The Void Between Hearts ~~ongoing~~

50| Ivan

THIS MORNING, I got an urgent call from Boma, asking me to come down to the hospital. So I got in the car and took the two hour drive, with my heart in my throat.

I briskly walk through the hallway, unaware of anything happening around me, until I get to Children's Private Ward Fifteen and turn the knob.

The room looks like the nurses just changed the sheets and there is no drip hung or anything.

She was supposed to be discharged today, where is she?

Her bag is packed, lying on the bed, next to her phone. I walk over to the bed and pick up the phone. 12:15pm.

"Boma?" Nobody answers back. "Bo?" I walk to the bathroom and knock. No reply. I turn the knob and peer inside, she's not there. "Boma?" I walk back to the door and to the nurse's room.

The three nurses on duty look up with stressed faces not ready to take any more stress and I force a smile. "Bomate Lawson, ward fifteen, she called me but I can't find her in her room."

The nurses force back a stifled smile and point behind me. I follow their fingers to find her sitting in the lobby, faced away from us with her laptop and headphones.

I chuckle, shaking my head. "Thanks." I nod at the nurses but they're too stressed to reply.

I walk towards her, before sliding my hand over the headphone and pulling it over her bun. She looks up and smiles, blue eyes sparkling.

"I thought something had gone wrong. You sounded urgent."

She laughs, standing up. "It kind of was. My mom needs to get a married life so I told her not to pick me up."

"That could pass as urgency?" I ask as we walk back to her room.

"Well, if she's going to get married, she has to do married things and hospital runs don't fall under the category. "

I take a breath, exhaling it with a shrug. "That's right. I'm just happy that you're good."

She laughs, pushing open the door as we walk into the room. "Were you busy? I'm sorry if I. . ."

"Oh, not busy, just putting our visas and the last few arrangements in place for tomorrow. "

She nods her head in harmony with an expanding smile. "Our trip," she says. "It's still unbelievable."

"It is. Quite different from what I had in mind for coming back to Port Harcourt."

"So what did you have in mind?" She asks, putting her laptop and headphones away in a backpack.

"My pure intentions were to see you again and just. . .you know, relive old memories, but then I came and fell in love," I say.

She laughs. "You say it like it's beyond your control. "

"Obviously." I laugh. "But I don't want to control it either."

She shakes her head with a smile that completes everything. I grab her bag while she picks her phone. "Thank you," she says.

I nod. "So we cut the road then?"

She looks around, inspecting for any belongings she might have missed. "Yes. All good."

When we walk out of the room and into the lobby, she excuses herself to the nurses room and I text Chinny. I hear them ask her to take care of her health and they're all wearing real smiles. She responds with 'yes, I will.' Then walks back to me. "Done," she says.

I hold her hand as we make our way out of the lobby.

"B baby," a round bright skinned elderly nurse with a huge backside and a bright smile walks up to us.