The Silence Within

Chapter 39

Despite he told himself he should be driving to Atikah's house, he found himself driving to the hospital. He should not keep a lady waiting but at the moment, he had no choice. There was a nagging feeling in his guts that told him Osas needed him. She might have told him not to worry but he can't help the worry that intensified, making him restless. She had not sounded alright on the phone. Her voice had been hoarse. An evidence that she had been crying.

Atikah had been on his neck about when they will go out. He had no choice but to agree when she said she will be free on Wednesday night. He was dressing up for his outing with Atikah when his mind had drifted to Osas. He had not spoken to her that day because she had been busy. He just needed to hear her voice and know how she was doing but it turned out Esosa had started to convulse in the evening after Osas picked her up from school. He sensed the anxiety and fear in her voice. It was the fear of a mother who does not want to lose her daughter. A single mother who had been the only one catering and bringing the little girl up. Only Osas knew the challenges she was passing through in raising a child. She had to be both a mother and a father.

Now, he found himself walking down the corridor that led to the children's ward, following the nurse's direction. He found Osas sitting on the corridor, her mother next to her. The older woman held her daughter close, a comforting hand around her, as she whispered consoling words. They spoke in their dialect, Osas shaking her head and her mother's voice gentle.

"Osas" He called, not sure if he was interrupting their moment.

"Jay?" She got to her feet. His eyes met hers. There was something about her appearance that caused something to drop inside him. It depressed him. Her eyes were swollen from crying. There were lines of distress on her face. "What are you doing here? I told you not to come"

"I could not stay back while you guys are here. How is she?"

Osas looked back at a door. "She's asleep" He saw the tears that came into her eyes. "The doctor's said she is stable now. He said she will be better" Her lips trembled. He knew what was coming next.

"Hey" He ran a consoling hand through her arm. "She will be fine" He spoke in a soft voice.

"I just want to believe that" Water spilt out of her tear glands. "I was so scared. I have never seen her that way since I gave birth to her" Her quiet sobs filled his ears.

His eyes revealed the kind of tender concern her mother had shown her. Tentatively, he pulled her closer, not out of curiosity or obligation but because he felt it was what she needed, a soothing hug. An arm went around her. Osas dropped her head to his chest. Calming words left his lips. His voice held so much softness that she felt like she was enveloped in a soft blanket. His words soothes her.

They walked down the hallway that smelt of bleach, antiseptic and medication. The odours were concentrated in the air that Osas could taste medicine on her tongue. There was something about the hospitals. They always had that quiet air around. There were nurses, doctors, patients and visitors trooping in and out of wards, offices and the hospital's entrance.

"When Juwon left" She started when they got to the reception. The reception had metal chairs that were filled up with people. A television sat at the far corner, a movie playing on AIT. The nurses at the reception spoke while they work, most rude to whoever walked up to them. Jafar looked at her. Juwon? Who's Juwon? As though she had seen the question in his eyes, she said. "Esosa's father. It came as a shock. He made me believe it was me and me alone. He had promised, shown me I was the one he wanted and not his wife" Jafar's eyebrows went up. "He was a married man" She clarified as they stepped out of the hospital. "I knew. I could have left him when I found out but I had fallen deep for him. I was the side chick but I felt like I was the main. He never made me feel like I was the other woman. He spent more time with me than he did with his wife and children. I should have felt guilt. I should have let him go, be with his wife and children but I was selfish. I wanted him just for myself"