"It's your sister..."
Sophie's body froze, her heart beating loudly and her ears ringing as fear consumed her.
"H-Hope? What happened to her?" her voice was weak, almost too afraid to ask.
"I don't know. She...she..." Her mum sobbed, unable to complete the statement.
Sophie tried to calm her, even though she was nowhere near calm herself. "It's okay, mum. Just calm down. Everything will be fine. I'm coming, okay? I'm coming."
Her mum kept sobbing.
'I'm coming, okay?" Sophie repeated and ended the call when there was no reply.
Sophie stood paralyzed, her brain scrambled as she couldn't think of what to do, her mind was conjuring up the worst possible scenario.
"Sophie? Is everything alright?"
She jerked back to reality at the sound of Raymond's voice. She looked over to see the both of them giving her worried looks. She realized she had zoned off, just staring into space.
"I'm fine. Everything's fine."
"Are you sure? 'Cause your hands are shaking," Raymond said, a concerned look on his face.
Sophie stared down at her hands and sure enough, they were trembling, her phone only a second from falling off.
Her brain finally decided to start working again. "I... I have to go."
"Are you sure everything's--"
She cut off his words, already searching for her bag, "Yes, I have to go, I'm sorry. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Let me drive--"
But Sophie was already out the door.
* * *
"Mummy!"
Her mom who had been sitting on a chair with her head bent jerked up at the sound of her daughter's voice, standing and hurrying over to Sophie who engulfed her in a hug, her mum weeping on her shirt.
"Shh...Everything will be okay," Sophie cooed, her voice surprisingly calm despite the turmoil that was going on within her.
She held her mother for what seemed like hours until she finally calmed down. Sophie led her back to the chair to sit, her eyes already puffy from crying.
"What happened? Where's Hope?"
Her mum sniffed, wiping her eyes. "I got a call from the hospital while I was in the market telling me she had developed some complications and that I should hurry over. I have been here for over an hour already and they've not come out of that room at all. I'm scared, Tilewa. What if this is really fatal? What if--"
Sophie shushed her mum, hugging her again. "Nothing's going to happen to her, mum. Hope is one of the strongest people I know. She's going to fight through whatever this is, okay?"
Her mum nodded. Her energy drained, she just sat there, resting her head on her daughter's bosom. Sophie felt pity for this woman who had been through a lot raising them, she really didn't deserve all this.
What seemed like an eternity later, the doctor finally emerged from the hospital room and when they asked about Hope, he asked them to come into his office.
Once seated, he said to them, "Your daughter is fine, ma. We've managed to stabilize her and she's responding to treatment again."
Sophie saw her mother's shoulder sag in relief.
"But..." the doctor continued, "Her condition has gotten more serious and she does not have much time anymore."
"How much time do we have, doctor?"
"I'm afraid I can't even guarantee you a month. She needs to get that transplant as soon as possible."
Her mum raised he hands, placing them on her head. "Eeeh, a month ke? How can I get the money complete in less than a month?"
The doctor shook his head, "You just have to find a way else I can't guarantee your daughter's life."
Her mum had begun weeping again and Sophie turned to the doctor, "Is there really nothing you can do for us?"
"I already told you, the most I can do is arrange for the surgery if you can raise three quarter of the money. We have principles here and even doing that for you is against the rules."
"Doctor, we don't even have half yet," her mother cried.
"I'm sorry, there's nothing else I can do."
"Ah, God! Why?!"
"Thank you, doctor," Sophie said calmly as she led her mum out of the office.
"Tilewa, kini mo fe se bai? (What will I do?) Where will I get money from?"
Sophie's mind was in overdrive. Even if she worked the whole three months, there still would be a long way to go. She tried calming her mum down imstead, "Mum, it's okay. Remember you're the one who taught us that nothing's impossible with God? I have the faith that we'll pull through this. We've come this far already, we are not going to quit now. Alright? I'll do everything I can to get that money, I promise. Hope will get that surgery."
Sophie didn't quite believe her own words but her mum seemed to calm down as she nodded.
"Omotilewa, I really don't know how I would have gotten through this without you, O se omo mi."
"That's why we are a family mum, to get through this together and with God on our side, we will get through this."
Sophie hoped desperately that her words were true.
* * *
Sophie was like a zombie the next day at work, there but not really there. She'd called Raymond that morning to tell him she'd be running late. Ama didn't want her going at all but Sophie knew sitting at home all day won't solve anything.
If Alex noticed her absentmindedness through out the day, he didn't say anything about it. She'd even forgotten to make him lunch but he surprisingly hadn't even mentioned it. He'd made noodles for himself and that was when she'd realized she'd forgotten about lunch. It was like he knew something was up with her but he wasn't ready to ask her about it, which didn't really surprise her.
She'd been thinking about her sister's situation all day and had even goggled different ways of making money. She was even considering lending from a loan shark.
The day went quickly yet slowly and Angel and Raymond were back before she knew it. She didn't greet Angel or even ask about school and even the girl deemed that as strange.
"Are you alright?"
Sophie frowned at the girl who was staring at her with a funny look. "Why? Don't I look fine?!" she snapped.
The girl looked hurt as her eyes dimmed and she ran up the stairs angrily.
"Angel..." Sophie sighed as the girl disappeared.
Seeing what had happened, Raymond tentatively went to sit beside her. "Are you alright, Sophie? The way you left yesterday was really worrisome. Is something wrong at home?"
Sophie averted her gaze, annoyed at the tears that were threatening to fall. She hasn't cried the day before, why now?
"I'm fine," she replied stiffly.
"No, you're not," he said sternly. "Come on, tell me what's wrong. You know a problem shared is a problem half solved, right?"
Sophie sighed, staring down at her hands. Maybe he could help her?
"My sister has been sick for about a year now. She has a kidney problem and needs a transplant. The hospital's asked for four point five million naira for the surgery. We tried raising the money, God! We even went on TV and radio, we were able to raise about two point seven at the end. They refused to perform the surgery except we have at least three quarter of the money. We've been trying to raise the rest but she's had to be in the hospital since then and a lot of money goes into taking care of her every month. Right now, we hardly have two million left."
"Wow," he said "So what happened yesterday?"
"She developed complications and the doctor says she has less than a month left. We don't have any means of getting the money, Raymond. It's just my mum and I."
Her voice broke at the end and he pulled her hesitantly into a hug. "I'm really sorry you had to go through all that. You should have told me about it."
Sophie chuckled humorlessly, "I just met you less than a month ago, Raymond."
He pulled back and looked her in the eyes. "That doesn't matter. What matters is I'm your friend and I promise to do what I can to help you."
"Really?" Sophie asked, surprised.
"Of course," he replied, scoffing at her surprise.
Sophie didn't know what he planned to do but she was grateful for the thought. "Thanks, Ray. I really appreciate that."
"Oh, please," he shrugged her gratitude away. "What are friends for?"
Yeah, what are friends for?
* * *
Sophie was at the hospital visiting her sister. It was Saturday and Raymond had said he didn't have to go to work so he gave her the day off.
"Hey, dumdum. How are you holding up?" Sophie smiled at her sister as she sat on a chair next to her bed.
Hope smiled weakly back at her. She was lying on the bed, an IV drip linked to her hand and an oxygen mask over her face.
"I'm great, sis. I feel extra strong today. I feel like I can even be discharged right this moment." Her voice was thin and raspy as she spoke.
Sophie chuckled, shaking her head at her sister. She was always subtly suggesting they check her out of the hospital.
"Good for you buddy but that's not happening today, maybe tomorrow though." Sophie grinned, giving her the same response as always.
Hope groaned, "You're the worst."
"I love you too," Sophie teased. She really admired her sister, she was really strong for a girl her age.
"What about mum?"
"Oh, you know mum. She's gone to the market, she'll visit later in the day though."
Hope nodded.
"And Hope? Never scare us like that again, okay?" Sophie chided softly.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."
Sophie laughed. "God! I miss you so much. Get well soon already."
"Oh, I will alright? Just wait and see."
Their conversation was cut short as two nurses entered the room.
"Good afternoon, miss Sophie," one of them greeted.
"Afternoon, nurse Joy. How are you today?"
"I'm good. We've been instructed to move Hope to another room."
Sophie frowned, alarmed "Another room, why? Is there a problem?"
"No, no...Nothing like that. We've been asked to move her to a room at the VIP section," the nurse said as they went about doing their work.
Sophie and Hope shared a look. VIP?
"Let me go see the doctor. I'll be right back," Sophie said, standing up and headed for the doctor's office.
She knocked on his door, opened it and poked her head in.
The doctor smiled when he saw her. "Ah, Sophie. Good that you're here. Please come in and have a seat, I have good news for you," he said, ushering her in.
Sophie sat, confused. "Good news? I was just in my sister's room and I heard she's going to be moved to the VIP section?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"I don't understand, doctor. What's going on?"
"I got a call today. Someone's offered to take responsibility for your sister's surgery. In fact, we're preparing to fly her abroad for surgery and consecutive treatment in one of the best hospitals in America. They have a very high success rate and your sister will definitely be in good hands. You also don't have to worry about finding a donor. They also asked for her to be moved a VIP room pending the time she'd travel. They've even made deposits already."
Sophie was shell shocked, her brain refusing to keep up pace with the words he was saying. "Wait, what?"
The doctor smiled kindly at her, waiting for her to take it all in.
"W-why...W-who...?" She stammered.
"It was a woman that called, she said she was the secretary to one Mr. Adams...?"
Adams. Raymond.
Sophie gasped, "Oh my God! Does my mum know?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. We were just about to place a call through to you."
"Oh, I...excuse me, please", she stood and walked out of his office. She immediately brought out her phone and dialed Raymond's number. He picked up on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Raymond. I..." she didn't even know what to say. She didn't get a chance to say anything however, because he immediately spoke.
"Sophie! It's good you called. I was just about to call you to send me the address of the hospital your sister's at. I ended up going to work so I thought I'd branch to see the doctor. At least, to know what I can do to help."
Sophie frowned, puzzled. "Do to help?"
"Yes, with your sister's surgery. I have been thinking and I'm willing to help you with the rest of the money."
Sophie was confused beyond words. "Wait. You mean you haven't contacted the hospital in anyway yet?"
"Contact... No, what are you talking about?" Sophie could feel his frown through the phone.
But if he wasn't the one that had contacted the hospital...
"I have to go, Ray. I'll talk to you later," she said hastily and ended the call.
Her mind was reeling. If it wasn't Ray... there was only one other Mr Adams that she knew.
No way.
**********
Thanks so much for the reads
Don't forget to vote, comment and share.
Thank you🤗