door open, and I open my eyes a little to see Christian walking into the bathroom with a toothbrush and toothpaste in his hand.
"Here baby. Brush your teeth; it will make you feel better," he explains.
I nod and stand up slowly. He hands me the toothbrush and paste, and I brush my teeth. It makes me feel a little better. I wipe my mouth with a paper towel and take Christian's outstretched hand, and we exit the bathroom. When we get out, I see two women standing in line waiting to use the bathroom. One of them loudly says, "Finally," before she walks into the bathroom and slams the door. I roll my eyes and walk behind Christian.
"Here lay down baby," he points to my cot.
"What about our day?" I pout. Christian and I planned to go out today. We have been cooped up in the shelter for the last two weeks, and I am starting to get restless. Well, until I begun to get sick.
"You just got done getting sick. We are not going anywhere right now. You need to rest," he shakes his head.
"Can we at least go tonight? I need to get out of here for a minute," I groan.
Christian sighs and runs his hand through his hair. "Fine, but right now you are going to sleep."
"Okay," I nod and get into bed. That sounds good right now. He covers me up with the wool blanket and kisses my forehead gently.
"Get some sleep," he says softly.
I close my eyes and quickly fall into a deep sleep.
I wake up some time later to see Christian laying beside me reading a book. I yawn and stretch my arms and legs. Christian stops reading and puts the book down beside him and sits up.
"How are you feeling baby?" he asks.
I sit up too and place my feet on the ground. "Better actually," I say relieved.
"Good. It is about 5:20. Do you still feel up to going out?" he sits beside me.
"Yes, I do. I really need to go out and do something before I go stir crazy," I chuckle.
He smirks and gives me a kiss on the lips. We both get up and get our jackets on that we keep under our cots. I sit down and put on my converse before Christian takes my hand into his and we walk out of the shelter hand in hand.
We get to the bus stop and sit down on the bench. The air is chilly so I cuddle up to Christian's side, and he kisses my forehead. I feel a little nauseous still, but the nap really helped.
The bus pulls up, and we head in to find a seat. We are walking to the back, and I am surprised how empty it is for a Friday night. There are a few women and one man who appears to be a little older than us. He looks familiar to me. I frown and look him over. He is wearing baggy jeans with a light gray sweatshirt underneath his gray jacket. He has a gray beanie on his head, and a pair of big black headphones that are hanging from his neck. He is staring at the window with a miserable expression on his face. We walk towards where he is sitting, and he moves his eyes away from the streets of Detroit over to us. His bright blue eyes land on mine and stares at me impassively for a second before staring back out of the window. His hand comes up to his head, and he rubs his hand over his beanie before using that same arm to lean towards the window.
Christian and I sit down at the back, and I turn my eyes towards the man once again. He is still staring out of the window. He still has that miserable expression on his face. He looks tired and worn down. I find it intriguing to look at people and try to imagine what is going on in their lives. It's interesting to see how other people's face expressions tells you who they are, or what is happening to them at that exact moment. The man looks defeated like he doesn't have an answer to all of his problems. I know how he feels. He suddenly sits up straight and places his headphones up to his ears and starts his CD player. His head starts to move up and down to the beat of the music he is listening to. I can barely hear the music or what they are saying, but I can make out a quick beat. He is listening to rap or possibly R&B. He takes out a piece of wrinkled paper out of his hoody and starts writing things down. He keeps bobbing his head up and down, and writing things on that piece of paper while he lip syncs to the words of the songs he is listing to. I smile at the way he is moving his fingers. He must be a rapper.
I stare at him for a second longer before I let him be. I sit back and sigh. Christian looks over at me and smiles. He puts his arm around me as we ride the bus to our destination.
Twenty minutes later, we are in Elliot's neighborhood. He called the shelter a few days ago and invited us out tonight. Apparently, Addison is out of town with her girlfriends this weekend, so Elliot has some free time. We haven't seen each other since the party, so it will be nice to hang out and catch up.
We get off the bus and head into Elliot's apartment building. Thankfully the gang that hangs out in front of the building is not there. Thank God.
We walk up the stairs and knock on his door. After a few seconds, Elliot answers the door with a big smile on his face. He is wearing a blue sweater with black skinny jeans and white converse. His blond hair is slicked back from his face showcasing his cute little dimples.
"Yo bro. Glad you could make it," he smirks.
Christian and Elliot slap hands and give each other their unique man hug.
Elliot turns to me. "Little bitty. How are ya?" How is the baby doin?" He picks me up into a bear hug causing me to giggle.
"I am fine and so is the little one," I say when he finally releases me.
"Come on in you two," he waves us in.
"So what is the plan for tonight?" Christian asks while we sit on Elliot's couch.
His apartment is decorated in a typical bachelor pad. His living room consists of a black leather sofa. A black coffee table, and a few pictures of cars that line the pale brown walls. There is a small boxed TV set by the front door and an Xbox that is sitting on the little table that the TV sits on. Multiple video games are stacked on the TV stand as well. The small white kitchen is connected to the living room, and two bedrooms are off to the side. In the small hallway that leads to the bedrooms, there is a small bathroom at the end. Elliot doesn't have much in the space, but he is doing well for himself. Better than we are doing at the moment.
"Well, I was thinking of going to see a movie? How does that sound to you? Or we could just hang out here and play some video games? I bet I could beat you at Halo?" He smirks at Christian who just rolls his eyes and huffs.
I shake my head at the thought of staying in and watching these two play video games. "No, let's go out. I don't really want to sit here and watch you play that all night," I groan.
"Alright then. No video games, and movie it is!" Elliot smirks and gets up to retrieve his jacket that is sitting on the small kitchen table by the bar.
"What are we going to see?" Christian asks as we descend the stairs.
Elliot shrugs his shoulders. "Don't know. We will just play it by ear when we get there."
Christian nods and squeezes my hand as we walk down the stairs. We get to the bus stop and get in. We ride for about twenty minutes until the bus drops us off at the nearest movie theater. The Detroit movie theater stands in front of us. A few people are waiting in line at the front for tickets. We look at the big white sign that shows all the movie choices. We mutually decide on Enemy of the State, Starring Will Smith and Jon Voight.
Elliot pays for the tickets, and we go inside. We buy a bag of popcorn and some bottles of water before we head into the theater. We sit down and share the popcorn and the water. The movie begins to play, and we sit back and watch. After the credits get done rolling, we head out of the theater and walk outside. It is now after eight, and I am getting tired. The shelter closed an hour ago, so Elliot offered us to crash at his place.
"Come on. Let's go put this one to bed," he smirks and places his arm on my shoulder, and we walk off into an alley.
I shake my head and Christian shoves Elliot's arm off of me, and this causes Elliot to laugh. Christian pulls me to his side and kisses my hair. I giggle at their playfulness.
"Hey, I'm fucking starving. That popcorn didn't hit the spot. You guys want to order a pizza?" Elliot asks as he rubs his belly.
Christian's snorts, "Dick."
"Fucker," Elliot smirks back.
"That would be good. I'm hungry too," I chuckle. The nausea is gone, thank god. I will probably regret eating the pizza, but oh well. I'm hungry.
We walk down the semi-lit alley for a second. I can see the street down a way. I look up and see a few metal stairs leading to metal doors on the side of the brick buildings. The dim street lamps do nothing but make the ally creepier than it really is. Before we hit the main street, a few guys come out of the shadows suddenly making me jump up in surprise.
"Curtis, look. It's the fucker and its bitch," the guy laughs and points to Christian and I. He is smoking a cigarette.
I pale and see it's the guys that always hangs in front of Elliot's apartment building.
"What's up, Elliot. What are you doing with these two mother fuckers?" he points to us again and takes a drag of his cigarette.
Christian tenses and out of instinct, steps in front of me to block them from my view. I start to shake for some reason. These guys give me a bad vibe.
"What's up, Jamal? We were just heading home bro. Catch ya later," Elliot says nervously.
"Where the fuck was you going? I didn't say you could go anywhere bro," I hear the guy say as we start to walk forward. Christian squeezes my arm, telling me to keep quiet and I nod even though he can't see me.
"Look, Jamal. We don't want any trouble, man. We just want to get back to my apartment," Elliot says.
I can't see them, but I can imagine Elliot holding up his hands in the air, telling the guy that we don't want any trouble.
"Na, na, the way I see it, the party has just begun, man," the guy says causing my eyes to widen.
"What the fuck do you want?" Christian hisses suddenly. I freeze and start to shake harder. What is he doing?
I try to tell him to be quiet, but he ignores me and walks forward. "Christian, no!" I exclaim, but Elliot blocks me with his body.
"Ana, be quiet," Elliot hisses at me over his shoulder. He takes hold of my arms with his hands, causing me to squirm in his hold.
I try to get past him, but he keeps his hands on my arms so I can't go forward. I struggle with getting freed as I hear Christian and the guys start to argue.
"Elliot, let me go!" I yell, but he doesn't listen.
I finally peak over his shoulder and see Christian surrounded by four guys. They are in his face, cussing him out and Christian is standing there with his fists balled at his side and his face is bright red in anger. I look over at Elliot, and he is grinding his teeth and glaring at the guys that are circling him.
"Elliot do something," I plead with him. I don't want him to get hurt. They're starting to get into his face.
Elliot races over to them when one of them shoves Christian into the brick wall. I scream when one of them suddenly takes out a gun from their back pocket. They push the barrel into Christian's face and laughs. Christian's eyes widen when he notices the gun in his face.
"What the fuck do you say now, pretty boy?" he sneers.
Christian glares at him and balls his fists until his knuckles turn white. I am frozen on the spot at the scene in front of me. Elliot is trying to get to Christian, but the other three are blocking him.
"Jamal, man, what the hell are you doing? Let him go, bro!" Elliot yells.
"Na, Elliot. This fucker needs to get his," the guy says all too quietly.
I scream again when he suddenly punches Christian in the side causing him to groan in pain. Elliot tries to run over to him, but the three guys start beating him up. They are kicking him over and over again the second he hits the concrete. I look over and scream Help as tears are running down my face as the guy hits Christian over and over again. He falls to the ground, and he starts kicking him in the side. Christian is groaning in pain while he continues to kick and cuss him out. I keep screaming for him to stop kicking him, and I whip my head around to see Elliot curled up into a ball as they continue to kick him as well. I start to hyperventilate when the guy suddenly points the gun at Christian once more.
My whole world stops when suddenly the gun goes off and the next thing I hear is me screaming at the top of my lungs.
AN: Sorry for the cliffhanger. I will try to get the next chapter up ASAP. Thank you for reading and reviewing.