Because of you (28 page)

“
Thanks.” I look around the gymnasium again. “Where is Aaliyah?” She looks at me with eyes, wide open, and I can just hear her thoughts are all over the place.

“
She’s not here? I didn’t even notice she wasn’t sitting next to me. I remember her mentioning going to the toilet, and I haven’t seen her since.”

“
Damn it, Addy, that was almost half an hour ago.”

“
Don’t be so nervous, I’m sure she’s here somewhere, looking for you.” She’s probably right. I hear voices of people talking over each other all around me, but then we all hear a scream of horror from in front of the entrance door. A girl my age is screaming in panic and I can hear her saying something, but I’m too far away to hear
.
I catch a few bits of her rambling—something about a pregnant girl lying outside the door, and that someone should call the ambulance. In an instant, all the blood leaves my body and I run to the hallway, where I see Aaliyah lying in a pool of blood, motionless and pale, with eyes closed. Her normally red lips are devoid of color and look pale and tired. Her creamy skin now looks ashen. I kneel down next to her and put her head in my lap.

“
Aaliyah, baby, everything is going to be alright,” I say encouragingly, more to myself than anyone else. I blow my nose and wipe the tear that has escaped. Just as I raise her off the ground to take her to the emergency room, an ambulance arrives. Two paramedics pull a stretcher out of the ambulance and I lift her onto it, careful not to hurt her even more. I join them in the ambulance. “Are they going to be okay?” I ask with a shaky voice, as a paramedic takes her blood pressure. His face is full of compassion.

“
We’ll do everything in our power to save them,” he responds.

The doctor who admitted Aaliyah to the hospital approaches us slowly. All my teammates and Addison are gathered around me and we’re waiting for the news with hopeful expressions on our faces. I’m still wearing my jersey and a towel is wrapped around my neck. I quickly stand up and go toward the doctor, others follow me. There’s tension in the air so thick you could cut it with a knife, but all my thoughts are with Aaliyah and my daughter. I pray everything will be alright.

“
Mister Knight, we brought your girlfriend to the OR…” I interrupt him.

“
Are they okay?” I ask, fear in my voice, and bow my head.

“
Miss Thomas was admitted to OR following an emergency C-section.” I instantly raise my gaze to his and my eyes are full of questions.

“
How? A C-section? She’s due in two months, that wasn’t supposed to happen yet.” My hands are shaking and I squeeze my fingers around my towel so hard my knuckles turn white.

“
Yes, as I said, it was an emergency. Your child was in fetal distress and we had no alternative but to perform a C-section. If we haven’t done that, we could have lost both of them.”

“
Fetal distress?”

“
This means your daughter wasn’t receiving enough oxygen. Now, she’s in an incubator and waiting for you to visit her.” My lips finally turn up. A
heavy boulder rolls
off my chest.

“
Th…this means she’s going to be alright?” The doctor nods, a smile on his face. “Wha…what about Aaliyah? How is she?” I stammer.

“
She’s alright as well. When she wakes up, she’s probably going to be a little disoriented, but they are both just fine.”

“
When can I see them?”

“
Whenever you want. It’s visiting hours now, so you can have some time with them.” I thank him profusely and quickly run toward the maternity ward, where all the women that gave birth are. I carefully open the door and my eyes
stop o
n Aaliyah, sleeping peacefully. I slowly approach her bed and gently caress he
r,
once again cream
y,
skin. Her eyes open and she seems confused, as if she doesn’t know where she is. She looks at me with eyes wide open and grabs her belly. Her eyes bulge as she realizes her big belly is gone.

“
What happened? Where is Emma?” I hold her hand, resting on her stomach, and smile at her comfortingly. We picked the baby’s name as soon as we found out it was going to be a girl, and we decided to name her Emma Hope, after her sister.

“
She’s perfectly fine, we’ll get to see her a little later.”

“
How? She shouldn’t be born yet, it was too soon, I wasn’t ready.” I kiss her to shut her up, and put my forehead against hers.

“
Emma was in danger and they had to perform a C-section. The most important thing is that everything is alright, nothing else matters.” She visibly relaxes and holds my hand tightly.

Epilogue

Aaliyah

Two years later

I’m standing on the stage
of
Mirage, reminiscing abou
t the time
when I used to work here. It seems like only yesterday, but a lot has happened in that time. Caden, Ryder, the pregnancy, Emma, marriage, and here I am again. As a guest this time. I was invited to sing a few songs from my debut album. Interesting, how it all turned out. I wanted to become a social worker, but I found my passion in singing, continuing Hope’s dreams. I must confess—I love what I do. My album is titled
Because of You
and it’s quickly climbing up the charts. People are starting to recognize me on the street, asking
me f
or autographs. Each of the songs on my album
represents o
ne of my life experiences, and I’m so proud of it. I direct my gaze toward Ryder and our little Emma. A pregnant Addison, Jackson and all our friends are sitting next to them. Even though life has taken us separate ways, we always find the time to get together and have fun, like today. Up on the stage, I sing about happiness, how it only takes a second for your life to turn upside down, how it’s not beneficial to build walls around yourself and keep people
,
who love you
,
away. Luck is love, and material things don’t matter if you’re not happy and loved. Love is power, and if you share it with others, you’re so very blessed.

“
I’m dedicating the next song to the man who showed me how to love again, to let happiness in my life. Ryder, I love you. This one’s for you.”

Because of you

All because of you

Mmmm…

I’m finally happy again

Finally living my life again

You tore down the walls and brought me happiness

This feeling that I’m feeling

Is so powerful,

so strong.

It’s all because of you, just because of you

I’ll never let it go

No, no

I’ll never let it go

Because of you

It’s all because of you

Yeah, yeah

Because of you

Because of you I can live again

Breathe freely and sleep in peace

My life is perfect

Always happy

Always full

Thanks to you

My love, thank you

Because of you

It’s all because of you

Yeah, yeah

Because of you

I finish the song with my eyes closed, a smile creeping on my lips. Mirage is packed, people are clapping, and I take a bow, contentedly. This is one of my favorite songs from the album and I always tear up when I sing it. I am really blessed to have so many good friends, a husband and a daughter, and I wouldn’t give them up for anything in the world.

“Thank you,” I say and wait a couple of second for the applause to die out. “I’m dedicating the next song to my sister. Hope, I’ll never forget you, I love you,” I whisper into the mike, as the first notes of
Christina Aguilera
’s
Hurt
sound around the room. I feel goosebumps all over my body, because this song perfectly describes our last moments together. I’d give anything to be able to hug her again, to tell her how much I love her. We had a fight before she died, and I’ll never forgive myself for that, but I hope she’s still proud of me and watches over me and my family from heaven. When I sing the first part of the song, tears start streaming down my face, but I don’t stop. I put all my emotions into singing about my willingness to do anything to hear her one last time, to call her, but I know she won’t answer. I am apologizing for blaming her for things that weren’t her fault.

It’s so hard not having her by my and my family’s side. She’s never going to meet Emma and Emma is never going to know her auntie. I raise my gaze to Ryder’s, and I see he’s watching me with love in his eyes, as I’m up here, leaving my heart on the stage. I’m asking Hope through song if she’s watching over me and if she’s proud of what I’ve become.

Slowly, the song comes to an end, and I quickly brush away the tears from my eyes. I’ve never been so vulnerable o
n s
tage before, but tonight I felt like I had to do this, for Hope, for me, so I can continue on
with my life.

My performance has come to an end, but my life has only just begun. I have a wonderful husband and daughter, without whom I cannot imagine living. They mean absolutely everything in the world to me and I need them like a heart needs a beat, like roses need the rain, and I would be nothing without them in my life.

“I love you,” Ryder says and wraps his arm around my shoulders, carefully, since our little two-year-old has fallen asleep in his arms.

“
I love you, too.”

Ryder

Who would want anything more in life than what I have now? My life is perfect. I have a wife who loves me unconditionally, a daughter that adores me and many true friends, who make my life even fuller, and a career I’ve always wanted.

We married six months ago, but we didn’t have a big wedding, we wanted an intimate ceremony with family and friends. She was the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen in a white wedding dress with crystals that sprinkled the skirt of the dress, which fell elegantly to the floor. Her hair was down, which I love the most, and
fluttering
in the soft breeze.

Aaliyah is singing about life, happiness and pain on the stage, and I’m extremely proud of her. She has gone through so much in her life, and luck finally smiled on her. Caden was put in jail. Not all of his crimes could be proven, but he’s still going to be behind bars for the rest of his life. Those couple of days
in court were really emotional and
stressful for Aaliyah as she was petrified to confront him, but fortunately this is all behind her now and she can finally continue on with her life. Her career is on the rise, and she enjoys doing what she does.

On my left, Addison is sitting with a swollen belly. She and Jackson are expecting their first child, a boy, in four months. I can’t wait to finally meet my nephew.

All our other friends are also sitting at the table, listening to Aaliyah sing. Noah became a doctor, Jayden and Jarrod are successful
video games programmers,
Marc is also playing in the NBA—but for some other team—and Jackson is a brilliant lawyer. I won’t waste my breath on Paris. I broke off all relations with her after the incident in my room, and I have no idea where she ended up. To tell you the truth, I don’t even care.

I became an NBA player soon after that game which changed my life, when Aaliyah gave birth. A few days later I got a phone call and received an offer I couldn’t refuse. San Antonio Spurs offered me a spot on their team. That was two years ago, and I still love going to practice. Aaliyah gracefully accepted the fact that we needed to move and didn’t even think about staying behind with Emma. Today, we’re back, where it all started, and we’re going to enjoy our vacations to the fullest. Aaliyah walks off the stage with a
teary
face, but happy. She comes closer to me.

“
I love you,” I tell her and wrap my arm around her, careful not to wake up little Emma, who is sleeping in my arms.

“
I love you, too.” She looks into my eyes and strokes Emma’s hair.

“
Are we leaving soon?” She nods at me. I’m sure she’s exhausted after the performance, and a refreshing bath will help her relax.

While Aaliyah is putting Emma to sleep, I prepare a bath for her. She approaches me from behind and presses her naked body against mine, touching me all over with her wicked fingers. I let out a satisfied groan that echoes through the room.

“You’re so beautiful,” I say as I turn to her. She’s still such an unassuming girl. She still blushes every time I compliment her. “I’ll be right back,” I give her a peck on her lips and rush out of the bathroom. She gives me a confused look, but stands still and waits for me to return. When I come back, I pull eleven red roses from behind my back and give them to her. Her eyes shine bright and she gives me a loving hug.