"Ugh..... Where am I?" I sat upright to see white Walls surround me and an irritating beeping machine with drip passed into my body.

"Oh, you're awake?" A lady in her mid twenties said as she walked into the room with a tray in her hands.

"Who are you and where am I?" I asked confused as I looked down at the light blue hospital dress I wore.

"If you still haven't figured out Mr Turner, you are in the hospital and I am the nurse treating you. You can call me Nurse Precious."

"Huh..... Hospital? Why? Why am I here?"

"You passed out due to excessive loss of blood from the bullet injury you sustained. Have you been having issues with someone lately?" Nurse Precious asked concerned as she jotted things down in her book.

"Maybe... I guess"

                ★ FLASHBACK ★

I was driving home after a strenuous day at the office suddenly, a black Toyota Corolla sport car drove past me and parked right in front of me making me to hit the brake  sharply.

Four hefty men came out of the car and marched to where I parked. I was forcefully dragged out of the car and made to kneel down. The men communicated in French but I heard one of the men spoke with Mr Pedro on phone. The rest of the men came to me, they punched and kicked me several times in my face and my stomach till I had no strength again. The man who spoke with Mr Pedro on phone happened to be the gang leader, he fired a gun at me. That's all I could remember.

              ★ PRESENT DAY ★

"Oh.... Dear, it's 08:12am already. I have to go now." I said as I picked up my phone and my car key which was placed on the drawer right beside my bed.
"I have got to go now" I said jumping out of the bed. I staggered for sometimes before regaining my balance. I changed out of the hospital dress to my shirt and trousers which was now soaked with blood and dirt.

"Sir! You can't go sir!" Nurse Precious shouted as she chased me down the stairs and out of the main entrance before she gave up.

"Pheeew..... That was really close" I said as I slowed down my pace walking briskly to my car, parked near the huge Mikano generator and thoughts of Faridah crossed my mind. I silently prayed and hoped that she's safe wherever she is. I drove to my apartment first to see how my mother and Iremide are fairing.

Stepping out of the car, I was greeted to a scene of people wailing bitterly like they were mourning someone's death. They were actually mourning someone.

"Hello sir.... Are you the one who lives in this apartment?" A police man came over to me as he pointed at my apartment.

"Yes! Yes..... That's my house. What happened? Why?" I asked rhetorically. The policeman looked surprised at first and then looked down then shook his head apologetically.

"We are sorry but your house was bugled by hired killers last night and erm...... Your mother and your daughter were shot. We tried to reach you immediately we got the info but we realized your number cannot be reached." The police man said

"What!!! My mom and m- my daughter w- were shot d- dead? Who did it?" I asked softly trying to suppress the bitterness in my voice.

"From the info we got and the CCTV footage we watched, the operation was carried out by a gang of four men. They drove in a black Toyota Corolla sport car. Do you by chance have anything to do with them?" The police man said softly. I shook my head slightly first before nodding, causing the police officer to look at me weirdly.

"Well, you'll have to follow us to the station so that you'll be safe and also tell us more about the incident."

"Alright"

Just then, the dead body of my mother and my daughter were rolled out on a stretcher. I stood up and walked towards the bodies. I opened the white linen used to cover my mother. Her brown skin glowed as if she had just taken her bath, her body was stuffed and cold. I walked towards Iremide, I called her by her name... but she didn't answer me. I pulled her away from the stretcher and carried her in my arms . She looked just as beautiful and radiant like she had always been.

"Fly, fly little wing
Fly beyond imagining
The softest cloud, the whitest dove
Upon the wind of heaven’s love
Past the planets and the stars
Leave this lonely world of ours
Escape the sorrow and the pain
and fly again.

Fly, fly my precious one.
Your endless journey has begun,
Take your gentle happiness
Far to a beautiful place for this
Cross over to the other shore
Is peace forevermore.
But hold this memory bittersweet
Until we meet.

Fly, fly do not fear!
Don’t waste a breath, don’t shed a tear
Your heart is pure, your soul is free
Be on your way, don’t wait for me
Above the universe, you’ll climb
On beyond the hands of time
The moon will rise, the sun will set
But I won’t forget.

Fly, fly little wing
Fly where only angels sing
Fly away, the time is right
Go now, find the light."

I walked back to the stretcher where my mother was laid and held her by the hand

"Hands that rocked the cradle
From the moment of my birth,
Their tender touch remembered
By those still here on Earth.

Soft as silk those hands
That taught me how to pray,
Banishing childhood fears;
They soothed each one away.
When I grew much older
And troubles came my way,

Those hands caressing mine
Did more than words could say.
My mother’s hands were gentle,
I will miss them very much,
I’d give the world to feel once more
Their warm and tender touch.

Those hands were full of comfort
Now they lie at rest,
But memories hold them close
To the ones they served the best."

Reality finally dawned on me that my mother and my daughter are dead and I'll never get to see them again. I wailed and wept bitterly.