Bought #complete (Sequel to Sold)

Chapter Sixteen

He pushed the door to Tia's hospital ward open and stepped in.

“Andrew” She smiled but her smile didn't reach her eyes.

“Beautiful” He reached her bed side and sat down. Grabbing her hand, he kissed her knuckle and she giggled. “Much better” He leaned back against the chair.

“Where is Aunty?” Her gaze flew to the door.

“She needs to rest”

“She is mad at me. After all she has done for me, this is how I repay her” Her eyes filled up with tears.

“Tia, she is not mad, she is sad and hurt but she'll be fine” He assured and she nodded. “Would you like something to eat?”

“Yes please”

“What?”

“Can I get noodles?”

“Of course. I'll have your order in five minutes. Don't move, miss” He rose up and dipped his head.

As he walked out the door, he heard her soft giggle and it brought a smile to his face.

****

Sisi watched Jean move quickly around the kitchen as she tried to throw breakfast together. She had insisted that Sisi let her do all the hard work and she didn't argue, she didn't have the energy to argue.

Jean walked towards her with a plate in her hands. She stared at the plate as she put it before her; two sausages, scrambled eggs and a piece of toast bread. She wasn't in the mood to eat plus she didn't like bread but she didn't want to appear rude to Jean.

“Thank you”

“Don't mention” She walked back towards her with another plate and sat down beside her. “How are you feeling?” She poured two glasses of juice.

“Tired” She picked up a sausage and began nibbling on it.

“I understand. Andrew called, he's in the Hospital with Tia”

She didn't respond. She couldn't. She didn't want to have another conversation that had Tia in it. She took her glass of juice and drank of it's content.

“Sisi, I know this is hard for you but the child needs you. If she kept the information from you, it had to be for a reason. You need to forgive her”

Tears filled her eyes as her vision blurred. She wasn't mad at Tia, she felt betrayed and hurt that Tia couldn't come to her with something this serious and that the child had kept it long enough to become a life threatening problem.

She ate the remaining part of her breakfast in silence. When they were both done, Jean had to go to work but promised to check on her later. Sisi got dressed and called a taxi to take her to the Hospital. She made her way to Tia's room and pushed the door open. Tia and Andrew sat, laughing and talking. At the sight of her, the room fell silent.

“Good morning” She smiled at Andrew who rose up and stood before her.

“Good morning Sisi. I will excuse you both” He made to walk out the door but she grabbed his wrist.

“You will go home and rest for a while” She whispered. “I'm fine”

“Only a while” He agreed as he walked out the door.

She turned towards Tia and took the seat beside her bed. “How are you feeling?” She forced a strained smile.

“Normal” Tia's eyes filled with tears. “Aunty, I'm so sorry I lied” Sisi nodded and she continued. “After Mother died, my employers guessed I had the virus too and threatened to fire me. At the time, I didn't know my status but I guessed what it was already when the Doctor said what had killed mother. I couldn't go to the clinic to begin the drugs because I would have to be registered as a patient and I couldn't afford for my employers to find out so I forged a fake test result and presented it to them and when they investigated and found that I wasn't on the drug, they let the issue die and retained me”

“Your mother infected you?”

She shook her head. “My father” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Papa was a terrible cheat who had something to do with all the women in the area. Mother knew but said it was normal for men to cheat. Until he started abusing me too” Tears rolled down her cheeks. “When Mother found out, she took me and left the house but it was too late”

For a while, Sisi couldn't speak past the lump in her throat. After a few seconds of silence, she rose to her feet and sat down beside Tia on the bed. She pulled up both her feet and placed them on the bed then rested her back on the pillow. Turning to her side, she pulled Tia close and hugged her. 

“We are going to get through this together” She whispered against the top of her head. “No more secrets, Tia. I'm going to take care of you and you are going to let me”