Chaos and painkillers

46. I'm still learning about life.

Monday 2nd February 2020.

Laila the magician did what she did best, disappear from Sudais' life. A month passed and she had refused to step foot in Adamawa, drowning in school that was after her life. Excluding a few phone calls that mostly included a breathing competition and the two times he dropped by Abuja which she avoided him by staying overnight at the clinic for her surgery observations, she hardly talked to the man she called her husband. A few times, he had tried to talk to her but she had waved him off, giving single-word answers until he got pissed off and gave up.

School was getting more demanding by the second, exhausting, grueling but well, nobody told her to stupidly go and choose medicine.

Laila checked out of her ex-father-in-law's office with an envelope; her Surgery excuse letter in case she missed anything important and the school system refused a makeup for her, just to be on the safe side.

She was getting the surgery she had avoided her whole life since she found out she had a cardiac congenital condition. But well, things happen.

It was a minor one anyway. Just to patch and cover the hole in her heart that wasn't supposed to be there and then she could go back to being normal. If she survived, hopefully.

Laila might not admit it but she was scared. Scared to her toes at the thought of her heart being slashed open. Literally. But she was a hard girl. She was going to do this and get better and stop purging out blood every little time something out of the ordinary happened; which was what happened almost every day of her full of misery life.

Full of misery didn't mean she couldn't get ice cream and other unhealthy stuff she was used to ignoring for the sake of knowing their side effects. If she died, she died. All die na die.

Back home, Laila stepped into the new dark room she had learned to call hers over the last few months. She sighed, dropping her bag of goodies along with her backpack before starting to undress on her way to the vanity, leaving the trail of clothes on the floor that she'd pick after her nap.

Laila got rid of her necklace before proceeding to her earrings.

"You're getting your ASD surgery?"

Laila screamed, cowering back as she frantically looked around. The dark room did nothing in helping her find the voice, although she did know who it was.

She ran for the light switch, punching it on before splaying her fingers across her heaving chest and bending to catch her breath. "What the he-Sudais!"

Laila caught his sight on the couch. His outfit was something she hadn't seen him in God knows how many months; a T-shirt and jeans.

His stare and breath remained steady, "You're getting surgery?" He repeated the question he was still finding hard to believe.

She rose fully, suddenly conscious of the fact that she was left in her bra and pant. "Yeah." she started to walk toward the closet and he stiffened.

"Don't walk out on me like that."

"I'm naked."

He sat up, "I don't care. You didn't think to tell me?"

"It's just a minor surgery."

"Just?" he exclaimed, framing up. Was she listening to herself? "Sadiya just kikace? Kika ce just?"

Laila sighed, moving to pick her veil to wrap around herself since this conversation was going to happen anyway and his eyes followed her.

"Do you know how it felt to find out my wife is getting surgery from someone else? I had to pretend as i knew.

"Oh please."