Oluwayemisi

"So 24carat diamond huh?". Olaniyi was smiling mischievously at me as we drove in the light rush hour traffic on our way to my apartment.

I smiled back " Maybe, but I'd love something simple once we can finish our tests".

He horns for the car in front of us before turning to look at me
"Speaking of tests, when are we going to start our tests and would we see the results before they go back to church".

I shake my head, " From a friend's experience, they send the results straight to the church counselor before our next meeting".

My phone rings and I'm surprised because it's Roheemoh's husband Azim. My heart skips a beat because he doesn't call me at all. Why would he be calling me?.

"Azim, how are you doing-". He cuts me off to demand my location, when I tell him, He says come straight to First Consultant in Obalende.

" Oh God, you won't let the devil and human scheming take another friend from me this year, I can't bear it. Please Lord". I began to pray so hard.

"Let me drive you there, I'm not doing anything at the moment, and don't panic just pray". His words give me hope, as we cross the third mainland bridge towards the Obalende axis, my heart even beats louder and my palms sweat.

He taps me to answer the security who asked for whom we had come to see, but upon seeing Niyi we were directed to the VIP carpark at the back of the imposing building.

Hospitals no matter how modern or beautiful remind me of Ella and how I haven't still gotten over the fact that she died in my arms. The only consolation I have is that she prayed before breathing her last.

We finally arrive at the floor where Roheemoh is and we find Azim pacing the corridor and nearly wearing out the floor carpet. I hasten my steps.

" What happened Azim, how did Roheemoh land in the hospital ". I look at his puffy red eyes and slightly red nose. " She tried to have an abortion, can you believe that ". He slaps his lap and sits down on the floor before looking at me with rage or something like that in his eyes.

" I know I'm not as rich as her family but I've done my best to take care of her, I know". He chokes and Niyi goes to him to pick him up from the floor.

He rubs his hands over his face and wearily begins "Yes, my mother said to marry my cousin, but I didn't even think about it after rebuking my mother that night. I just found out that she tried use a sleeping medicine to abort our set of twins, it was an abortion gone bad. Now they had to take out her womb because she had used it in large doses".

Niyi moves to hold him back from pounding the wall, and my mind goes to the discussion I had over the phone with Roheemoh on Saturday afternoon where she said she kept sleeping and thought she had been bitten by tsetse fly during her medical excursion to Agbara, Ogun state.

I turned to him again and injured with an eyebrow raised "are you sure?.

She'd never do that sort of thing and I'm sure that she loves you too much to do that".

Roheemoh covers everything, when I mean everything I mean everything. At some point she told us she was tempted to wear a niqab due to near sexualized statements about her full figure at work, she resigned from the private hospital where she worked after her service and moved to the government hospital closest to their home.

She already had a falling out with her mom because she married Azim. So why on earth would she try to have an abortion that stupidly when she easily do a D&C at the hospital where she worked.

The light on the theatre turned red signalling the end of the the surgery. A Turkish doctor came out and shook his hair out of his cap. Disposed it into the bin and washed his hand at the wash hand basin at the back of the door.

" I want the patient to wake so we can ask a few questions, before I tell you anything at all. We didn't even remove her uterus eventually because surprisingly it was just slightly ruptured. She'd wake in a few minutes as the anesthesia wears off".

He walked off into a distance and Roheemoh was wheeled out, we followed hot on their heels and stood at the room door. I remembered that no one had called Roheemoh's parents so I asked Azim. He said I could call them.

"Ajoke, ó ràntí mí lèní(you remembered me today) how are you?".
I shook my head, she is such a nice person until you have a fallout with her. "Mummy, Roheemoh mà wà ní ílè íwósàn (Roheemoh is in the hospital)". She screams loud and asks which hospital, I tell her and I can hear shuffling and the phone went off.

I called Dieko who promised to rush down immediately and within the hour, we were all waiting for her to wake up.

A nurse came to tell is she had woken and Azim ran after her to her room. Her mom went next then Dieko and I.

She had turned her head to the wall to cry but when she heard our voices she turned back to us in tears, she shook with fresh tears and we kept rubbing her hands.

I couldn't cry because I kept thanking God for bringing her back to life and for not taking her away from me.

She asked for a handkerchief and Dieko gave her an alcohol free wipe. She then tearfully said" Dieko I want you to go to my house and bring something for me, I know who did this and Yemisi please don't let anyone see me anymore".

After thirty minutes she pressed the button for the nurses station and when the nurse appeared, she muttered to her " I don't want to see my husband and his mother. Only my mom and my friends". She pointed at me and glared at the nurse. The nurse gulped and hesitantly nodded her understanding. Roheemoh nodded and turned away from the nurse.

"Dee, are you there?". She had called to say she had reached Roheemoh's house, Roheemoh reached for the phone and began talking to her house help in Yoruba.

" Jé kó wólé, kó bà mí mú nnkan nínú fridge. Shò gbó? (let her in, she wants to take something for me from the fridge, Do you understand?) ".

She also talked again to Dieko and asked her to pack some of her kids clothes into a duffel bag.

My heart beat faster, I know the signs.

"Roheemoh are you taking the right decision, are you sure you aren't being drastic about this". I feel she's taking it too far, Azim doesn't seem like one to lie after making a promise and I definitely saw him cry in front of the theatre just now.

As an answer she scoffs and sneered "All dat one na formality, na joke e dey. I clearly heard him on Friday telling that his cousin that he loves her. He's making it halaal, I don't mind that bit, what I mind is the fact that he's been taking bribes at the government office where he works. You know that oil contract for Atlantic?". It's a very prominent oil bid and Niyi's company had been involved. He didn't tell me of course, I saw the bidding on television.

I nodded and she continued "He took Five hundred thousand  dollars for helping them push it to the permanent secretary. What sort of Muslim does that?".

Tears slip out her eyes and she freezes. I follow her line of vision and see Azim peering into the room from the small window. She asks me to go draw the curtain over the small glass space.

When I hesitate she shouts "Go, go immediately I don't want to see him. I don't want to see his lying ". I reluctantly stand up and to draw the curtain.

" Roheemoh, one mistake doesn't make a man, in fact he's allowed to make mistakes. Please forgive him". I joined my hands together and begged her. She shook her head and asked for my phone. She called her mom and asked her to come in.

Her mom checks her temperature over and over again with her hands and murmurs prayers over her,  that's one sign of a worried African mother, the next is for her to nag her.

My phone breaks the silence and its Niyi, I just remembered I left Niyi at the reception. Its nine pm already. I rush out of the room and go straight to the reception on that floor.

"I'm so sorry Niyi, I completely forgot about you. I was in a tense place there". I saw him calm as usual with his legs crossed.

He regards me thoughtfully and asks
" Why didn't your friend let her husband in or isn't he her husband ". I sigh deeply and looked elsewhere.

" You do know that you can tell me anything, I might even help you". I look at his serious expression and my face lits up with a smile.

"First she thinks her husband is getting funds illegally and some other things". His expression changes to thoughtful.

" Why don't I get information on that for you?".

I look at him skeptically "Is that even legal, I don't want to break Roheemoh's heart further. She's heartbroken enough as it is. I'm even scared as it is of what she's going to do next". I saw a flash of yellow and it was Dieko, I called out to her.

" Hi I'm Diekololaoluwa Akintoye. This girl's friend". She stuck out her hand and put a yellow plastic bag on the other hand. I looked at it curiously and asked with my eyes if that was what Roheemoh asked her to bring and she nodded cryptically.

She and Niyi exchanged pleasantries for a few more minutes and we walked hand in hand to Roheemoh's room. By now it was nearly ten thirty in the night.

At the corridor of her room we saw Azim and his mom sleeping, tears sprung to my eyes. How can we know those who love us and those who sneer at us behind our backs, how can we ask others to itch our backs for us knowing they might be carrying thorns.

Once I'd gone to Roheemoh's house and her mother in law's love made me so jealous I cried as I drove home. I never knew it was all a lie, all fake, all deceit. But at least her own mother in law doesn't beat her.

I stepped into the room and Roheemoh's tears were flowing again as she spoke to someone in Yoruba.
"Jólá jóór ó dé bamí test juice yén, mó kàn fè mó nnkán kàn no( Jola please help me test the juice, I just want to know something)". At that statement she began confirming my suspicion, she had been drugged. But by who?.

"I know it's illegal and you might loose your job but please think about the kinship that we have shared for twenty six years". She begs again with her voice cracking miserably. I have no idea what the other person says but when she drops the phone she shakes with sobs and the tears I tried to hold back slipped down.

Her mom blows her nose and quietly went into the toilet to probably cry. African mothers never show off their weakness in front of you.

" Dieko, go downstairs in twenty minutes, there's a cousin of mine waiting outside to take that juice from you, you'll also please help me go get the results by afternoon tomorrow."

After issuing this order to Dieko, she falls asleep from the medication she was given a while ago, I walk out of the room with Dieko and quietly walk past sleeping Azim and his mother. They look so peaceful sleeping that its hard to imagine them do evil.

"Olaniyi, abeg jè kà màà lo lè( please let's go home).

In the car, Dieko taps me whilst I'm putting on my seatbelt " Yemisi, you do know that seriously, Azim is in a large pot of soup if his family has anything to do with what happened your Roheemoh ".

" Roheemoh is so done with Azim if this is true, all she had ever hoped for was to love and be loved. Now it looks like those who say they love us, scare us the most". Dieko also sighed.

A few weeks later after that incident when Roheemoh was discharged from the hospital, her family held a meeting with the elders of Azim's family and then they divorced after nearly eight years of marriage. It was heartbreaking and heartrending for me. I finally lost all hope at loving anyone because if Azim could do that, who wouldn't then?

All through those weeks Niyi and I completed our tests, we finished our counseling and our mothers met again to plan our introduction ceremony. They fixed it for December the fifth.

The future is just a step away.

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Dear All,
I'm so sorry for my absence, school has dragged and slammed me and you know how stressful it can be. I didn't want to write nonsense but this chapter had to get out of the way to pave way for the story.

I hope you liked it though, I still wish I had time to edit more, I'd have done a better job. Thank you all for reading. Thank you for voting, thank you for commenting and adding to your libraries. God bless you richly. 😍😍😍

Now, this chapter is dedicated to Mss_Gujbawu Happy Birthday baby girl. Long life and prosperity by God's grace. Have a blast baby girl. 🎉🎉🎉🎉

I'll see y'all soon. Very soon.

                               Yours,
                              TheOmoope