She Is Blind

Chapter Thirty: My Bad Habits Lead to You

The door opened a creak wider, and I gave an audible sigh of relief to see Amin's smiling face look in.

"Oh my God," I said, my chest heaving up and down.

"I'm sorry to have startled you, in fact I should have knocked, but you've been so deep asleep that I started fearing that you were dead." he apologized.

I could forgive any thing now as long as it was better than getting in the hands of the cultists, and I simply nodded, my relief coming with a surprising exhaustion.

"You startled me too. I heard someone come in when I was bathing and had even prepared weapons. But when I was done, I came outside and saw you ever so harmless and in deep sleep. Amina didn't tell me you were around. I trust you've been good company to her."

Why Amina and her brother trusted me so much was still a surprise to me, but I knew I could only revel in it.

"Yes I have been good company. Did she tell you why she left?"

"She didn't even tell me when she left."

I pondered on if to tell him the truth about Peter's condition. "Peter was at the hospital and she went to see him."

"What happened?" he gasped.

"I don't really know. He is unconscious. He is lucky to have no broken bones," I  lied, giving sparse details and hoping his sister would forgive me.

"In a illahi" he exclaimed in Arabic. "I pray he heals quickly."

I simply nodded, too tired to say an Amen. He was going to heal quickly.

He then said something about Lagos being a dangerous place that I did not hear too clearly. My mind was now on Panic Mode. I had left Amina to take care of Peter alone. Thankfully Amin left me alone, and I had a quick bath before I went back to the hospital. It was easy enough, no one ever slept in Lagos, I only prayed I would not fall into the hands of evil people, and God granted my wish as I made it to the hospital unscathed that morning by 2:05AM.

I went into Peter's ward, and I found Amina asleep on the chair next to the bed, her hand interlocked in his, seeming to give him life, to be his stronghold and standing point, and I smiled, ignoring the jealousy that was coming in. I tried to walk as lightly as I could, but Amina woke up anyway, and she smiled sleepily at me.

"Go back to sleep sweetheart," I said softly. "I'm here for the both of you."

"But I can't leave you alone, and I don't think I want to sleep anyway."

I just nodded and watched her carefully, hoping she would still feel sleepy and fall back asleep, but her eyes widened some more as the sleep left her eyes.

"I got so tired today, and I'm still up by this time at midnight." I said.

"That's because you love him as a friend. You can't bear to leave him lifeless." she said.

I cringed at the word "love". It wasn't something Nigerian guys— including me,  enjoyed using for each other, though I still felt we got too conscious of not identifying with the LGBTQ community, so much that we could not even imply brotherly love in our conversations.

"Do you love him?" I asked, bringing my mind back to the hospital ward.

"I always have. From the very first time I saw him. But I love him more because I know you through him."

I smiled, shrugging off the jealous feeling I felt encroaching on my heart again. I knew I was just being human, being jealous was part of my being human, and I did not have to let the fire consume me like I had with Gift.