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She was still there - her fingers pressing against his chest, her cheek on his shoulder.

“I clicked my heels three times,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I’m taking us home.”

His throat made a sound, but it wasn’t a word - just pain.

Her hand slid up and brushed hair off his forehead. She kissed him like a promise. He wanted to reach for her…tell her not to cry, tell her he was trying, he was really trying, but he couldn’t move…so he drifted.

And now he was twelve again…

Running through the alley with Pharaoh and Jules, chasing after a busted Nerf ball like it was gold. They were laughing hard, laughing so loud the sound echoed in his ears now.

Then Pharaoh’s voice cut through— “We invincible, nigga. Ain’t nobody fuckin’ with us.”

Malik blinked.

Except he couldn’t see anymore.

He groaned again. Felt a tug - pressure on his arm. Someone touching him but it wasn’t Aku.

Then arguing.

Not loud—but sharp.

Aku and French.

“I told you ? —”

“He needed a hospital, Aku.”

“I didn’t trust nobody! I wasn’t gon’ risk them finishing what they started!”

Malik tried to turn his head, but only managed a twitch. Everything throbbed. He felt himself being shifted. A voice counted down from three. New hands under him. A gurney or bed rolling across wood floors, not sterile like a hospital. More cozy…like a home but not the one in Crescent.

French’s voice dipped low…closer now.

“Damn, son,” he said gently. “You strong, huh? That’s the only reason you still breathin’. That girl ain’t stopped prayin’ since you dropped.”

Malik wanted to respond. He really did, but the blackness came and pulled him again…

And now he was on the porch with his mama.

Myesa was laughing, brushing off his shoulders with a dishrag like she always did. “Boy, you always smell like outside.”

He smiled—at least he thought he did. Then Anthony walked past with a plate in his hand and said something slick. Gran Betty was there too, humming gospel under her breath as she passed behind them with her cane.

“Family,” she said, “that’s what keep you alive when nothin’ else do.”

Another groan slipped from Malik’s throat. His eyes cracked just enough to see a dimly lit room.

Walls painted cream…heavy drapes.

A TV on mute showing some local news.

Aku was curled up on his chest now, knees on the bed, arms wrapped around him like she was scared he’d slip through her fingers if she blinked.

“Malik,” she sobbed. “You gotta wake up. I heard the heartbeat. I need you to hear it too…”

She reached over and grabbed a tiny Doppler monitor from the nightstand, pressed it against her own belly, hands shaking.

Then—lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub.

A tiny thumping filled the room.

And Malik’s chest lifted slightly - not by choice…by instinct.

He felt it…felt the fight return.

A knock at the door.

He couldn’t open his eyes to see it, but he felt it. The shift in the room, a new presence…boots on hardwood.

“You still sleepin’?” Bu joked, voice low. “You got shit to do, bro.”

There was a chuckle…another voice.

This Jay, the nigga I told you about. Jay this Malik.

“This the tech genius I heard about?”

“Yea,” Bu said. “This him. Don’t let the tubes fool you.”

Business. Deals. Words like “equity” and “ownership” floated around, but Malik couldn’t hold onto them. He tried to speak, but his body wouldn’t cooperate.

Another wave came, pain sharpened in his side. His lips cracked. His chest felt like it was giving up again.

He smelled feminine perfume, but it wasn’t Aku’s. Heard her feet shuffling around the room.

He heard her shaking something liquid - checking his drip. He heard a pen scratching paper - taking notes. He heard her adjusting something, then, he felt a cold wipe across his forehead.

“He’s stabilizing,” she said to Aku. “We’re not out the woods, but…he’s strong.”

Malik heard that.

And for the first time, he believed it.

His eyes finally fluttered open. He no longer needed his senses to get a feel for what was going on around him. The next time he woke up, it was still dark.

Just him and Aku in the room.

She was half-asleep on his arm, her hand splayed across his ribs like she was guarding him.

What he didn’t know, though he could hear beeping was that the Doppler sitting beside them. The monitor beeped slow and steady.

He tried again.

“Aku…” he croaked. “The baby…”

Aku jumped out the bed and ran out the room to get the nurse. She’d been staying in the guest room on the main floor. After her talk with her parents, French didn’t give her much pushback when it came to Malik’s care. She’d been showered with support from the whole family.

Aku and the nurse came rushing back, with Solar on their heels.

“Baby…” Aku smiled at him.

Malik groaned.

“He’s gonna be foggy,” the nurse said softly. “That chest wound’s serious. His lung partially collapsed and the swelling was bad. He’s lucky to be up this soon.”

Aku nodded. She didn’t take her eyes off him. His gaze was glassy but searching, like he needed proof he hadn’t crossed over…like her face was the only anchor he had left.

“Can he talk?”

The nurse gave a small nod. “Short sentences. He’ll be weak, don’t push him too hard tonight.”

Aku slid a chair up to the bed and grabbed his hand. “You hear me, baby? You made it. You here.” Sniffling, she just rubbed his hand.

He blinked slowly, his mouth barely parting. “You okay?”

She nodded fast. “I’m good - just been waiting on you to open your eyes.”

He looked around, breathing shallow. “Where…?”

“Emerald City…my parents’ house. You’re safe.”

The nurse checked his vitals and the monitor again and glanced down at Malik’s chart. “I’m gonna give him a small dose of pain meds now, but we’ll keep it light until he can tell us how much he wants.”

“I don’t want none,” Malik rasped.

Aku looked at him. “You sure?”

He nodded. “Just Tylenol - no opioids.”

The nurse paused, but didn’t argue. “Okay, I’m going to get a transport ready. You need to go to the hospital and have another chest x-ray done.”

“Can he come back or does he need to stay in the hospital? Aku asked, still afraid of him being to accessible, even if he was halfway across the country. The nurse gave her a sympathetic look.

“Depends on what the scan shows.”

“I’m good.” Malik did his best to squeeze Aku’s hand.

Aku just nodded.

The nurse adjusted the line and gave him a sip of water before quietly slipping out the room again.

“Boy,” Solar said, standing on the other side of him once she made her way in. “My baby love you…you better do right by her or I’m on your ass.” Aku’s yelling had alerted her.

“Mama!” Aku laughed.

Malik tried to laugh too, but his chest was on fire.

“Welcome to the family, my boy! This is the legacy of my brother…he gon’ look out even from the moon.” Solar winked before kissing Aku’s head and leaving them alone. “Oh and don’t worry about French…I know how to keep him in line.”

“Ugh,” Aku scrunched her nose.

He blinked slowly.

He tried, but still couldn’t lift his arm, but his lips moved.

“I heard it,” he rasped. “I heard our baby…”

Aku broke, sinking her face into his neck, crying like it was the only language left she could speak.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry I didn’t protect you better.”

“Nah…” he swallowed, hard. “You saved me…again.”

He didn’t know how long it would take for the fog to clear, or how deep the wounds went.

But in that moment, laying in Aku’s childhood bedroom, in a houseful of people who loved him—who chose him—Malik finally felt what it meant to be home.

And he wasn’t letting that go…not ever.

Recovery would be hard, but he was a hood baby. He was born already in recovery.

The air was still warm from the day, but the windows were cracked just enough to let in the breeze. It smelled like hibiscus and pine trees outside, and clean linen inside. The machines in the corner hummed low, keeping pace with Malik’s healing body.

His x-ray came back good. His lungs had expanded back to their normal size and there was no fluid in them. Malik was officially in recovery.

He sat upright in bed, propped on pillows with one arm draped across his lap. Shirtless, gauze still wrapped tight around his side and chest, the bruising deep and yellowing at the edges. His breathing had steadied and he looked tired, but was grateful to be alive.

Aku stood behind him in biker shorts and a cropped tee, parting his thick hair with ease. Her hands moved slow, like she’d done this a hundred times already. Like braiding his hair was the only way she knew how to touch him without falling apart.

“I figured you’d wanna look like somebody again,” she said softly.

Malik smirked. “So, I been lookin’ crazy all this time?”

“Absolutely,” she snickered.

He chuckled under his breath and winced. His hand flew to his ribs. “Don’t make me laugh,” he muttered.

“Then stop being funny.” She leaned over slightly, peering at the section she just finished. “You want straight backs or zigzags?”

“Don’t give me nothin’ extra. Just keep it simple.”

She rolled her eyes. “You gettin’ six straight to the back, no parts. You ain’t special.”

“You wrong for that.”

She grinned.

They sat quiet for a few minutes while she worked. Her hands moved rhythmically - oiling, parting, and braiding. Every now and then, he’d shift or flinch, and she’d slow down.

“You good?” she asked, comb paused mid-section.

“Yea, just sore.”

“I can get the nurse.”

He shook his head. “I’m good.”

She ended one braid with a black rubber band and moved onto the next section. The window breeze rustled a paper on the nightstand.

Malik winced again, more than before.

Aku stopped, looking down at him.

When he winced again, she sat the comb down. “Why don’t you want the pain meds?”

He hesitated, fingers twitching against the blanket. “I used to be hooked on ‘em. Pharaoh’s pills.”

Malik wanted to keep that to himself, feeling that was too dirty to reveal to her. He never wanted her to look at him like an addict.

Aku looked at him. “For how long?”

“Couple years,” he confessed. “After Jules got killed and Pharaoh ended up in that chair, I ain’t know how to deal with it…

after I killed Troy,” he gulped. He’d finally put a name on Quesha’s baby daddy.

He hated saying the name out loud, afraid Karma would remember the debt he owed.

“I was having dreams, seeing shit when I wasn’t even asleep.

Mad at the world. I started popping Pharaoh’s pills cause he ain’t want them. He prefers weed.”

Her mouth parted, but she didn’t say anything yet.

“I thought I had it under control. I wasn’t nodding off or nothin’…but I stayed high. It got to the point where I couldn’t even tell when I was off one. It just felt normal.” He looked up, met her eyes. “…until you checked me.”

Her brows pulled together.

“That night I was at your spot,” he went on. “You looked at me and asked what I was high on. Then you said, ‘If I can’t have none, then you can’t either.’ And you ain’t say it to be cute. You meant that shit.”

Aku stared at him, heart knocking around in her chest.

“I stopped that night,” he added. “Cold turkey?…flushed what I had left.”

She swallowed hard. “You ain’t touched nothing since?”

“Not a damn thing,” Malik smiled., “started back smokin’ though.”

Aku was satisfied with his answer and felt even closer to him. She reached for the comb again, but before she did, she ran her hand across his jaw. “I remember that night. I knew somethin’ was off. I didn’t know it was that deep, but I felt it.”

He nodded slowly. “I ain’t never had nobody look at me like that…like they saw me and still gave a fuck.”

She leaned in close, their foreheads almost touching. “You ain’t gotta drown to deserve peace. I see you, Malik, and I got you.”

Then she picked the comb back up, and he let her finish.

“I love you,” Malik said, his heart thumping against his chest because he meant it from the bottom of his heart.

“I thought I was gonna lose you,” she choked out, greasing his scalp. Her voice cracked and her whole body trembled as she buried her face in his neck.

Malik winced from the pressure, but he didn’t move.

He ran his hand over the back of her head as best he could from his position. “You didn’t,” he murmured, “I’m right here.”

“I was so scared,” Aku whispered. “I didn’t know if you’d ever open your eyes. I used to sit up at night and talk to you even when you couldn’t hear me. I read you the baby updates. I prayed so hard my voice gave out.”

“I heard you,” Malik said. “I couldn’t talk back, but I heard you.”

She looked at him, eyes puffy, cheeks wet. “You heard the heartbeat?”

He nodded. “You let me hear our baby before I even knew I was still alive.”

She broke again. Her tears came out soft and more muffled.

After a few minutes that seemed much longer, she lifted her head and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

“I have to show you something.”

Malik’s eyes narrowed slightly. “What?”

“Another day.” She sniffed. “Just…not today. Today I need you…all day…all mine.”

He kissed her forehead. “I’m yours, Dorothy.”

While Malik slept, Aku pulled out her phone to finally scan the code on the clasp of her necklace. She told herself she would only listen, if he woke up. If he didn’t, she would save it for their baby to hear. She clicked the link, not knowing what it would be.

File opens to the sound of him breathing for a second. Then—his voice…low, gritty, and vulnerable.

“You probably clicked this expectin’ somethin’ cute, huh?”

Malik chuckled drily.

“Nah… this ain’t that. This just me - bein’ real.”

“Sometimes I think you fell into my life just to see if I’d catch you. And truth is, I wasn’t ready…still don’t know if I am. But I wanna be. I wanna be ready for the way you talk shit and kiss even meaner. The way you act like you don’t need nobody—but you stay showin’ up for everybody else.”

“I ain’t never believed in no fairytales, Aku. I come from a place where love either died young or get buried in silence. But then you came around - Loud…Brilliant…Complicated as hell, and now I’m stuck thinkin’ maybe I was wrong.”

“I ain’t got all the answers. I still wake up mad at myself for shit that happened years ago.

I still check the doors twice before I go to sleep.

Still move like the past could slide back up on me at any moment.

But you…you the only thing that ever made me feel like gravity might not be a curse.

Like maybe bein’ pulled down ain’t always a bad thing.

Maybe it just mean I finally found somethin’ worth stayin’ grounded for. ”

“So if you ever feel lost…if you ever wonder if you matter…scan this again. I’ll be right here… Fallin’…Still...”

click

Aku cupped her mouth, crying silently. “Thank you God…thank you.”