IRENE

My eyes fluttered open and I shut it immediately it I opened it. I took a few seconds before I opened my eyes again and looked around. Everywhere was themed blue and white and I could not decipher where I was all I knew was that I was laying in a pool of white sheets.

Could I have died and gone to hell?

No, hell would be themed red and yellow right?

Heaven? Heaven would be pure white and with streets of gold so where was I? In between heaven and hell?

Oh wait, I know. It is heaven. The skies are blue and the clouds are white so literally that was it right?

I closed my eyes again and opened it only to be met with the oddly sparkling room yet again. I looked down and realized that I had a blue free gown on.

"Hello?" I called out. My voice came out low and suppressed. Maybe one of the angels would hear me and come tell me how I got here.

"Baby you're up?" That was my mum's voice. I turned to my side and saw her seated with large eye bags and bloodshot eyes.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "Why are you with me?" Did we both die?

"I couldn't leave you alone sweetheart, I had to come stay with you."

"Heaven is beautiful." I said looking around with a smile. My eyes lingered on the glistening white curtain.

"Heaven? What do you mean? We are at the hospital."

I frowned, hospital? I looked around again and it finally made sense, the heaviness and soreness I feel all because of Mayowa.

A well built figure walked in.

Speak of the devil.

"Babe she's awake." Mum said and beckoned to Mayowa who walked towards me with a ghost of a smile resting on his ever plump lips.

I tensed up as he got even closer to me. "Oh goodness look at my sweetheart." He advanced towards me and I spoke up before I could even process the words.

"Don't come any closer."

He frowned and gave me a long look. "What do you mean Irene, Mayowa has been worried sick about you and what you have to say is that he shouldn't come close to you"

Oh yeah he has been worried sick.

"She just regained consciousness Tiffany, she's bound to act that way, don't get pissed. She'll be fine." He added and stood beside me maintaining eye contact with me.

One that scared me to bits. His gaze made me feel so suffocated and I began to hyperventilating. I tried to keep my breath in check but I failed at that.

"Oh shit! Go get the doctor." Mayowa urged my mum and she rushed out leaving us alone. My fear and anxiety heightened.

He is going to kill me!

I kept screaming in my head whilst trying to breathe steadily but surprisingly he was pacing around the room with a look of worry on his face as he watched me with something close to pity in his features and that confused me even more.

I closed my eyes as my heart started beating erratically and the doctor walked in with my mum and two nurses.

"You should have called me the moment she regained consciousness." I heard his voice say but I was away from the present probably lost somewhere in time, in some sort of time warp where I could still live the present.

"I had the nurse out for a little while and this much happened." He chided while a nurse opened a drawer beside my bed.

"Doctor is she going to be fine?" My mum asked and the doctor ignored her. I could hear the voices but all I could see was black.

"Please excuse me, I will call you back in here later. Irene has to be attended to immediately." The doctor said and pulled out his stethoscope from his pocket. That was the last thing I heard and the last thing I saw before they left the ward was Mayowa holding my mum up close as though whispering words of reassurance to her.

Bloody hypocrite!

➪➪➪➪➪

My gaze drifted to the wires and machines I was connected to and then to the figure beside me. He had his face in his palms so I couldn't get a view of his face but I couldn't be mistaken.

I could recognize him even from far away and the Onyx curls on his head gave him away already.

"Tobias?" I called out and he snapped his head at me. His features softened as he watched me.

"My baby." He cooed.

I gave him a long look. Last I checked, he was still recovering from his relapse. "Are you okay?" I asked him and he chuckled lightly.

"I'm perfectly fine. I should be asking you that question. Irene how do you feel?" He asked and I made to sit up but I felt sore everywhere and winced absentmindedly.

"Hey, stay put. You don't have to get up, I'll get you everything you need." He said and helped me lay back in the bed. I watched him quietly as he made sure I was comfortable.

"Why did you travel all the way from Lagos to see me?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Don't over exaggerate, it was barely an hour's journey." He responded and sat carefully on the side of the bed beside me whilst holding my smaller and softer hands in his larger and more coarse ones.

"How long have you been in Abuja?" I asked and he pulled a strand of his straightened curls.

"I touched down few hours ago."

"Tobias," I called. "You have your life, you have school. You didn't have to."

He poked my nose gently and smiled. "I also have you Irene. My very special friend, I couldn't help it. I was very scared knowing fully well that it's the same day that Ivory-"

My heart sank. Heaven knows when next I was going to see her. Or if I was ever going to see her.

"- I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

I stopped him. "It's fine, I can't hide away from the truth anymore." I shrugged and looked up at him.

"So I was told you got a panic attack when you saw your mum's fiancé." He said and I paused.

"And who told you that?" I asked and he replied almost immediately his eyes not leaving mine even for a moment.

"A nurse. What was it all about? Wanna share?"

Tell anyone that Ivory is alive and I'll kill her.

You'll go to jail if you kill her Mayowa

Not when the whole world already thinks she's dead.

I recalled my little conversation with Mayowa on the second day of being held captive.

"It's nothing, I was just overwhelmed and all up in my emotions." I said dismissively silently leaving an indication that the conversation should come to an end. I decided to distract myself from his hot gaze and started looking around when my eyes caught something on the nightstand , it looked like an envelope.

"Are you sure?"

"What is in the envelope." I asked gesturing to the nightstand and successfully avoiding his question.

"I don't know," He said, got up and walked to the nightstand to get it. "It comes with a rose." He said holding up the flower.

"Seems to me like a Valentine's Day parcel." He said, handed the card to me and placed the rose beside me on the bed.

"A Valentine's Day parcel?" I muttered to myself as I opened it. It contained a card. I opened the card and read the note in it to myself.

Irene,

I honestly hope that this is not coming late.
I want to let you know that I do care a lot about you and that I have your best interest at heart. I genuinely wish for you to see that in the coming days. You have been nothing but an angel to me, my escape from reality, my safe heaven and I'm grateful to the almighty for making us cross paths. Keep being you, stay beautiful and recover quickly. I miss you. Happy Valentine's Day Princess.

From a heart that cares 🖤

I looked up at Tobias who quirked a brow at me. I went ahead and folded the card back to return back to the envelope and in the process something fell out. I picked it, it was a small wrapped gift. I tore it open and what I met inside had me opening my mouth ajar.

It was a sparkling diamond necklace and I took it out in awe and watched it from every angle. It looked utterly familiar and yet very unfamiliar.

"Wow it's beautiful," Tobias spoke up as I still analyzed it. "Wait, isn't that the new neckpiece that McClure launched yesterday?"

My eyes widened at the sound of that. McClure? One of the biggest jewelry brand in the world. I handed it over to him to have a better look.

"Oh it is the limited edition of McClure's newly launched diamonds." Tobias said whilst returning it to me. "Who sent it."

"It has no address." I responded and he smirked.

"Let's just say you've got yourself a secret admirer." He teased taking the card from me and skimming through it.

"Did anyone come in here?" I asked and he shook his head.

Who on earth could it have been? Theodore?

"Oh wait, a boy came in. He said he's a friend."

"Oh, did he mention his name?" I asked. I had to know who it was.

"Yes. KC."

My ghost of a smile fell alongside my hopes. It wasn't Theodore but then what was I expecting?

"Okay." I responded and Tobias gave me a small smile and made to speak when a different voice interrupted him. A voice I was way too familiar with.
One that could make anyone feel mushy and threatened at the same time.

"And why weren't we informed that Irene had regained consciousness?" He said and rushed towards me as Tobias backed away giving him space to sit.

Oh Desmond!

He reached for my hand and held it in his squeezing gently and giving me that look, that very endearing look. That look that made me feel like I did matter and indeed I mattered to him.

"I couldn't see you when you regained consciousness at first but I'm glad I can now. How are you?" I peeked behind him, the rest of the guys were in the room with us. All asides Theodore and Osaze of course. I sighed and looked back at him.

"Well expect for the pain I feel physically, I'm fine."

I'm not fine, I had my trust broken by two people cared about.

"I should have listened to them, I should have believed Osaze."

Maybe I had just been fooling myself all along. Theodore only did whatever he did for me out of pity and not because he cared. Definitely not because he felt something for me.

I was stupid to believe that I stood a chance beside Osaze when it came to Theodore. I could see the signs from the start but I only ignored it but it had to blow up in my face.

"Why didn't you tell us Irene." Kiki's voice drew me out of my forming reverie.

I creased my brows at how serious she looked. What could she be talking about. "What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Everything Irene, Everything!" She was at the verge of yelling and it got me even more confused.

"But I don't know-"

"The texts!" She snapped cutting me short. I froze in the bed. The texts! They found out? Did they also find out that it was Mayowa that sent it? Because if they did then Ivory was going to die for sure.

"Kiki you need to calm down she's still recovering. We can talk about this when she's better." Desmond said and I still laid frozen in the hospital bed. My head began to ache terribly and I shut my eyes immediately.

"We're your best friends Irene, if something is bothering you we deserve to know but you couldn't tell us. What if something really terrible had happened to you? How do you think we'd live with the guilt of knowing we could have done something."

I could hear the tears in her voice. Maybe I should have trusted them and told them instead of telling someone I had known for barely six months. Even if I couldn't trust anyone else, I should have trusted Desmond or even Tobias. I felt extremely stupid for not trusting my closest of friends.

"Kiki-" Desmond began and another voice interrupted him. One that I was not familiar with.

"I'm sorry you all have to leave now," I opened my eyes. It was a nurse. "The patient needs to rest and you are not even helping matters, you're talking in loud voices."

"We're sorry about that. We will reduce our voices." That was TY.

"I'm sorry you have to leave. It's time for her medication and rest. You can come and see her later."

After so much persuasion, the guys and Tobias left the room reluctantly leaving me with just the nurse and Ola who didn't make any attempt to leave.

"You have to leave too." The nurse said to Ola.

"I know," She responded. "I just need to speak with Irene for a few minutes."

The nurse gave her a long glance, nodded and walked to the door. "Just five minutes."

Ola nodded and mouthed a thank you to her before she slipped out the door.

Immediately the door clicked shut she turned to me and hugged me even though I was laid in bed. "If you couldn't tell anyone else, why didn't you tell me or Desmond?"

"I'm sorry." I replied mostly because I had nothing else to say. I had no excuse to give.

"I understand that you trust Theodore and yeah he's a good guy but don't we mean anything to you? Don't you trust us too?"

I sighed. "I do, I trust you guys but Theodore was with me at the time everything happened and I got all up in my emotions and told it to him."

And I very much regret it now.

"It's okay, I just want to let you know that we all love you and we always have your back. No matter what it is, you can always come to us for help."

I nodded and the entire room fell into silence. I was expecting her to ask more questions about my disappearance, she was one for it.

"You're not gonna ask about my disappearance?" I asked her and she responded immediately.

"Oh I am but that would be later. For now you have to recover."

I smiled and she returned my smile and the room fell into silence yet again.

I bit hard on my lips to prevent the words I wanted to spew out from mistakenly leaving my mouth. I so wanted to know but I didn't want to ask.

"You wanted to know if he came right?"

Witch! How did you know.

I did not responded and she probably took that as a cue to speak on. "Well he did, in fact he found you."

My heart softened for a moment before I remembered his words. He probably did what he did out of guilt and not because he really cared.

"He also brought you and contacted us and your family. I think he regrets what he did."

Yeah right!

"He was going to wait to see you but Desmond sent him away just the way he did Osaze."

That caught my attention. "Did you say Osaze?"

"Yes."

"She was here?" I asked. What would she even want in the hospital where I was admitted.

"Yeah, she came with Theodore."

Ola dropped the bombshell on me and I shrunk back in shock.

Osaze and Theodore were in talking terms?!

I really couldn't believe that Theodore was in cohort with the enemy. That stung me real bad.

I should have listened to them, I should have believed Osaze.

What was I thinking though, that I was important to him? Or that he had even the slightest crush on me? So pathetic of me to think so and even more pathetic of me to have developed feelings for him.

"I really think-"

The door bursted open and the nurse walked in. Ola gave me a small smile. "I'll see you later." I nodded and she walked out.

The moment she walked out the reality of everything that she said earlier dawned on my and the ache in my heart intensified.

Theodore and Osaze?!

Oh shit!

I honestly have nothing to say so see y'all in the next chapter except that I'm sorry for taking so long. I genuinely apologize for that.

Mind you, tell me what you think of this chapter and your speculations on the coming ones. Shit about to go down my dears.

Do well to vote, comment and share. See y'all in a bit.

Word Count: 2806