Against All Odds

Chapter Thirty Nine : Love and Duty

What happened to her? " Benjamin asked as he drove to the clinic while taking instructions from Obi's father.

" Amaghị m o, She was just talking and she fell" Okechukwu replied running his hands over Obi's face. He had been lucky that Benjamin was there and caught her, if not she would have landed with her head. Okechukwu felt guilty that his daughter was in such state, the girl had been dealing with the loss of her mother, it wasn't right for her to have heard about him leaving with her brothers.
They got to the clinic quickly courtesy of Benjamin and his Mercedes. Obi was conscious but she was gibberish and kept muttering words that didn't make meaning.

They got Obi into the clinic and the nurses took over, they wheeled Obi to a room and alerted the doctor.
The two men waited outside patiently for hours before a nurse notified  them of Obi's health. .
Okechukwu told Benjamin to go ahead while he went to get food and other important items that Obi needed.

Benjamin had wanted to see Obiukwu after he drove into the village to greet his long lost friend. There was something about the girl on the day of the burial that drew him to her.
His father had left the next day after acquiring plots of land from some of the villagers. Obi's eyes were puffy and her lips dry, but Benjamin couldn't help but notice her beauty. He knew Obi was very young and would probably ignore him, she was grieving after all. He drove into the compound and came out of the car, to see Obi talking with her father. He approached their house and noticed that they were arguing.

Benjamin contemplated on walking away to give them privacy before he saw Obi sway.
She continued swaying from right to left and he figured out that something was wrong. He quickly rushed to the scene and Obi fell into his hands. He panicked seeing her passed out, the scene reminded him so much of his mother's demise.

She had been scolding him before she suddenly began to sway, he got to her  and she slumped in his hands. He had rushed her to the hospital with his father but she didn't come back with them. Benjamin knew this was a sign, he had always blamed himself partially for the death of his mother, now the same thing happened with the strange girl he barely knew. Maybe his mother wanted him to redeem himself by saving this girl.
Obi's father sprinkled water on Obi and she moved a bit, before Benjamin scooped her into his arms and headed to his car.

When the nurse pointed him to Obi's room he inhaled deeply before stepping in.
She was sleeping with a needle connected to the liquid that was being infused into her body. Another nurse walked in and checked Obi's wrist and made sure the drip was releasing the liquid at the rate it was supposed to.
"Are you a relative?" she enquired jotting some things in a book.

"I'm a family friend, her father just stepped outside. He'll be back very soon" Benjamin replied with his eyes still on the sleeping girl.

"When he comes back, the doctor would like to have a word with him. Her test results came out positive, she'll be needing a lot of care from now on. She is dehydrated and it seems she had not been feeding well. Has she been under some kind of stress?"

Benjamin nodded" yes, she uh, she recently lost her mother. Her burial was two days ago"

The nurse's face softened "poor girl, no wonder. She'll be fine inu". The nurse reached out and patted his shoulders before walking away.
It was until she left that Benjamin realized that he hadn't asked the nurse what exactly Obi tested positive to. He took a chair and moved closer to her bed and held her hand.

"You'll be fine nne m"

Benjamin patted her hand softly and laughed as a tear drop fell from his cheek.
Slowly Obi's fluttered opened but her vision had not clearly returned. She had been hearing a voice and when she looked up, it seemed as if it was Obiefune. Obi gave him a big smile and shut her eyes while she whispered softly