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

"Luci! Luci! Luci!" Mayowa yelled through her mind in panic as she paced about her mother's room. She had been asked out of the room by the doctor due to her mother's reaction to seeing her right after she regained consciousness the second time. Although it was less than an hour ago, it felt like an eternity yet Luci was nowhere to be found neither was he answering her call.

"Why did she call me a demon?" she asked herself stopping her pacing, she stood at one point for a minute and then began wandering around the hospital staring forward and yet lost in her own head.

"Did she see something, did she hear me?" she asked unsure about herself. She soon stopped at the front of the door leading to the stairs and decided to head to the roof for fresh air.

"This hospital smell is killing me" She said as she began ascending the stairs.

Getting to the roof top was no easy task for her as she began sweating fluids. For a four storied hospital, the stairs had seemed to go on forever never actually seeing the end. After a series of 'I CAN MAKE IT' chants, she got to the top thirty minutes later. She placed her hand on the door knob, squeezed and pulled it down gently, opening the door in the process. This allowed the bright orange rays of the evening sun into her eyes temporarily blinding her. She hadn't been out of her mother's room for days and this was the evidence to show. She quickly placed her arm over her eyes preventing any more sunlight. In minutes her eyes adjusted to the light and her vision began to clear. As she removed her arm from her face, her attention got drawn by a male figure sitting on the edge of the hospital's roof. He had on a white coat which was being blown by the evening breeze exposing the blue colored hospital's staff uniform. In his hand was a half finished cigarette stick, his hair had been shaved low showing the almost perfect shape of his scalp.

"What are you doing over there?" she asked startling him.

"My God! Is that something you should be doing to someone sitting on the edge of a building?" he asked holding his right hand over his heart as he turned around to look at her.

Mayowa stood staring at his overgrown mustache which seemed to fit him perfectly, his jaw beard had been shaved improperly, leaving some strands of hair sticking out. He had on a pair of see through glasses which allowed her to stare into his grey lenses, this made Mayowa wonder if they were the real deal or just self applied to complement his dark skin.

"Hello?" he called out waving his hand as he tried to grab her attention.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to startle you like that" she apologized.

"Well next time you see someone on a ledge just go call for help or you may end up turning a suicide into a murder or maybe it's manslaughter" he said. His voice was calming and made him easily seem like someone she could trust, like an elderly man even though he looked like he was in his mid thirties.

"Okay" Mayowa said.

"So what brings you here, you don't look like the kind that smokes" he said.

"No I don't and I thought those were supposed to kill you early".

"Everyone's gonna die someday right?" he asked with a grin on his face, unlike Luci's which was usually terrifying his made her chuckle. "What are you laughing at?".

"It's nothing" she answered.

"Come on don't be a fun sponge, share the laughter" he urged.

"It's just, you are a doctor that smokes, isn't that like against a law or something?".

"Self prescription y'all!" he said with a smile on his face, waving the cigarette in the air.

"I guess that's a perk from being a doctor" she said.

"Yap, very useful for times like this" he said placing the cigarette back in the hold of his lips, "you still haven't told me why you are here".

"Can I join you?" she asked.

"Sorry, where are my manners" he said dusting off the cigarette's ash from his side.

"Thank you" she said taking her seat beside him.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said staring at the sunset.

"Yeah it is" she answered.

"That's the reason I'm out here right now, it helps me clear my mind, it and the cigarette too" he said making her laugh at his joke, "I'm Charlie by the way" he said giving her his hand.

"I'm Mayowa" she said taking his hand with a warm smile.