Saved by my nightmare (A Nigerian Story)

CHAPTER 62

ABUJA, NIGERIA
2021.

Zayn was exhausted.

There was no doubt. He'd been in and out of theatres, performing surgeries and supervising others and by now, he was positively exhausted.

After a full week of little rest, he needed to sleep.

And he was ready, to go home, that is..... but he had to see Maliya before he left.

He'd searched for her for a while already, his eyes darting around as he walked.

Frustrated, he'd finally resolved to just ask her senior orthopedics.

He really didn't want to, to prevent rumors from going round. It wouldn't bother him in the least, infact there was a bit of joy in hearing people talk about the possibility of him having a relationship with Maliya.

It made his heavy heart feel a bit lighter, and brought a smile to his face. He intended the best for Maliya, he really did.

And that was why he wouldn't, despite his own inclinations, let those rumours spread. Maliya wouldn't be comfortable with them.

Just as he was about to take the right to the orthopedics department, he heard two people approaching, chatting quite loudly.

Normally, Zayn didn't care for gossip, he believed it a pastime for idle minds, but he'd heard Maliya's name.

So naturally, he stopped, interest piqued.

"That Doctor Maliya sef, she's doing too much don't you think", one of the voices said.

Her voice was light, almost airy.

The other woman had a deeper timbre to her voice, evident in the way she responded.

"Why'd you say so?".

Light voice responded swiftly, "Don't you know she's involved with the man?".

Zayn stilled.

'What man, could they be talking about him?'

He'd tried his best to stay away from Maliya, excluding the day they'd had a chat.

Could he have worn his emotions on his sleeve without realizing?

Despite his thoughts, he couldn't quite help but feel something was off.

He knew the women couldn't have been talking about his reception towards Maliya when he first returned.

He'd been driven then, only by the fact that he craved Maliya. He let the yearning he felt in his heart drive his emotions, without much consideration for the fact that Maliya could've been uncomfortable.

Around that time, a lot of rumours had spread, some of them extremely terrible.

The comments started quite innocent, with whispered talks here and there about the CS; him, being absolutely taken with Maliya.

Zayn had smiled hearing those rumours, an orthodox pleasure budding from the knowledge that people thought them to be together.

But then, the rumours started to get nastier, some questioning Maliya's position at the hospital, suggesting that she'd been given the job without merit.

Zayn couldn't help his anger.

But he couldn't fault anyone for his own mistakes, he'd been the one to send flowers to her during working hours, in front of anyone who cared to watch.

He wanted nothing more than for things to go back to how they were but all he seemed to do was cause more problems in her life.

So Zayn had withdrawn. He'd stopped with his advances.