Chapter 84: Rescue Your Heart

 

Mere

“No,” Nae shook her head and stayed in the car. I looked over at her and let out a sigh. We’ve been sitting in this damn car for the last twenty minutes.

“Come on Nae. Aubrey said that everyone left except for him, Nicki, and Levi,” I assured her. I don’t know what she was so afraid of.

“I don’t wanna see Nicki,” she pointed out.

“She’s your best friend Nae,” I reminded her.

“We both know why I left.”

“And we both know that’s over with. Don’t keep her out of your life just because. She misses you and I know you miss her. You don’t have to talk to any of the other girls but I know you wanna talk to Nicki,” I looked at her.

“She’s gonna hate me,” she said softly.

“You’ve been friends with Nicki for years. She can’t possibly hate you. She’s probably gonna be mad but I promise that she’s not gonna hate you. You’re here to help Mylan so Nicki is gonna at least be thankful for that.”

“Why must you always be right?” She let out a dramatic sigh.

“Because I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t,” I flipped my hair and got out.

“Still too cocky,” she joked and got out with me. I stopped her before we could walk into the hospital.

“Are you ready for this?” I checked with her. I didn’t want her freezing up.

“You have my back right?”

“I’ll always have your back Nae,” I pulled her into a hug.

“Thanks,” she smiled once we pulled away. “I’m ready,” she nodded. We walked into the hospital and Aubrey met us in the waiting room. Levi’s eyes got wide once he spotted me.

“Auntie Mere!” Levi ran into my arms. I bent down and caught him.

“Hey my little trouble maker,” I kissed him and then picked him up. He laid his head on my shoulder and that’s when he spotted Nae. He scrunched his face up and looked at Aubrey.

“She the Auntie from picture,” he pointed at her.

“Huh?” She looked at him weird.

“You Auntie Nae from picture. You had hat thingy,” he motioned to his head.

“Oh graduation pictures,” Aubrey spoke up.

“I’m Levi,” he held out his hand.

“I know who you are sweetie. I was there when you were born,” she chuckled but shook his hand anyway.

“Oh well hi!” He smiled.

“Nicki is up there with Mylan. She’s waiting by the door,” Aubrey told her.

“Alright,” she took a deep breath.

“Do you need me?” I questioned.

“Nah this is something I gotta do on my own,” she sent me a smile and went to the elevators.

“Let’s hope for the best,” Aubrey said. He looked at me and I knew what he was gonna ask. “How are you and Nae close? I thought you two hated each other?” He scrunched up his brows.

“Let’s not worry about it,” I brushed it off. “How are you doing? I know this is a lot to take in.” I was concerned about him.

“I’m trying to handle this the best I can. I just can’t stop blaming myself. I can’t believe that I was that blind. They both have a right to hate me for the rest of their lives,” he sighed.

“I love you Daddy,” Levi smiled at him.

“I love you too buddy,” he chuckled.

“Since you finally decided to not be oblivious I guess I love you too,” I playfully rolled my eyes. I wanted to say asshole but then I remembered that Levi was in my arms.

“Does that mean I got my lil sis back?” He looked at me with hopeful eyes.

“Come here.” He hugged me and I smiled. “It’s nice to finally see Aubrey again.”

“And I am never going away again,” he promised.

Nae

I felt my heartbeat speed up as the elevator moved upward. It stopped and the doors opened. I walked out of the elevator and turned right. I walked down the hall and saw Nicki leaning against the door. She was doing something on her phone so I cleared my throat. She looked up at me a little shocked.

“So you’re not dead,” she let out a dry chuckle. I stayed silent because I knew she had a lot more to say. “Mere huh? You can keep in touch with someone you hated but not even your best friend? Wow,” she shook her head.

“It’s complicated Nic,” I sighed.

“It’s complicated? You think that’s complicated? Do you know how stressful this past year has been for me especially since I didn’t have my best friend to talk to?” She crossed her arms and glared at me.

“I know everything that’s been going on. Mere told me,” I mentally cursed. I didn’t mean to mention Mere’s name again.

“Mere told you,” she slowly nodded. “So you would rather have her tell you than to pick up a phone and talk to me? What the fuck Jaznae!?” She snapped.

“I know it looks worse than what it is. I would’ve kept in touch with you if I could,” I assured her.

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better? Why would you just disappear like that? And not to mention that Mere knew where you were? Mere!? You kept in touch with Blake’s ex?” As soon as she mentioned her name I rolled my eyes.

“Can we not talk about her right now? Look I’m sorry for how I left but I can’t change that and even if I could I wouldn’t. I did what was best and I can’t tell you why I did it. You know me better than anyone and you know that I wouldn’t do shit like this unless it was for a good reason.” I was so sick of this but I knew that this was only the beginning. As soon as everyone finds out that I’m back then shit is just gonna pop off.

“It’s been pure hell. This year has been pure hell,” she had tears slip out of her eyes.

“I know,” I nodded.

“You can’t do shit like this Nae. You can’t just leave and not tell me where you went. I thought you could’ve been dead!” She cut her eyes at me. I waited for her to continue but she stayed quiet. “You can’t do that again Nae. I can’t take it,” she said softly while more tears ran down her cheeks. I moved and pulled her into a hug.

“I’m sorry Nic. I’m so sorry.” I pulled back and wiped her tears.

“I’ve missed you,” she chuckled slightly.

“I’ve missed you too. Trust me when I say that it was so hard to not talk to you. It wasn’t something that I could just brush off.” Some of my hardest days I would just pick up a phone to call her but remembered that I couldn’t.

“You know I can never stay mad at you,” she let out a small smile.

“Of course you couldn’t,” I flipped my hair and we laughed. I was spending way too much time with Mere. She has me flipping my hair and shit. “I got this Nic,” I looked at the hospital door.

“Thanks,” she hugged me one more time before going downstairs. I opened the door. Mylan turned and looked at me. She squinted and her eyes went wide.

“Auntie Nae!?”

 

Mylan

“Yep,” she nodded her head slowly and closed the door.

“What are you doing here? Where did you go? Why did you leave?” I threw question after question at her.

“None of that matters. Right now I’m focusing on you,” she walked and sat in the chair next to the bed. I looked down because I knew that she could see right through me. “I’ve been in your position before nine years ago. I heard Nyra was the one to find you,” she looked at me.

“Yeah she somehow knew that something wasn’t right,” I shrugged.

“Your Auntie Blake was the one who found me but I attempted suicide. Everyone has been telling me that you said you did it by accident but I don’t believe you,” she sat back with her arms crossed.

“You don’t?” I felt my heartbeat speed up. No one has questioned my answer so this made me a bit nervous.

“You’re not dumb enough to take random pills. I was but I know you’re not. You knew exactly what was in that pill. You knew that you were allergic and that’s why you took as many as you did,” she spoke up.

“What makes you think that?”

“Well your wrist speaks volume and I bet the inside of your thighs do too. Those cuts look fresh. Almost like you did it a day or two ago.” I went silent as soon as she said that. She was right and she knew it. “Drop the act and be real with me My. What’s going on?” She looked concerned.

“I don’t even know. Everything is just a mess,” I sighed.

“And you thought suicide was the best answer?” She raised a brow.

“It would’ve been easier. Mom and my father are going through things and I found myself often alone in a dark room. I messed around and got addicted to this,” I shrugged.

“That’s what I was afraid of,” she mumbled. “Mylan this is not healthy and this surely ain’t the best choice. Addictions are hard to break and it took me a long time to break mine. It was easier to release my anger on myself and get pills to make me feel better but it only makes things worse in the end,” she explained.

“It’s helping me just fine,” I liked the pills I was on. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them.

“Do you see where you are? You’re in a hospital Mylan. You could’ve died and you’re telling me that those pills are helping you just fine? Your mom is out there crying her eyes out over the fear of losing you. Your dad was breaking down and I don’t even want to imagine how Alexis or Nyra must feel,” she locked her eyes with mine.

“Their problems would disappear if I wasn’t around.”

“Are you feeling this way because you feel like a bother or is there a deeper reason why you’re acting this way?” She gave me a knowing look.

“I’m the same age my mom was when she decided to take on the mother figure in my life. I can’t imagine taking care of a kid. I ruined her life and I don’t even wanna get started on my father. I should’ve just kept my mouth shut and stayed her little sister,” I felt tears sliding down my face. That was something I’ve had a hard time accepting. Who would want to take on a kid at the age of seventeen?

“You did not ruin your mom’s life. Your mom and dad both love you and wouldn’t change anything in the past,” she shook her head.

“Everything just gets overwhelming and it seems like no one can see when I’m breaking. I’m just slowly drowning in my own hate for myself. I hate everything about myself.” I couldn’t stand the image of myself in a mirror.

“Why would you hate yourself Mylan?”

“I just do.” I didn’t know why.

“I can see you drowning My and I want to help you back up,” she grabbed my hand.

“You do?” I looked at her a little shocked. I thought she was just gonna give me this whole little speech and then leave again but it looked like she was truly concerned for me.

“I do,” she nodded and I let a slight smile grace my lips.

 

Nicki

“So you’re not gonna tell us how in the world did you keep in contact with Nae?” I looked at Mere as she rubbed Levi’s hair. I still didn’t understand that.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” she shrugged.

“You hated Nae,” I reminded her. They couldn’t stand being in the same room as each other let alone be this close.

“Hate is such a strong word,” she scrunched up her face.

“Hate is a bad word,” Levi spoke up.

“Yes it is,” she smiled at him.

“Then what would you call it?” I raised a brow at her.

“Different views of things,” she said but then her face scrunched up again. “I guess not really understanding each other and just assumptions on things. You learn a lot about a person over a year.”

“So she’s why you went back and forth to Texas. Wait is she the girl you called Munchkin?” I was slowly connecting the dots.

“Why?” She narrowed her eyes on me.

“You just seemed extremely close with that person.” She would always drop everything she was doing to answer her phone.

“Yeah that’s her,” she nodded.

“Okay,” I decided to drop it for now at least.

“You can’t tell Blake that you saw her,” she quickly said. She had this weird look on her face once again. This time I think that would be acceptable.

“You think I would want to be the person to tell her that? Yeah I’ll definitely pass on that one.” I was not about to deal with her being that pissed. All hell would break loose.

“She’s gonna hate us,” she ran her hand through her hair.

“Like that matters,” I heard from behind us. I turned and saw Nae standing there.

“Nae can you please just drop it?” Mere groaned.

“Like I said just don’t let me run into her and we’ll be fine,” she shrugged.

“What?” I was confused. What’s her problem with Blake? She’s been making sly comments since she’s been back.

“Don’t worry about that. I talked to Mylan and she needs help Nic. She’s addicted to pills just like I was. Those pills aren’t safe for her and she’s allergic to them. It also triggers with her asthma,” she explained. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” I felt tears fall down my face. Nae moved and sat next to me.

“I’m gonna help her,” she promised.

“So you’re not gonna vanish so soon?” I questioned. She shared a look with Mere before looking back at me.

“I’ll be here for a while. I think that’s the best idea for Mylan,” she nodded.

“Thank you Nae,” I pulled her into a hug.

~~~

I helped My to her bedroom and just sat on the edge of her bed. “You know you can tell me anything sweetie,” I reminded her.

“It’s just a lot Mom. I’m exhausted,” she yawned.

“Get some sleep,” I kissed her and walked out of her room. I went to my bedroom and saw Aubrey sitting on the bed. It seemed like he was stuck in a trance. “Are you okay?” I questioned. I really didn’t care but at the same time I did.

“Yeah,” he snapped out of it.

“Well I’m gonna go,” I pulled my shoes on and grabbed a jacket.

“Where are you going?” He questioned.

“It doesn’t matter.” I didn’t think he had a right to know.

“Onika I know I fucked up a bit but,” I cut him off.

“You fucked up a lot Aubrey. This isn’t something you can fix with a conversation. This is something that I don’t if it can be fixed,” I grabbed my purse.

“Onika,” he started again.

“Watch over the kids,” I called over my shoulder before walking out to the awaiting car.

“Do you want me to drop you back off at home after this?” He looked over at me as he drove.

“No not tonight. Can I just stay with you?” I asked.

“I can never say no to you,” he chuckled.

“I guess years don’t change some things,” I eyed him.

“It doesn’t change a lot of things,” I heard him mumble. We pulled up to his house and got out. I walked up to his room and grabbed one of his shirts. I started changing and he groaned. I chuckled and turned to look at him. “You could at least not do that in front of me.”

“Why? Does my body make you nervous?” I smirked.

“Onika you don’t wanna play this game with me tonight. I’ll have your ass bent over in a heartbeat,” he gave me a warning look.

“Just how I like it,” I joked.

“I’m gonna go get something to drink,” he walked out muttering what a tease I was. I stripped and pulled on his shirt before climbing into his bed. He walked back in with a glass of water and looked at me. “It’s sexy as hell when you wear my clothes,” he licked his lips.

“Sleep with me,” I pulled the covers back.

“I don’t think that’s the best idea,” he shook his head.

“Please?” I pleaded. He looked at me and I automatically knew that he couldn’t say no to me.

“Alright,” he sighed and climbed in the bed. I turned over and laid my head on his chest.

“Thanks for being here for me,” I thanked him.

“You know I’ll always be here for you Nic,” he rubbed my back.

“Even as a friend?”

“Even as a friend. Get some sleep,” he kissed my head.

 

Drake

 

I laid in an empty bed and cursed at myself for fucking everything up. I just wanted my company to succeed as far as it could. My mom told me to push for my dreams and after she died I kept pushing for her. The expansion was a huge deal but it wasn’t worth losing my family over. I heard a knock on the door and eyed the clock. It was around two in the morning. “Come in,” I called out.

“Daddy?” I heard Levi say.

“Yeah buddy?” I sat up and he walked towards the bed.

“Can I sleep with you? There are monsters under my bed,” he looked up at me.

“Yeah,” I picked him up and placed him in the bed.

“Where’s Mommy?”

“I don’t know.” She just might be done with me. I can’t handle losing her for good. She means everything to me and I can’t believe that I’m just realizing all of this now.

“Better late than never,” Levi mumbled with his eyes closed. I looked down at him a little shocked. I swear sometimes he can read minds. “Goodnight Daddy.”

“Goodnight Levi,” I kissed his head as he drifted off.