Page 69 of Intercept My Heart

“I love you past the stars and every planet. My love for you is infinite.”

“What does infament mean, Daddy?” I chuckled, hearing her attempt to say the word.

“It means forever. My love for you will never end. You’ll have my heart forever and always.”

“I love you infament too!” I’d never been a weak man, but Milani brought out another side of me. She tapped into a portion of my heart that had been closed off since Sunny and me broke up. Her existence gave me a new purpose and motivation in life.

“See you later, Lani Bug.”

“See you later, Daddy! I love you!” Shutting the door, I never imagined that it would be my last time hearing her sweet voice. No more early morning wakeups with her climbing on my back; no more chocolate chip pancakes or playing dressup. My world ended the day she was taken from me.

“Sir, you can’t go back there!” a nurse yelled, but I ignored her as I pushed through the doors of the emergency room. Thehospital called me to inform me of an accident that happened, and I sped straight to the hospital to see about my baby.

“Sir!”

“Someone stop him!” I didn’t even know what the big deal was. If Harper and my daughter were here, I had every right to be here. They gave me the run around because Harper and me weren’t married. Then, when I asked what room Milani was in, they acted like they couldn’t speak. I called Coach Monarch and he gave me Harper’s room number, so I decided to see what was going on. My baby girl was probably afraid, and these people were trying to keep me from her.

When I rounded the corner, I saw Mrs. Monarch crying while a few women comforted her. No one would give me an update on their condition, so I assumed Harper must not have been doing well.

As I walked closer to the group, coach stepped out of a room. When our eyes locked, he gave me a weird look. It made me nervous because I could tell by the way his shoulders were slumped in defeat that it wasn’t good.

“What happened? All they told me over the phone was there was an accident.” He stood there as if he was trying to figure out the right words to say.

“Umm, I’m not sure of all of the details. From my understanding, Harper collided with an SUV at the intersection. It’s unclear who was at fault or what took place. All we know is the collision caused a lot of damage.”

“Did she have to have surgery or something? How are they doing?” His face dropped at the mention of their condition, which raised a red flag. Coach had always been a straight shooter, and I hated when people beat around the bush. It didn’t make the news any easier to digest.

“Come on, Coach. Tell me what’s going on,” I urged, growing frustrated by his hesitation.

“Harper suffered a neck injury, a few broken ribs, and a broken arm. They are saying that she should make a full recovery, but she may need physical therapy.”

“That’s great news, then. Now, where is my princess? Did they have her in the children’s wing or something? She’s probably scared out of her mind right now.” I couldn’t imagine how afraid my baby was. The only thing on my mind was holding her in my arms to make sure that she knew everything was okay.

“Umm, no, she isn’t in the children’s wing. Maybe we should wait for the doctor to come back so they can explain things.” His response pissed me off because if he knew what was going on, why wouldn’t he tell me himself?

“Have you seen her yet? Did they explain what her injuries were? When can I see her?” My anxiety increased the more I stood here talking to him because I could tell he was holding something back from me.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Mrs. Monarch greeted me with tear-stained cheeks and a reddened nose. A part of me wondered why none of them were sitting with Milani instead of being in this stuffy ass waiting room. The idea of my baby girl being somewhere scared and alone sent me into a panic.

“It’s good to see you, Mrs. Monarch. Have you guys gotten any kind of updates on Milani,or do I need to flag down one of the nurses? I’m really anxious to see my baby.” Mrs. Monarch’s head whipped over to her husband. They had a discussion with their eyes before she turned back to me with pity in hers. She glanced back at coach again before a fresh set of tears streamed down her face.

“We don’t know how to tell you this, son. Milani is gone.” Her voice cracked, followed by her sobs. Coach pulled her into his side as he gave me the same look as she did. Hislight-skinned complexion turned red as he stared at me with sympathy.

“I-I don’t understand. Did they transfer her to a different hospital or something? Where is she? What did the doctors say?” Someone needed to make sense of this before I spazzed out in this bitch.

“Son, we’re really sorry. The doctors told us that she was DOA, and they took her body straight to the morgue. From what they could tell us, she went instantly, so there was no suffering. I-I’m sorry, Dinero.” My head shook in disbelief because there was no way they were telling me what I thought they were. My baby couldn’t possibly be dead; I was with her hours ago.

“Naw. Naw, they must have made a mistake. Where the fuck is my daughter?” I shouted, taking a few steps back as my head began to spin. What they were telling me didn’t make any sense. There was no way my daughter could be dead. I promised her pizza and movies tonight. We had plans. No. No. I couldn’t accept no shit like this.

“Where is my fucking daughter? Where is Milani?” I roared, bumping into a nurse who had been standing behind me. Coach held his wife as the two of them cried. What the fuck were they crying about? Somebody needed to fix this shit because they made a mistake.

“We’re sorry, sir, but if you don’t calm down, we’re gonna have to call security to escort you out of here.” A man in a white lab coat approached me. I raised my hands in surrender.

“I’m not here to cause any problems. My little girl was brought in here, and I need to know where she is. I don’t understand why nobody will tell me what’s going on. I just want to see my baby girl.”

My voice cracked, and I knew I was on the verge of breaking down. All I wantedwas to see my baby, and everybody keptlooking at me as if there was something wrong with me. My request was simple; they were the ones making things difficult.

“Mr. Sutton, we are truly sorry for your loss. These things are never easy, and you are in the hearts and prayers of our staff. However, your outbursts are becoming a distraction to the hospital. I think it would be best if you left. Arrangements have already been made for your daughter to be transported to the funeral home tomorrow morning. I’m sure they would be more than happy to allow you some time with her.” The doctor’s words sucked the air out of me. Funeral home? Those words didn’t even sound right in the same sentence as my baby. She was six. No way could this be the end. She still had so much more life to live.

---