If she’d known from the beginning that the child in need was Yetunde’s, she wouldn’t have bothered. Her hands trembled. Her legs vibrated and her teeth chattered little less than when she had fled from that room and Olumide’s touch... His look nearly had her undone.
“Ma?” The nurse touched her shoulder. “Please, don’t leave. The girl needs you.”
Romola shrugged the woman’s hand off. “It would be better if the girl died.”
With Modupe dead, Yetunde would at least feel a fraction of the pain that threatened to consume her. Just a fraction. Nothing much.
“Don’t talk like that.”
“You’ll do better if you find some other way to help them. I’m leaving.”
And leaving was what she would do. Even if it meant sneaking out of the hospital.
# # #
Olumide watched Romola walk away while everything in him warred to go after her. Life was a basketful of knots and twists. Who would believe that he would find her again? And in so dire a situation.
"Yetunde, you much be crazy to let Romola leave like that."
She pointed at him. "And you must be crazy to think that I would let some wretched prostitute's blood mix with my daughter's."
"Your daughter?" Yetunde’s friend sat in Romola’s seat. "I thought I was here for your sister."
"Oh, shut up and stop squirming."
Olumide shook his head again. Romola was a tested viable donor. Even if it killed him to admit that she could be a prostitute, she could save Modupe's life first and they could worry about technicalities later.
Yetunde's attitude disgusted him. He thought of her as a potential wife and mother to his children, but she was willing to sacrifice her own child on the altar of revenge. Or was it unforgiveness? He could not understand Yetunde's hatred for Romola. Neither could he understand how they had become close friends. Best friends. So close that Romola had practically begged him to date Yetunde.
Olumide turned to Yetunde's mother. "You're not going to let her go like that."
"It's for the best." Yetunde's mother waved the air. "Besides, Ayo isn't charging us for the blood."
"Hol' up." Ayo pushed the syringe away. "Who said I am doing this for free? If you were paying Romola, I'm getting paid too."
"Tah." Yetunde's father squeezed his face.
Ayo folded her hands, staring at Yetunde with a stern face. “How much was she getting paid?”
"Ayo, what's the problem?" Yetunde asked.
"Pay me first."
"This is my daughter we're talking about and you are my friend."
Every second that passed, Olumide's heart beat faster. Every cell in his body tingled with an urge to dash out of the room to be with Romola. Ayo and Yetunde set him on edge.
"How much do you f***ing want to save another human's life?" Olumide yelled.
"Twenty... No. Fifty thousand."
"Your bank details."
"Ayo, I can't believe you." Yetunde exchanged a dirty look with her friend.
"What?" Ayo batted her eyelids as though she were an innocent child. "If Romola gets paid, I deserve more and I know you would do the same thing in my place."
Olumide growled. This woman was just as maddening as Yetunde. The same Yetunde who had possibly masterminded Romola's downfall and pinned it on him. Those picture. He could never forgive himself for not deleting that one on the beach even after she had asked him to.
Now Modupe was caught in the middle of the mess and all he could do was watch and hope that Ayo wouldn't be the only donor.
It was leaving too much to chance to wait and hope. Leaving things to chance had cost him Romola the first time. This time, he would handle things himself.
"I'm going after Romola."
"You better not."
"Don't try anything stupid."
"Have you lost your mind?"
Ajoke, Yetunde's mom and Yetunde spoke over each other.
But he was done waiting for their opinion and approval. If he had ignored his need for their opinion and approvals, he would have chased Romola after her mother picked her up at his housewarming party and he would've worked things out. Then none of them would be here.
The nurse and doctor whispered among themselves as they put a tubeful of Ayo's blood aside. The doctor's frown was set, just as it had been when they had informed him that they did not have enough blood for Modupe in the hospital.
Whatever it was, it couldn't be good and he wasn't waiting to find out.
# # #
Romola stopped in front of the hospital door. It would be so easy for her to sneak out of the hospital now. Nothing identified her as a patient or relative of a patient except for her blood stained clothes. But her mother and brother were still here and no matter how much she despised her mother’s action, to leave her mother to bear the cost of the hospital bills alone was not something she could bring herself to do.
But yet, she hung in front of the door to her ward. She contemplated whether to go in or remain standing there. She would eventually have to make a choice as the doctors and nurses could not meet her there.
It was Jide who opened the door first and the moment she saw him, all the pain, confusion and anger came bursting through in the form of incoherent words and tears.
“Romola?” Jide opened the door wider and took her in his arms before leading her in. “What happened?”
“Nothing. Nothing.” She wiped her tears with the back of her palm but they wouldn’t stop running.
How could she expect them to stop running? Her sister was dead and that trashy human being got another chance for her daughter.
“No dey lie to me. Don’t lie to me.” Jide led her to the couch at the far side of the room and sat her down. “What’s wrong? Did you give the blood? Did they accept it?”
“Forget it, Jide!”
He flinched.
She reached out to him and caressed his shoulder. It wasn’t his fault that she’d been stupid enough to think Yetunde was a good friend.
She repeated in a softer voice. “Forget about it. Let’s go home.”
“But the girl—”
“The girl doesn’t deserve to be saved. It was her mother’s fault that we weren’t able to save Sunbo in the first place.”
She expected some kind of protest from Jide. She couldn’t argue with him or reason with him in when he wanted to be obstinate but all she heard was a mumble. Something along the lines of, “Whatever you think is best?”
She rose, “Then let’s get out of here. Where’s Maami?”
“I don’t know. She left the room after you did.”
“We have to find her and leave this place before they remember we are owing them.” She turned to him and held his chin. “Do you understand?”
“But..” He hesitated, before saying in a low voice. “Sunbo’s body?”
“We’ll come back for it when we have the money. She’s not going anywhere.”
YOU ARE READING
Scars (Romola 2)
Romance"Then maybe you should have stayed in schoool. Instead of trying to be an elevated secretary and teaching me my Job." - - - - - Beyond managing Iya Tobi's store and pursing a shadow of an education, Romola's plate is full. It's been two years since...
