My Instagram Love

Episode 38

First and foremost, how did she know that Alice was Tunde’s daughter? I wondered, squinting my eyes in thought. Secondly, who exactly was this lady? Just how long has she known my fiancé for her to suddenly know who his daughter is? She claimed to have met him just one night in a popular mall, yet she behaved as if they shared much more than that so-called casual relationship between each other.

There was something fishy going on in the air. I could sense it. And, of course, I was hellbent on bringing it out to the light before things would get out of hand.

The lady placed a hand on Alice’s shoulder and said coolly: “Don’t panic. Okay?”
Alice simply nodded in the affirmative, not knowing what to say to her.
“Miss Francesca.” One of Tunde’s colleagues said something at last, much to my relief. He extended a hand to me and I received it warmly. “I’m so sorry about your fiancé’s condition. I hope he gets better with time, because this is such a wrong timing for something like this to happen. I feel bad for him. Honestly, we all do.”
We both shook hands and I managed to smile as I replied: “I understand you, sir. Sometimes bad things happen and we don’t even know why they do. But I’m almost positive that he’ll recover in due time, because God alone is in control of his life. I have faith and patience, and I don’t think anything else supersedes these two personality traits of mine. You all should have some faith, too. It’ll go a long way to strengthen your mindsets.”
Mr Femi smiled back at me in a rather satisfactory manner, then we broke the handshake after what seemed like decades of exchanging pleasantries between each other. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his dark blue jeans, and said: “I love the way you think, Miss Francesca. I’m absolutely positive that my colleague right here has definitely made the right choice by picking a God-fearing woman like you as his soon-to-be wife. I pray that he gets well as soon as possible, because you both deserve the best of what’s yet to come.”

“A big amen to that prayer, sir.” I said almost immediately, entwining both hands for emphasis. “Thank you so much. This means a lot to me than you could ever imagine!”
“You’re welcome, madam.” Mr Femi said, and added again: “We’ll be coming to check up on him from time to time. And if you ever need anything at all, do not hesitate to call me. I’m sure you still have my number, right?”

“Absolutely. I still do.”
“That’s good. Feel free to call me if you need any assistance concerning my friend’s health. Alright?”
“Yes, sir. I certainly will.”
Mr Femi made another satisfactory grimace and concluded: “Just know that you are not alone.” He looked at Alice, gave her a cool wink and waved at her. “Goodbye for now, baby girl. Take good care of yourself, and make sure you don’t worry too much because daddy’s going to be fine. God is in control. Okay, darling?”

Alice nodded again in the affirmative, still unsure of what to say in response. With that, Mr Femi signalled the others by snapping his fingers and they all started to leave the ward one after the other. I greeted some of them and they did the same on their way out. In no time at all, they were all gone. The only person who stayed behind was the proud zombie woman, but she wasn’t standing anymore. She had returned to the couch and busied herself with her smartphone, tapping away on the screen. I ignored her and went closer to the sickbed, scrutinizing Tunde’s skin and caressing his bandaged arm affectionately. He wasn’t even conscious of anything that was happening around him, which was quite strange to me. He couldn’t hear or feel anything at all, but he was breathing fast, just as Alice said he was doing. I had only seen instances like this in some Hollywood movies whereby a certain character gets involved in a gunfight, gets hit, and falls into a state of unconsciousness for a week or more than that. Little did I know that I’d be experiencing something similar to those action-packed films in my life, someday. I snapped out of my thought, took a quick glance at the medical drip beside Tunde’s bed, and touched his right wrist so that I could examine his pulsebeat. As expected, I literally felt hot blood pulsing through his veins, which meant that his right hand was in a stable condition, but I couldn’t check on his left hand since everything was covered in bandages from the top of his arm down to his fingers. So I looked at Alice, smiled and told her almost the same thing Mr Femi said after my inspection on Tunde’s body:
“Don’t worry too much, my dear. Daddy’s going to be fine.”

“How do you know?” She asked, doubting me.