Oma and Femi sat outside in the waiting room, holding hands together and praying.
"Oh Lord God forgive your daughter and bring her back to life. Perform a miracle..."
Oma managed to mutter amen after each sentence with the tears which had turned her face into a marsh. Femi was violently praying and gripping her hands painfully that Oma was certain their prayers would be answered.
In the Accident and Emergency ward, Asa didn't seem like she was going to make it.
Unfortunately Oma had found her over forty minutes after she'd slit her own wrists, when she'd lost a dangerous amount of blood. After rushing her to the same memorial hospital her mother had died in just a few hours prior, they'd felt a pulse so faint it was a gamble over her life.
Oma and Femi weren't allowed into the ward as a lot of things were going on so all they could do was pray and cry in the waiting room just like the others whose close ones were equally fighting for their lives in the ward. The hallway was a depressing place to be in, with people awaiting news of their loved ones whose fates were now in the hands of the doctors and nurses. Occasionally, someone began to sob while others stared in disbelief. There were no discussions.
A group of nurses wheeled in a patient whose face was almost unrecognizable with bruises and burn wounds and Oma shuddered and looked away.
After over an hour without any news from both the nurses or the doctor, they got tired of praying and sat down with the others. She knew she had to call Asa's father but she highly doubted he would be the first person Asa would wish to see when she woke up.
If she ever woke up.
But someone had to pay the hospital bills.
Oma burst into tears. She'd been so selfish, worrying about things that weren't even the least bit important when her friend and roommate was probably felt so lonely and pained after the short, emotionless cryptic message announcing her mother's death her father had sent.
She hadn't even wanted to see Asa who'd always been there to see her through her drama. She wished she'd done something different, anything to make Asa know she was loved and to have called her immediately the news came rather than slit her own wrists.
But she had to stop blaming herself, even though it felt impossible. Obi had told her about his own mother's suicide, how he'd realized some people couldn't just be helped.
A nurse came out, a dreary look on her face. This one was obviously a harbinger of bad news. The room became deathly quiet.
"Who's here for the young lady..."
Oma felt the air leave her lungs.
"Miss Marvelous Odi."
A woman who'd been crying sorrowfully indicated she was the young lady's mother while the others collectively heaved a sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry to announce the demise of your..."
No one was able to hear the rest of what the nurse said as the woman began to scream, telling God to take her instead and even began to curse the nurse who she believed hadn't done enough work.
As the woman was taken away by two young men she identified as the deceased's brothers, Oma wondered how anyone in their right senses would choose to become a nurse. She couldn't imagine being in this situation everyday.
After hours with no News forthcoming, Femi left for some reason Oma was not interested in.
Oma remained in the same spot for more hours as new patients were wheeled in, another announced dead.
"Who's here for Miss Asa Daniels?"
"Me! Me!" Oma responded. She tried to guage the expression on the nurse's face, but it was a different nurse on the night shift, whose face was as expressionless as her voice. Oma stood, muttering a silent prayer for good News while the woman's gaze lingered on her for a suspiciously long time.
"Is she okay?" Oma asked, unable to bear the suspense and the woman snapped out of her reverie.
She apologized and asked Oma to come see Asa.
When she got into Asa's hospital room, Oma was more depressed than before. There were about ten beds in the room with the patients on them either badly wounded and groaning in pain or unconscious and possibly dead. This was an accident and emergency ward so such things were bound to occur.
She found Asa on her own bed, face turned to one side, looking so fragile and defenseless on the bed. Oma sobbed as she got to her, expecting the worst. When she got there she gasped in relief when she noticed Asa's eyes were wide open.
"Asa, you're alive." Oma whispered happily holding her free hand and sitting on the stool beside the bed.
Asa didn't say anything for a long while but Oma almost didn't notice. She was too thankful for her being alive she didn't notice Asa was...unhappy.
"I thought I'd locked the door." Asa muttered to herself.
"What...what do you mean?" Oma asked.
"Why didn't you just let me die?"
She asked so quietly, the realization of the question was completely lost on Oma.
*****
Oma found herself walking the familiar route she'd gone a few days prior. It was a walkable distance as she'd discovered and was just perfect for when you wanted to think, or for when you wanted to change your mind and go back.
She was emotionless as she'd over expressed too much feelings over the last few days that at that moment she was only vaguely aware of her environment. She didn't know exactly where she was going neither did she like it.
She felt pathetic once again. Her roommate didn't want to see her even after saving her from a suicide attempt, her boyfriend hadn't called once to check up on her in over four days, her 'best friend' who she had unmistakable feelings for didn't care either as he'd found someone to replace her with. Worst of all, she felt most pathetic because these were the only people in her life. There was really no difference between Amara and her, the same girl she'd called desperate.
She'd been unable to sleep in that room ever since Asa's attempt. Fortunately, Femi had volunteered to clean the room and the excess blood Asa had lost which Oma almost vomited upon. Days after, Oma rotated her time between reading in class and visiting an unresponsive Asa in the hospital and sleeping at Femi's room at night. But after last night, she decided she couldn't sleep there anymore as she didn't wish to be an inconvenience in Femi's crowded room. Plus, her roommates were loud and she was pretty sure they were always speaking about her in Hausa.
She'd called Asa's father but the man had said he was too broken by his dear wife's death he couldn't deal with his daughter right now, cut the call and blocked her. Oma couldn't have been more disgusted.
She knocked on the his door and simply nodded at the familiar faces she'd become used to each time she came to Asher's lodge.
After knocking for a long time, she decided to turn back, disappointed she'd come this far just for him to not be around. His window had been closed anyway, she should have known.
She called him, hoping to let him know she was at his lodge in case he was around. Surprisingly, his phone began to ring from inside the room and she heard a disgruntled groan.
That was strange.
She called again when he didn't pick, her anger rising, her suspicions forming.
"Hey, Oma." His voice sounded purposefully drawled. "I was asleep".
"I'm at your door." She said seething.
"Oh, you are? I didn't know." He responded and she felt his heavy footsteps near the door.
"Oma." He called when he saw her and kissed her on the cheek. She scanned his eyes and sure enough they were red and tired. So he hadn't been lying.
"I've missed you too." She said when he told her he had. She kissed him on the lips and he held her hand but when she tried to deepen the kiss, he abruptly withdrew, stating he was tired.
She sat on his bed and stared at the gas Cooker where something was cooking. So he could even cook.
She found herself absent-mindedly comparing his room to Obi's. This room she'd once admired was a slum compared to his.
"What are you cooking?" She asked, making herself comfortable. She wished she could get back the spark she used to feel at the beginning.
"Spaghetti. Are you hungry?"
The room smelt badly like smoke at a bar and she coughed, wondering why he didn't open the windows.
She was going to open them when he grabbed her arm.
"Don't!" He spat and she inhaled the smoke from his mouth and from the corner of her eye, saw a half lit blunt under his bed. His eyes weren't red because he'd been sleeping, but because he was probably very high. She stilled as they had a mini stare down, she hadn't been this scared in a while.
She went back to the bed and tried not to overreact. He kept watching her, as if afraid of what he should do. Not getting any reaction from her, he went back to his cooking and asked her how her week had been. She blamed him for not checking up on her over the past few days and he apologized, stating he'd been really busy. His food smelled terrible and she felt like choking but she was way past complaining.
It'd come as a surprise to her that he smoked but a lot of guys probably smoked anyway, even Obi probably smoked. She picked up an open book on law, but dropped it and picked another when she saw a packet of weed in it.
"Shit. I forgot I've run out of eggs." He muttered. "I'll go and buy some. I'll be right back."
Still reading the book, she didn't notice him pick up his phone and reply a message, but when he was gone, she realized he'd left his phone unlocked and on WhatsApp. She was suspicious; had he left it open on purpose?
She kept reading. Nothing would make her snitch. Her eyes darted from the book she was reading to his phone which had dimmed, about to go off.
Oh fuck it.
She grabbed it and stared at his messages. She wouldn't be happy if he did the same to her phone; she didn't have a lot of contacts anyway so it wouldn't really matter to her.
Like her, he didn't get a lot of messages. She clicked on a contact he'd replied ok to sometime ago. It read "I've dealt with her."
She quickly exited the message and questioned the point of her snooping. She wasn't interested in any other thing he was doing but another girl he was probably doing. On the search button she was just about to type Beside when a new message popped up from her.
"Is she gone yet?"
The message read.
Oma glanced around and ran to the toilet but no one was there. After a few routine checks, she realized no one else was in the room.
"Asher, answer me."
The message came again when she didn't reply. Oma decided to play smart.
She typed in shakily.
"Where are you babe?"
She was surprised at Beside's response.
"I've told you to stop fucking calling me that!"
She decided not to text again in order not to get caught. She didn't know why she was this scared, everything felt weird.
She locked the door and returned to the bed. She scrolled right up to the first message she could find and began to read through. She had to be quick.
The first messages were exchanged even before she'd met him, they were mostly love messages, he asking her out and she saying she loved him but didn't want a relationship.
So that's why he'd asked her out then, because he'd been rejected, she thought in disgust.
As she kept scrolling, the messages became more intense. They were overtly sexual and described in detail what they'd done to each other and what they were going to do to each other and where they'd stay.
She felt sick. This was after they met.
She almost dropped the phone. She'd gotten enough proof. But she couldn't stop scrolling.
A.. Can you stop all of this. You're hurting me on purpose.
B.. I'm not doing anything to you. I just said I want to move on.
A.. Well, you always say that and you come back. I know you will.
B.. I'm serious this time. I've found someone else and you've found someone else. Maybe we should stop hurting other people.
A.. I won't even try to beg you. I know you'll still come back.
B.. I'm serious!
Sure enough, a few messages later, their chats turned sexual and they arranged a place to meet again. She swallowed when she realized this was when he'd been too busy or too tired to touch her. She felt used and stupid.
She still kept reading, pained but surprised at how frigid her face remained. The cycle kept repeating; she saying she was done, then he apologizing, then coming back together again. She wondered which level they were in now, considering she'd asked him not to call her babe.
She was startled when she heard the knock on the door. She picked up her bag and went to unlock it, expecting to see Asher and finally tell him it was over. She saw his neighbor.
"Oh sorry, I thought you were the other girl." He said.
"Which other girl?" She spat, scaring him.
He apologized and scurried away. She couldn't stay here anymore as she felt eyes bore into her. All his neighbors probably knew. She considered meeting one and asking but she didn't want to make a fool of herself any further.
She left the building and wondered where to go next and before long, her tired legs with a mind of their own dragged her to the place she'd tried to avoid...
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I haven't left an author's note in like forever.
Anyway, how are you enjoying the book so far?
What do you think is going on?
Where do you think she went to?
Tell me in the comments.
Ciao.