MAROONED

Chapter 19- The bereavement

   Mrs Herrick was seen cleaning Justin's forehead when Kylie came in 'Good morning Mom' she said as she sat down 'Where's Mandy?' she asked again 'She's in her house,I sent her home' Mrs Herrick replied 'You do?!,how?, Cause I know she didn't want to leave Justin here' Kylie asked 'I had to force her,she's a stubborn type,even after I told her to come tomorrow,she insisted she would come again this evening' Mrs Herrick explained 'She's really persistent,even my brother loves her alot' Kylie said but Mrs Herrick didn't reply as she was busy cleaning Justin's face. All of a sudden, Justin moved his index finger, Kylie gasped and told her Mom 'Mam, Justin moved his finger now!' 'Really?!!' Mrs Herrick asked impatiently 'Yeah, you didn't notice because you were busy cleaning his face, look at him!' Kylie ordered and they looked carefully at his fingers and a minute later, Justin moved his index finger again, Kylie and Mrs Herrick gasped happily then Justin opened his eyes slowly,Mrs Herrick and Kylie jumped for joy 'Justin, can you hear me?' Mrs Herrick asked 'Kylie,go fetch the doctor' she ordered and Kylie sped off happily and within few minutes,she was back to the ward with the doctor and nurses. The doctor placed his stethoscope on Justin heart, Justin whose eyes was still blur kept staring at everyone as Mrs Herrick asked impatiently 'What's wrong with my son Doc?' 'He's becoming stable now but it's just that his heart is still weak which is affecting his breathing rate,he should use the ventilator for a while, it'll help him,he also need to rest,a little panic or shock is dangerous to his heart' the doctors advised,then Justin finally spoke in a low and weak voice 'Where's Mandy?' 'She's home,I sent her home to rest,she had been taking care of you since the day you were admitted' Mrs Herrick replied with a smile.

    The doctor and nurses left while Mrs Herrick and Kylie sat beside Justin who has been unable to get up,Mrs Herrick called her husband and informed him,Mr Herrick who was a top brass and quickly left his company for the hospital, Kylie also contacted Jason and Nick and they hurriedly dressed and went to the hospital. 

   A little while after,a nurse came in and said 'Mrs Herrick, your attention is needed in the  doctor's office' 'Okay' she said and faced Kylie 'Your Dad is on his way here,stay with Justin and keep him company till he comes' she said as she followed the nurse. After Mrs Herrick left, Kylie came closer to Justin 'Call Mandy' Justin ordered as he gave Kylie my contact, Kylie brought out her notepad and pen as she wrote my contact in it,she called my contact and my phone rang loudly,when I got up to pick my phone,I found out that my Mom had left my room 'Hello!, who's this?' I said as I was drowsed and managed to open an half eye 'It's me Kylie, Justin is awake' she said happily 'Whaatt?!!,is it true?,I asked as I widened my eyes 'Yes, it's been an hour since he woke,he kept calling your name, he's also the one that gave me your contact' she narrated 'Oh my God!' I exclaimed happily, Justin demanded the phone from Kylie and spoke 'Hi Bonnie' he said with his faint weak voice 'Justin!, you're really awake, how are you feeling?' I asked 'Not yet fine until I see you' he replied weakly 'Okay,I'm on my way' I replied happily. Kylie collected the phone from Justin and said 'Hurry up, we're waiting for you' 'Okay' I said as I hung up and dressed hurriedly. I screamed happily and alerted my family,I told them that Justin's awake and they were all happy.

   My phone rang again,it was Jason 'Hello Mandy, Justin is - - -' he said and I snapped 'Awake!!,I'm on my way' I said happily 'Nick and I are also on our way' he replied 'Okay,see you at the hospital' I said and hung up, I took my sweatshirt and ran happily out of the house. On my way,I saw a flower shop and I decided to get a congratulatory flower for Justin,I got one and took a cab to the hospital.

   Kylie was seen with Justin,she suddenly felt the urge to go to the loo so she excused herself 'Brother, I need to go to the loo' she said and stormed out leaving only Justin in the VIP ward.

     Mr James who had been stalking and watching Justin through a binocular since his ward was on the fourth floor saw that Justin was the only one in the room and decided to use the opportunity to silence him,he had become more vengeful ever since Mrs Brown and Mr Deniro's arrest and also because he was unable to get the money to emigrate,he disguised as a doctor and entered the hospital,when he got closer to Justin's ward,a nurse saw him and asked who he is,he lied to the nurse that it's time for Justin's injection,he brought out the arsenic he had inserted in the syringe with the aim of inserting Justin's IV with it,he showed it to the nurse and she allowed him so he went.

   When Justin heard someone approaching his ward,he thought it was me 'Let me pretend to be asleep,I'm too shy to face her' he muttered as he had his eyes tightly shut that he was unable to see anything as he pretended to be asleep. Mr James came in and thought Justin was asleep,he quickly brought out the syringe with arsenic with arsenic in it and as he was about to inject it, Justin opened his eyes hoping to find me but he was suprised as he saw Mr James,he quickly recognized him as the juggernaut though he didn't see him clearly the day he was ran over as it was sudden but he had seen his face several times in school as Anna's driver,as Mr James saw that Justin was awake,he quickly removed the cover of the syringe, Justin knew what he was up to so he quickly grabbed Mr James's hand they battled with the syringe for a while. Kylie came out of the loo and went to wash her hands ' I'm so happy my brother is awake now, no more loneliness' Kylie thought as she came out,a friend of hers sighted her and called her as she was walking hurriedly to go to her brother,she stopped with the hope of greeting her friend and leaving but she was delayed and got engrossed in the conversation for a while.