Part Fifty-four

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David's POV

This was the first time in my life to see someone laid so helpless and weak on a hospital bed, and to think that the man I was looking at was my biological father whom I thought was non-existent. He was putting on a white and pink-dotted johnny, and laid flat on his back. His eyes were still closed but his mouth was ajar, because of the ventilator which was fixed to help him breathe.

The scenario was looking strange and weird to me. I've been in the hospital before— when Ikenna was born, to pay the customary visit and back then my mind was still too young to hold memories of anything I might have seen. But this image in front of me was definitely going to stick for a lifetime. I walked slowly towards his bed like I was considering each step I took forward, my mom was right behind me.

When I got close to his side, I discovered just how much I looked like him. The height, eyes and cheekbones I inherited from him, while my lips were from my mom's side. Ikenna was also very tall but light-skinned and had small lips as well. He was breathing at a faster rate than a healthy person would, but nothing of alarm because the heart monitor wasn't indicating such. I looked at mom and she nodded her head in permission, so I locked my fingers with his, as I sat down on the blue chair provided. I had no idea what I was to say to him seeing that I've never spoken to him in person, I've never even had any relationship with him.

Whilst I held his hand, I silently said a prayer in my subconscious—pleading that my father pulls through this without any complications. The doctor did inform us after the operation that his condition was on it's way to being stable, but we had to wait until he fully regained consciousness and they ran some tests on him to confirm. To say that I was shocked when he told that my father was poisoned, wasn't the full truth. I was stunned as well as scared for him, I wondered what and who could have hated so much to poison him. Thankfully, the doctor confirmed that he reacted to an allergy.

“It's going to be alright baby, I know your dad and he's a fighter. He'll pull through, okay?” mom said as she placed her hand over my shoulder.

I managed to nod my head in acknowledgement at her words. I didn't really know what to say to my mother as well. I figured I was furious at her, perhaps if she didn't act all bossy and kept me away from him, maybe just maybe, he would know that there's something or someone worth fighting for. Despite the fact that I had a father-figure in my life—Chinedu, Ikenna's dad, I always knew deep down that he didn't fully play out that role in my life. He doesn't fill in the gap in my heart that only a true father can fill.
So, I was beyond scared of losing a father I haven't even met. I laid my head besides his and didn't realize when I nodded off.

“David, son wake up” I heard my mom's voice calling from my innermost mind.

When I opened my eyes I saw that father was already awake, he was looking into my eyes, tears brimming at his. Mother was positioned by the other side of his bed, smiling at whatever was said between the two of them. The scenario made me realize that he must have been awake since a while ago and who knew what they must have been saying while I drooled away.

“ sir...ma,” I greeted, as I was used to. I sat upright on the chair and pulled on the creases that had formed on my shirt.

“David right?” Dad said, his voice totally drained of emotion.

“Yes sir,”

“How are you my son?” he asked.

“I'm fine sir,” I answered. It felt too awkward yet heartwarming, to be talking to my real father.

“Your mom...” he inhaled, then continued “your mom told me you're in your finals in school, am I right?”

I nodded again. For some reason, I couldn't fathom why I've suddenly become tongue-tied.

“I'm glad” he said “and she also said some things as to which led to your being here?”

“Yeah, yes sir, she did. I...” I trailed off. I was still unsure whether to tell him the truth that she told me, or to let my mom intervene. Knowing my mother, she won't butt in if she hasn't been permitted to. The door creaked open to reveal the doctor dressed in gray-coloured senator and white coat.

I was extremely thankful at that point, to think how awkward the situation would have been for me.

“Mr Anikola, glad to see that you're conscious and okay,” he paused and took a glance at some papers in his hands. “From what I can see in your medical reports, the effect of the poison on your heart has been neutralized...”

“What poison?” Mom said in alert.

“Not a poison really, just something he took that his system is allergic to. It triggered a reaction in his brain that sends signal to his heart, which stopped pumping blood for sometime.” the doctor related.

“So... should we be concerned about anymore sudden attacks, is he fully okay now?” Mom asked further.

“For now we have to let him eat something to regain his strength, then one of the nurses would check his pressure and heart pulse and collect his blood sample for some tests.” he confirmed, before nudging my dad on his shoulder then he left.

The next hours were awfully quiet and strangely comfortable too. Dad didn't pay much attention towards me though, mom kept his thoughts occupied. And honestly, I didn't mind. I took my time to observe the two of them, I always caught my dad's gaze towards my mother when he knew she wasn't looking, which had me thinking.

What if he still has feelings for my mother?

Did he marry?

What about his other wife?

These questions kept popping in my brain and I had no answers to them. I simply had to hope that mother doesn't get heartbroken again when she learns that he's married, if he was.

.

Three weeks and five days later, we all gathered in school—the SS3/graduating students. For students like me who were still writing exams—now NECO to be exact, it wasn't difficult for us to arrange ourselves and come. It would actually be hectic, almost impossible for students who weren't writing NECO and must have travelled to come around.

The reason was so we could make arrangements for our upcoming graduation ceremony. The meeting went as I knew it would. Instead of putting out ideas that are meaningful and can be accepted by the majority, the whole thing went haywire with lots of cussing and negative vibes. Ernest could do nothing about it if he wanted to, his position as the class prefect no longer held water.

For me though, I ensured to come so I could see Nnenna. Dinma had mentioned during one of our exam days that her birthday was today. Nnenna didn't make an open announcement to the class because she wouldn't celebrate it in a big way. I got the news from Hassan who heard from his sister, Hadith. There still existed some tension between us and our friendship was strained as well, I figured she wouldn't see me in the same light again and that's the cross I had to bear for my immaturity. I got her something though and I requested that we meet up at our usual spot after the meeting. At first, she was hesitant to give in, as I suspected she would but I did know just how to persuade someone, so, I caved her in.

What I was about to do was definitely stupid I knew, I had no idea how Nnenna would react when she found out that I got her such present without her permission. It was a present she needed though it wasn't in my power to decide if this was the right time for her to start using it. But I couldn't help not buying it when I went to the mall to shop for new outfits for my graduation ceremony. Before the day I went, I was actually bothered about how to raise the money to buy myself some new stuffs, it was as though someone somewhere in the universe heard my silent prayer and touched my dad's heart.

Dad called me a couple of weeks after he was discharged from the hospital, I went to his house—as I've been doing regularly since the day he came home, to see him and find out what he reason was for sending for me. We managed to talk about our situation, he apologized for not being a part of my life in the early years and was willing to make up for his absence all those years. As our communication improved, I found the courage to ask him about his wife and other life-related relationships. When he replied and said that he wasn't married, I was truly shocked in as much as I was happy about that.

It was like in those movies and books where the characters parents weren't married, but the character hoped and prayed that they would eventually realize their love for each other and get married. That was how I felt with both my parents' situation. I knew of the position Chinedu had in my mom's life and I couldn't for sure tell if she loved him or felt just gratitude towards him, one thing I knew was that she wasn't same woman when she was with either of the men. I wasn't about to ask my dad if he still felt anything for mom after these years, I wouldn't raise any false hopes within him.

Dad offered to pay all expenses for my graduation outfits and any more expenses that came with my examination, I was really overjoyed that my real father was a wealthy man—from what my eyes saw. His house—like a mansion, was gigantic and exquisitely decorated like those in the movies. I never thought I could see something like that in my early years in real life. He said that he was a businessman but never really told much about his business, just that it was government-related.

Back to recently, I went shopping with Hassan and Ikenna and ended up getting some things for them also. I was glad that I could be the reason for such a good time and the smiles that were on their faces. It was in one of the sections of the mall that I saw where phones were sold. I immediately thought of Nnenna and remembered that she wasn't using a phone yet, not even button-phone. Not wanting to go overboard with my choice, I picked out an Oppo  version, Android phone. That should work for her, if she was going to accept it.

I was sitting besides Peter Dare and Wunmi , close to the back of the examination hall where the meeting was going on, going over the possibility of Nne rejecting my gift out of fear of what her mom may think or say. I'll just have to persuade her into accepting it because, as much as it was a birthday present, it was also a peace offering from me and I wouldn't let her turn it down. Besides, she can't be scared of her mother her entire life. One thing was to fear, another thing was to respect and honour a parent.

My phone rang out in my pocket, I brought it close to my ear after I answered the call. It was Ikenna calling.

“Hey!”

‘David where are you?’ he voiced without any emotions whatsoever, and whenever Ikenna sounded like that at the beginning of a phone call, then he wasn't about to say anything good.

“I'm still in school, why?”
Other students in GCH had started writing the final examinations for the session, hence school dismissed by two pm. It was some minutes after four at the moment, which meant that Ikenna was calling from the house.

“I don't know what is happening here, mom and dad have just been raising their voices to each other. Especially dad, he's been saying all sorts of things and laying accusations on mother, I don't know what to do oo, you better come back and handle this...”

I was alarmed, Ikenna didn't know yet of the change of things at home. He was still in the dark about my real father, mom told Chinedu only, but it seemed that Chinedu has taken the entire thing wrongly. He has been treating mom differently from the point she told him about my real father, to a stage where Ikenna has noticed his indifference.

“Alright, I'm coming. Just try to keep things from getting out of hand until I get there.” I instructed before disconnecting the call.

I stood up to walk out when I suddenly remembered the phone I wanted to give to Nne, I glanced at her figure where she sat down on one of the front seats, chatting with a couple of female friends. I couldn't postpone this, it wouldn't seem like a birthday present anymore if I did. So I quickly went to a separate chair and scribbled down few words in a paper for her. I glued the letter together with the wrapped gift and handed it to Hassan. He was the one person I could trust with things like this, especially since he knew about my situation with her. I could also easily find and kill him if I found out that he didn't deliver my message.

D*mn this meeting. I walked out of the hall after passing my message to Hassan, I couldn't look back as I left for fear of locking gazes with Nnenna. There was only one thing on my mind and that was to get home to my mother, I would have to deal with Nnenna later.

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Whew! I didn't have much sleep because I needed to put this up and it's like 2500+ word count. But it's my fault cos I'm lazy with updates 😔.

Anyways, who enjoyed this chapter?
This is like David's last POV for this book, so, I think we're gradually coming to an end ☺️. For my babe who asked about Hassan and Deborah, you'd get your answer to that in Hassan's POV.

Thanks for reading, please do vote and drop some comments. Especially vote babes 😘. I'm getting down the points and plots of the book two (title would be out after the next two chapters 😀😀).

Stay tuned. Stay Blessed ♥️.