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her face to check if she was breathing. He felt her heart beat and noticed that it was beating extremely slow, as if it would stop at any moment. She needs help. Something’s wrong, he thought as he stood and frantically stepped into his jeans. He tied the robe tightly around her naked body and then in a panic rushed her to the hospital, praying to a power greater than himself that everything would be okay.
A’shai held Liberty’s hand as she sat with oxygen tubes pumping fresh air into her nose.
“You feel better?” he asked her.
She nodded as a doctor stepped into the room.
“I’m Dr. Simmons,” the man introduced.
“I’m A’shai. Liberty is my fiancé,” A’shai spoke up. “What can you tell us? Is she going to be okay?”
“Liberty, you have a bad heart. She has a heart disease called cardiomyopathy. The fatigue and dizzy spells . . . even the fainting is all attributed to this,” Dr. Simmons replied.
“What?” Liberty asked as tears filled her eyes. “Am I going to die?”
“That I cannot say. You have an unhealthy heart. It needs to be replaced,” Dr. Simmons said.
A’shai didn’t even hear the rest of the doctor’s response as he blanked out. Rage filled him as he thought of everything that he had been through to be with Liberty . . . now she was sick. As hard as they had fought to be together . . . fate was tearing them apart. The grim reaper had been their ultimate enemy, and there was no running from this problem.
A’shai stormed out of the room as the unfairness sent him over the edge. He pounded on the hallway walls and slumped to the floor as he cried tears of sadness. He was resentful and his hurt outmeasured any misfortune that he had ever experienced.
Liberty gave A’shai a half smile when he finally returned to her side. She held out her hand and gripped his tightly as he sat down on the edge of her bed.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
“How do you feel?” she replied as she rubbed his knuckle with her finger.
“My heart is gone, ma. Hearing that doctor tell you that hurt my soul,” he answered as he buried his head in her neck while she stroked his head lovingly. Liberty shed tears of pain, knowing what the end result would inevitably be.
“No one can have perfection, Shai. You and me . . . we’re too good together. This is our flaw. My sickness . . . is the issue for our relationship. This is our imperfect love, but it’s the greatest love I’ve ever felt. If this is what I have to go through in order to be your girl then I accept that. Just love me, Shai . . . that’s all I can ask for,” she said.
“I’mma do that forever,” he replied. “I bought you a house.”
“A house, huh? My very own house?” she asked with a smile. She hadn’t had a place to call home since her childhood.
“All yours baby girl,” he replied. “It’ll be safe, and we can be together without having to look over our shoulders every second of the day. It’s just waiting for us. I’m sending you there as soon as you get released from here.”
Liberty’s smile faded as she sat up in the bed. “Sending me? You’re not coming?” she asked.
“Yeah I’m coming . . . of course I’m coming ma. I just have to do one more thing . . . I have to be here for Baron through his trial. After they render his judgment, I’ll join you,” he replied.
“I want to be wherever you are, A’shai. So I’m staying, and when you’re ready we will run away together.”
TWENTY
A’SHAI TOOK A DEEP BREATH AS HE stood outside of the police department. He prepared to go see Baron, hoping that he could smooth things over. The guilt of that horrible night haunted A’shai, and he knew what Willow would have wanted. He had to get back in good graces with his father Baron for his mother. A’shai entered the precinct and stood in line as people waited to see their locked-up loved ones. He went through the motions and finally got to the conference room where the visiting booths were set up with thick glass separating the visitors and inmates. He walked to the booth where his father sat waiting. As soon as he locked eyes with Baron, Baron’s facial expression changed. He expected to see his lawyer, not the person