Episode 12
I remained mute for a few minutes, Somto’s mother and the nurse stared at me with curious eyes waiting for me to say something. Somto’s mother broke the silence “I just asked you a question miss…how on earth are you related to my son? ”
The nurse touched my hand “You’re related to him right?—you came in here weeping and you’ve been waiting for him since.” Oh God this damn nurse! I cursed her under my breath. I braced myself up for the worst and faced Somto’s mother. I’ve learned the hard way that lies do more harm than good so if I wanted to mend my ways, I could start by telling her the truth about my relationship with her son and the reason he got shot, she deserved to know.
I took a deep breath “Ma…please can we…can we talk outside?”
She squinted and ran her eyes all over me, from head to toe. “Whatever you want to say—say it here.” she replied rudely. I felt my heart sink, this was definitely not the right time to tell her ‘stories that touch’.
“Well..ma I’m your son’s close friend, we study together.” I lied
“Oh” she raised her eyebrows slightly “Is that what you wanted to tell me outside?”
“Yes ma.” I replied without looking at her.
“Seems very unlikely.” she eyed me suspiciously.
My heart sank again. I stammered “Yes..I’ll..I’ll just go back to…to…to the waiting room.” She raised her brows again “Fine.” she replied dismissively
I went back to the waiting room and found Lola awake though she still looked very sleepy. I shook her vigorously till she was fully awake “Lola we need to get out of here.” I whispered, pulling her up from the chair. “Why? have you heard from the doctor?” she asked curiously.
“No—Somto’s mum is here and her presence literally gives me chills.”
“But we can’t leave until we receive news about Somto’s condition…we need to know if he stands a chance.”
“Well—I’m leaving.” I muttered
“I’ll stay here and keep my eyes and ears open—I’ll call you if I hear anything.” she replied calmly.
“Good—thanks a lot Lola, you’re an amazing friend.” I said hugging her.
I left the hospital and returned to my hostel to cry. Things have spiralled way out of control and I was completely helpless, all I could do was watch, cry and regret all my decisions. I thought of going over to the police station to see Chuks and ask him why he did what he did but I quickly brushed off the idea. I was so lost in thought that I didn’t notice when Elohor strolled into the room and flung a parcel at me. it landed on my laps and startled me.
“A guy asked me to give you this.” she said rolling her eyes in disgust.
“Which guy?”
“How am I supposed to know?” she snapped at me.
I ignored her and shove the parcel under my pillow. I didn’t feel like opening it yet. I waited all evening for Lola’s call but it didn’t come, she came back to the hostel instead. I ran up to her the moment I caught sight of her at the door.
“What happened?!’
She was neither sad nor happy so I found it hard to predict the news I was about to receive. “Somto’s surgery was successful but—”
“but what!” I screamed fearfully
“He’s in a coma.” she replied dryly
I swallowed hard to avoid bursting into tears “He’ll come out of it right?”
“The…the doctors aren’t sure…he may not wake up any time soon.” she said sobbing. I was taken aback, tears welled up in my eyes and in no time I was weeping like a widow. Elohor and Tracy just ignored me, they didn’t give a damn about what I was going through probably because they felt I brought it upon myself. Lola sat on my bed and urged me to sit as well “I know you did some foolish things in the past but blaming yourself isn’t going to solve anything—take it easy on yourself.” I nodded and reached for my pillow, I immediately remembered the parcel I received earlier.
“What’s that?” Lola asked pointing to the carefully wrapped parcel.
“I don’t know..let’s find out.” I tore away the wrapper and opened the small box inside. There was a rose and a note inside. At first Lola and I thought it was a love note from a secret admirer until we opened it and read the contents. I gasped in shock when I read the contents of the letter. “what does it say?” Lola asked grabbing the note from my shaking hands, she read it out loud
“Jane you see that Rose there? well that’s exactly what we plan to put on
your grave on your funeral day and believe us , that day is coming a lot sooner
than you think.—Black Birds.”
Lola and I exchanged glances. I’ve never been so terrified in my entire life.
