It's the thought that counts... Chapter six

Mayowa was seated beside her mother who had come out of the operation some days before but still refused to wake up. On the other side of the bed was her father patiently waiting for his wife to gain consciousness while he himself struggled to stay awake.

'knock! Knock!' a light sound came from the door drawing her attention away from her mother and straight towards the individual standing with a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

"Can I come in?" Bola asked.

Mayowa nodded, her eyes bloodshot from all the crying she had done and her inability to sleep, leaving her a present of dark heavy bags underneath each ball.

"Good morning Sir" Bola greeted but got no response, he quickly but silently walked towards Mayowa and handed her the flowers he had brought in.

"Thank you" she said keeping them in the half filled vase on the cabinet, which had been left behind by the previous occupant.

"How is she?" he asked concerned.

"She barely made it, the doctor said she was out for almost twenty seven minutes before they could revive her, now she refuses to wake up" Mayowa said with a tear finding its way down to her chin.

"Really?" he asked surprised.

"Yes, I really thought I was going to loose her" she said allowing the tears to flood their way down.

"It's alright" Bola said holding her hand as he bent down to her level, he hugged her tightly in an attempt to console her, "everything will be alright".

"Awe! What a perfect gentleman" Luci said sitting at the foot of her mother's bed.

Mayowa's face lit up with shock on seeing Luci right in front of her, she turned her eyes to her father who had already dozed off and then back to Luci.

"Don't worry, even if the tried they wouldn't be able to see or hear me, not unless I wanted them to" he said with a smirk on his face.

"Can't you...".

"Shhh!" Luci said appearing directly in front of her, he placed his index finger on her lips to prevent her from uttering a word, "I don't remember giving you permission to speak now, did I?".

She shook her head in response.

"Good! Now then if you want to say something try using your mind" he said pointing at her head, "I'll hear you loud and clear".

"Like this?" she said with her inner thoughts.

"Good girl, you learn so fast" Luci said returning to the foot of the bed.

"Why hasn't she..."

"Are you okay now?" Bola interrupted wiping the tear drop that still lingered around her face with his thumb.

"I think I am" Mayowa answered releasing herself from his grasp. She turned her gaze away from Luci in order to prevent Bola from thinking she was crazy like he did the last time. "Right now I'm more worried about him" she said pointing at her father.

"I know how you feel, it was the same with my mom when my dad had the car accident. I still don't understand how your mother fell on the cutlery she was using to eat" Bola said rubbing his hand through his hair, he always did this when he was suspicious or tackling a problem. The story she and her father came up with wasn't really convincing to begin with.

"He's gonna find out the truth you know?" Luci said as he paused time, he stood up from the bed, walked to her side and bent down on one knee, "Don't you think I should take him out of the picture after all he had done to you?".

"No! It's not his fault, it's all mine" she said.

"You think so?" he asked.

"Yes I do" she answered.

"What if I told you that he knew about how you felt all along, that he never cared about you from the start, that all he wanted was to use you to get popular among the guys" Luci said with certainty in his voice.

"That's not true, Bola isn't that kind of person" she said trying to defend him.

"Oh Mayo! People aren't all they let you see" Luci said, her naive thinking made him chuckle.

"You are wrong" Mayowa yelled this time with her voice.

"Oh yes I knew this would happen, would you indulge me?" Luci asked stretching forth his hand, they were as white as the moon and appealing to the eyes.

She reached in to take his hand but hesitated at the last minute, "What would you do to me?" she asked.

"Trust me dear one, no harm will come to you, all I want is to show you what you must know or are you afraid of the truth?" he asked with a smile on his face, she turned to her father then to Bola who had been frozen in place, before returning her gaze to Luci and then she took his hand. His smile turn into a grin and the room began getting filled by nothingness and also the darkness.