Ese opened her eyes to the worried expression on Mrs Ejiro’s face, she closed it back almost instantly because her eyes hurt, she tried to lift her hands but they were too heavy. She could hear the noise around her and couldn’t place the voice to each person in the room.
“It’s like she has woken up, I just saw her eyes open and her eyes are twitching,” her mum was whispering to someone, she sits on the bed as she touches Ese’s forehead. Ese felt chilly from her mother’s rings touching her head.
“Hmm yes ma, I see it too. Kerri, come, she’s up.”
“Ese! Ese! babe are you awake?” she could feel Kerri rush to her side and grab her hands, she let out a little groan to affirm that she was awake and attempted to open her eyes again. The light from the window got into her eyes and she shut it back, just in time to see 3 pairs of eyes looking down at her.
“I’m ok,” it came out like a whisper so she cleared her throat and repeats it.
“Oh Lord! Thank you Jesus! Ah! Ese you want to kill me you this girl. Are you ok?” her mum was fuzzing over her again.
She finally opens her eyes fully to look at her mum “I’m okay mum as you can see.”
Kerri straightens up and lets out a big sigh, “oh thank God!” she has not being a practising christian in a long while but with the scare their friend just put them through, it seemed okay to thank God for saving her.
“You scared us.” This was coming from Ada who had been quiet since, “you’ve been in that sleeping state for 2 nights.”
Two days? It seemed short, the last thing she remembered was Ada’s husband lifting her up from the kitchen ground.
“Where is Ken?”
“Really? You are asking this question in your current state? With what transpired?” Kerri asked with a bewilded expression.
“Where is he?” She felt the sharp pain when she tried sitting up then layed back “Mummy, where is Ken?”
“That one? We can’t find him, your father went to his work place and they said he took a sick leave? Can you imagine? Such a coward!”
“Mum!”
“Serious girls how could you let this get to this point without telling us? Mrs Ejiro looked at the girls, “Ada, even if Dalia and Kerri could not say anything, why did you not tell me? You know I trusted her with you girls.”
This was true, before Ese met Ada who was friends with Kerri and Dalia, she had decided to be a loner in school simply because she knew what her reputation was like, no one bothered to come close to her thinking she was a spoilt child, but when she got paired with Ada for a class project, she was instantly drawn to her calm and broad way of thinking. Ada became a household name in her house then Dalia and Kerri followed suit not long after and they have been best friends since then.
“Mum...”
“Ma, we only just found out ourselves and we begged her to call off the wedding,” Kerri spoke up quickly.
“Mummy, I actually went with Tope so I could talk to her again and that was when we saw what happened, thank goodness her door was open.” Ada running out of what to say dipped her head a bit and muttered, “sorry ma.”
Dalia walked in, each hand holding a bag “oh thank goodness! You’re awake! Mummy good afternoon” she dumps the bag on the couch and joins the rest by the bedside. “How are you feeling? You gave us a scare.”
“I’m better, I think” Ese keeps quiet for a while unsure of how to ask her next question with her mum in the room, “where is Dad.”
“With the doctor, we will know what to do next when he’s done with the doctor, as for that Ken, I no longer want to hear anything about him.”
“Mum, I stabbed myself, he did not do anything…”
“I will not listen to this anymore.”
“But mum….”
“Ese,” Ada gave her the look asking her to drop it.
“I will get a washcloth to clean you up,” her mum said and leaves the room.
The room got silent once her mum left the room, after a while Ada leaned in and hugged her. “You gave us a scare, don't do it again” Dalia and Kerri leaned in lightly to get into the hug.
“Guys, I am pregnant!” she blurted out immediately.
“I knew it!” Kerri straighted up and said “I called it, I said Ese was pregnant, did you admit it, nooooo you went defensive on us.”
“Dont misunderstand me K, I only found out on Friday, I am not hasty because I fell pregnant.”
“Boy oh boy, your parents will have a fit”
“Try her brothers too.”
“Lets analyse what really happened on Friday Ese, tell us” they girls pulled chairs around the bed as Ese gathered her strength to talk.
*************************************************************
Dalia stepped out of the hospital to receive a call from her brother, he had asked his driver to drive her to the hospital because she had been in an emotional state after hearing about Ese and her driver didn’t work on weekends.
“Yes she woke up this afternoon, she looks like she is okay.”
“That is good to hear, and how are you?, Ada and Kerri?”
“We are much better now, can you imagine? Kerri told me that she was asking after that woman killer when she woke up, can you just imagine.”
“Wasn’t he the one that stabbed her?”
“She said she stabbed herself by mistake, which is such a big lie because really who stabs themselves that deep.”
“Hmm.”
“I feel she is covering up for him, I don’t get it Nna, and she does not want to cancel the wedding, what level of madness is this?”
“Matters of man and woman is hard to comprehend sometimes, don’t say anything to her for now.”
“I won’t. Ada has already said we were being too forcy with her and should be slow with it, it's just really frustrating.”
“Anyway, I am on my way back to pick you myself. I also got food for you and your friends.”
“Awww thanks Nna, that is so thoughtful of you, thank you.”
“That’s fine, see you soon.”
******************************************************
Nnamdi walked in with Tope, decked up in a blue crisp senator atire, just as Mrs Ejiro was cleaning the button part of Ese’s legs, Ada got up to go hug her husband.
“Good evening ma,” Both male greeted Ese’s mother.
“Welcome my dears, thank you so much for visiting, Nnamdi how are your parents?”
“They are fine ma, thank you, How is Mr. Ejiro?”
“He is okay, he went to get some things for Ese, since she can’t stand hospital food, Tope how’s everything? Work?”
“Everything is fine ma, thank you ma.”
“I see you brought some things for us,” she said addressing Nnamdi who still held the food nylon in his hands.
“Yes ma” he moved to the other part of the room to set up the food on the table.
Dalia went with him to help him, looking at the display of the food options on the table, it looked like a mini feast.
“This is too much, who’s going to consume all of this,” just then Kerri joined then.
“Hi Nnamdi.”
“Hello Kerri.”
“Thanks for the food” Kerri smiled coyly as she reached for the chicken thai salad “ooh my fave!”
“I figured you would like it.”
“Thank you.”
Dalia watched both of them in that brief encounter as Ada and Tope came to join them at the table side. Her phone rang and she picked it up.
“Hey Emeka, how’s it going?” She excused herself and stepped out of the room.
“Going well, my parents stopped over, but how are you? How is Ese?”
“She’s fine, she woke up this afternoon and doctor says she should rest on the bed for a while till her tummy heals.”
“That is progress, it’s good to know.”
“Yh, and the son of a gun that did this to her is nowhere to be found. Can you just imagine?”
“Oh that is…..”
His comment was drowned by a female voice from the other end of the phone “Emmie! What are you doing inside here, come your mum is asking after you.”
“I’ll be with them soon, don't worry,” Emeka spoke.
“Are you speaking with Dalia, say hi to her for me” then the door slammed shut.
“Sorry…”
“Was that who I think it was?
“Who? Desiree?”
“Yes”
“Yh, we stay in the same estate, and my mum told her to come over, I have to go now, I’ll call you later okay?”
“Ah, Okay” Dalia’s mind creating thoughts in her head.
Same estate? Since its been barely 3 weeks since she met Emeka, is it too soon for her to feel a certain way about this Desiree lady?
