Facade (Romola 1)

29: Empty Room

They entered into the hospital and the first person they searched for was Vicky. They asked the receptionist where she could be found and they were directed towards the staircase leading to the first floor.

Dami was the first person to spot Vicky. She was walking into a room with a nurse following closely behind her. He rushed into the room and Olumide struggled to catch up with him.

"Vicky, how is she?" Olumide asked, as he stood inside the room.

Vicky turned to them with wide eyes. She pushed them out of the room and closed the door behind her, saying, "You are not supposed to be here."

The worried look on her face had been replaced by an irritated one but Olumide saw something else behind her bent sleek brows and twisted lips. He had been her friend or over sixteen years and he knew when she was about to tell a lie.

"Vicky!" The nurse in the room called.

"Yes ma. I'm coming," Vicky replied, before turning to them. "You are not supposed to be here."

"Just tell me how she's doing." Olumide demanded.

"She is doing fine." Vicky's voice mimicked that of a level headed doctor explaining a mild illness to a patient. "Now you need to go back home and rest."

"Stop lying to me."

"Olumide-" Vicky began.

"Vickkyyy! This resuscitator won't move itself." The nurse yelled.

"Both of you, please, sit at the waiting area." Vicky's eyes pleading eyes looked with Olumide's determined gaze.

Olumide let out a breath. "Is she still alive?"

"I... I can't say for sure. A few minutes ago, the machine tripped off. Her heart-"

"Vicky." The nurse pulled the door open and grabbed vicky's hand, mumbling into the air. "These resident students, a bunch of unserious beings."

The woman's eyes landed on Olumide and Dami. Her beady eyes slit into a pointed gaze. "This is not a meeting point. If they wish to see you, they will have to wait."

"Yes ma." Vicky hung her head as she walked back into the room, refusing to bless them with a parting gaze.

Olumide stormed away from the room, unwilling to believe that Vicky lied to him. He started to walk towards the room beside the emergency unit.

"Where are you going? Vicky asked us to wait." Dami called out.

Olumide picked up his pace. He went down the staircase in time to see a hospital staff, dressed in the same scrubs as Vicky and pushing a metal cart, exit Romola's room. Olumide raced after the man.

"Excuse me." He panted, breathless from his speed walk.

The man turned to him with a sharp look. Olumide almost lost his words at the sight of the man's large eyes, balding head and small ears. "Yes sir?"

"The woman that was here. In this room," He pointed into the room. A quick glance into the room showed that it was empty of humans. "Where is she?"

"How are you related to her?" The man asked.

Dami appeared at Olumide's side at this moment, answering the man's question. "She is his fiancee."

A look of pure disgust flashed on the man's face before it became the blank face that Vicky had given him earlier. "Sir, I am so sorry. She passed away a few hours ago. She bled too much."

"Bleeding how? She was in a coma." Olumide took a large step towards the man.

"I don't know. Ask the doctor." The man pushed his metal cart, that held the bloody bed covering, away from them.

"What now? Dami slipped his hands into his pocket.

"Now?" Olumide raised his voice. "Now, I find Vicky and ask her why she lied to me."

"Maybe, she did this for a good reason. She would have told you anyways." Dami said.

Olumide raised his eyes to meet Dami's. "You knew about this didn't you."

"She only told me that there were some complications and that was while you were asleep. I didn't want to bother you."

Olumide marched off, leaving Dami's words to float into the air. How could they do this to him? How could they have kept this from him? Especially when they knew that he cared about Romola. How could Dami be so cool about Romola's death. His blood boiled and his skin tightened against his throat as he felt some pain prick his watering eyes.

Fury powered his steps as he returned to the room where he had met Vicky. He would not allow her to push him away so easily. She had probably sent him home on purpose because she had know that Romola would not make it.

"Where are you going now?" He heard Vicky's voice behind him and he stopped, realizing that in his angry musing, he had marched past her.

He turned to her and pointed to her while a blanket of confusion covered her face. He couldn't believe the cynical words spewing from his mind as he said. "You are the last person I would ever expect to lie to me. I could expect that from Dami but from you?"

She pushed his finger away from her face. "I didn't keep anything from you."

"Shut up! She bled to death. How?" Vicky opened her mouth to speak but no words dropped from her lips. He closed the gap between them with a scowl on his face. "You knew she was going to die. Didn't you? What kind of friend are you?"

Vicky found her voice after this. Her manners were still cool even though she looked confused. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Romola is dead. Why didn't you just tell me?" His voice roared and echoed in the tiled hallway, bouncing off the walls and ringing in his ears as a stubborn tear drop escaped his left eye.

"What are you saying? Who told you that?"

His lips dropped. She had known and she hadn't told him. 

***

Who can guess what will happen next? Let me know your thoughts.