Chapter 14: Conscious
The silence was a piercing and extremely
uncomfortable one. Bella had never known this
much tension in her twenty three years of existence. Raymond was looking at her in a very
disturbing way. His gaze seemed to be penetrating her thoughts and she was certain he could hear her pounding heart. She had always been aware of Raymond's powerful presence but never had it been this overpowering; it is probably because she was seated very close to him now. Although the sitting arrangement was not one of intimacy, judging by the space between them, she still felt she was seated too close.
"You have not answered me Bella" Raymond said
after waiting for what seemed like ages and did
not get any response.
Bella's eyes were on her fingers as she struggled
to keep them from shivering.
"I don't know what you are talking about sir" she managed, surprised that she didn't stutter.
"Yes, you do" he said softly, already knowing the
answer he was expecting.
Bella shivered visibly. "I… I don't… I don't know
what to tell you" she stammered.
"Tell me the truth."
"Yes" she dropped already in tears.
Raymond was motionless and speechless. He had suspected this but now that it was out on display, he didn't know how to handle it. After some seconds of 'no movement' on his part, he pulled Bella into his arms and held her. She cried in his arms for some minutes while Raymond just kept quiet, trying to think. He pulled away from her and held her shoulders.
"Bella, please stop crying and listen to me."
He hated women in tears. He left her shoulders and
held her face with his arms. "Listen…" he was
interrupted by the ringing of his phone. He was
sorely tempted to ignore the call until he saw the
caller. He excused himself and received the call. It was Doctor Timothy.
"Hello Doctor… Yes… You don't mean it?
Wooow… I will be there in a jiffy." He ended the call with a million smiles on his face.
"The girl is conscious now" he exclaimed.
Bella rejoiced, putting aside her emotions. Raymond picked up his car keys and jumped into his car.
Tinka lay on her bed with her eyes glued to the
rolling fan. There is nothing fascinating about three blades going after each other when it is obvious none of them would succeed in catching the others but still, she had her eyes fastened on the fan. Her mind was elsewhere. Throughout the previous day, she had perambulated anxiously, hoping no one would come for her and luckily, no one did. How can that freaking nurse think I am a murderer? But wait, how did that pillow get to my hands? She wondered. Her mind shifted to Ray. He hadn't called her and has not picked up one of her nine hundred and ninety nine calls. How could he just ignore her like that? she felt like a piece of used product.
'He feels he can just use me and dump me like that, well I would not be so sure if I were him' she said to herself.
She finally stood up from the bed with the perfect idea of her next line of action in mind. She was officially Ray's fiancée and nothing could stop her from moving in with him, or so she thought.
She packed a small suitcase, filled it with clothes
and other necessities. It had been a while ever since she had called her friends and they seemed to have forgotten her. She would call when she was fully settled in her future husband's house.
Mr. and Mrs. Mbabazi entered the house and sank into the leather couch. Their faces were drawn. It had been a rough day. They had been going to every television/radio station to announce that their daughter was missing and also to publicly declare a search warrant for Fred. Ten million Uganda shillings was promised as reward for anyone who lead them to either the guy or their daughter.
It hadn't been easy at all emotionally. Peluce cried most of the time and her husband was too
preoccupied trying to pet his wife, that he didn't
even know how to vent his anger and fear and
anguish. Things had gone worse when a possessed lady asked them to check the mortuary. They had both rejected it, saying that their daughter would never be in a mortuary.
The maid brought them dinner and Peluce refused, saying she would eat when she sees her daughter. Ken tried to beg her but she would have none of it. Ken was not hungry but he wanted Peluce to be strong. It is only in her strength that he found his courage and strength.
He sighed as Peluce rested her head on his
shoulders crying, "Lucy, my Lucy, where are you?"
He wondered with pain tearing his heart.
Raymond got to the hospital and practically sailed the distance between the parking lot and the doctor's office. He had become a regular face and no one delayed him. He got to Doctor T's office and entered with smiles pasted all over his face. He was ecstatic.
"A lovely evening it is Doc T." he said, sitting.
"With lovely news to go with it" doctor Timothy
replied with a smile.
"When did this happen and how?" Raymond was
curious. He wished he had been there when she
opened her eyes.
Doctor Timothy smiled. "Some minutes before I
called you. I went to her room to perform some
doctorate rituals, in order to be sure everything was going well when she opened her eyes. She
made some discomfort sounds which alerted me
and I was so happy that she had finally come around. I never expected it to be this quick though. There is no doubt about the fact that she is very strong and God is solidly behind her."
Ray agreed. He could not remember when last he
had been this happy about something.
"Forget this talk, let me see her" he was already on his feet.
"Did I tell you that your fiancée was here?" That
surely got his attention and he sat down again.
"What do you mean?"
Timothy smiled. "Tinka was here, she told the nurse she had brought provisions for the patient and was caught with a pillow clawed tight in her hands but she escaped" he said.
Raymond stared for some seconds. "Wait, you are not thinking that she tried to… tried to…" he could
not complete the sentence.
"Kill her?" Timothy asked with a faint smile.
Ray was speechless. He rubbed his palms together
and swallowed painfully.
"Let me see the girl, we will come back to this later" he stood up already furious. Tinka was constantly making his life hell on earth.
They entered the room with the doctor ahead
and Raymond behind him. Timothy smiled but the
smile was not returned by the girl. Seeing her eyes open for the first time ever was like a miracle. Her eyes were on the doctor. He asked her how she was doing but she said nothing; it didn't look like she had ever opened her mouth because it seemed glued to eachother. For some seconds, Ray thought she was deaf when she did not respond to anything the doctor said.
"Look. This is the man that brought you here" for
the first time, her eyes left the doctor and that made it obvious that she could hear what was being said. Ray's breath was knocked out of him
as those dark eyes rested on him. 'Beautiful' is a
word but it is not weighty enough to describe this lady. He was held spellbound by her stunning beauty but what really gripped his heart was the pain he saw in her eyes. The pain was so evident in her dark eyes. He tried desperately to regain his breath. The only desire he had was to remove that pain. He desperately wanted to drive that pain away and make her laugh. He sat down gently on the chair beside the bed and took her hand slightly. He felt a totally strange emotion and he stared at her hand for some time. He had forgotten about the presence of Doctor Timothy.
"I am Raymond, please what is your name?" He
asked gently so as not to startle her.
For the first time since she became conscious, she
opened her mouth to the surprise of both men.
"Brenda" she whispered.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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