HEAR ME TOO!

PART THIRTY-ONE

Few hours passed and to the little group in the waiting room, those hours felt like days. Ben's parents sat in a corner, not saying a word. Every once in a while, Richard would give his wife a kiss on the forehead and wipe her tears, which seemed to never stop flowing. Uche, who still felt like all of this was surreal, also sat with his head in his hands, muttering silent prayers and beckoning on the heavens and the universe to listen. Winnie and Isabel sat a little distance away from the group, silent. Isabel was trembling slightly at the thoughts that filled her head. She had asked one of the nurses when she came in how bad Ben's injury was and from what she was told, it was a very serious accident. Images of Ben flashed through her mind in slow motion. Him smiling, him telling her to eat every other minute, him coming to pick her from the hospital with plans of her next meal already well thought out, him calling her randomly just to check on her and cheer her on, him telling her that everything will be fine, him walking out of the party when she kissed Ken. Each memory hit her with force and she suddenly felt nauseous. She stood up abruptly and Winnie, who was now wearing slippers the nurses had lent her, followed suit. Seeing the nearest sign that indicated a restroom, Isabel went in and headed straight for a stall. The sound of retching followed soon after.

"Isa, are you okay?" Winnie asked.

There was no reply, only more retching.

Winnie walked to the stall and tried pulling the door open but it was locked from the inside.

"Isa, open the door. Let me help."

Isabel said nothing still and after a few minutes, Winnie heard the sound of flushing and the door was unlocked. Isabel emerged, looking so sick that her friend feared she might have to get admitted too.

She walked to the sink, washed her hands and when she finally turned, Winnie saw her eyes were filled with tears.

"I am supposed to be strong for everyone Winnie, I'm supposed to bring hope. I am a doctor. But now all I feel is a huge sense of dread that threatens to overwhelm me. What am I going to do if he doesn't survive?"

"Please calm down Isa, he'll be fine. I'm sure the doctors will do their best to save him. Let's just keep praying and stay hopeful."

Isabel finally let her emotions take over and burst into tears. This was a horrible nightmare and even though she knew there was no horror movie with a happy ending, she still hoped this would have one.

Winnie went up to her and embraced her, letting another person cry on her shoulders for the second time that night.

*****

Tina sat in her beautifully furnished sitting room, her mind nowhere near the present. She had been in the same position for an hour, scared to move and wondering if someone would just snap a finger and wake her up. The entire day, she had been trying to muster up her courage and call Ben, but she hadn't been able to until a few hours ago. She had called three times and was about to give up when someone picked up the call on her fourth try.

"Hello," she had squeaked, wondering if he would even give her an audience.

"Hello,' a female voice answered.

Tina was taken aback. She didn't think he would let someone else pick his calls, considering how he had screamed at her the last time.

"Who is this? Where is Ben?"

"My name is Karen and I'm a nurse at the Limi hospital. The owner of this phone was involved in a car accident and we were just about to contact his family. Are you a family member?"

Tina felt like someone had poured a bucket of ice water over her and she had trouble forming her next words.

"Hello, are you still there?" the nurse prompted, trying to speak loudly amidst the chaos in the background.

"Yes, yes...I'm- I'm here. I'm a friend of his."

'Okay. Please come to the hospital if you can..." her voice trailed off.

"Hello?!" Tina said, trying her best not to scream but the call was already disconnected.

It had been hours since she had received that call. Her first instinct was to dress up and rush to the hospital but then, she couldn't. She knew his parents were aware of how their relationship ended and she didn't think they would be thrilled to see her.

'Does that matter though? You can't just sit here and not go check if he's alright,' a voice in her head said.

The voice was right. It didn't matter if his parents didn't like her. She would go to the hospital just to check on him and leave. She just had to know he was alright. She called an Uber and while waiting for its arrival, she picked up her purse and put on comfortable shoes, all the while praying that he would be fine.

A/N

Prayers up for Ben! I do hope he survives because I want a happy ending.

If you liked this chapter, please vote and leave a comment too. Thank you all for following the story up until this point.