LUSTING TO HAVE HER WAY

RUSHED TO THE HOSPITAL

CHAPTER 12

His eyes fell on her exposed thighs for a moment before concern took over him.

"Angela! Angela! Angela!" he shouted, bending down to check for signs of life.

Angela was found lying motionless on the floor beside the washroom door.

She was breathing, but she was unconscious.

KK hurried over, concern written all over his face.

"Madam, wetin happen? Make I go bring paracetamol?"

"Go and call Mr James!" Donald instructed.

KK immediately ran towards the main building, praying loudly in tongues as he moved.

"Oga! We don see madam o!"

James emerged from the bedroom.

"Where did you find her?"

"She lie down for ground for boys' quarter," KK replied, gesturing wildly.

"She dey there de do eye like that madam romantic wey her husband get supermarket for Obalende."

Ignoring KK's strange comparison, James hurried towards the boys' quarters, with KK following him.

"She dey breathe like lizard wey fall from iroko TV... no, from iroko tree."

"Shut your mouth, i***t!" James snapped.

He dropped to his knees beside Angela.

"Angela! Angela!"

There was no response.

He opened her eyelids, gently shook her, and repeatedly called her name.

Still nothing.

For a moment, James felt completely helpless. Only moments earlier, he had returned from the United States. Now, instead of settling down or thinking about the wedding, he was kneeling beside the woman he loved, desperately trying to make her respond.

"Please, Angela," he whispered. "Wake up."

At that moment, Bismarck arrived at the scene.

His face tightened with concern.

"Ah! What happened?"

Before anyone could answer, James sprang into action.

"Donald, bring the car!" he barked as he dialled his doctor's number.

His voice was firm and commanding, but Bismarck noticed the genuine fear in his boss's eyes.

Donald hurriedly drove the vehicle to the boys' quarters.

Without difficulty, Bismarck lifted Angela into his arms. Her body was limp and unresponsive.

As Donald got back into the driver's seat, he discreetly snapped a quick photograph of Bismarck carrying Angela. He intended to send it to Angela later on w******p.

But he would never have the opportunity to do so, as he would soon become overwhelmed by a story far more serious than that of Angela and Bismarck.

Bismarck gently laid Angela in the back seat.

James entered the vehicle and sat beside her, holding her hand tightly.

"Angela... wake up, my love. Please don't scare me like this."

His voice trembled with fear.

Donald noticed the fear in James' voice and pressed harder on the accelerator.

As the car sped through the streets, James kept glancing at Angela.

His hand remained wrapped around hers.

He had faced business crises, threats, and difficult decisions without allowing fear to control him. But seeing Angela unconscious beside him made all of that confidence disappear.

"Please don't leave me like this," he whispered.

Back in James' house, Bismarck turned towards KK, who still stood there looking confused.

"Guy, wetin happen?"

KK shook his head helplessly.

"I no know o! As you see am, na so me too see am."

"She dey sick?" Bismarck asked

"Sick ke? Person wey drive herself commot this morning, come drive back. In fact, if she no well, na you suppose know pass me."

"How?"

"No be all of una dey inside dey quarrel every time before oga come back?"

He shook his head.

"Abeg o, the only thing wey I know for this house na this gate. No more, no less. Even ordinary flower wey I wan cut join my work, oga no gree."

Then he suddenly invented another concern.

"My brother, make I tell you, ogbanje don full everywhere. Person wey wan marry suppose dey very careful. Very, very careful."

Bismarck immediately realised that KK knew absolutely nothing about the situation.

So he said nothing.

KK responded to himself instead.

"Hmm... me, I no dey put mouth for this kind matter o!"

"It's okay, she'll be fine" Bismarck said just for the want of a better reply, and slowly turned away and walked back into the house.

"Ooh, Angela... only God can help you."

The man Angela believed had betrayed her had actually escaped the trap by the narrowest possible margin.

Angela had spent the entire day preparing a devastating accusation that could have destroyed Bismarck.

And yet, before she could execute it, circumstances had taken the opportunity away from her.

Her perfect plan had slipped through her fingers.

And the irony was cruel.

Bismarck had narrowly escaped a terrible accusation without even knowing how close he had come to disaster.

Angela had narrowly missed executing the plan she believed would solve every problem in her life.

If she had not heard the phone call, she would have walked straight into the sitting room.

She would have seen James after his long absence and thrown herself into his arms.

She would have cried against his chest, and James would have believed those tears were tears of happiness.

He would have thought she was crying because she had missed him.

He would never have known that beneath those tears she would actually be mourning the failure of her plan against Bismarck.

At the hospital, the soft beeping of medical equipment and the faint scent of disinfectant filled the atmosphere.

Angela's face was pale, and her eyes appeared sunken.

The doctor examined her before turning to James.

"We need to take a closer look at her condition."

"Please do, and quickly too," James replied anxiously.

"She's not responding well to whatever is happening."

The doctor nodded.

"Some tests are already being conducted. We'll determine exactly what is wrong and get her the help she needs."

After a few minutes, he stepped back.

"I think we'll admit her for observation. The test results will help us determine the cause of her condition. In the meantime, I'd like to place her on intravenous fluids and monitor her vital signs closely."

Just then, James' phone vibrated.

He glanced at the screen and answered immediately.

"Yes?"

"Mr James, this is Dr Smart from Radiology. We've reviewed the MRI results, and I'd like to discuss them with you."

"What do the results show?" he asked.

"We'll discuss that in person, sir. Could you meet me in the conference room on the third floor?"

"I'll be there shortly."

The call ended.

James turned to the doctor.

"I'll be right back."

He hurried towards the lift and pressed the button for the third floor.

A few moments later, Dr Smart handed him the report.

MRI REPORT

Impression: Normal MRI findings. No structural abnormalities detected.

Clinical Correlation: Symptoms suggestive of emotional shock or stress-induced syncope.

James stared at the report.

"So there is nothing physically wrong with her brain?"

"Nothing abnormal was detected on the MRI," Dr Smart replied. "The doctors treating her will continue to monitor her, but the scan itself is normal."

James slowly nodded.

The result should have relieved him, but it raised another disturbing question.

What could have triggered such a devastating emotional breakdown in the woman he was only weeks away from leading to the altar?

He folded the report carefully.

Whatever had happened before his return from the United States had clearly left Angela under enormous pressure.

October 21.

The date suddenly felt much closer than it had that morning.

He had spent so much time thinking about the wedding and the future he was building with Angela. Now, all he could think about was the woman lying unconscious downstairs.

There had to be a reason.

James returned to Angela's hospital room.

She was still lying quietly on the bed, the intravenous line attached to her arm.

He gently sat beside her and took her hand.

"Whatever is troubling you," he whispered, "you can tell me."

Angela remained motionless.

"You don't have to carry everything alone."

James tightened his grip gently around her hand.

"I'll be here."

For several moments, James simply watched her.

The woman who had always appeared confident and in control now looked fragile beneath the hospital lights.

He wondered how much pain she had been hiding from him.

He had assumed that the preparations for their wedding were the greatest source of pressure in her life.

Now he was no longer certain.

"Talk to me when you wake up," he whispered.

He leaned back in the chair but did not release her hand.

"You'll be fine," he whispered.

"Our wedding is coming."

He smiled faintly, though his eyes remained worried.

"October 21."

He squeezed her hand.

"Don't let anything take that day away from us."

Angela's fingers moved slightly.

James froze.

"Angela?"

Her eyelids fluttered briefly before settling again.

James leaned closer.

"Angela, can you hear me?"

She remained silent.

Yet James refused to let go of her hand.

Whatever had caused her collapse remained a mystery.

But he knew one thing.

He would not leave her alone.

For now, the mystery could wait.

The woman he loved was all that mattered.

But somewhere beneath Angela's unconscious mind, the events of the past few days were still alive.

Whatever had driven her to this point had not disappeared simply because she was unconscious.

It remained buried somewhere within her troubled mind, waiting for the moment when she would wake.

And when that happened, the questions surrounding her collapse would still be waiting.