Page 94 of Crash: Love in Scrubs
I was already moving before she could finish, my hands trembling with everything I was feeling, fear, anger, relief that she was here and safe and in one piece. The hallway was quiet except for the sound of running water, and I could hear her moving around behind the door marked ‘Women’s Locker Room’.
I knocked my knuckles sharp against the metal.
“Just a minute!” That voice, her voice. I rested my forehead against the door. My emotions were running so damn high, it felt foreign. I’d never loved anyone but my mama like this. I closed my eyes, just grateful to hear her voice, to know she was whole and breathing and within reach.
“It’s me.”
The water cut off immediately. “Malik? What are you doing here?”
“Open the door, Sametra.”
A few seconds passed before the door cracked open, and there she was. Hair damn but slicked back, wearing nothing but a white towel wrapped around that body I’d been dreamingabout for a week straight. Her eyes went wide when she saw my face, and I knew she could read everything.
“How did you...”
I pushed past her into the small locker room and locked the door behind me. The space was tight with a metal locker, a wooden bench, and a double headed shower. The steam was still hanging in the air from her shower. Everything felt close, intimate, and charged with the tension that had been building between us for seven days.
“Sit down,” I said quietly.
“Malik, I can explain.”
“Sit. The fuck. Down.”
She perched on the edge of the bench, clutching that towel like it was going to shield her. Those defiant eyes already flashing with attitude. But underneath all that fire, I could see she knew. She knew she’d crossed a line.
I stood in front of her, hand massaging my beard. I was trying to find words that wouldn’t come out as me screaming at her like she was some reckless child who’d run into traffic.
“You’re pregnant,” I started. My voice shook despite my efforts to stay calm. “With my baby. And I just watched you on the evening news talking about evacuating fifteen kids from a burning fucking building. Tell me I didn’t see what I think I saw. Tell me you didn’t do that shit.”
“Malik...”
“Nah.” I held up my hand, needing her to hear every word. “You wanna know how I found out my pregnant wife was running into fires? Channel 7 News, Sametra. I had to watch some reporter tell me that the woman carrying my child was in danger. That you were back at work like our baby don’t matter.”
Her jaw set in that stubborn way that usually made me want to kiss her until she couldn’t breathe, but right now it was making me want to put my fist through the wall.
“Don’t you dare say that to me. I care. But I’m a firefighter, Malik. It’s what I do. And I never said I’d stop.”
“You were a firefighter. Now you’re pregnant with my child.” I dropped to my knees in front of her, needing her to see how serious this was. “Is my money funny? You hurting for cash? Because I’m trying to understand why you thought this was necessary.”
“No, I’m not broke. I volunteered.” She sucked her teeth, like I offended her. Shit, I needed to know something.
“That’s even worse. You weren’t even getting paid to risk my baby’s life.” The disbelief in my voice was raw, unfiltered. “Baby, I almost lost you once already. In that accident that brought us together. You really think I can handle hearing you running into burning buildings while you’re carrying our child?”
“I was careful Mal...”
“Careful?” My voice cracked. “Ain’t no such thing as careful when you dealing with fire, and you know that better than anyone. What if something had happened? What if you’d gotten hurt? What if I’d lost both of you?”
I watched her expression shift slightly, saw the moment my words really hit her, and for a second, I glimpsed the woman I’d fallen in love with instead of this stubborn firefighter who thought she was invincible.
“I needed to feel like myself again,” she said quietly, and there it was, the truth underneath all the bravado. “Everything’s been so crazy, and I just... I needed the rush. I needed to remember who I am.”
“You’re still you. You’re about to be mama to two kids. You’re my woman. A college student. Future psychologist. Future wife. That’s who the fuck you are.” I reached for her hands, covering them with mine. “And I need you breathing and healthy to be those things.”
“I’m fine, Malik. You didn’t need to come here,” she said trying to put her walls back up.
“I saw you on the gah’damn news, Sametra. You knew I was coming to see about you. Why you playing games with me?”
Silence stretched between us.
