Burning Bright

Chapter Two - 2

Still glowering, she rested on her pillows and wondered what to do now that the doctors had successfully ruined her sleep. After flipping through the TV channels and not finding anything worth her time, Nadia finally decided to contact her friends. She felt out of her depth, and was not entirely sure she was ready, but she just wanted to break the silence that had been growing. She missed her best friend, her friends and her boyfriend. The sooner she broke the silence, the better.

Nadia did not feel like talking, so she decided to text them. She texted Abba, her best friend, Ayman, and a few other friends who knew about the surgery. When thirty minutes had gone by without a response, she wondered if they were mad at her for being silent. She hated it when she had such crazy thoughts about her friends – of course they were not mad. It was only seven a.m. and they were most likely asleep. Was this hospital making her mad?

“You damn hospital, stop playing with my head!”

After screaming that, it dawned on her how ludicrous it was to blame it on the hospital. Another person might have questioned their own sanity, but talking to herself was something Nadia had done for as long as she could remember. People who caught her at it wondered if she was mentally stable. She really did not see what the big deal was about talking to oneself.

Literally shaking her head to clear off that thought, she decided to sign into the social networks she used. She did, but was reluctant to make her presence known. She simply read the goings-on of people and smiled, hissed or rolled her eyes. It is a very normal thing for Nigerians to hiss when angered or irritated.

It felt all so new, and she felt like a stranger in those social worlds where she had been so active just days before. Her catching-up was cut short by a text message notification. Nadia reluctantly switched from her social networking screen and saw that it was a reply from Abba.

Abba was twenty-six years old, neither short nor tall for his age, and had about the same complexion as Nadia. He was muscular, and mostly kept his hair in an afro. He had a long face with high cheekbones, and a small scar over his left eye, from a childhood injury. He worked for himself, importing electronics and selling to wholesalers, and designing websites.

She eagerly read his reply. His tone was a little sad, and she understood why. He said he had missed her and was glad she was doing fine, but he could not help feeling dejected. He thought she was mad at him or something. Well, Abba knew she was not one to be so silent for so long under normal circumstances; but this was different. She could not even explain it to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted again by another text from him, asking if he could call her.

Her voice would be groggy, she knew, but that did not concern her one bit. Abba had seen her when she was sick before, and she had not been worried. Nadia did not worry about what anybody thought of her, and she was definitely not self-conscious about any of her attributes. She replied, saying he could and moments later, he called.

“Hello,” Nadia answered.

“Hi. How are you feeling?”

“I feel just fine. I have been sleeping a lot, but my leg is so numb.”

“Wow. Sorry babe. You’ve been through a lot, you should not fight the sleep.”

“I don’t. Sleep has not been coming easy to me the past few years, so of course I am taking advantage of this,” Nadia said, smiling.

“I’m happy to hear the smile in your voice,” said Abba.

“And I’m happy you’re smiling too. I know you are always up so early, so what have you been doing since you got up?”