Shalom

Chapter Seven

Shalom decided to give Alex a trial. It wasn't that she loved him, she just wanted to see his end.

But unfortunately, much as she expected, Alex called it quits.

Shalom had laughed aloud when she heard that too much of Alex's surprise.

"You are just a young fool. You are a jerk. Now, I must tell you. Stay away from me. I don't want to ever see you again. Or else, I will do what you won't like. Good riddance to bad rubbish," She snarled and walked away.

"Shalom..." He watched her go.

What had he done? He wondered and shrugged.

"God, please, I'm sorry for letting my guard down. Please, have mercy on me, Lord. I am sorry. I failed you. I allowed the thoughts of a woman to fill my head instead of You. I am sorry." Alex knelt and wept.

He got better, picked his relationship with God from scratch, and started maintaining it. He submitted the mentorship of the president of his fellowship, and his relationship with God got better.

As for Shalom, she had maintained her lane. She behaved as though she hadn't met Alex before whenever their eyes met at the department.

Alex would greet her, and she would reply with a hiss much to his displeasure but he wouldn't reveal it.

This continued for a while, till Alex got a scholarship to study abroad. He had put more effort into his academics and God indeed helped him.

Meanwhile, Shalom and her friends continued partying, night clubs, wide parties, and whatnot. She went deep into sin because according to her there was no way she could return to God.

Until one fateful day...

~~~~~~

It was 5 am on Monday.

Rhoda stirred from sleep. Her body was weak as a result of the five-hour practical class stretch she attended yesterday. She and her colleagues were standing all through the class. The students whined and complained but that didn't solve anything.

Rhoda was a 400-level student of medicine and surgery. Medicine had always been her passion since her secondary school days. She loved and chose the course, so she had no option but to face the stress that came with it.

There she was on her bed looking groggy as she sat up in the dark. Her reading lamp paved the way for light.

Her 5 am alarm had rung. It was her devotion alarm, she needed to pray.

After calming herself down for five minutes, she struggled out of her three-and-a-half-sized bed. Her knees pinned to the floor, her face to the bed as she clutched her hands together. She began to mutter words to God.

She switched to the worship mode, her phone giving out a soft background instrumental. Then, just like a flash, she saw the picture of a girl who curled up in a corner of her room sobbing.

Rhoda blinked her eyes twice to be sure if she wasn't asleep during her prayers.

It was a trance!

"Who could this girl be?" She wondered aloud.

The urge to pray suddenly overwhelmed her. Without knowing the prayer point to pray about, she started muttering tongues.

It started slow and soft, but it became louder and faster as the unknown tongues rushed out of her mouth.

She was overwhelmed with the burden of praying for the girl she saw in the trance. The more she prayed, the more she had a vivid picture of the girl.

She eventually stopped praying, the burden had lessened. She checked the time on her phone. It was 8 am.

In shock, she quickly got up and sat on her bed. She had been praying for more than 2 hours for the lady she didn't know.

Thankfully, her lectures that day weren't something to bother about, she had a class at 11 am, and the next one which happened to be the last was slated for 3 pm. Then she would go for her ward round at 5 pm.

After reading a few chapters of her Bible,  she went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and have her bath.

After she was done, she had cornflakes for breakfast, arranged her books, stethoscope, and lab coat in her tote bag, and left for the school.

She lived outside campus which wasn't too far from school. 

She had a nice time at school. It wasn't as stressful as yesterday.

After her morning class had ended at 1 pm, her attention was called that she needed to see one of her lecturers. She walked briskly to the lecturer's office. She nearly bumped into someone on her way. She apologized.

As she was about to take the next step, the Holy Spirit said to her, "That was the lady you were interceding for this morning. Her name is Shalom Jesujuwonlo. She is in your custody, help her."

And the voice went silent.

Rhoda blinked after hearing those words. She turned to catch a glimpse of the lady, but she was far away gone.

"How is she going to help this lady?" She thought and her face went pale.

To be continued.