INKWELL

Chapter Thirteen

September 20, 2081- September 24, 2081

After spending a few more minutes with Mrs. Abimbola, I made my way to Angela's room. Though I had decided to take Mrs. Abimbola's advice and see her, I didn't know what exactly I would say. Was I to apologize? Or ask her why she did it? Or tell her I understood? I really didn't know what to say.

I met Grace, her assistant, on the way to her room. "Is Angela in her room?"

She nodded."Yes, she hasn't come out since."

I grimaced, feeling sorry for her. I thanked Grace and continued on my way. When I got to her door, I hesitated before knocking. The door swung open immediately, startling me. I came face to face with Caleb who looked like he was just leaving the room. I hadn't know he was now on speaking terms with his mother. Last I remembered, he was also disappointed in his mum.

"I knew you'll eventually come to see her. She has been asking about you," he said.

My heart jumped at that. I wanted to ask what she wanted to talk to me about but he turned his attention away from me.

"Someone is here to see you, mum," he shouted into the room then turned back to look at me, a warm smile on his face.

I smiled back and watched him leave. I took a deep breath to comport myself before entering the room and closing the door behind me.

"I don't want any more medicines," Angela said. She was sitting on the bed, her back to me.

"Angela," I called and she whirled around immediately. I gasped as I took in her features. Her eyes had sunk in, she looked frail and twenty years older than her age. Her cloth hung loosely on her body and she looked like she could fall over any minute. "Angela." This time my voice was a whisper.

"Ivy." She struggled to her feet, her eyes watering. "I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I really didn't mean to. When I found out I was infected, I knew I should stay behind but they needed me. Whenever I wasn't around, things seemed to go wrong. It made me afraid of what would happen if I decided to stay behind. I was scared to think of what would happen here if I didn't come along. Maybe it was also my ego that made me feel indispensable.

"When I saw what that boy in your village did, I felt guilty but...I thought of Caleb and every other person I loved. I thought of everything I had worked for. I was being selfish but I couldn't give up, I didn't want to give up. And when I met you, you were like the motivation I needed to never give up.

"As soon as we arrived, I set up a team to try to find the cure for the infection. I hid it from everyone because I was afraid of the commotion it will cause. As weeks passed, I tried not to lose hope of them finding a cure but it was hard. I thought that since I was still alive after months, it was a good sign, a sign that I was doing the right thing but I realise now that I was wrong... I'm so sorry, Ivy." She fell back on the bed, sobbing.

I walked towards her and took a seat beside her. "No, I'm sorry. You trusted me and treated me like your daughter. You came to rescue me and my village even though it wasn't an easy task. You've treated me like your equal even though you could have chosen someone else older than me but when it came to your time of need, when it came to the time when you needed me most, I wasn't there for you. I'm sorry."

She stared at me, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I want to hug you but I'm afraid that—"

I wrapped my arms around her before she could finish. I knew I should be worried about getting infected but at this moment, I just wanted to hug her. She struggled for a while before she finally settled in my arms. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I felt how thin she had become. Angela had always been younger and stronger than her age and it pained me to see what the sickness had reduced her to.

Angela pulled away a minute later and smile at me. She opened her mouth to say something but a knock interrupted us. It was Grace.

"Ivy, we need your attention."

Angela stood up but I stopped her. "It's not safe. We don't know how the people will react."

Pain was evident in her eyes but it was clear she understood what I was saying. She stayed back and watched me leave.

When I got out to see what was going on, I was glad she had stayed back. People were gathered outside the main house, screaming and waving placards and sticks in the air. From what I could read from the placards, they were all expressing their anger against Angela.

Caleb stood on a platform trying to pacify them but they continued shouting, drowning out his voice. A man with a megaphone rushed past me, probably to give it to Caleb, but I stopped him and collected it. Caleb turned to look at me as I walked up the platform to stand beside him.

"Shut up!" That seemed to grab the crowds attention. They all went silent, gaping at me. Before they could continue their noise, I continued, "How many of you would have stayed behind if you were in Angela's shoes? If you become infected now, how many of you will speak up so we can take you back to earth?"

Everyone remained silent. I let my eyes pass over the crowd. I wanted my words to sink in.

"You are ready to judge her because you are not in her shoes. Angela has done so much for us. You all would have probably been already dead on earth by now. Yes, she might have made a mistake but does that mean we should easily turn on her? After everything, we can easily raise up sticks and stones against her? We should all be ashamed of ourselves, myself included.

"When Angela warned us about RICCO CORP we ignored her but instead of giving up like others, she tried to find a way out. She could have left with only her loved ones and friends or those who could pay big money but she didn't, she gave us all a chance. Yet at the first chance we have we can't give her a chance. She did everything without asking us for anything in return but the first time that she needs our love and support, we pay her with hate. Let's go back and think of all these and the next time we want to raise sticks and stones, let's look back and reflect."

I passed the megaphone to Caleb and left the still silent crowd. In my chest, my heart swelled. I wasn't just talking to the crowd, I was also talking to myself.

On my way back to Angela's room, I met her at the corridor, leaning on the wall. From the tears in her eyes, I knew she had heard everything I had said. She opened her arms and I fell into them.

The doctors and scientists continued trying to find a cure. They did series of test on her and were able to develop medicines that helped to ease her stress.

After my speech, the people's attitude changed. Although there were still people who expressed anger at Angela, most had turned a new leaf. Angela received support from a lot of people, there were cards and food and visits. My speech seemed to have touched them.

On September 24, 2081, Angela Cassey died.

She didn't reduce to an inky puddle like the others had and I guessed it was because of the medicines she had been given. She was buried the next day. The first ink related death since our arrival.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

*Sniffs* Angela Cassey... She's dead. 😭😭😭😭 This is such a sad chapter.

Who else hoped they'll find a cure? What do you think would happen to Inkwell now? How would they cope?

How would Ivy cope?

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©Jesutofunmi Fekoya2019