More Shots Fired (05)

Ife paced the aisle on the third floor of The Pavilion Hospital in utter discomfort. Enoch’s presence seemed to do little to calm her down, especially since neither the Doctors nor Nurses were yet to tell her if the surgery to extract all the bullets from her father’s body was successful. The many piercing eyes from other patients and families of patients alike in the waiting room, coupled with the extras of wailing from other wings of the hospital made it more difficult for her to calm herself down.

‘The Doctor will see you now.’

Those were the magic words she desperately needed to hear, but they weren’t forth coming.

Naomi surfaced, bearing a bouquet of roses, and good tidings.

“My baby,” she said, and enveloped Ife in her embrace. “Don’t cry anymore. Mama is here,” she said with happiness written all over her face.

Ife enjoyed the warm yet, false security her friend’s embrace gave. If her life was actually under threat, by the mysteriously masked Six-Six or whoever shot at them last night, only Christ and his miracles could protect her.

Naomi broke off the embrace. “Hey!… you’ll say you can’t see me, right?” She beckoned at Enoch, who was rather oblivious to the importance her presence added.

“Hey!” Enoch coldly replied, with a very obvious fake smile.

Naomi took note of his odd reception as did Ife.

“The Doctor will see you now,” a slender-looking Nurse, looking her late twenties announced behind Ife.

Ife immediately raced, not minding the many people’s toes she’d step on doing so. Enoch tried following almost immediately, but was held back by Naomi: she needed them to talk in private.

On her way to the Doctor’s office, Ife overheard two Nurses gossiping about a topic of interest – The missing CEO of Lewis Chambers, who died and suddenly came back to life. The tale sounded like fairy-tale. It captivated her, and for a little while she was calm; forgetting her own problems as she eave-dropped on another’s.

“Can’t you see?… Are you blind?” A lady rained insults on Ife.

Ife ran into her, spilling more coffee into her white dress already soiled with coffee. The lady walked away without listening to Ife’s attempt at apology.

“That’s Beatrice,” the Nurse with Ife said, without being asked.

“Who?” Ife asked. Her curiosity caused her to move slowly as she awaited a reply.

“The dead-to- life CEO’s ex-girlfriend,” the Nurse replied with a chuckle.

They were at the door to the Doctor’s office, all gossips ended. The Nurse left without any ceremony. Ife walked in, uncertain about the kind of news she’d be forced to receive.

“Good day,” Ife greeted the Doctor, uncertain about what the next few minutes held for her future.

The fine specimen for a Doctor offered her a seat. She gladly accepted.

***

Naomi and Enoch were all over themselves. The had used the last twenty minutes in exploring each other’s body none stop, forgetting the main reason that brought them to the restroom in the first place.

By the time Ife came out of the Doctor’s office, she decided to go home without either of them; since she would be returning very soon with supplies for her father.

By the time she got to the entrance of her house memories of the shooting started to come back to her; they flooded her head. She shrugged off the inexplicable fear, and turned the doorknob. Blood greeted her as she walked in, dried, and all over the carpet. She had suddenly forgotten the pool of blood her father swam in before the ambulance arrived. She hurried up the stairs, unable to deal with the heavily flooding memories triggered by her immediate environment. She sat on her bed with her face buried in her sweaty palms – discomfort ran wild. After a while of self-absorption, moved to open to try to clear her head.

Enoch caught her attention. She saw him move about his house, through the usual half-closed curtain of his room’s window.

His presence here was very unusual. ‘Could he and Naomi have arrived home so fast?’ She asked herself. Not waiting for an answer from her logic, she ran down the stairs to catch up to him.

“Hey!” Ife shouted. Enoch was already on the move, and he wouldn’t look back.

She ran after him in the heat of daylight.

“Enoch!” She shouted, still behind him.

“Hey, babe!” A familiar voice called to Ife from behind. It was Naomi’s. The voice caused Enoch to stop moving as well.

She turned back to see her girlfriend standing with him.

There was an Enoch on both sides of her hands.

The Enoch she was chasing turned, and revealed himself to the others, because he wasn’t yet visible to them. Ife remained shaken, even as he passed her side.

“O my God!” Naomi shouted.

Both men held the lady closer to his side, and forcefully dragged them into the house.