Page 50 of Baby Me

“Give that sweet girl a kiss for me when you get there.” Mack stated, but then he looked my way and offered up a wink to let me know he didn’t intend to be mean to me. At least, that was how I took it.

I nodded and Tripp said, “Will do.”

We were back in the bedroom before anyone spoke again. “Tripp, it sounds like she’s escalating in a big way, if June did this.”

“I have no doubt June did this. My only question is why she did that to Barry. He gave her the divorce she wanted.”

“Yeah, but maybe he didn’t do it soon enough, since you know… You said that you saw her with him and froze her out for a few months, but during that time, you were with me, and I got pregnant. Maybe she blamed him for that happening.”

“Could be. Could also be that she found out one of his mistresses was her cousin, Anna.”

“Has anyone bothered to check on Anna?”

“No, I’ll get a team together and go check her place, but she isn’t my priority. We’ll do that after.”

“After?” I asked.

“Yeah, sweetheart. After I have you again and we get some shut eye. Once I deliver you back to the hospital – with security – I’ll go with some of the guys to check on Anna.”

“Okay. I hate that you have to go there, though. What if Anna’s place turns into a trap?”

“Never been there before, so I don’t see how that could be possible.”

Tripp held up his end of the deal and thoroughly ravished me before we got our nap in, and he took me back to the hospital.

About twenty minutes after Tripp left the hospital to go check on Anna, Doctor Jenkins came in to see me.

“I hear you’ve had quite the change in circumstances, young lady.” His warm smile let me know that he was not judging those changes. The kind man patted my hand and then gave it a little squeeze before he let go. “It’s a good thing to have more family at your back as you and your daughter go through this challenging process. I’m glad you’re back today because I wanted to talk to you about Coral’s latest results.”

He must have seen the panic in my eyes because Dr. Jenkins quickly shuffled me over to a chair and had me sit. Then, he took the one that was next to me and slid it around so that we were face-to-face as he gave me the results.

“Breathe, I promise it isn’t bad. You were worried because Coral has been sleeping a lot more, but I’m here to tell you that the sleep has been restorative. I think you’ll start seeing a turnaround in your little one’s energy levels from here on out. Her labs were just this side of glorious,” Dr. Jenkins crowed, and I could see a little mistiness in his eyes as he teared up.

“Wait,” I took a moment to get my breath. “You’re telling me that she’s doing better?”

“I’m telling you that her labs looked amazing. We’re not totally in the clear yet, but the latest round of meds seem to be doing the job.”

“So, what about the bone marrow thing?”

“With any luck, she will continue to respond well to the regimen she’s on now and a transplant won’t be necessary.”

“Okay, so if she goes into remission, what are the odds that it comes back?”

“We’ll have to bridge that gap when we get to it. The good news about not needing a bone marrow transplant now is that it will remain an option in the future. Not that she’ll need it, but with this type of cancer, there really are no guarantees. The fact that she got this so young is testament to that. She’s the youngest case on file in this country. Let’s hope she continues to be a record-breaker, but in a positive way.”

“Thank you so much for coming to tell me. I wish Tripp had been here, but he had business to attend to.”

“Understandable. If Coral’s father needs to contact me, he can reach me here,” Dr. Jenkins held out his card for me to take.

“I can’t thank you enough for taking such good care of my daughter and being so kind to us.”

The doctor shook his head and patted my hand once more. “You and Coral had a rough start of things. It’s the least I can do to mitigate the harm done in the early stages when you were vigilant in trying to obtain care for your daughter while this hospital’s staff denied you doing what was best for her. You both deserved better. I’m just happy I was there to intercede for you and get your daughter on the path to healing.”

Chapter 23

Tripp

I curled up on the cot behind my woman. “Hey, did you find Anna?” Vina asked in a sleepy voice.

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