045 - Secrets

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(045 - Secrets)

60K VIEWS GUYS🥳🍾🎉🎊

All of you that want Chima to kiss you, he now has an official girlfriend o. So take your two left legs and leave this place. Unless you want Dawn to sit on your head😌🌚.

I'm sure y'all want to know how Aunty Kendra is doing 🥺❤️. Me sef I want to know. Simi will tell us.

P. S. Chapter 43, 44, this chapter 45, the next chapter 46 all happened on the same day. That's a sort of hint. I hope you guys pick up on the reasons why I'm telling you this as you read the book.















𝐒𝐈𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀
(Simisola André Jordan)

"Well done, sir,"

The security man hailed as soon as he saw that it was me behind the wheels. I smiled at him, reaching into the glove compartment of the car to fish out a few thousand notes I kept there solely for him and slipped them into his hand.

"Use it to buy something for yourself," I told him and he nodded vigorously, his smile widening almost to the length of his ear when he counted the money and saw how much it was.

"Thank you, sir! God will bless you, sir! You and your generation will not lack anything in this life o..."

He started praying for me and I chuckled, waving at him before driving further into the lot of the hospital, parking in the free, unreserved space I saw. Turning off the ignition, I took in a deep breath, turning the rearview mirror to my side to stare at my face, smiling back at my reflection.

I was in a rather good mood today. A very good mood.

Mum was getting discharged. Finally.

I've missed her so much. So, so much.

It's not like I've not been seeing her since she got admitted, but there's a huge difference between coming to the hospital every day after school to see her and having her at home with me or waking up to her voice every single morning. I wanted the latter more than anything. Especially since it's just me and Dad at home alone now.

Imagine the awkwardness.

Though he spends a majority of his time at the hospital, sleeping over most days of the week and on the weekends, the times Dad has been at home with me haven't been the most pleasant. Not like he did or said anything, it has just been weird.

We were like two strangers living under the same roof. We have drifted so far apart that we barely have something to talk about except my academics. Now that my academics was growing on a steady... and I mean very slow and steady, the only person we talk about is Mum's health improvement which was majorly a monotonous conversation.

If it had nothing to do with mum, then we weren't talking at all.

I don't know how it made him feel, not being able to hold a substantial conversation with his own son. But for me, not being to have a good conversation with a man I call my Dad was excruciatingly painful and unbearable.

I hated it, but there was nothing I could do about it.

But now that Mum was coming home, I wouldn't have to endure such travesty anymore.

My phone started ringing and I picked it up from the center console compartment. My lips twitched in a small smile when I saw who the caller was, and I picked up the call, bringing my phone to my ear.

"The rate at which you call me these days is alarming," I spoke before she could say anything to me. "Are you not supposed to be at work? Your parents should get your phone seized." I teased, my smile stretching further.

"Phone I got with my own hard-earned money. They even know they can't seize it sef," She scoffed, speaking of the noisy background and I chuckled. "Besides, I've been working my ass off since morning. I need to rest," She answered.

"Of course you do, Gloria. Of course, you do," I teased further, eliciting a laugh from her and I joined her.

I knew for a fact that she was just being lazy. Her parents were the owners of the restaurant after all, so it's not like she's going to get fired or anything for slacking just once. Gloria was hardworking, yes, but sometimes she took advantage of her privilege as the child of the owners.

Who wouldn't though?

"Simi please hold on - hey, can you cover my shift for a few? I'm on a phone call," She was talking to someone at her end, so I waited for her.

I couldn't hear the response but I guess the person agreed to cover Gloria's shift when I heard the shuffling of feet, followed by the sound of a door closing that indicated she might have left her initial location to a more private place, and from the quietness of the background, I could tell it was a more enclosed place.

Maybe the closet.

"Hey, are you still there?" She asked me and I hummed in response. "Where are you?"

"I just got to the hospital," I answered her, smiling when I remembered the reason why I was seated in my car in the first place. "Mum is getting discharged today and I want to be the one to bring her back home," I said.

"Thank God!" Gloria sighed out in relief and I chuckled. "I'm so sorry I haven't come to see her since. How is she? How is your Dad holding up?" She asked, the concern in her voice very evident.

I exhaled.

"I think Dad is holding up pretty well," After mum regained consciousness, he has been a lot settled, compared to the day we brought her. "Mum is fine. She has improved. The doctor said it's fatigue and stress, calling it one fatigue disorder that I can't remember. But she's okay now, she just needed the rest and time off work." I told Gloria.

"I'm just glad she's finally okay. I was so worried." She said, and I could hear the smile in her voice, making me smile even wider.

"How's the boyfriend?" I asked, my smile turned into a smirk. Using my shoulder to hold my phone to my ear, I picked up the bouquet I picked up for mum and the box of chocolate with my right hand and opened the door with my left.

"He's okay," She answered, her voice in a monotone. My forehead creased in a small frown, wondering why she sounded that way.

On a normal day, whenever I ask Gloria a question like this, it was her cue to start ranting about something that happened between her and Kizito. Maybe a place they went to on a date, and how they spent their time together doing one thing or the other. And trust me, she was very detailed with her gist.

Too detailed in fact.

I have heard things in this life.

But now, she sounded off. Very off.

"Just Okay?" I asked, before getting down from the car and shutting the door with my leg because my hands were full. "Where is the gist? I was hoping to get some gist," I joked, my lips turned into a smile.

When I heard Gloria sigh from her end, the smile disappeared.

"I'm sure Kizito is fine," She rephrased, but her voice didn't sound any less monotonous. "But I haven't heard from him all day, Simi, so I can't tell exactly how he is." She stated and my face scrunched up in a small frown.

That's strange. And very unlike the Kizito Gloria rants to me about.

"You haven't heard from him all day?" I asked and she hummed in response, confirming. "I thought you guys usually have a thing most Saturday mornings. He didn't show up?" I asked, locking the door of the car with the remote after I got down.

"I called him severally when it was almost time, just to check if he'll still be able to make it, but he didn't pick up," My frown deepened. "Then he fired a quick message, telling me he was sorry and something came up. I tried to call him after that, but his phone was suddenly switched off." She finished explaining.

"Oh," I mumbled, securing the bouquet and box of chocolate in one hand and I held my phone with the other before I started walking towards the hospital building.

I wasn't sure what else to say except that. I was no relationship expert, not even the slightest, no matter how many books I've read about the subject so I wasn't even the right person Gloria was meant to be talking to. But then, I was her best friend... her only friend.

Who else will she talk to apart from me? I needed to think of something to say.

"Well, maybe he's really busy today," I finally spoke after a moment of silence. "Kizito has never been this way before, yeah?" I asked and she hummed again in response. "So, he probably has a good explanation for not showing up. At least he sent you a text message right?"

"This is not about him not showing up," Gloria stated, her voice controlled but I could still hear the edge in them. "If Kizito isn't showing up for a date, he lets me know way beforehand. And even if it's close to the meet-up time, he gives a more detailed explanation, not what he just sent to me. And now, his phone is switched off. It doesn't sit well with me, Simi." I could hear the little panic undertone in her voice.

Exhaled, I said, "Calm down, Gloria. I'm sure it's not the way you are thinking it is," I lowered my voice when I walked through the sliding glass doors of the hospital, nodding in greeting at a nurse I recognized.

I took a turn that led in the direction of my mum's ward.

"I know it's probably not the way I think it is," She agreed with me and I continued to listen. "I might actually be overreacting because this has never happened before and my paranoia is at work, but I just can't help the feeling. Is this how it feels when you are in a relationship and you don't hear your boyfriend's voice for almost an entire day?"

I laughed but quieted down quickly because I was in a hospital.

"Gloria, it's just 1:30 pm. We just passed the first half of the day," I reminded her, going into an elevator and hitting my mum's floor on the button with my elbow. In response, she let out a loud hiss.

"Same thing!" She snapped and I had to pause my lips together to stop myself from bursting out in laughter again. "The day is almost over and I've not heard Kizito's voice. It's excruciating." She whined and I chuckled.

First-time lovers. These ones are still in the honeymoon phase o.

"Calm down," I said and she whined, I could imagine her pouting. "Kizito loves you, Gloria and I'm sure he'll call you before the end of today. If this has never happened before, then I'm sure he has a very good explanation for it." I said.

"I guess you are right," She sighed. "This is why I like talking to you. You know the right things to say every time." I could imagine her smiling now. It made me feel better that she was calmer.

"Well, that's because I have more common sense than you," I teased and she burst into laughter.

"Well, I can't argue with that," She didn't argue as she'd normally do and I smirked. The elevator made a sound, indicating that it had gotten to the floor I selected before the doors slide open and I walked through.

"Hey, I have to go now," I told her. "Give me an update about the whole Kizito thing, will you?" I asked and she answered, promising to hit me up later before we finally hung up. I secured the phone into the back pocket of my jeans and kept walking through the quiet hallway, my mum's room at the end of the hallway in mind.

The private wards of this hospital were very much restricted to just anyone, except the families of the patient, which is why there was barely anyone walking around, just the nurses and doctors. I half expected to see Dad pacing in front of Mum's room, taking a phone call or something, but he wasn't.

I knew he was here, in the hospital.

Taking a deep breath, I walked further towards the room at the end of the hall. But when I got close to the room, I stopped in my steps, my brows furrowing in a small frown. I could hear my parents' voice, hushed but audible enough for me to hear. And from the tone of the conversation they were having, I could tell they were in an argument.

My frown deepened.

I moved closer, standing by the wall so that I won't be noticed. It was rude to eavesdrop, I know, but I wanted to find out if I was the reason for the argument. Our results for second test came out this week and when I gave Dad my results, he didn't say anything about it. If he was happy with the improvement or wasn't satisfied with it, he didn't say.

Was that what he was talking about with Mum?

I listened.

"...Do you think I like the fact that I'm here, Demilade?" That was Mum's voice. She sounded exhausted and hurt, and it made my ears perk up in both interest and worry.

What are they talking about? I asked myself, still listening.

"Kendra, I know," Dad replied her, sounding just as exhausted as she did, if not more. "But this is hard for me. It's h-hard..." His voice broke and my heart picked up the beat, anxiety washing over me like a wave. "It's hard seeing you this way, seeing you bedridden like this. Kendra, I cannot take it. I can't."

Can't take what? What is going on?

"Demi," I heard my mum whisper softly, and I swallowed inaudibly. Though I couldn't see what was going on inside, I was sure Mum probably cupped Dad's face in her hands. Anytime she shortens his name like that, she always says it like an endearment. But that wasn't what caught me.

It was the frailness of her voice, the slight shakiness I could hear. It could have gone undetected but I heard it loud and clear.

Mum's voice was naturally tiny and frail, fitting her small stature. But there was something off about this frailness. Something weird about it. She sounded tired... almost sick. This was the same person I spoke to early this morning and informed that I was coming to see her. She sounded so vibrant, and lively. But now?

Now?

I was confused. So confused.

"Demi," I heard her whisper again and I kept listening. "I understand how you feel. I feel a lot worse, you know that" She told Dad and I got even more confused, wondering what she was on about. "But this is the best solution for now. This is how we can manage the situation."

Manage what situation?

"But what do we tell Simi?" My heart jumped in my chest when I heard Dad mention my name. "How do we explain all this to him? He's going to be here in a matter of minutes. What kind of explanation do we give him when we tell him you are not getting discharged today?"

What! My eyes widened.

Before I could think things through or stop myself, I was already matching to the room. I didn't have to barge in because the door was open, so as soon as I got to the front of the door, my parents noticed my presence, every word coming out of Dad's mouth trailing off with his voice.

My eyes locked to his, and for the first time, I actually held his gaze for a good number of seconds... maybe minutes.

He was shocked to see me, shaken. He looked a little scared too as if I caught him doing... or saying something wrong. I held his gaze, trying to read him and decipher what exactly was going on in his mind, but I couldn't. I could only tell he was shocked. It was obvious he didn't expect me to walk in moments after telling Mum that I'd be here any minute.

Speaking of Mum.

"Simisola,"

She was the one that just called my name and I turned, looking at her very well for the first time since I stomped into the room. And immediately my eyes landed on her, I froze. A cold chill zapped over me like an electric shock, freezing me to the spot.

What the...

"M-Mum?"

I had to ask.

I had to call her name like that because the woman lying down on the bed right now looked nothing like my mother. She didn't look like the woman I spent my evening with just yesterday. She didn't look like the chirpy and carefree woman I spoke to just this morning, the woman that was so excited to leave the hospital and come home.

This woman on the bed looked sick. Really sick. She was pale, her lips looking dry and chapped. She looked thinner than when I saw her yesterday, stricken. She had a nasal cannula connected to her nose and a monitor tracking her steady heartbeat by her bedside.

Jesus Christ...

These things have never been here before. They were not here yesterday. And seeing them here, seeing her attached to them scared the living daylight out of me.

My mum was the one attached to them.

Something was off. Something was terribly wrong.

"Mummy,"

I was trying to gather my jumbled-up thoughts and construct them into words but I couldn't say more than that. I wasn't looking at Dad but from my peripheral vision, I could see his gaze alternating between me and Mum and I could smell the anxiety oozing from him.

"Simisola," Mum whispered again, mustering a small smile as she beckoned to me. "Come," She said, that smile still playing on her lips.

But I didn't move. I couldn't move.

"What's going on?" I asked, my chest rising and falling at my rapid breathing, my heart thudding heavily against my chest like a drum. "Mummy, why are you looking this way?"

She sighed, stretching her hand to Dad to help her sit up and he quickly held her, propping her pillow up for her so she'd be able to rest her back. And I watched quietly, waiting for them to explain what was happening. And while I waited, I prayed. I prayed so desperately that it wasn't as serious as it looked.

God abeg.

"So, you are not going to come and greet me abi?" She completely ignored my question, speaking with a smile reappearing on her lips. "When I spoke to you this morning, you were very eager to see me," She teased, wiggling her eyebrows weakly.

I didn't smile back. I didn't find anything funny.

"And when I spoke to you this morning, you were not sounding this way, Mummy! You didn't look this way yesterday, Mum!" My voice came out edgier and harsher than intended.

"Simi!" Dad snapped, definitely taking offense and I kept quiet. "Don't ever speak to your mother like that again! Watch your tone!" He warned, every trace of initial anxiety gone from his features. I flinched, trying to stop my rapid, yet irregular breathing. I was literally on the verge of crying out in frustration.

And I will if someone doesn't tell me what the hell is going on!

"It's fine, Demilade," Mum told Dad, not losing the smile on her lips for one second. If anything, her smile even widened. It almost looked like she was amused by the squabble, looking between Dad and me before her eyes finally settled on me, her soft gaze holding mine.

I almost burst into tears right then.

Something was wrong. I could feel it in my guts.

"Mummy," I called pleadingly this time. I just needed her to tell me what was going on. Whatever it is, I'd be able to handle it. I can handle it.

Right?

"Wá ná. Ma bò," Come first. Come. She beckoned to me, her eyes also pleading and her voice.

In a way, I calmed down a bit but my heart didn't stop beating fast. This time I couldn't say no to her so I heeded her request and started walking toward her bed, keeping my eyes on her frail form lying on the bed. When I got close, Dad stood up and moved away

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