EIGHT
Vanessa sprang up and rushed to Rick in concern.
‘Are you okay Rick; is he alright— was he sick before?’ fear consumed her voice.
‘No, he was perfectly alright,’ Diane stood up, ‘I’ve got to get him home.’
‘Okay, let’s go,’ Vanessa helped hold him up to his feet.
‘No! no! I will be fine Vanessa, don’t worry,’ Rick told Vanessa, snatching himself from her stylishly. He held unto Diane, ‘let’s go home please.’
‘Okay,’ Diane said. ‘Err— Van, take care of you okay and good luck.’
Vanessa nodded still feeling so worried for Rick and they started to walk away.
‘Please be careful,’ Vanessa screamed.
‘We will,’ Diane replied loudly.
Diane made him hot beverage at the dining while Rick relaxed on the sofa.
‘You are so hot; don’t you think hot beverage is out of it? We should go to the hospital.’
‘I’m the doctor, I will be fine,’ he stood up slowly and made his way inside, ‘I just need to relax.’
Diane watched him walk in, she was very worried.
‘I still think we should see a doctor.’
She made the beverage and walked in.
Rick lazed in bed under the duvet while Diane mopped his forehead with a damp cloth in worry.
‘Sorry my love,’ she said.
Rick saw the tint of worry in her eyes and in how she mopped him.
‘I will be alright soon my love, the medication works,’ he gave her a weak smile of consolation.
Diane looked at him with worried eyes but she forced a smile out and nodded. She was scared something might happen to him and who would blame her? She loved him too much to lose him. Moreover, he’d never fallen ill in their ten years of relationship. The highest he was closer to being sick was having a cough and once he used a particular medication he claimed a doctor used to administer to him when he was young, the cough would vanish into thin air within few hours. So it scared her big deal that he was down for the first time.
She pulled the duvet to his chest.
‘I’ll be back, let me return the cup,’ she pecked him on the lips and then picked the empty beverage cup and the used medication pack on the table and walked out.
Rick sighed and looking into space, he went lost in thought.
It took Rick four days to get his health back. He stayed home relaxing and colleagues and workers came checking on him all through. And when he finally did, he stepped into work the next day.
Vanessa walked into the hospital to the nurses at their post.
‘Hello.’
‘Hello, how may we help you ma’am?’ a nurse asked.
‘I want to see Rick?’
‘Rick? Oh you mean the MD?’
‘Uh, yes the MD.’
‘Do you have an appointment?’
‘Hmm yes I do,’ she lied.
‘Okay, ma’am,’ she pointed to her left, ‘go straight and make a left, you will see a nurse point, ask for a lady, Sue; she will direct you.’
‘Okay, thank you,’ she found her way.
Vanessa was putting on a provocative micro sequenced gown with six inch heels which made her look taller, and that made the nurses stare at her until she was at vanishing point. She cat walked through the direction given to her with her heels knocking on the floor.
Rick was alone in his office. He picked his phone and walked out into an open floor, where nurse point was situated. He walked to a lady nurse.
‘Sue, have you checked on Mrs. Roy?’
‘Yes doctor, Doctor Terry has checked on her.’
‘Okay, I need you to—’ he heard heels knocking on the floor and looked up, he was dumbfounded and happy to see Vanessa. He probably had forgotten whatever happened the last time they met.
‘Van! I can’t believe it,’ he laughed.
‘Yeah, you can’t,’ she laughed.
Rick walked up to her and in no time, he noticed her height, ‘you look— taller.’
‘Yeah?’ Vanessa laughed.
He looked at her feet and saw her heels and chuckled.
‘So how did you know I work here?’
‘You mean that you are the MD? I’m happy for you Rick.’
Rick smiled, ‘thank you.’
‘You know I still can’t believe you are a doctor. It’s you Rick, a doctor?’ she chuckled lightly shaking her head.
‘Yeah me too but I am,’ he smiled. ‘But still, how did you know this is my office, we didn’t talk about it the last time we met.’
She snapped her fingers, ‘research! I’m Vanessa, you know,’ she giggled.
‘Yeah, you are, come on in,’ he helped her with the door.
‘A doctor? Man I used to force you to go with me to visit dad,’ she was still amazed.
Rick laughed.
Terry and Shannel’s wedding pictures filled the walls of the living room. They’d been married for months and Shannel was six month pregnant but her tummy was surprisingly too protruded for six months that they teased it to be two babies in there even though the scan result said it to be one. They were happy and in love.
Rick and Diane took their day off for a visit to their place and they were all laughing hard. Whatever they were saying got them all cracking their ribs.
‘Oh men, he did that?’ Diane laughed hard with tears in her eyes.
Shannel nodded laughing and holding her tummy, ‘the lady just stared at him. She was embarrassed. If you see the way she looked at him…’
‘Gosh Terry,’ Rick was laughing, he slapped Terry on the laps.
‘So tell me what did you do?’ Diane managed to question Shannel amidst her laughter.
‘Me?’ Shannel scoffed, I just watched them from the car, I wanted to burst but the lady was looking at me frequently, so I had to keep my laughter inside until she left.’
‘Oh my, Terry, you are naughty,’ Diane giggled.
‘Yea he is,’ Rick buttressed nodding, ‘guy, you are more than naughty.’
‘C’mon guys, be slow ‘o judge. I can’ know everywhere and when I don’, I need ‘o ask even if i’s a c’mon place bu’ tha’ didn’ give her the righ’ ‘o looka me tha’ way. So I needed ‘o ask if she was deaf or dumb and o’course I couldn’ ask if she was blind ‘cause she’d no suppor’,’ Terry demonstrated a hand holding a stick.
Terry’s expression made them go cracking their ribs again for moments.
‘Common guy, it’s just like asking what drug to administer to a malaria patient,’ Rick said.
‘Even I know that,’ Shannel said.
‘Yea, I do too,’ Diane nodded.
The guys turned to them instantly with a plain silly expression on their faces and their lips gapped to respond but then closed abruptly on the subliminal decision of a change of mind.
‘But I told you the way you didn’t listen,’ Shannel said.
‘The las’ ‘ime I lis’ened ‘o you, we spen’ five hours for an hour journey,’ Terry pointed out.
‘Yea I remember that,’ Rick and Diane laughed.
‘But that wasn’t my fault,’ Shannel tried to justify.
‘Very righ’, I shouldn’ have lis’ened ‘o you,’ Terry nodded.
‘But isn’t it better to spend five hours for an hour journey, instead of embarrassing a lady with your question?’ Shannel asked.
Rick and Diane stopped laughing instantly and looked at her.
Shannel furrowed. ‘Oh that didn’t come out right.’
They all burst into laughter.
‘Oh my babies,’ Shannel said amidst laughter holding her tummy.
‘But don’t you guys have Google map on your phone?’ Rick asked.
‘Does Google map know Soka?’ Terry inquired.
‘Oh oh,’ Diane firmed her lips and tilted her head slightly.
‘And I be’ you say yes and I’ll sue them ‘o cour’ righ’ away,’ Terry added.
They laughed.
‘And even if Google maps know the place, his inability to pronounce ‘t’ would scatter Google’s brain and mislead us,’ Shannel said ignoring Terry’s look.
Diane and Rick laughed.
‘I don’ wri’e ‘he way I speak,’ Terry shot back.
Rick pointed at that, ‘yea yea, I can attest that.’
Shannel and Diane laughed.
‘And Google has auto corrections too,’ Rick tilted his head sideway defending his friend.
‘Bless you!’ Terry said rather loud in an appreciating manner. ‘Le’ ‘em know.’
‘Oh, I know so well; that’s made for people who can’t pronounce ‘t’,’ Shannel shot back.
Terry looked at her. Diane and Rick laughed.
Shannel winked at Terry and he chuckled and shook his head.
‘Excuse me, I need to do something, please come help me Dinny,’ Shannel stood up.
‘Okay,’ Diane said. She went to Rick and kissed him on the lips, ‘just some minutes, don’t miss me too much.’
While they did that, Terry pulled on Shannel’s arm to himself and rubbed her tummy; he then put his ear to her tummy to listen to the baby’s movement but Shannel was busy watching the love birds to notice.
‘Aright, let’s go,’ Diane joined Shannel and they walked out.
Terry looked at Rick, ‘they know wha’ ‘o adminis’er ‘o a malaria patien’?’
Rick shrugged slowly with his brows up.
Diane and Shannel walked into a flower garden. The flowers looked healthy like they never missed care for a day.
‘So what are we up to?’ Diane asked.
‘I want you to help me with the flowers.’
‘Oh, I should have known.’
Shannel picked a hose by the tap and gave it to Diane then she went for the flower cutter on the ground by the wall.
‘You used to love flowers if I remem-m-ber?’ Shannel said struggling to pick the cutter.
‘Careful,’ Diane said. ‘Let me,’ she helped her pick the cutter, ‘yeah I still do but you know— there’s no time,’ she gave her the cutter.
‘You mean your time is being occupied by someone else?’
They looked at each other and smiled and Shannel started trimming the flowers.
‘No honey, just that I’ve been busy but I plan having a garden of my own in the future.’
Diane opened the tap and water gushed out from the hose end and she started watering the flowers trying not to focus too much on a spot.
‘Future?’ Shannel asked, ‘okay, that’s still okay, at least you are not foregoing your love for it.’
‘Forego? Hell no, not with you around,’ she chuckled.
They focused on the job they were doing for minutes with smiling faces that soon dissipated. They were backing each other with many feet between them, each in her thought.
Diane could feel the distance in Shannel, she was extremely quiet and Shannel was not someone known to be quiet unless she had something on her mind, but what it was exactly, she couldn’t say. Her brain scrambled at different possibilities then she decided to wait patiently for it.
Shannel looked back at Diane thoughtful and continued with her flower trimming, then she rolled her eyes up.
‘Tell me Diane, when are you guys planning to settle down?’ Shannel dropped.
Diane paused and eyed up from what she was doing. She would have smiled that she was right but it hit her straight in the heart. She wouldn’t deny that she wasn’t nervously expecting that particular question in some part of her mind but whenever she asked, it always hurt her and she wondered if Shannel didn’t see it. She continued watering.
Shannel continued, ‘I mean you guys should be planning that by now, right?’
‘Soon,’ Diane managed to answer.
‘That’s what you’ve been saying for years—’
‘We just need to get some things set. Moreover, we are happy, it’s just like we are married.’
‘Except that you guys are still keeping your body,’ Shannel said bluntly. ‘It’s been ten years Diane.’
That was it. She never expected that. Shannel could have said anything but that. She frowned and paused then responded.
‘Shannel, you just got married seven months ago,’ she continued watering, keeping her fury in check.
‘Yes, but I’m married. Moreover, it’s different, I just wish you guys got married already.’
‘Don’t worry, when there’s life your wish could still be granted.’
‘Yeah but that’s when you don’t drag that wish too long tending to unnecessary things.’
She really did mean me today, Diane exhaled softly and it seemed part of her anger was expelled with the breath.
Shannel sighed and turned holding the cutter; she walked to Diane with smiles.
‘Sweetheart, I don’t know what you guys are planning, but whatever it is, please be fast about it before it’s too late. Guys can act funny sometimes. I hope you understand what I mean.’
Diane looked confused at Shannel in a bid to ask a question.
Shannel knew what she wanted to ask, ‘yes, it can be late and I don’t think, I know,’ Shannel told her and they stare at each other.