THE MIRACLE I NEED : Episode 91 – 100
EPISODE 97
Eric searched everywhere he could for his phone but couldn’t seem to recall where he had dropped it. He tried to recall the last time he had used it, and he remembered that had been inside the cab on his way to the hospital from the airport. He had declined his mother’s offer to have the driver pick him up from the airport.
THE MIRACLE I NEED : Episode 91 – 100
Immediately he had arrived at the airport he had taken a cab and gone straight to the hospital to meet his mother. He had consoled and held her close to himself until their family doctor had come out from the emergency room to join them.
“You do not have to worry too much. We did a bypass surgery, and it was successful. He will be okay in no time, all he needs now is to rest.” The doctor had said with a confident smile.
“Can we at least see him now?” His mother asked with a worried frown.
“Not immediately. Once his condition is stable I will let you meet him.” The doctor had said before turning to leave.
“Hold on, how long will he have to be in the hospital?” His mother had asked just before the doctor could leave.
The doctor turned to look at her, “We have to keep an eye on him for some time because of his age. So he has to be here for at least a week before he can be discharged. Maybe you should go home and freshen up instead of just waiting.” The doctor suggested before asking to be excused.
“What are you searching for?” His mother asked as she walked into his bedroom.
“My phone. I think I must have misplaced it. I need to give Kimberly a call.” Eric said with a worried frown.
“Where did you drop it?” She asked looking around his room.
“Maybe it’s in the cab, I don’t know.” He said with a sigh of resignation. They needed to return to the hospital soon yet he wasn’t ready because he had been busy searching for his phone in places he didn’t even keep it.
“You can just use mine.” His mother suggested, handing him her phone.
“No. Let me check if Uncle Henry is still up and I will use his phone. I still need to be careful.” Eric said, and started heading out of the room to look for their chief homekeeper, but his mother quickly stopped him.
“He stopped working for us last week.”
“What? Why? How come nobody told me and I’m just hearing of it now?” He asked, turning to look at her with a scowl.
“Did we seek your permission before employing him?” She asked dryly as she handed him her phone, “Let’s return to the hospital. You can call her with my phone on the way.” She said as she walked past him.
“But what happened? Why did he stop working for us?” Eric asked curiously as he followed her. Mr Henry had been working for their family for as long as he could remember, and he was even a closer uncle to him than all his parents’ relatives.
“Your father just woke up one morning and decided that Mr Henry had served the family enough, so he got him a house and opened a business of his choice for him so he can take care of himself and his family.” She said with a shrug.
“Oh! That’s nice then. I should see him before I return.” Eric said as they both headed for the car.
“Yeah, you should.” His mother consented.
“So how is Kimberly? When are you telling her the truth?” His mother asked curiously immediately they got into the car and the driver drove off.
“I think I will do that immediately I return.”
“And do you still intend on having your friend go ahead with that plan?” She asked making him raise a brow.
“It’s obvious I can’t tell either you or Wumi anything without the other knowing about it.”
“Well, we are your family so we should always know whatever is going on with you.” His mother said with a smile as she leaned on him, resting her head on his shoulder, “I’m glad you’re here. I swear I was going to break down had you not come when you did.” She said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
“Don’t worry, dad will be okay.” Eric assured her before dialing Wumi’s number with his other hand.
“How is he?” Wumi asked immediately she received the call.
“He is fine, and the doctor said the surgery was successful.”
“Thank goodness!” Wumi said, letting out the breath she had been holding.
“Yeah. I think I lost my phone. Can you text me Kim’s number? I need to call her.” He asked without wasting any more time.
“How? What happened?” Wumi asked curiously.
“Wumi I don’t know. So just text me the number please.” He told her impatiently.
“Alright.” Wumi said before hanging up.
Immediately Eric received the text he dialed Kimberly’s number but it rang several times without any response. He tried two more times but there was still no response, so he assumed she had gone to bed and left it.
“I suppose she is asleep.” His mother said when he returned her phone.
“Maybe.” He said and just closed his eyes as he tried to picture Kimberly’s face as she slept. He had watched her sleep the previous night and it had been so cute the way she kept turning in her sleep like a kid.
“You love her, don’t you?” His mother asked, breaking the silence in the car.
“I think so,” Eric said.
“And do you think she loves you?”
Eric opened his eyes to look at her, “I don’t know. Maybe.” Eric added the maybe only when he remembered what they had been discussing earlier that evening before he left her.
“Then maybe you shouldn’t go ahead with that plan of yours. You could end up hurting both her and yourself. I don’t know that any lady would like to be tried like that.” His mother said as she pulled away from him to look into his face, but Eric said nothing to that. He knew they were all right. But he just needed to confirm that Kimberly would never pick money over him.
THE MIRACLE I NEED : Episode 91 – 100
Soon the car stopped in front of the hospital, and just as they walked closer to the entrance of the hospital, a young man who looked like he was around the same age as Eric, approached them, “Please excuse. Good evening ma.” He greeted Eric’s mother politely before turning to Eric.
“Yeah?” Eric asked impatiently.
“You don’t recognize me? You were in my cab earlier. I carried you from the airport and you left your phone.” He said as he dipped his hand in his pocket and took out the phone.
“Oh!” Eric exclaimed.
“Yeah. I came back immediately I noticed it, and after describing you they said you went home and will be back, so I decided to wait for you.” He explained as he handed the phone to Eric.
“Why didn’t you just leave the phone with anyone?” His mother asked, wondering why he had waited until they arrived. Or perhaps he wanted a reward?
“In this Nigeria? So that they will steal it and you won’t know I returned it? Then you will be thinking the taxi man stole your phone? Lai lai! (No way!).” He said with a shake of his vigorous head.
“You care that much about your reputation?” Eric’s mother asked, looking at him with interest.
“It’s not only you rich people that have a reputation to protect.” He said making her smile.
“Thank you very much. I really appreciate this.” Eric said as he took out ten one thousand naira notes from his wallet and handed it to him.
“Money? Why are you giving me money for bringing back your phone? Please don’t insult me with your money, please. I only did what I was supposed to do.” He said as he moved away from Eric, making Eric’s mother look at him with interest now as she dipped her hand into her handbag.
“I’m really impressed. Give me a call if and when you need my help. I’m grateful.” She said as she handed him her complementary card.
“I will thanks.” He said with a bow and stepped aside for them to pass.
“What is your name?” Eric asked as he returned his money to his wallet.
“Basil. Basil Adebayo.”
“Thank you very much Basil.” Eric said with a polite bow before walking away with his mother.
THE MIRACLE I NEED : Episode 91 – 100
***********
Kathleen lay on her bed, unable to sleep as she tried to analyze what her feelings for Pete were. She knew she was supposed to give him a call as he had asked her to do after returning from church, but she didn’t want to talk to him yet. She needed to understand what she was feeling, and why she was feeling that way.
She raised her head when her bedroom door was pushed open and her mother walked into the room, “Why are you still awake?” She asked her mother who just stood by the bed watching her curiously.
“You forgot today was Tuesday?” Her mother asked as she sat on the edge of the bed.
“No I didn’t forget. Why?” She asked as she sat up so she could have a better look at her mother’s face.
“Are you sure you didn’t? Because I’m still wondering why you haven’t asked me how the meeting with the specialist doctor went.” Her mother said making Kathleen gasp in surprise.
“Jesus! Jesus Christ!” Kathleen exclaimed.
It was true that she had been very distracted since Sunday. First Pete had asked her to be in a relationship with him, so that had been on her mind for most of the day, and then on Monday Pete had provoked her by not talking to her all through the day despite leaving without her knowledge, and so she had been mad until they finally spoke that night, and then she had been preoccupied by thoughts of Kimberly and Pete until his mother came over to see her. And then after that she had been thinking of a way to seek Amanda’s permission to date her father. So it was true that she had been very distracted.
“I can’t believe it skipped my mind. I even had plans to go with you to the hospital. I’m sorry.” Kathleen said apologetically while her mother stood with both arms folded in front of her chest and just stared at her.
Her mother let out a sigh, “It’s okay. I noticed you’ve been very distracted since Amanda’s father traveled. Did something happen?” She asked thoughtfully.
“Just tell me how the meeting with the doctor went first. I will tell you any other thing after that.” Kathleen said with a pensive expression on her face. She only hoped the prognosis would be good.
“He asked us to do a couple of tests which we did, and all the results are not out yet. He said we will be contacted once the results are out and he would tell us what next to do. But he assured us that it might not be as serious as we think, so we should relax and stay hopeful.” Her mother said, making Kathleen let out a sigh of relief.
“Please let me know when the results are out so I can go with you.” Kathleen pleaded.
“You don’t have to. You have work at the office, and I’m not an illiterate. I can talk to the doctor myself.” Her mother assured her. Kathleen wanted to argue, but chose to let it go for the time being.
“So where is Isioma? How is she?” Kathleen asked curiously.
“She is spending the night with Amanda since her father is not around. She slept there yesterday too.” Her mother said, making Kathleen’s brow pull together. She must have been pretty distracted not to remember she was supposed to spend the night with Amanda. How could she have even left Amanda alone in the house with Chidi? It wasn’t like she was accusing Chidi of being a paedophile or anything, but it wasn’t just wise of her being Amanda’s caretaker to leave the child like that. She was being careless. So if her mother and sister weren’t here, was this how she would have taken care of the kid? Kathleen thought in disapproval.
“So tell me what is going on with you.” Her mother said, cutting into her thoughts.
“Hm. Pete asked me to be in a relationship with him,” She announced, and her mother’s face beamed with a happy smile.
“I told you, didn’t I?” She asked proudly.
“Yes you did.” Kathleen said with a small smile. Her mother at least deserved to have her bragging rights.
“So what did you tell him? You agreed, right?”
“Not yet. I’m still thinking about it.” Kathleen rushed to explain.
“Thinking? What is there to think about?” Her mother asked in confusion.
“You want me to settle with just anybody simply because you want me to get married?” Kathleen asked with disapproval.
“Is Pete just anybody to you?” Her mother asked with a hint of surprise in her voice.
“That’s not what I mean. I meant…”
“Good. I didn’t think so either. So what is stopping you?” Her mother asked, urging her with her eyes to tell her what was wrong.
“I don’t know. I just dont… I don’t think… I’m not…” Kathleen stopped, not knowing how to put her feelings into words.
“Go on. You can talk to me. Are you trying to say you don’t love him?” She asked, trying to help her find the words.
“No. That’s not it. I’ve never been in a relationship before now, and he has been married and even has a kid… I just think it’s not fair to me.” Kathleen said as tears gathered in her eyes, while her mother just stared at her.
“Not fair?” Her mother asked, trying not to sound confused.
“I deserve someone who would belong to me and just me. I didn’t wait this long or keep myself only so that I can end up with someone whose heart is already divided. He still loves his late wife, he loves Amanda, how is he really going to be able to love me? What if he starts making comparisons? I know I’m not making any sense and I know I sound selfish but I just can’t help feeling like this.” Kathleen said in a shaky voice as she wiped the tears which had dropped from her eyes with the back of her hand.
Her mother took in a deep breath, and then let it out. “Okay. Tell him you’re not interested in him.” Her mother said, and stood up to leave, leaving Kathleen staring at her in surprise and confusion.
“That is all you’re going to say?” Kathleen asked.
Her mother smiled at her, “By the time you get to my age you would have gotten to understand that you don’t have to give a advise on every issue. This is one of those things you need to figure out for yourself. If you really believe you deserve someone better as you have said, then go ahead and reject him. But I’d like you to know just one thing… I’ve never stopped loving your father despite the fact that he died more than twenty years ago, and that hasn’t stopped me from loving your stepfather either.” Her mother said before walking away.
Kathleen took in a deep breath, and decided to just pray about it. This was going to be her very first relationship, and she wasn’t going to go ahead with it, if God wasn’t involved. She understood better than anyone else the power of prayers and how God could prevent her from making a mistake she would regret.
With this in mind, she went on her knees, “Most righteous father and friend, I thank you for being faithful to me even in the midst of my unfaithfulness. Thank you for loving me way more than I could ever love myself. Thank you because I know you know what is best for me, and I trust your plan for my life even right now. I don’t know what is happening between me and Pete, but I commit it into your hands. You know I’ve tried my best to serve you faithfully despite all my flaws and human weakness, and I don’t want to do anything without your support and guidance. According to your word, I want to trust in you from the bottom of my heart; and I don’t want to try to figure out everything on my own. I know I need to listen for your voice in everything I do, and everywhere I go because you’re the only one who can keep me on track, so please Lord, help me. If Pete is your will for my life, then give me peace concerning this issue. In Jesus name, amen.” Kathleen prayed.
And just as she was about to stand up, she decided to ask for another sign, “And Lord, if he is your will for me, then make him propose to me before my birthday. There is no need waiting for too long to marry him if he is your will, right? Let it just be my birthday gift from you. In Jesus name, amen.”
.
.
Can I hear a loud Amen?
In anything you do, put God first, don’t let greediness cover your instinct.
THE MIRACLE I NEED : Episode 91 – 100
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