Your Honor

18

JAMES'S POV

The cock crowed thrice indicating morning but I could not deny seeing Tolani. I barely slept as my thoughts were filled with clashes of agitation and despair. I folded my knees still in that same position of the previous day. It was terribly hot but I was trembling like a leaf. I turned slowly, cautiously and daringly to look at Tolani. But her bed was empty. I let out a huge sigh of relief. I rolled to turn to the other side of the bed.A nurse walked up to me wearing a pregnant smile.

"Good morning sir, How are you feeling?" She said, touching me on my shoulders.

"I think I am feeling better. When will I be discharged?" I said hastily.

"Probably in a week or two." She replied, reassuringly.

"Maybe in a month, if necessary." She added.

"No, that's too long. You don't understand. My life is in danger. I need to leave now." I said, dropping my feets on the tiled ground.

"Sir, you are in the hospital. You are safe here." She countered, still wearing that strange smile.

I grabbed her hands in desperation, she flinched. But I refused to let go of her hands.

"Please, I need to leave the hospital. Is there a way I could escape?" I said, breathing heavily.

"I am very sorry sir but I could get sacked in the process of aiding an escape for a patient .You also have to understand from my perspective." She said, removing my grasp from her hands.

"It's alright. No one is coming to pay or sign anything to get me discharged,so you have to let me go." I whispered, faking sobs.

"I heard someone paid for your dues but it was anonymous, so you don't have to worry about that." She replied, looking at the monitor.

"Then I have to go. The hospital's first priority is to collect money from the patient and that you already have." I cooed, rubbing my hands in agitation.

"But we also have a priority to ensure that our patient recover fully. Your leg hasn't healed completely." She stated stubbornly.

"Then aren't you expected to ensure your patient's safety? If you want me to recover quickly. You have to listen to me." I said whispering.

"I need to get out of here or you might have a dead patient with the blood on your hands." I added.

She mumbled something under her breath and looked at me briefly.

"Alright." She said smiling.

I lifted myself from the bed. It had been days since I walked so my body felt heavy on the ground. The nurse guided me, placing a hand on my shoulders to hasten my movement. I felt freedom pump into my legs as I was determined to live. My short-lived excitement was cut off by the brisk movement of a nurse and a patient heading towards us. The nurse wasn't scary, she looked oversized in her outfit. But the patient, everything about her made my heart stop in fear.

Tolani.

I shifted my face to the right so that she won't recognize me. But as we became closer, my heart jammed faster against my chest. Soon enough, we were side by side. Tolani fell on the ground in a dramatic manner and she collided with me unfortunately. She was on top and I was below. Her face was straight when she looked at me. But it was transformed into a psychotic grin. I knew that Tolani wasn't a fool. I knew that right from the time I saw her from a distance, she already knew.

I gently pushed Tolani aside. I picked myself off the ground and the nurse aided me. The moment only lasted for seconds but the aftermath was clicking minutes in my head. I kept breathing in and out repeatedly but nothing could stop the frenzy of fear in my belly. My legs felt like jelly and the saliva in my mouth was secreted sporadically.

The moment the door opened to greet the first ray of sunlight of the morning. I pulled away from the nurse's grip on my waist sharply and I ran. I didn't turn back to see the expressionless look on the nurse. I couldn't turn back because I was scared. The nurse kept screaming but I refused to turn back.All I wanted was to be free and alive.

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ENIOLA's POV

The only sound that the room kept echoing was the munching of baked bread. I sat on the ground, in the darkness of the night, a room that held nothing in it. It used to be my dead sister's room before it turned into a void of nothing. I couldn't bare seeing anything of hers so I discarded everything. I thought it would make me feel better but it felt worse and tragic.I had been in this room for two days. I refused to go to the office. I wasn't ready to see that egostatic lion. I drenched my thoughts into memories of my childhood. Those were the best times of my life.

A shrill sound disturbed my peace as I placed the piece of bread in my hands into the bowl and I picked up the phone, imprinting bread crumbs on the phone.

"Hello."I mouthed, shifting my position on the ground.

"What's going on Eniola. You refused to pick my calls for the last two days. You refused to show up at the office. Is everything alright?" Ayo said, raising his voice in concern.

"Everything is alright." I said coughing lowly, as the room felt hot.

"Are you sure? You know you can talk to me." Ayo inquired, pushing out that baritone voice.

"I said I am fine." I said sniffing.

"Are you crying? Is this about your sister, Arinola?" Ayo inquired, pushing further.

"I have told you not to mention that name again. I told you not to speak of the dead." I yelled, as silent sobs shook my body in a diminishing rhythm.

"I am sorry, I was just concerned about you." Ayo said, his voice breaking due to network disconnection.

"Ayo, I'll call you later." I replied, hunging up the phone.

Those tears that refused to descend when I looked at her grave now overflowed like the ocean. I wiped my eyes severally but it kept flowing. My eyes itched and burned in pain, but the tears didn't stop. I heard the sliding of windows from the living room and I jolted my legs from the ground in fear. I thought it was the thieves of the neighbourhood that desired money and life. I made to abscond into the toilet but that felt too simple. I ran into my bedroom in a frenzy, opening my wardrobe. I tried to enter, but I couldn't fit. I was short in height but I wasn't that slim enough to enter the wardrobe.

I scratched my head in despair. Time was running out. My eyes caught a fat iron rod resting at the side of my bed and I picked it up. I decided to rely on defense mechanism as I walked silently into the living room. I spotted the shadow of the figure walking towards the porch of the house.

I steadied myself at the wall facing the door, gripping the iron rod in my arms.The door creaked open and the figure dressed in a blue scarf entered.I couldn't figure out whether it was a male or a female. I mustered all the energy from the bread I had eaten earlier and smashed the rod against the head of the figure. I smashed the rod repeatedly not once and it wasn't twice either till the figure came crashing on the floor.