Ride Her Shoes

17-Lips of remorse

"Has she eaten anything yet?" Dr. Ikedi asked Akudo who shook her head in response feeling very tensed up from the incident that took place earlier.

While they walked towards the room which she was leading them to, she had different thoughts on the possibilities of the girl dying in her house as she hadn't are a move since she got home.

As soon as Akudo got home from saving the girl, Dr. Ikedi wasted no time coming to her place with Ahmed who informed him of the emergency.

The door to the room was left open so they just walked in and their eyes landed on the girl already seated on the bed. Akudo was surprised as she had left her lying down over an hour ago assuming that she was too weak to sit up and of course, her eyes were closed at the time.

"You're awake," Akudo said in disbelief before rushing towards the girl who was about leaving the bed to stand on her feet but from how she looked, she was too weak to do that on her own.

Upon reaching her, Akudo placed a hand on her and stopped her from making further move while Dr. Ikedi gradually approached them while taking his time to admire the room as it was his first time in this part of Akudo's house.

The walls in the room were painted plain white and the room had just one bed in it which was placed closest to the wall on which the girl lay.

The room had a nice scent but the smell of dust and paper like an old that hadn't been opened for a long time wasn't difficult to ken as it hit his nose alongside the fragrance the room had.

Taking his eyes back to Akudo who was now sitting beside the girl who looked surprised and confused,"I thought I…Aunty Akudo?" The girl said and Akudo was taken aback upon hearing her name from the girls mouth.

Dr. Ikedi looked at both of them before resting his gaze on Akudo and then, he said,"You never told me she was your niece, why?" He asked her and Akudo turned to him.

"That's because she's not." She defended which made the girl cringe.

"I should go," the girl said and tried to leave the bed but Akudo stopped her.

"Who are you and how do you know me?"  Akudo asked her while looking at the fresh injuries on her body.

Taking in a deep breath, the girl placed a hand on her stomach and said,"My name is Nmachi. Nmachukwu Ojukwu, I'm from Uga. My mo-" the girl stopped talking as if the word she was about to say stung her tongue.

"My mother is Nwabuko." The girl rushed out the words and upon hearing that, Akudo excitedly hugged her forgetting her injured skin.

"Nwannem o!" Akudo shouted as she hugged her.

"Ayy, aunty!" Nmachi shouted because of the impact of the hug on her wound and Akudo quickly pulled out of the hug.

"I'm so sorry." Akudo apologised upon realizing what she had done but Nmachi smiled instead.

Dr. Ikedi cleared his throat, reminding them of his presence in the room and Akudo understanding what he had done, made to introduce him to Nmachi.

"Nmachi here, is the only child of my mother's cousin. I haven't really been in touch that's why I couldn't recognize the striking resemblance she has with her mum."

"Oh, I see." Dr. Ikedi acknowledged and even though he didn't want to ruin their reunion, he had questions to ask as it seemed like Akudo was not going to ask those questions soon.

"So, where do they live?" He asked Akudo as if Nmachi wasn't there but Nmachi quickly replied,"In Uga, Anambra State."

"Then how did you get here and get yourself in such life-threatening situation?" He asked her in a very serious yet concerned voice and Akudo patiently watched and waited for her reply.