His visit to give his friend a surprise had been compromised twice as she was not at home.
” Could it be that she had changed or is she having a boyfriend?”, Carl scratch his head as he could not help but feel the way he did meanwhile, he has not seen Bethany for years now.
“Stop torturing yourself as she might be in good hands now”, Carl brushed the thought at the back of his mind.
Carl inclining on one side and pushing his left foot in front, he supported the weight of his body as he placed his elbows on the balcony sipping from his glass and catching a glimpse of the evening view.
Taking a look at the album and all the photos that were in it, he could not stop but marvel why Bethany did not reply to any of his letters and he always asked himself whether she got to see any.
Picking up one picture and looking at it keenly, he was hit by the incident that happened that day before that photo was taken.
Carl was not a snapshot person, so his parents always had problems making him take pictures.
His secret was being discovered one day as Bethany walked into their house to deliver the items she had bought for her aunty who was a maid in Johnson’s mansion.
Catching a glimpse of Bethany that day, Carl had gone dumb out of her beauty and innocence, his nanny had noticed that he was following her all over the house, doing impressive moves to be noticed by her.
In the middle of all this show, a family friend who had visited their household was about to resign from the country for some time, so he asked for a group image where he will always gape at it and have the feeling that he was back home with them.
Carl who had always shied away from pictures, began acting up and Bethany who was done with what she had come to do, was almost leaving the house when she saw Carl being forced to get a picture,
“Common Carl, it is only going to be one picture and that will be all”, his nanny spoke out holding him to get to the side of the camera.
Bethany being an outspoken little girl had seen the whole incident, and walking closer to the family, she said,
” You do not have to be scared of raking pictures, they are not harmful and it makes you keep souvenirs of yourself while you grow up into an adult”, she said with a smile that had rayon the whole room.
Carl stood stationary like someone who was stroke by a spell looking at how beautiful her hair was and how gorgeous her face is.
Bethany walked to him and convincing him to take the picture and get over his fears as she will be standing by him, Carl rushed back and took almost a hundred pictures that day.
Smiling as he thought back to the past, he chuckles alone on his balcony with only the light of the moon giving a natural gleam on the surrounding area of the sides.
“Oh Bethany, where could you be all day, I know that you must have grown into a pretty young woman now”, Carl drank his whole glass and stood there staring at the stars.
Feeling dizzy as she had not eaten anything since morning, Bethany became weak like overcooked noodles and her body weight on one side making Rachel notice that something was wrong with her.
” Bethany, are you okay? open your eyes Bethany”, Rachel frightened did not know what to do and she ran outside to call for Duke and Henry.
Chatting and walking into the hospital, they saw Rachel rushing outside crying out for help and Henry’s first reflection was the possibility of Eva in great danger but Rachel approached them with terror,
“What is going on Rachel, is Eva doing alright?”, Henry raised a question shaking like someone who had fallen from a tree.
Rachel caught her breath, said that Bethany was not okay and she was sitting on the chair that was next to hers when she suddenly became weak.
Unable to wait for another word from Rachel’s lips, Duke holding Glenn tightly, who was still sleeping against his chest, ran into the hallway thinking that the worst had happened to his beloved Bethany.
Henry and Rachel followed him forthwith, and on seeing Bethany lying ok the chair, he knelt by her asking what the matter was worse and whether she was feeling pains on any part of her body.
” I don’t know what is wrong with me Sur Duke but I feel so weak”, she responded with her eyes closed as she was having a fever.
Bethany was in pain and she looked tired and shaky and Her she was running temperature.
“Please can you call my mother Sir Duke, I am sure that she will be worried sick now”, Bethany pleaded with him to at least out a call through to her mother as she might worry too much and that will not be good for her health.
Rachel sitting on the chair next to her, cried out as she interrogated why those things had to happen to her sister and Bethany at the same time as it was unfair.
Henry, looking at the poor little girl, felt sorry for her and he told her not to worry that he was going to be their big brother both to her and Glenn.
“You promise Sir?”, she asked with her eyes shining like a diamond.
Duke was concerned about Bethany and he could not bear to see her hurt.
Duke dialed Mrs. Marvin’s contact and waiting for a moment for her to pick up the call, he held Bethany’s hand whispering that she was going to be fine in no distant time.
Bethany, opening her eyes, inquiring whether Duke had called her mother, struggled to get up on her feet as she placed her hand on the seat, pressing with all of her strength to get herself up, but Duke told her not to get up as he was going to be her legs and she should just what she wanted.
“Bryan is that the phone ringing?”, Mrs. Marvin raised a question while kneading the baby’s dresses as that was her source of income for so many years now.
Bryan nodded in agreement and his mother instructed him to pick up the phone as it could be Bethany.
Bryan, picking up the call, said a word of greeting and asked how was calling.
Duke asked Bryan how he was doing and whether his mother was with him as he desired to discuss with her.
Bryan putting the phone on one side as he told his mother that it was Duke on the phone, Mrs. Marvin’s voice could be heard from the other side of the phone as she told out that her son to move forward with the phone to her.
Duke could hear her breath rising and falling out of worry as she took the phone and said hello, asking what had happened to her daughter and why her phone was not reachable.
” Mrs. Marvin, it has been a tough day, as Bethany is in the hospital here with me and it was an emergency”, Duke narrated, and before he could further explain anything, Mrs. Marvin had exploded in tears, asking which hospital there were in and what had happened to. her daughter.
Starting at Bethany, who was still very weak on the presider, Duke rolling tongue in his mouth, spoke out softly,
“She is fine Mrs. Marvin as she is not the person you should be worried about”.
Bethany’s mother could not understand what was happening as Duke was speaking in Parables and she wanted to talk to her daughter.
” Can you tell me what is going on and what my daughter is doing in the hospital?”, she asked with her voice as loud as a drum.
Giving a sidelong glance to Bethany, Duke said that Eva was the person who was involved in an accident as their building was caught up in a gigantic fire causing her to be stuck in the house while the others ran out for their lives.
Mrs. Marvin could not believe what she was hearing, and she screamed out in fear asking if they all were okay and whether little Glenn and Rachel were doing fine as well.
Duke responded positively, and telling her not to worry and that he was going to take care of Bethany, he told her to stay on the line as he was going to give Bethany the phone for them to talk better.
Mrs. Marvin inclining her head on one side told Bryan what Duke had just related to her and Bryan felt so bad for Eva and her sisters.
Looking troubled, Bryan murmured to his mother as he asked,
“Where will they sleep now?”, and this question, gives rise to a spin in Mrs. Marvin’s heart realizing well that everything they had might have gone down with the fire.
Tears formed in her eyes and her face was all sad as she knows how good Eva is and she did not deserve this kind of a thing.
She was promptly taken out of her dreamland when she heard her daughters voice as she called out her name,
“Mama, how are you feeling this evening, hope you have taken your drugs?”, Bethany feeling all concerned, asked her mother whether we had remembered to take her drugs.
Mrs. Marvin, feeling sensitive, quieted down her daughter as she told her not to bother herself over her because she was doing fine and Bryan had already put on her medicines in her tray of food so she took them after putting up with the meal that he had made for her.
Henry and Duke looking at each other wondering where Bethany came from as she and her friend Eva always cared for others when in difficult situations and that was something that is hardly seen in many youths these days.
” Mom I am fine, besides I am stronger than I look right?”, Bethany teased her mol like she always does making her feel less worried about her not being home.
Mrs. Marvin was aware of how stubborn her daughter could be so she asked,
“How is your friend doing and what about Rachel and Glenn, I hope that they are fine”.
Bethany, letting out a huge sigh, narrated to her mom how Eva was still in the ICU and that Rachel and Glenn were recouped “, she spoke out as she raised her head to look at Glenn who was already sound at sleep in Henry’s arms.
” But she is going to be fine right?”, Mrs. Marvin asked worried to the core, and Bryan who was seated on the couch, waited for Bethany’s response too as he was also worried.
Eva had become a part of Marvin’s family and they were also touched by what was happening to her.
“We are waiting for the doctor’s feedback mommy, but I think that she has no serious injuries and all she is having is the smoke that she might have sniffed while she was been trapped inside the fire.
A sigh of relief could be heard from the other side of the phone as Mrs. Marvin gave praises to God almighty for rescuing her from such a horrible experience.
Bethany, closing up her eyes in a disturbing way and the phone almost falling out of her hands, felt someone’s hands on her shoulder and she slowly opened get eyes,
” It is me Betty do not be afraid”, Duke said as he asked whether she was done talking to her mother and she responded that she wished to say good night to them before handing up.
Mrs. Marvin who was still on the lone and hearing what they were saying, smiled at her end and her emotion was so obvious, that Bryan could not hold back from teasing her as he could imagine what she was being told.
“Mom, it is time to go to bed, as you know your daughter well, she will not be coming back today, her gossip partner is in the hospital”, Bryan spoke out making faces as he stood up to disconnect his game player before heading to bed.
” Good night mommy and sweet dreams, see you tomorrow”, Bethany said to her mother as she told her to wish Bryan midnight as well.
Returning Duke’s cell phone, Bethany, asked Henry whether he was going to stand there all night with Glenn in his arms and she turned to Rachel who was asleep by her, fixing her head ok her shoulder for comfort so that her neck will not pain the next day.
Duke speaking over the phone for some moments again, listened to what Mrs. Marvin said as she pleaded with Duke to take care of her and to get her something to eat as she had not eaten anything since morning.
Listening to Bethany’s mother, Duke could now understand what the key factor to her being shaky was all about.
“I can assure you that I will take good care of her do not worry Mrs. Marvin”, Duke let out with full confidence in his capabilities.
” I trust you to do that, well Bryan and I will go to bed now, and tomorrow morning we will be there to check out on Eva and to give Bethany some clean clothes.
She wished him a good night and hung up the call.
Duke who was hungry and thirsty, looked at his time and it was almost midnight and he could see how tired those kids were.
Moving slowly to Bethany, he went down on his toes whispering in her ears if wanted something to eat so that he could go and get it.
Bethany smiled and told him not to bother about her and to instead get something for the kids as they are most valuable at the moment.
“You have not eaten anything since morning right and that is why you are feeling so weak”, Duke said holding her hand.
Feeling his hand on hers, Bethany’s heartbeat up faster than the usual heartbeat she always had.
Her dizziness immediately disappeared and her attention was focused on Duke as their eyes met simultaneously.
Henry who was tired like a dead horse, smiled when he was witnessing what was happening between his friend and Bethany, and he was happy that Duke was able to love again despite everything that he had said.
catching a glimpse of how happy Duke was, his thought narrowed to Eva and the situation that she was going through at the moment.
Though he inclined towards the possibility of her been involved in some harmful dealings, the little he has gotten to know about her was enough to say that she is a good person.
Looking at Rachel, he was eager to know what she has to say to know how to protect them.
Bethany, turning her gaze ok Henry, informed him that he could give Glenn to her and go home with Sir Duke as they needed some rest for work.
Henry let out a smile said to Bethany,
“I will not leave from here till I know what is going on with Eva”.
Those words were heart-touching and Bethany, filled with hot for her friend, thanked Henry for wanting to stay.
Catching sight of the nurse walking towards their direction, she patted Duke on the shoulder saying that the nurse was approaching them, and Henry sitting upright, waited to give attention to what she had to announce.
Reaching where they were seated, the nurse welcomed them to ” Milton Medical Center”,
” I am Nurse Grace, and I just like to call into question whether they were the ones who had accompanied the patient that was involved in the fire incident some moments ago? she raised a question lounging for an answer.
Bethany, rising to her feet, answered the nurse as she said that Eva is her friend and referring to Duke and Henry, she said they are also Eva’s friends as it was Henry who saved her from the fire.
Henry, listening to what Bethany had said, smiled, and rising to his feet, he asked the nurse what was happening.
Grace, crushing at Henry just at first sight as it was very noticeable how her eyes could not leave his body, Bethany had realized her absence and wanting to protect her friend’s interest she called out to the nurse,
“He asked you a question nurse and we all are still waiting for an answer”.
Duke who had noticed how aggressive Bethany had become and spoken to the nurse, held her by the shoulders as he looked into her eyes as a sign to tell her to calm down.
“Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts”, the nurse explained stammering.
Looking at Bethany, she informed them that she was placed under intensive care and they were waiting for her to take up.
She further said that there were some documents that they are to fill and that could only be done by a family member.
Bethany lowering her head in pain asked the nurse if there was no way a person who is not her family could fill-up the form but the nurse said that except it was in a case of utmost stature.
” Eva is an orphan and she has no parents, so if either of us cannot fill the form, then her kid sister Rachel can, as she can reason already”, Bethany said wanting to wake Rachel up.
Henry listening to all that Bethany had just said, felt bad for Eva and everything that she has had to go through in life.
“Are you serious about why you just said?”, Duke raised a question looking at Bethany as she still had her head down.