NEURONE!

7 - Miles' Investment

Darkness. That was all I saw when I woke up. It was accompanied by utter silence. So quiet that I couldn't break it even by calling out for Uju.

It gave me chills. This was the second time Uju's head was so empty. The first time, she was in a coma and if she isn't in one presently then she is dead or dying.

I try to scream her name again but I still can't hear my own voice. I resign to a corner praying I disappear when she does as living like this is worse than death. 'If she does wake up, then I should', I tell myself before shutting down.

*

"She should wake any minute from now." I hear Miles say and I'm filled with gladness for it means Uju has woken up. However, she didn't rise or open her eyes.

"Exact words you said before she had a seizure." I hear Eno's voice. "Miles, I swear to you, if anything bad happens to Uju, I won't let you off." It was rare to find Eno and Miles together, but the few times Uju had been around them, they were always bickering. Maybe knowing that Eno disliked Miles too encouraged her dislike of him.

"At least, I'm trying to help her. Not just standing around and nagging."

"What did you just say?" Eno's voice sounded hostile. Uju and I knew they were going to fight. And Eno had never lost a fight.

Uju opened her eyes, sitting up quickly. This made her head spin and she immediately threw her hands to it, wincing briefly. "What's wrong with both of you? Is this how you treat your patient?"

"It's Miles' fault,"  Eno said, earning himself a snort from Miles and a glare from Uju. "I'm sorry,"  he apologized, feeling her forehead with his hand. "How do you feel?"

"Better than this morning, I guess." She replied, removing her hands from her head, and praising Miles inwardly for making her terrible headache stop.

Eno sighed softly. "That was yesterday. Not today."

"What?" She asked, throwing glances at both of them. Noticing the bruise on Miles' lips, she held back a chuckle. "Did you guys fight?"

"No, I punched him," Eno said, scowling and folding his arms. "He's the reason you're like this."

Uju pressed her lips together. I knew she was glad that someone punched Miles. She had been wanting to do that for years but he hadn't been punched for the right reason. "Actually, he didn't cause this. I was attacked and almost died. He saved me. These - whatever it is - are a result of his treatment. And I don't know, maybe they could be a good thing."

"Now that you said it like that, I feel I should apologize. But this wouldn't have happened if he had just explained it to me." Eno defended causing Miles to scoff.

"Have you ever bothered to listen to my explanation before?"

"You mean your excuses?"

Miles snickered and began walking to the door. He stopped and took a glance at Eno and Uju. "Uju is my patient. She'll stay here until she gets better. When you're done, get out!" He said and walked out.

Eno was enraged and wanted to go after him but Uju held him back. "He's annoying, I know. But do you want to waste time in jail for his sake?"

"Not for his sake. For yours. You know Big Bro's got your back." He said, smiling softly at her and she flashed him a fake smile. She would never be more than a younger sibling to him.

"Then, spare him. For my sake. So he can help me get better."

"Fine." He said, smiling and scratching her hair playfully. "I should go check on Simi. If you feel something's off with Miles, call me immediately." He said and Uju nodded.

Once he left, she sighed, laying down on the bed. "Everything about Miles is off." She muttered, pulling the blanket over her head.

She laid still on the bed, hoping it'd help her fall asleep but she couldn't fall asleep. Not while she was hungry. And she was in Miles' house. There was no way she was telling him that. Especially since they had had a big fight the last time she saw him.

"Hey, Uju, I bought pizza. Would you like to have some?"

"I'm  not hungry." She mumbled, but her stomach immediately disagreed, grumbling as loud as it could.

Miles bit on his lower lip. I'm sure it's his effort to hold back his chuckle. If only Uju had noticed, she would have shot him daggers in form of glares, but she was too embarrassed.

"I'll bring it to you. You could eat whenever you get hungry." He said, walking out of the room and returning seconds later with a pizza box. He placed it on the table beside the bed and went out.

Once she heard the distant sound of a door closing, Uju sat up and opened the box, taking a slice of pizza in each hand and stuffing her mouth with them. It was her desperate attempt to finish eating before Miles returned but that backfired when she began to choke.

"Easy, Lass." She heard his voice and immediately looked up to see him standing by the door, holding a bottle of water. He had been watching her.

That realization made her cough even more violently and he had to pat her back while she downed all the water in the bottle. After a few more minutes of coughing and hitting her chest, she finally stopped choking.

She looked up at him, angry that he had witnessed three of her embarrassing moments in one day. "Why are you always home? Don't you have a job?"

"I do. You are my job." He replied stoically.

Uju bit her lips, staring at him. "You know you have to get paid for it to be considered a job."

Miles shrugged. "If you are not satisfied with me calling it a job, you can consider it an investment. You, Uju Smith, are my investment."

"What do you mean?" Uju asked, a thousand guesses of what he meant struggling to make themselves look reasonable to her. She could try and read his mind but the last time she did, it led her to this moment so she decided against it.

"You won't understand. Not yet."

"Try me."

"No." He replied, swallowing hard and breaking his eyes away from hers. "I should go."

"Don't you dare walk out on me!" Uju commanded as Miles began to leave. I'm not sure why but I could sense her anger and it was way more than she used to feel.

Then I noticed Miles. He stood facing her, horror spread across his face. I think he wanted to run but his feet seemed glued to the floor. 

"Uju. Stop. Whatever you're doing, stop it." He gasped. His pale skin looked even paler and his face had become red. Whatever Uju was doing to him was killing him.

"I don't... I don't know how." Uju stuttered. She wasn't lying. She couldn't control it and neither could I. If she couldn't stop herself, we were going to be a murderer.

"You have to." Miles gasped, suddenly gaining the ability to move. His nose was bleeding as he dragged himself toward Uju. "Please! Stop!!" That was the last thing I heard before I felt a tremor like never before and immediately, I shut down.