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      "body": "Congratulations @israelshedi! You received a personal award!\n\n<table><tr><td>https://steemitimages.com/70x70/http://steemitboard.com/@israelshedi/birthday2.png</td><td>Happy Birthday! - You are on the Steem blockchain for 2 years!</td></tr></table>\n\n<sub>_You can view [your badges on your Steem Board](https://steemitboard.com/@israelshedi) and compare to others on the [Steem Ranking](https://steemitboard.com/ranking/index.php?name=israelshedi)_</sub>\n\n\n**Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:**\n<table><tr><td><a href=\"https://steemit.com/steemitboard/@steemitboard/steemitboard-ranking-update-a-better-rich-list-comparator\"><img src=\"https://steemitimages.com/64x128/https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmfRVpHQhLDhnjDtqck8GPv9NPvNKPfMsDaAFDE1D9Er2Z/header_ranking.png\"></a></td><td><a href=\"https://steemit.com/steemitboard/@steemitboard/steemitboard-ranking-update-a-better-rich-list-comparator\">SteemitBoard Ranking update - A better rich list comparator</a></td></tr></table>\n\n###### [Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness](https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/account-witness-vote?witness=steemitboard&approve=1) to get one more award and increased upvotes!",
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      "body": "[Source](https://www.facebook.com/lungelo.dlamini.5015/posts/2033957823520499)\n[Plagiarism](http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism/) is the copying & pasting of others work without giving credit to the original author or artist. Plagiarized posts are considered spam. \r\n\r\nSpam is discouraged by the community, and may result in action from the [cheetah bot](https://steemit.com/faq.html#What_is__cheetah).\r\n\r\n[More information and tips on sharing content.](https://steemcleaners.org/copy-paste-plagiarism/)\r\n\r\nIf you believe this comment is in error, please contact us in [#disputes on Discord](https://discord.gg/YR2Wy5A)",
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      "body": "[Source](https://www.wattpad.com/84426847-forever-and-always-olive-chapter-3-the-happier/page/4)\n[Plagiarism](http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism/) is the copying & pasting of others work without giving credit to the original author or artist. Plagiarized posts are considered spam. \r\n\r\nSpam is discouraged by the community, and may result in action from the [cheetah bot](https://steemit.com/faq.html#What_is__cheetah).\r\n\r\n[More information and tips on sharing content.](https://steemcleaners.org/copy-paste-plagiarism/)\r\n\r\nIf you believe this comment is in error, please contact us in [#disputes on Discord](https://discord.gg/YR2Wy5A)",
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      "body": "![images (14).jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmSiJwpz3CpQApfCGu4kBKH3JK3eHbigdYJToaWzSUq1NU/images%20(14).jpg)\n\nCHAPTER 3\n\nI was sitting in last period, anticipating the ringing of the bell. I just wanted to get out of school, but I don’t exactly want to go back to my aunt’s house. At eight o’clock, I’d be on my way back to school for homecoming. I’m not exactly excited for it. I barely know Maddox, and he doesn’t seem very fond of me. However, he hasn’t cancelled on me and I have a feeling he would’ve by now if he felt like he wasn’t going to show up. Unless he wanted to wait until the last minute so I’d feel like absolute and utter crap. Then again, if he said he didn’t want to go, I wouldn’t be that sad. I guess I just don’t want to spend four hours with him, especially because I’m depending on Vivica for a ride home, and if she sees that I’m having a bad time, she’ll refuse to take me home until the school staff kick us out at eleven o’clock. She’s still mad at me for many things, most of which I’m unsure about. I stopped caring after Wednesday. As long as she brings me to school and back, I’m fine.\nEven if Maddox ditches me, I’d still have to go. My aunt bought me a dress and shoes and as far as she’s concerned, I really like this boy. To put it simply, it’d be embarrassing if he cancels on me. He could’ve already canceled without telling me. He’d probably just not show up. I bet he won’t show up. We haven’t talked since Tuesday, and he didn’t seem very happy with me then, probably because I led him on an unintentional wild goose chase to my house on Monday. Or maybe it was the fact that I bumped into him.\nOnce the bell rang, I immediately began packing up my stuff. Everyone else was doing the same. Mrs. Reanna is the type of teacher to yell at you if you make a move to put something back in your bag before the bell rings. I jolted in surprise when a voice spoke in the quiet classroom. And it was directed towards me. “Are we still on for tonight?” Maddox asked in a strained voice.\nI turned around as I swung my bag over my shoulder. Cassidy and Winona stood behind him, staring at me with a grin. “Yeah,” I nodded, giving them each a confused look.\nHe groaned and Winona elbowed him in the side. Through gritted teeth, he spoke: “Do you need a ride?”\nI thought about it. Would I rather sit through a tense, awkward ride with Maddox or a loud, obnoxious ride with my cousin and her friends where they’d make fun of me and I’d have to refrain from ripping the door off its hinges and slapping them all across their faces with it? It isn’t much of a competition, to be honest. “Yeah,” I responded.\n“What’s the address again?” he asked me and I had a feeling Cassidy was pinching his side because he was cringing away from her.\n“I’ll write it down,” I told him as I reached for my bag.\n“Or she’ll just text it to you,” Winona snapped.\n“Or you can text it to me,” he blurted and I was cringing for him. The two girls were using him like a puppet, poking and pinching him to get him to speak.\n“I don’t have your number,” I responded.\nHe dug into his pocket, grabbing his phone and I guess Winona pinched him because he tossed it at me as he let out a girlish squeal. I shuffled to catch it, almost dropping it several times. He had a terrified look on his face as he watched me fight gravity to grab the phone.\nI noticed that his phone didn’t have a lock on it. Huh, unusual. “Don’t touch anything,” he told me in his normal, threatening voice. I glanced at him and his back arched as Cassidy pinched him. “Or touch whatever you want.” His voice rose with each word he said.\nI took my time adding a contact, glancing up at him judgmentally every so often to give off the idea that I was reading his messages. I honestly did look up at him judgmentally once when I saw that he had several different female contacts. He had four Emma’s and five Jessica’s, if that gives you an idea of the list he had. When I finished, I handed him back his phone and he snatched it, earning a pinch from Winona.\n“I’ll just text you when I’m going to leave my house. Reply with the address then,” he told me. Winona and Cassidy dropped their hands and he sighed in relief, hunching over.\n“I’ll see you later,” I responded as he left the classroom. He didn’t bother to acknowledge my farewell. Cassidy, Winona, and I exited the classroom and began walking in the same direction. “What was that about?”\n“He didn’t want to talk to you about your plans,” Winona explained. “So we had to use some force to get him to.”\n“Oh,” I muttered. If he didn’t want to go with me, why didn’t he just cancel? I’d rather go alone than go with someone who would constantly complain about my presence, which is something Maddox would do.\nVivica was waiting impatiently in her car. She muttered something about not waiting on me again when I buckled my seatbelt and I sighed. Halfway home, I turned to look at her. “I don’t need a ride to homecoming.”\n“Why? Did he cancel on you?” she smirked.\nI rolled my eyes. “No, he’s bringing me.”\nShe didn’t bother to respond and only continued driving in her angry, dangerous manner.\n+ + +\nI got ready much quicker than the other girls, who arrived at the house at four thirty. I started getting ready at six and was completely prepared at 6:30. Given, I showered at 3:30 and curled my hair at four o’clock, but I wasn’t in my dress. It wasn’t until six that I got into my outfit, put on perfume, and then packed a small purse. I didn’t put on makeup, mainly because I never learned how to. I only have an older brother and a younger brother, and my mother never wore makeup. There was no one to teach me. And I don’t want to try and end up looking stupid because I followed a professional YouTuber’s tutorial.\nI planned on watching a movie until 7:30 or so, when I thought Maddox would come and get me, but he came a lot earlier than I planned. At 6:40, I got a text message from him, telling me that he’s leaving his house and I responded with the address. I grabbed my jacket and put it on, walking down the stairs with my purse over my shoulder. “You look so pretty!”\nI smiled at my aunt. “Thank you,” I told her.\n“Red is your color,” she smiled at me.\nI heard a car honking outside and she quirked an eyebrow. “That for you?”\n“Yeah, I got to go,” I told her.\n“You’re to be home by twelve!” she called. My eyes widened. My mother and father would’ve given me until nine. Of course I was never home by nine, but I usually gave them the satisfaction of setting a time without me arguing in response. I nodded at my aunt and exited the house, walking down the stairs.\nAs I walked towards Maddox’s car, I was surprised to see him in an actual tuxedo. I don’t know what I was expecting him to wear, but it wasn’t a tuxedo. It was probably all black and leather, because he seems to be fond of that. His uniform is always accessorized with the two. When I got into the car, he glared at me. “Don’t say anything.”\n“A tuxedo?” I asked. He glowered at me before he pulled away from the curb and began driving. “Do you live far from here?”\n“I’m not telling you where I live,” he responded.\n“I probably won’t know where it is, anyway. I was just assuming because it took you barely ten minutes to get here,” I muttered. We were silent as I continued to think. We never really introduced each other. I knew his name thanks to Vivica and he knows my name… “Wait, do you even know my name?”\nHe looked at me. “Yes, I’m not stupid.”\n“Oh, really, what is it then?” I inquired.\n“Olive,” he told me.\n“It’s Olivia,” I corrected him.\n“I know. But Olive is better. It’s a food,” he muttered as he stared at the street, taking a left turn. Unlike Vivica, he turned normally, not with too much force.\n“I don’t like that nickname,” I told him.\n“It’s not a nickname,” he retorted. “You have to like the person to give them a nickname.”\nWe fell into silence again as he continued to drive towards the school. “Why’d you say yes?” I asked him.\n“You talk so much,” he sighed.\n“Answer the question and I won’t talk again until we get to school,” I told him as I pulled at the end of my dress, yanking it down. I forgot how uncomfortable these things are.\nInstead of responding, he reached for the radio. When I went to speak, he looked straight at me and turned up the music, rudely silencing me. I didn’t bother to speak to him again.\n+ + +\nMy question about why he came so early was answered as we drove in an unfamilar direction. Rather than heading to school, we took a detour. Twenty minutes later, we arrived at a cute, blue house. It was tiny and had a neat front yard and plants hanging from the porch. Two familiar girls emerged from the house and I couldn’t help but smile. Cassidy and Winona slowly walked to the car, yelling out swear words when Maddox honked the horn. I swore I saw him grin at that. I waited patiently for them to get into the car before we were off, but not without loud music, yelling, and terrible singing.\nWhen we arrived at school, we went to the event hall after handing in our tickets, which were free thanks to a recent fundraiser. I was grateful; I only brought ten dollars in case we stopped for food. Barely fifteen minutes after Maddox, Cassidy, Winona and I arrived, Vivica and her friends showed up. I was standing off to the side with Maddox, watching people silently. Speaking was awkward because Maddox rarely replied. Sometimes, if I was lucky, he’d nod. Other times, he’d outright ignore me. It’s quite aggravating- all I wanted to do was make this event fun for the both of us but it’s not going to work unless he cooperates. And every time he ignores me, my attitude towards him becomes sharper and sharper.\nGiving up on conversation, I allowed my eyes to wander around the event hall. I noticed a group of people making their way over to us. Leading the group of five or six was Winona and Cassidy. I recognized a few people. I know one of them was called Nicholas, and the other was called Jackson. However, I didn’t know the two people in the back, a girl and a boy.\n“Olivia!” Winona greeted me before turning and pointing at people, listing off names. “Nicholas, Jackson, Parker, Raven,” she introduced.\nOkay, so Nicholas is the one with the boyish smile and surfer blonde hair. Jackson has brown hair, which rises up in the front, and bright blue eyes. Parker, like Jackson, has brown hair but his eyes are brown. He was at least a foot taller than me and I stand at 5’6”, which is a bit tall, I guess. Raven, the only girl of the four “new” people, wore her brown hair down to her shoulders and had bright green eyes, like Maddox’s. She was a good three or four inches shorter than me. She was grinning and her teeth were white and straight. I noticed that she had a nose ring as I stared at her.\nCatching me by surprise, Raven walked over to Maddox and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his. He returned the kiss as he put his arms around her waist and I awkwardly looked away, shooting a look to Cassidy and she laughed loudly. Nicholas, Parker, and Jackson, who all wore disgusted looks on their faces, excused themselves.\n“Don’t worry, they’re not dating,” Winona whispered to me. My eyes widened.\n“Uh, good to know,” I muttered. I honestly don’t care whether or not he’s dating her.\n“You look so…okay with it,” Cassidy added as she examined my expression.\nI shrugged. “It’s not like I like him.”\n“So…why’d you ask him?” Winona inquired, furrowing her eyebrows.\n“I was dared to by my cousin,” I confessed.\nWinona blinked a few times, as did Cassidy. “Oh,” they both blurted. I simply nodded.\nThey talked excitedly about all the cute boys amongst us and I agreed. I nodded appreciatively when I saw a group of cute guys all having a conversation. I smiled as couples danced to the song that was playing. “Who is that?” I muttered curiously when I saw a tall, blonde haired boy saunter across the room.\n“The blonde one?” Winona responded from beside me. I nodded. “Adrian Warhol. He has a girlfriend.”\n“Well, that doesn’t change the fact that he’s cute,” I shrugged. I mean, it’s not like I’m going to go over there and try to talk to him.\nIt took me a minute to realize that Maddox had joined the conversation. Hearing his scoff, I glanced over and he rolled his eyes. “If you want to go up against his girlfriend, be my guest. She does kickboxing,” he added.\nI curiously looked at him. “Do you know him?” I inquired.\n“Nope,” he replied. Raven was leaning her head on his shoulder.\n“Then how do you know all this?” I inquired.\n“I’m very observant,” he excused.\n“So… you’re creepy?” I quirked an eyebrow. Winona and Cassidy laughed.\nHe glared at me before looking around. “Call it what you want.”\n“You like gossiping, don’t you?” I smirked. He set his narrowed eyes on me in the form of a glower. Instead of being intimidated like I should’ve been, I simply laughed. He looked away with a scowl and refused to acknowledge me.\nAfter being dragged to the dance floor by the two girls I was talking to, we danced for barely thirty minutes before Cassidy asked if we could go back to where we were standing before. We returned to the area where Maddox and Raven were with smiles on our faces. I cringed when Raven pecked Maddox’s lips and I immediately turned, joining Winona and Cassidy’s conversation. Once the conversation died down a bit, I felt the urge to announce something. “I’m hungry.”\nWinona immediately turned to Maddox and I knew I had made a mistake telling Winona that small fact. Maddox was talking to Raven, who had a large grin on her face. “Maddox! Your date is hungry!”\n“That sounds like a personal problem,” he responded as he turned around with an annoyed look on his face.\n“Take her to get something to eat,” Winona retorted. My face was red as I stared at Winona. How could she?\nMaddox groaned as he pulled away from Raven, kissing her one last time, and began to exit the event hall. Winona shoved me in that direction when she saw that I hadn’t moved. Shooting her a glare and earning a laugh in return, I quickly jogged after him.\nI followed with my head down, staring at my shoes as they slapped against the linoleum. As we walked by a fan, I was hit with the smell of cologne. I inhaled deeply, unsure of whether or not it was Maddox. I slowly began inching closer to him, trying to see if it was him or not. When my face was close to his back, he whipped around faster than I expected.\n“What are you doing?” he asked. I immediately jerked my head back, coughing awkwardly as I felt my face heat up.\n“You smell good,” I blurted.\nHe narrowed his eyes at me before turning away.\nGee, now I’ve made things awkward.\n+ + +\nWe got into an argument in the car about which fast food restaurant to go to. I wanted to go to Burger King but he wanted to go somewhere else. For some reason, he was so against going to Burger King that he threatened to change the route of our drive so we wouldn’t come in contact with any of the restaurants. “Come on! I have to pee! Can we at least stop at Burger King so I can go?”\n“We’re not going to this one,” he retorted as we approached one of the fast food chains.\n“I really have to pee!” I told him. “I’ll pee myself if I don’t go now!”\n“Don’t you dare,” he snapped in annoyance. I smirked as I stared out the window.\n“I can’t help it. My bladder feels like it’s going to explode. I shouldn’t have drunk all those sodas,” I complained as I pressed my hands over my stomach and crossed my legs in the seat.\n“Fine, we’ll stop!” he barked. “But I’m not going in.”\n“Are you banned from Burger King or something?” I asked.\n“Something,” he responded mysteriously. He’s a very open person, I’ve noticed.\n“Well, I’m going to run in and out,” I told him as he slowly pulled into the plaza. I sighed and exited the car, entering the restaurant. I walked up to the lengthy line and stared at the overhead menu. About ten minutes later, Maddox burst into the restaurant with his hoodie up. When he saw me in line, he walked over and began to whisper angrily at me.\n“I thought you had to pee,” he hissed.\n“I want Burger King,” I replied with a shrug.\n“Welcome to Burger King, how may I help you?” a guy’s voice asked. Maddox immediately looked down at the tiled floor. “Maddox, is that you?”\nMaddox grunted and glared at me. I quirked an eyebrow. “Maddox! I thought you vowed never to come to my place of employment!”\nUpon further inspection, I realized that they guy behind the counter looked very similar to Maddox- the same full lips, dark hair, and green eyes. Except, the guy behind the register, whose nametag read “Abel,” looked a lot happier. His eyes were wide and glowing, unlike Maddox’s, which were usually narrowed and cynical. It’s very, very likely that the two are brothers.\n“And who are you?” Abel asked as he turned to look at me. Rather than saying it rudely, he seemed curious, amused almost.\n“Oh my God,” Maddox muttered through gritted teeth as he glowered at the floor.\n“I’m Olivia,” I told Abel with a small smile. Though I wouldn’t mind this introduction had it been planned and anticipated, I couldn’t help but feel awkward and tense. Maddox obviously hadn’t wanted me to meet his brother and I see why he wanted to avoid Burger King. This was the first one on the road we were taking and I’d demand we stop here to get food.\n“I’m Abel, you could probably tell by my nametag,” the guy grinned. “So how do you know Maddox? Are you his girlfriend?”\nWith a bright red face I shook my head quickly. “No.”\n“I should have assumed so. My brother can’t get a real girlfriend to save his life. Isn’t that right, Maddie?” he asked with a smirk. I could tell that Maddox was getting angry by the clenching of his jaw.\nAbel leaned over the counter, allowing his legs to flail around behind him, and unzipped Maddox’s hoodie, revealing the tuxedo. He then glanced at my dress. “Isn’t homecoming today?” he inquired.\nI nodded and he grinned. “Did you guys go together?” I nodded again.\n“How cute,” he cooed as he examined our matching outfits. Abel yanked down Maddox’s hood and grinned at his brother; I’m not sure who’s younger. Abel is shorter and immature but Maddox rarely shows any sign of emotion, so you can’t exactly compare personalities and height doesn’t exactly clue me in on much.\nMaddox’s hair was ruffled and his eyes looked as if they could turn someone to stone, however, Abel didn’t look even slightly fazed. “When did you plan on bringing her home to meet mom and dad?”\nMaddox didn’t speak; instead he stood there with clenched fists. His brother continued to pick with him. Eventually, I decided to speak up. Though it’s not my place to talk, I couldn’t help but feel the need to stop the arguing before something goes wrong. “Uh, Maddox and I were just leaving.” I stepped out of line and the lady behind me immediately took my spot with an annoyed look on her face, obviously not amused with the introduction.\nWhen I saw that Maddox wasn’t moving, I tugged on the sleeve of his sweater, not surprised when he yanked his arm away from me. He stormed out of the restaurant and I followed behind him, sighing quietly.\nAnd I thought that the night couldn’t get any more awkward.\nHow do you guys feel about Raven?\n*********\nChapter 4\nThe following Monday, I had a feeling that whatever Maddox and I had going on, which was barely anything, by the way, had come to an end on Friday night when he sped to my house and wordlessly told me to get out of the car. I was barely on the sidewalk when he sped off again, leaving me to stare at the car in the darkness until it disappeared down the street. I was home by ten thirty. At least Vivica hadn’t seen the sour end to a supposedly fun night.\nI was right, to put it simply. Maddox didn’t even spare a glance at me in class, nor did he bother to wave at me whenever we had a few seconds of uncomfortable eye contact, not that he ever would before. I felt bad for some unknown reason. Maddox isn’t the nicest person, but then again, we all have our flaws. One of my major ones, unfortunately, is that I’m a people pleaser. I’m trying to change that.\nWhen Wednesday sped around, I was content with the idea of eating alone and walking to and from school. It’d take me forty five minutes, give or take, but I’d manage. I don’t want to have to depend on anyone, especially not Vivica. So when I arrived at school ten minutes before the first bell rang, I decided to go to the bathroom to freshen up. The walking will take some time getting used to.\nIt wasn’t until sixth period that I was assigned the first partner project of the school year. I would’ve been excited had I actually liked the project, and had I had someone who was willing to partner up with me. Instead, I was sitting in the front of the classroom like an idiot while everyone else was getting partnered up behind me. The teacher began calling out students names, asking who they were partnered with so he could write it down to keep record.\n“Jessica Fay?” Mr. Herman called out.\n“Aaron,” Jessica responded. I glanced at her as she brushed her hair out of her face.\n“Aaron, are you okay with that?” Mr. Herman called out and Aaron nodded his head.\nI asked the teacher if we could work alone and he said no, that this class requires a lot of group work. It’s American Literature- there are plenty of authors who write their stories alone. Why can’t I be one of them? It’s a children’s book, not a textbook. Working with someone else will only make things difficult. Besides, if we have to work on it at home, that makes things ten times harder.\n“Maddox Finnegan?” the teacher asked and I stared at the ceiling, hoping that there are an odd number of students in the class so I would be allowed to work alone. But knowing him, he’d force me into an already formed group and I’d be an awkward and unwanted third wheel.\n“Olivia,” his familiar voice spoke. I furrowed my eyebrows. Mr. Herman looked to me.\n“Is that okay with you?” he asked.\nSlowly, I nodded. “Yeah, sure.”\nWhen Mr. H saw that we weren’t moving, he began to speak. “Sit together while I pass out the project booklets,” Mr. H said and I glanced back at Maddox. He was sitting back in his seat with his phone in his hands. When he saw that I wasn’t moving, he groaned and collected his things, getting up.\nMr. H gave us ten minutes at the end of class to discuss potential topics. I took it upon myself to change the direction of our conversation. “What made you decide to actually talk to me again?” I inquired.\n“Have I ever told you that you talk so much?” he responded.\n“Have I ever told you that you dodge questions often?” I asked.\n“Have I ever told you that I didn’t care?” he replied.\n“You’re very rude,” I muttered.\n“And I repeat, have I ever told you that I didn’t care?”\n“I hope you know that this project requires working outside of school,” I murmured as I looked at the packet.\n“I’m aware,” he spoke.\n“And we’re definitely not working at my aunt’s.” I shivered at the thought of being in the same house as Vivica while Maddox is there. She hates the fact that Maddox actually agreed to go to homecoming with me. Seeing me and him together after will only strike another fuse.\n“Is this you begging to go to my house?” he asked with something of a smirk. I stared at him before raising an eyebrow. I guess he’s awkward in situations where he’s guilty of doing something bad. In this case, it’s treating me like garbage and not apologizing. Rather than manning up and saying that he was sorry, he simply ignored me.\n“Was that supposed to be a joke?” I asked him. “Is this your way of trying to apologize for getting mad at me for something that wasn’t my fault? And being an overall jerk to me when I was just trying to be nice?”\nHe sighed and looked the other way. “I’m not going to apologize, if that’s what you’re asking of me.”\nI stared at him and shook my head before turning back to the packet on my desk. So he’s just working with me because I’m the only one he can “tolerate”, not because he actually wants to work with me.\n+ + +\nWhen the last bell rang, I got up and took my time walking to my locker and putting away my books. I even used the bathroom, putting my hair up. Once I was ready to leave, I exited the school and noticed that many cars were missing, including my cousin’s. I told my aunt that I would be walking back and forth from school from now on so she wouldn’t yell at Vivica. When she asked why I would be doing this, I told her for exercising purposes; I was too embarrassed to tell her that her daughter hated me.\nMaddox’s car was still outside and he was leaning up against it with his phone in his hands. I know he’s not waiting for someone, but he’s still here. Zipping my jacket up, I walked into the parking lot. Because Maddox parks his car near the entrance of the parking lot, I had to walk past him, and as I was doing so, he called out to me.\n“They left,” he stated.\n“I’m aware,” I responded.\n“So what are you doing?” he asked me.\nI motioned towards the exit of the lot. “Walking.”\n“To your house?” he asked, his eyebrows rising.\n“Yeah,” I nodded.\n“Do you want a ride?” he asked me after a few seconds.\n“So you can kick me out of your car again? No thanks,” I retorted.\n“I didn’t kick you out of my car,” he stated. I stopped walking and turned to look at him with my hands tucked in my pockets.\nI miss home, I truly do. I miss my room and my bed. I miss my dog, Alfalfa, and my brother, Charlie. I miss walking him to school in the mornings; even though he would sing the Go, Diego, Go! theme song on replay until we arrived. This is going to be the first year I’m not going to be able to bring him trick-or-treating. I’ll truly miss that.\nEven though I’ve only been gone for two weeks, it’s dawned on me that I’m going to be here for the remainder of the school year. And who knows if my parents will have me back for the summer? And by the looks of it, this year isn’t going to be so great. I love my aunt, but school isn’t looking good, and with Vivica around, “home” isn’t looking so great either.\n+ + +\nI ended up getting a ride from Vivica, like my aunt told me. When I arrived back at my aunt’s, my brother was already waiting on the front porch for me. It took me a minute to see that it was him, mainly because he was dressed up as a tree and he blended in with the planted shrubs aunt Gen keeps on the porch. Vivica simply walked around him as he was propped up on the portico.\n“Olive!” he shouted as he came running to me. I smiled and hugged him tightly.\n“Hey, Charlie,” I smiled at the seven year old. “Did you miss me?”\n“I’ve missed you this much!” he exclaimed as he extended his arms out as far as they could reach. I grinned at him.\n“I missed you this much!” I responded, holding out my much longer arms.\n“Come on, mommy’s inside!” he told me as he grabbed my hand. I allowed him to lead me into the house and to the living room. My mother was there on the couch with a smile on her face and a cup of coffee in her hands. She stood up, put the coffee on the table, and hugged me.\n“I’ve missed you, sweetie,” she whispered.\n“I’ve missed you, too, mom,” I told her. I felt a lump in my throat form once she pulled away from me. “How’s dad doing?”\n“He’s good. He said he loves you. He wanted to come visit but he couldn’t drop his shift,” my mother told me with a smile. I nodded as I stared down at my shoes. He probably didn’t want to drop his shift. He’s still mad at me, I can tell. He hasn’t talked to me in two weeks, not a call or a text. I haven’t tried texting him or calling him either, to be honest, but I thought that he’d try at least once. I apologized repeatedly before I left but he just didn’t want to hear it.\nWe sat down and talked until five o’clock. I played with Charlie while my mother and aunt discussed many different things, including me in the conversation occasionally. It was starting to get dark out and my mother sighed. “I feel like we should get going. I promised Charlie that I’d stop a few houses so he could get candy on the way home,” my mother explained.\nI stared at her, not quite wanting to say goodbye just yet. “I can bring Charlie around here.”\n“Would you like that, Charlie?” my mother inquired.\n“Yeah, can I, mom?” he asked our mother eagerly. She nodded and I stood up, watching him run to get the bag that my mother bought for him. It had a rock on it. I guess it went with his costume in some weird way. Dusting off my pants, I opened the door.\n“What time do you want him back?” I inquired.\n“6:30,” my mother replied with a smile. I nodded and grabbed his hand, walking down the steps of the house.\n+ + +\nAt 6 o’clock, my brother asked the question I’d been thoroughly avoiding. “When are you coming back, Olive?” he asked me.\nI stared at him and sighed. “Uh, I’m not really sure, Charlie.”\n“Today?” he asked me with a hopeful smile. I shook my head. “Next week?” I shook my head again and he frowned. “Turkey day?”\n“I’ll probably visit you guys,” I told him. I’ll have to ask my mom if she’d come and pick me up on Thanksgiving. “Look, Charlie, there’s a house!”\nHe looked at the house with a small frown on his face. It was the last house on the street and then we’d have to turn around. “Can this be the last house? I don’t want to trick-or-treat anymore.”\nI stared at him with a sad look on my face. “If you want it to be, it can.”\nHe nodded and I followed him up the steps to the house. He rang the bell and we waited patiently on the illuminated porch. A few seconds later, the door opened and my brother put on a smile. “Trick or treat!”\n“You’re a tree, right?” a familiar, velvety voice spoke. My head snapped up immediately.\n“Maddox?” I stated when I saw him standing in the doorway.\n“Olive?” he narrowed his eyes at me in confusion.\n“Olivia,” I corrected him absentmindedly. I was too busy looking at the house I was standing in front of. So this is where he lives…\n“Charlie!” my brother called out with a grin. Maddox looked at him with furrowed eyebrows.\n“Oh, uh, Charlie, this is Maddox. He goes to my school. Maddox, this is my brother, Charlie,” I nodded as I introduced the two. For the first time, I saw Maddox smile. He offered my brother a small, unabashed grin and my brother beamed back. He happily laughed when he noticed that Charlie’s two, top front teeth were missing, as well as one of his bottom teeth. I was too busy staring at a seemingly happy Maddox Finnegan to speak.\nHe dropped candy into my brother’s bag and I managed to snap out of my daze. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Maddox,” I nodded at him once my brother yanked my hand, muttering about being cold.\n“How are you getting home?” Maddox asked me.\n“Walking,” I told him simply.\n“I was going to make another candy run,” Maddox spoke as my brother and I began descending from the steps. “Do you want a ride?”\n“Yes, please! It is so cold out here,” my brother exclaimed with a sigh.\n“Here,” Maddox said as he dumped the remaining candy, almost half a bowl, into my brother’s bag.\n“Thanks! You’re cool; I like you!” my brother grinned.\nI scoffed. “That makes one of us,” I muttered.\nMaddox glared at me before backing into his house. “One second, I’m going to go get money for more candy.”\nMy brother and I waited patiently for him. If he was like this all the time, maybe I’d like him. If he’s not always so rude and mean, he could be a good friend. However, he’s only acting this way because of Charlie. If Charlie wasn’t here, he’d call me creepy and demand I get off his property before he calls the cops or beats me in the face with a coathanger.\n“Where are you going?” yet another male voice asked.\n“We need more candy,” Maddox responded. I saw him jumping around the living room as he put shoes on.\n“We just had half a bowl! What are you talking about?” Abel responded. Maddox was silent as he jogged towards something on the other side of the doorway.\n“I’m talking to you!” Abel called as he went to follow Maddox but stopped in the middle of the hallway. He turned and grinned, jogging over. “Olivia!” He was shirtless and dressed only in orange plaid pajama bottoms.\nMy brother was standing beside me and Abel looked at him. “Are you a tree?”\n“Yep!” my brother grinned.\n“They ran out of Superman costumes?” Abel asked as he kneeled down and smiled at my brother.\n“No, I’m an environmentalist!” my brother responded with something of a frown on his face. I snorted as Abel’s eyebrows knitted together. “Protect the earth! Don’t litter! Where’s your recycling bin? I demand to see it this instant!” Abel looked at my little brother with an amused look on his face. He then pointed to something at the bottom of the stops and my brother nodded. “That’s what I like to see!”\nMaddox came out onto the porch and he shoved his brother back into the house. “Go inside.”\n“I see why you’re leaving,” Abel called as closed the front door. I could already feel my face burning red as my mind processed what Abel had said. Maddox glared at the door, despite the fact that his brother was probably already in the living room.\n“Come on,” Maddox nodded as we followed him down the steps. While I stared at all of the children laughing and smiling in their costumes, my brother brought up the topic of recycling to Maddox. He asked if Maddox was an environmentalist and Maddox shrugged. “I guess I am.”\n“Answer me this, if you make a mistake on a printed sheet of paper, do you reprint it? Or do you fix it by yourself?” he asked Maddox. Maddox sheepishly looked away. “You have the nerve to call yourself an environmentalist!”\nMy brother managed to calm down as he crawled in the backseat of the car. “How old is he?” Maddox asked curiously.\n“Seven,” I responded. With a confused look on his face, Maddox got into the car. I couldn’t help but chuckle.\nMaddox dropped us off at my house and my mother was outside, along with my aunt. As my brother got out of the car, he ran to the two women. Maddox managed to convince him that he was definitely an environmentalist and even promised to change his paper-wasting ways, so my brother seemed very fond of the teenage boy now. “Thanks for the ride,” I muttered as I unlocked the door.\n“Wait, about tomorrow,” he began, “since you know where I live now, you should have no problem getting there. Be there at three o’clock. If you’re even a minute late, I’m locking the door and you’re not coming in.”\nI gave him a flat look before shaking my head. As I got out of the car, my mother was approaching me. “Charlie just told me that a boy named Maddox brought you guys home. The same boy that you went to homecoming with?”\nWith wide eyes, I slowly began to shake my head. “What? No, of course not!” Before my mother could say anything, Maddox pulled off from the curb and made his way down the street. My mother simply smirked before turning around. I sighed in relief. Thank goodness.\nI had to see my family off. My brother insisted on splitting his candy half and half with me, because he said it’d remind me that he cares about me. My mother urged me to so he wouldn’t be any more hyper than usual and it’s less candy that she has to monitor his intake of. I didn’t complain, though I felt bad because he didn’t get much candy as it is. He gave me most of the chocolate, because he doesn’t really like chocolate, and he’s allergic to peanuts, which most of the chocolates contained.\nHe hugged me tightly when my mother announced that it was time for them to leave. “I’ll miss you a bunch, Olive,” he whispered as he pulled away from me.\n“I’ll miss you, too, Charlie,” I told him. “Call me whenever you want.”\n“When are you coming home?” he asked me.\nI smiled down at him. “Soon enough, Charlie.”\nI entered my house and refused to eat dinner, which was on the table for me. I excused myself and went to my room, not bothering to change or shower. Instead, I just went to sleep because it was the only sense of comfort I had.",
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      "title": "FOREVER AND ALWAYS",
      "body": "![images (14).jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmSiJwpz3CpQApfCGu4kBKH3JK3eHbigdYJToaWzSUq1NU/images%20(14).jpg)\n\nChapter 2\nI spent an hour looking through my boxes to try and find my green piggy bank. It was barely full. I wish my mother would’ve told me that she and my father decided to send me off to my aunts so I could’ve saved up from my old job. Instead, the week before I left, I spent almost two hundred dollars on worthless items like party food and plastic bowls. I could’ve saved that until I managed to get a job here. I barely have fifty bucks to my name, and I already owe someone ten dollars. I sighed and took a ten, making sure to put it on my bedside table before climbing into bed.\nI woke up the next morning with a jolt. My aunt pushed open my door and tossed a bag on my bed. “Morning, sunshine!”\nI looked at the bag and groaned. Sitting up, I opened the sack and my shoulders slumped. School uniforms. I guess my parents ordered these for me. Yesterday, I used one of Vivica’s old ones from her freshman year. It was one of the few that wasn’t hemmed and stitched so the skirt rose a few inches, and the shirt actually still had buttons.\nAfter I showered and got ready, I met my aunt and cousin downstairs. My aunt was making breakfast, which smelled delicious. With half lidded eyes and damp hair, I sat down at the table. My cousin was sitting there, looking primped and preened. She had an annoyed look on her face the moment I plopped down in the seat beside her.\n“Why’d you need to know the address yesterday?” my aunt asked.\n“I needed a ride home but I didn’t know where I lived,” I told her as I shoved a piece of bacon into my mouth.\n“You needed a ride?” my aunt asked, looking at the two of us. Yawning and rubbing my eyes, I blinked a few times before nodding.\n“Why didn’t Vivica give you a ride?” Aunt Genevieve questioned.\n“She had cheerleading practice at a different school,” I spoke flatly, not bothering to hide my annoyance.\n“We’re going to talk later,” my aunt glared at my cousin. “How’d you get home?”.\n“I got a ride from Maddox,” I told her, getting cut off in the middle of my sentence by a yawn, which caused my eyes to close slightly. Speaking of Maddox, I patted my pocket to make sure I had the money for the gas. Vivica’s eyes widened as a look of anger overtook her face. Why’s she so angry? She’s the one that left me stranded in the school parking lot without a ride.\n“You’re going to give her a ride to and from school from now on,” my aunt demanded.\nI didn’t bother speaking. Instead, I just ate a forkful of eggs and stayed silent. When Vivica announced that we were leaving, I grabbed a napkin and loaded it with the rest of my bacon. I made a move to wash my dish but my aunt stopped me and smiled, nodding towards the door. I smiled back and grabbed my bag from the floor, shoveling bacon into my mouth as I went.\nThe car ride was tense and everything Vivica did seemed angry. She punched the radio buttons until a song she approved of came on, she braked rather hard, she turned fiercely, and she didn’t warn me whenever she was taking a sharp turn. I’m guessing that’s how she takes out her anger- by beating up the passenger.\nArriving at school, I made a beeline for the bathroom. As I was walking towards the toilets (which I found yesterday after a ten minute search), I noticed a familiar guy standing at a locker, shoving books into a bag. I slowly approached him, unsure of whether or not it’s a good time. “Maddox,” I stated as I began digging into my pocket.\nHe turned around with that natural sour look on his face- the narrowed eyes and the set frown. “What?” His pretty green eyes were conical and his lips were set in a line. I felt my face heat up when I realized that I was just staring into his eyes for a good two minutes.\n“I-I have the money,” I told him as I held out the bills.\n“Is that bacon?” he asked as he furrowed his eyebrows at the napkin I was holding in my other hand.\n“Yeah, want some?” I offered as I held it out as well.\nHe shook his head and I shrugged, retracting my bacon-filled hand. “And I don’t want the money,” he told me bluntly as he slammed his locker.\n“But I searched through my boxes for an hour for this,” I muttered. I know what you’re thinking- take the money and walk away. If he doesn’t want it, be grateful. You’re ten dollars richer (or maybe just not ten dollars short). But I can’t help but feel like I owe him. He gave me a ride home even though I couldn’t even provide him with an address until forty five minutes into city exploring.\n“That’s not my problem,” he informed me. Without a second glance towards me, he walked away with his hands tucked in his pockets. I glared at his back and folded up the money, shoving it into the slits of his locker. I, Olivia Ortega, refuse to owe anyone anything. I walked towards the bathroom and entered, listening as the bell rang, signifying that the day has just begun.\n+ + +\nIt took me a minute to realize that I have five of eight classes with Maddox. And it wasn’t until American Literature, which is directly after lunch, that he came up to me and placed the money on my desk angrilly. I shoved it over towards him, lifting it when he didn’t accept it. “Take it,” I demanded.\n“No,” he stated as he stood on the other side of my table, refusing to take the money but I kept holding it out to him.\n“Take it,” I repeated, examining his face- his defined jaw was clenched, and his long eyelashes created shadows on his cheeks in the bright lighting of the classroom. The green of his eyes was flashing as he blinked impatiently, trying to shrug off my attempts to give him the money. His pale lips were set in a line as he repressed the urge to, most likely, swear at me and call me names. I shoved the money towards him again, cutting off his path to the back of the class.\n“Maddox, have a seat,” Mr. Harvey announced with a fleck of impatience in his tone. Maddox looked around and gritted his teeth when he noticed that the seat beside me was the only available chair. Everyone’s eyes were on us. He grumpily dropped in the only open seat, glaring at me when he realized that this is the third time I embarrassed him in a span of two days. He shoved my hand away and I tucked the money into my pocket, planning to slip it into his bag once the bell rings.\nMaddox ignored me the entire class period. I attempted to ask him for help on a question because the teacher didn’t explain it well enough when he came over to me and I didn’t want to ask him for help again. In my old school, we didn’t get this far into the lesson. In fact, we barely got into the lesson. Was my school behind or is this school ahead?\nMaddox also ignored me when I asked him what time class ends. And I knew he heard me. I mean, he made eye contact with me for a few seconds before he looked away. And the moment the bell rang, he jumped from his seat and dove out of the classroom, not bothering to retrieve the homework on the way out.\n+ + +\nIn my Pre-Calculus class, which I had absolutely no friends in, I was surprised when two girls took the seats beside me. I just assumed that there was a shortage on seats until they introduced themselves to me. I recognized them; they were two of the people who followed Maddox out of the cafeteria after I attacked him with my lunch.\n“I’m Cassidy,” the redhead spoke. She had several piercings on her ears, a lip piercing, and an eyebrow piercing. I smiled at her, nodding.\n“I’m Winona,” the dark skinned one greeted me. I smiled at her as well, nodding my head again. “You must be Olivia.”\nMy eyes flickered from Cassidy to Winona. “Uh, yeah, how’d you know?”\n“Maddox,” they replied in unison. “We’re his friends.”\n“Oh,” I muttered. “Well, yeah, I’m Olivia.”\nThe girls started a conversation with me and I politely engaged, still confused as to why Maddox told them about me. I didn’t bother to ask.\n+ + +\n“You’re going to homecoming with a boy?” my aunt asked as I entered the house with my bag over my shoulder.\nI nodded slowly. “Yeah, how’d you know?” I asked her.\n“Viv was talking about it on the phone when she came in,” my aunt smiled. “Do you have a dress?”\nI shook my head. “No.”\n“Well, homecoming’s this Friday! We need to go get you a dress,” my aunt explained.\n“Now?” I asked when I saw her grabbing her car keys.\n“Yeah, or they’ll all be sold out, if they aren’t already!” she smiled at me.\n“Let me just run upstairs and get my money,” I told her.\n“No need, I’ll pay for it,” she smiled at me.\nI returned the smile. “Thanks, aunt Gen.”\n“No problem,” she grinned.\nAs we drove to the mall, I thought about what Maddox said. Should I wear red? Or should I wear what I want to wear? I’ll wear what I want to wear, unless I find a cute, red dress. Then I guess I’ll buy that. Upon our arrival, I noticed a few things. There were a lot of teenagers and a lot of stores. This mall’s definitely larger than the one from my old town, almost twice the size.\n“Let’s look around,” my aunt grinned as she looked at the different stores. I followed behind her, staring at the variety of shops that dotted the aisles. “They have dresses.”\nWe cut across the large hall and entered the store, where we were hit with a blast of heat. I immediately noticed a red dress on a rack and I walked over and picked it up, looking at it. “So you want a red dress?”\n“What?” I asked her.\n“Your eyes darted to that red dress faster than my eyes dart to purses,” she chuckled.\nI looked down, embarrassed. “It’s cute, don’t you think?” I asked her.\n“Yeah, do they have your size?” she asked. I surveyed the rack more and frowned, shaking my head. “We’ll keep looking, then.”\nThere wasn’t much to look at. Two stores later, we finally found a dress that was cute and they had my size. After purchasing it (I thanked my aunt repeatedly for doing so), we exited the store. “Do you have any shoes?” my aunt asked.\nI stared at the floor and shook my head. “No.”\n“No problem, we’ll get you some!” she smiled. “Vivica hates shopping with me. It’s good to have someone around to shop with.”\n“Thanks, Aunt Gen,” I smiled at her.\n“Anytime,” my aunt responded. “When was the last time you talked to your mom?”\n“Not too long ago, three days I think,” I nodded. To be honest, it wasn’t much of a talk. She just called to make sure I knew the rules, which she shouted at me repeatedly on the way here.\n‘Don’t do anything disrespectful. Follow all of your aunts’ rules. If she has a curfew different than ours, follow it without complaint. Don’t get into trouble with the police. No parties, at all. Don’t hit Vivica. I mean it, Liv; don’t hit her…’ My mom’s voice droned on in my head.\n“She told you the rules again, right?” my aunt grinned at me.\nI chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, she did.”\n“Don’t worry about it. You’re doing just fine here.”\nI smiled at my aunt. Maybe this year won’t be so bad. At least my aunt won’t be.",
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      "title": "FOREVER AND ALWAYS",
      "body": "![images (14).jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmSiJwpz3CpQApfCGu4kBKH3JK3eHbigdYJToaWzSUq1NU/images%20(14).jpg)\n\nChapter 1\nEmbarrassing.\nThat’s the one word I’d use to describe my first day at my new school, Gregory H. Peters Preparatory High School. Everyone stared at me like I was an alien. I’m betting that they don’t get new kids very often. I stuck out like a sore thumb. And the fact that I had no choice but to trail behind Vivica and her friends didn’t help whatsoever. I made no friends.\nI miss my old school. I didn’t think I’d miss my old school, to be honest. I had a few friends there, most of which I still talk to via text message and social media. I received a few “I miss you already” tweets this past weekend but I didn’t bother to respond because that’s who I am, I guess. Distant is what my friends called me. Wild is what my parents called me, which is the entire reason why I’m here, in Harrington.\nParties, parties, parties. That’s all I did according to my parents. In actuality, I went to school, ate, slept, occasionally partied, watched television, and read. I also hung out with my younger brother, Charlie, pretty often. Speaking of Charlie, I miss him a lot, probably more than I miss my parents. I was out of ‘control and needed a change of scenery’. I think my father was just embarrassed of having to break up parties that I threw, or was attending. He said that he made the decision to send me to Aunt Genevieve’s as a father, not as a cop. But for some reason, I don’t think that’s the case.\nBy the time lunch came around, I was unsure of where I was going to sit.\nMy eyes had scanned the cafeteria once, twice, and three times before I noticed Chelsea waving at me in the left, back corner of the large room. Should I just ignore her and pretend I didn’t see her? But then where could I go? Hesitantly, I made my way over there, drawing eyes as I did. I let out a sigh. I wish I had spoken to someone, anyone, just so I wouldn’t have to sit at my cousin’s table. Today, I learned that she’s popular, very popular. I just assumed that she was just a snob, but no, she’s a very popular snob. So popular that she manages to split crowds just by entering a room. If that didn’t make me uncomfortable, the way she was whispering at the table did.\nI stopped in my tracks, uncertain on whether or not I should actually go to the table. I could lie and say that I have to change my schedule, which was actually fine. I only have one class with Vivica, and it’s my first period class- which I can deal with. On Friday, when I was forced to hang out with Chelsea and Tracy, they demanded I give them my schedule. I have one class with Tracy and two with Chelsea, but I realized that she usually skips those classes. She said so in the car ride this morning, which I was also forced into taking.\nAs I stood there, I decided that I would just leave. I turned around and slammed into someone. The loud cafeteria went silent as the sound of two people colliding and falling to the ground wafted through the air. I heard a deep voice swearing and I felt my face immediately warm up as I began to apologize. I’m such an idiot. I was just standing there, in the middle of the cafeteria, staring at a table.\nI stood up, looking down at the guy who I bumped into. The ketchup that I had retrieved for my fries stained his black uniform shirt. I continued to apologize as I looked around for napkins. No one offered any. Instead, they all stared at us. By the tense aura of the room, I can tell that whoever I just bumped into isn’t someone to be messed with. I’m guessing the people around us were expecting him to lash out at me by the way they stared at him, looking for a reaction.\n“I’m sorry,” I apologized again when I couldn’t offer him any napkins. My lunch lay abandoned on the floor, as did his unopened soda bottle. I immediately picked it up, handing it to him. He stared at my outstretched hand before he grabbed the soda. His green eyes were staring at me as I tried to explain the situation.\n***************”*************************************\n“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to bump into you. I was just going to go change my schedule. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. If it’s any comfort, I’m pretty embarrassed, too,” I continued to rant as my cheeks became more and more red. When you’re the only one talking, it gets pretty awkward. Especially when you have over two hundred listening ears. My words were practically echoing off the walls.\nI may not know this guy, but I know enough to say that he’s intimidating. His broad shoulders basically overshadowed my entire existence. His tapering eyes and messy hair were the only things I could focus on. My stomach was clenched and knotted as I stared up at his tall figure.\nHe watched me with furrowed eyebrows. He glanced down at his shirt, his jaw clenching slightly. “Watch where you’re going,” he hissed. It was barely audible but the words rattled around my head, bouncing from wall to wall. He was capable of making the four words sound like a threat.\nWithout another word, he turned on his heel and exited the cafeteria. The breath I was holding was immediately released. I slowly made my way towards the lunch table I was avoiding as the janitors shooed me away from the dropped lunch.\nI let out a slow shaky breath as I sat down. The stress of that situation had wrecked my nerves. “You know who that was?” Chelsea asked with a smirk.\n“Maddox Finnegan- the guy you’re going to be asking to homecoming,” Tracy grinned.\nCan this day get any worse?\n+ + +\nBecause I know his name and his face, Maddox Finnegan had popped up in two of my last few classes. During roll call, his name was called and he answered with a raise of his hand. I felt my stomach twist into yet another knot when the last period bell rang and I had to leave the safety of the classroom to wait at Vivica’s car.\n“You have to ask him now,” Vivica informed me once I reached her vehicle. His car was parked beside Vivica’s and he was leaning against it, as if waiting for someone. Chelsea and Tracy looked at me expectantly.\n“Can’t I wait until he forgets about how I bumped into him today?” I asked in a quiet voice.\n“You either ask him now or you don’t get a ride home,” Vivica explained, louder than I would’ve liked.\nHad I made a friend with a car, this wouldn’t have been a problem. The drive here was about twenty five minutes, so walking would be double the time. And since I don’t know the way, it’d probably take me hours to find my way back to Aunt Genevieve’s. I stared at them, annoyed. I would say something, but they’d think I was refusing to do it. And I wouldn’t get a ride either way.\nI sighed. “He’s going to say no and embarrass me…again.”\n“You won’t know until you try,” Chelsea grinned. I could tell that that is what they wanted- my embarrassment. I scoffed and looked at the car beside ours. He was leaning on the driver’s side door, talking to a group of people excitedly.\nA guy said something and he laughed. I glanced at my cousin. “Can’t I wait until the crowd disperses?”\n“You have five minutes,” she spoke as she glanced at her phone. Luckily for me, the group slowly thinned out and instead of it being five people there, it was only two. Maddox and a guy with blonde hair.\nI slowly walked around his car, approaching him slowly and nervously. My palms began to sweat. His friend saw me first and nudged Maddox in the side. He glanced up when his friend elbowed him and he looked at me, taking on a threatening stance as if I was going to throw all the condiments in the world at him. His shirt was changed into a white button up, another uniform option. I wonder what he did with the black one that I wrecked.\n***************”*************************************\nHis friend muttered something to him before walking away and I let out a sigh of relief. The less people who see my embarrassment, the better.\n“Hey, I just wanted to apologize about earlier,” I nodded awkwardly as I stared at the floor. I felt his eyes on me and I nervously brushed the hair from my face. He was silent so I looked up, noticed he was staring at me, and immediately looked down again. “I also have a question.”\nI glanced up at him to see him scrutinizing me and I looked the other way, trying to count the amount of seconds until my rejection. “You know what homecoming is, right?”\nHe didn’t respond and I sighed. “This is like talking to a brick wall,” I muttered. “Anyway, I was wondering if you’d like to go to homecoming with me,” I inquired, glancing over his shoulder to see my cousin and her two friends holding their hands over their mouths as they snickered and laughed.\nHe glanced behind himself before looking at me. My face was bright red and I could feel my palms growing sweatier and sweatier with each shaky breath I took. “Okay,” he said.\n“Well, I tried,” I muttered before I suddenly went rigid. “Wait, what did you say?”\n“I said okay,” his deep voice responded.\n“Okay as in…?” I asked, quirking my eyebrows.\n“Okay as in I’ll go with you,” he responded. I glanced over his shoulder to see Vivica’s eyes widen as Chelsea and Tracy immediately turned to look at her.\nI simply nodded a few times before walking around the car, back to Vivica, who looked angry. “Did he say yes?” she inquired. I slowly nodded, still shocked that he agreed. Her eyes narrowed at the ground.\n“Uh, we can’t give you a ride home. We have cheerleading practice at a nearby school,” Chelsea stated and I stared at her, stunned. They all piled into the car and drove off.\nI swore under my breath as I took out my phone and dialed my aunt’s number. There was no response and I groaned. I have no money for a cab, and even if I did, I don’t even know the address. It was difficult to remember. My old one was simple- 12 Taverness Drive. This one had a list of numbers and I’m not sure if it was a lane or a drive or what.\nRubbing my eyes, I sighed, about to go into the office to ask where my aunt even lived. “They left you?” the familiar deep voice from behind me asked.\nI turned around and nodded. “Yeah, they did.”\nHe looked hesitant as he bit his lip. “Do you need a ride?” he asked.\nI was surprised at the fact that he asked me and I slowly nodded. “Yeah.”\n“Come on,” he muttered as he kicked off his car and opened the door for himself. I shuffled over to the side and opened the door, in fear that he’d leave me if I told him that I had to run inside for a minute to get my new homes’ address.\nAs he started the car, I grew curious. “Aren’t you waiting for someone?”\n“Nope,” he muttered as he backed out of the parking space and drove out of the lot. “We have to stop and get gas.”\n“Okay,” I nodded.\nAs we reached the gas station, he opened the car door and got out. Before he closed the door, he leaned forward and looked at me. “Don’t touch anything.”\n“No promises,” I muttered. He stared at me and I rolled my eyes. “I’m joking!”\nWhen he got into the car after filling up the tank, he exited the lot, halting as he turned to look at me. “What’s your address?”\n“I don’t know,” I answered after a moment.\nHe stared at me, blinking a few times. I looked at him, meeting his eyes. He has very pretty eyes. The thought caused my face to burn as I averted my gaze. Hopefully he thinks that I was just embarrassed at his staring. He probably thinks that I like him. I mean, I’d understand if he did. I asked him to homecoming and I barely know him. And whenever I look at him, I blush like an idiot.\n“What do you mean you don’t know?” he asked, dragging me back to reality.\n“I just came to live with my aunt on Friday,” I told him. “I didn’t have time to memorize the address.”\n“Do you even know the street name?” he asked in bewilderment.\n“No. I just know that it is twenty five minutes from school, and the house is blue, and the number of the house has a five in it,” I informed him. He stared at me before sighing. “Do you know where Vivica lives?”\n“No, why would I?” he asked with a scowl. I have a feeling that he doesn’t like Vivica very much.\n“Don’t get an attitude with me! This is a particularly small town; I just assumed that people know people!” I responded as he parked the car outside of the gas station. “I think I might be able to retrace the drive from the school.”\nHe sighed and made his way back to the school. I could tell that he was thinking that I was more trouble than I was worth. I couldn’t help but think that too.\n+ + +\nThirty minutes later and we were still driving around. “Left?”\n“Yeah,” I responded as he took a left. “Wait, no! I meant right!”\nHe groaned aloud as he glared at me. “I’m wasting gas on you.”\n“I’ll pay for it,” I told him for the third time.\nI stared at my cell phone and saw a response from my aunt. It was the address. I quickly read it out to him and he slowly turned to look at me. “We’re a half hour away from there. You took us in the opposite direction of your house,” he snapped.\n“I’ve been here for, like, three days, okay? I don’t have the entire town memorized,” I retorted. He glared at me and I sighed. “How much do you need for the gas?”\nHe didn’t respond and we sat in silence for some time. As we drove to the house, I turned to look at him. “You know, we don’t have to go to homecoming together. I-I, uh, I was dared to go. I didn’t expect you to say yes, and the girls didn’t either. You probably have other stuff to do.” He remained silent.\nIf every moment spent with him will be this tense, then I don’t want to spend four straight hours with him. I looked at him for a response but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he had his eyes narrowed as he read street signs. A few moments later, he pulled onto a street and continued driving.\n“Which house?” he asked. I nodded to the blue one at the corner, covered in wind chimes that were twinkling here and there, and he stopped in front of it. The white porch swing was empty, as was the driveway. Hopefully, my aunt’s car is parked in the back. I don’t like being home alone, especially in a house that isn’t mine.\n“I’ll give you the gas money tomorrow. I’m not completely unpacked and my piggy bank is still in a box somewhere. Will ten dollars cover it?” I asked. He didn’t respond again. “Well, thanks,” I muttered awkwardly as I closed the car door.\n“Tell Vivian to lose my number,” Maddox spoke as I reached the sidewalk. I looked at him and nodded. Vivica, I wanted to correct him but decided against it.\nAs I was approaching the house, he called something out. “What?” I responded, turning around with a confused look on my face.\n“Wear red,” he called. I furrowed my eyebrows as he drove off.\nHomecoming, I remembered.\nSo he actually wants to go.",
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      "body": "![436d8946c0f90a78461bc9fc9e3f7201--dark-art-photography-horror-photography.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmUD18RAMEFZ67bHphRXJqotJSU8ADC2ocYCsYcqGFxwPr/436d8946c0f90a78461bc9fc9e3f7201--dark-art-photography-horror-photography.jpg)\n\nApril is in love,\nDeep down she was taught that only fools fall in love.\nWhat is the essence of falling,\nIf no one will be there to catch you?\nAs grandpa will alway say;\nDid granny tell you she was chosen twice?\nLove, these days exist not in this part of the world,\nTalk more of falling into an alien arm.\nHow could you be in love with a vampire?\nAnd you think you will not be a meal someday.\nHe is not a vampire, said April;\nThough you see him as a beast,\nBut the beauty that I saw is what no one can comprehend.\nApril fool!\nFool you are April.\nLove is blind, they say;\nI have never believed it until now.\nHe is my prince charming,\nI love him, papa.\nApril cried out.\nThe tears in her eyes,\nIs enough to wash a million dish.\nFor the rhythm in her heart,\nEven from afar Sam will interpret.\nWhat is love, if not sacrifice?\nApril will run to the woods,\nIn search of her lover,\nFollowing the beat of his heart,\nAnd singing to the rhythm till day break.\n\"In a world where no one,\nhas no love for you.\nNothing will stop me,\nfrom loving you\"\nThat she will say,\nKnowing that she might be a prey,\nBut some how she believes love will have its way.\nThe bow is set,\nThe arrow is ready.\nThis night we go for the game,\nTo quench that love flame.\nAs grandpa will say;\nI have never missed before.\nGranny will add;\nAn arrow to the heart, is sure to kill the cat.\nThen night comes,\nFor the first time Grandpa missed the target,\nThe arrow pierced April's heart.\nAnd Sam said; Darling stay with me, \nA bite will make you be like me,\nA bite is sure to turn you a beauty, into a beast like me.\nAnd April said in pain;\nIf you don't bite me, who will?\nDo it and this love will forever have its way.\nSam will hesitate,\nBut have no choice, than to extend the race.\nSam bite gives life to April,\nIn that love finally have its way.",
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      "body": "![32736244_1898874993736316_8071557907960823808_n.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmeKwpMQEwWfjkm3Yr8m5iCGdZsmBsymntizFt2CQ7KnJR/32736244_1898874993736316_8071557907960823808_n.jpg)\n\nI thought times were to be counted only,\nBut no, they were also meant to be erased. \nA little tick tack was the equivalent of a little no no. \nAnd maybe right there,I thought it was even not difficultly simple. \nI felt my wrist would weigh the more better than the right hand clock. \nSo, my eyes would not see the clarity of the view I'd hope to see. \nI just had a feeling,\nThat these would not happen.\nI'd have a word to the moonlit balcony,\nTelling it the dangers it caused me in the guise of blissful admonitions from mother.\nHow the light bench I sat on rested on the heaviest burden I would own in the nearest future. \nThe sounds were rhythmic rooving on the roof of my real heart\nAnd beautiful,bouncing on the bones of my bare soul. \nWith a touch of craft carved from the Devil's cuisine.\nTo teach my mind the myriads of mandatory mess.\nIn the quick sense of homely dominion.\nSee,right now, I've been hurt. \nI mean that I can feel the rush down my veins \nHitting on every pump of my blood \nAnd resting on every bit of my heart.\nI'm the more bitter \n'Cause I cannot sell reality to imagination. \nThere's not a way I can bury my soul in the flesh of yesterday.\nSo, I am damn hurt.\nI've tried pulling off the life I live in the dark, \nTo wear another life I wanted to live before the rain, \nBut, this skin hurts really good \nSo much so that,\nI'd prefer to sleep all my life\nNever waking to the reality of the good sun. \nI'd wish that my dress were never changed too. \nSo, no one would get to see how much I have become my cruel mother.\nI really wish father was aware of this brutality, \nBut before mother bled her last, \nShe told me that father asked her to grind my soul into eternity.\nJust when I knew absolutely nothing.\nSo, now, they're gone, \nLeaving me to visit them in the unwillingness of my evil being.\nI cannot hide my skin no more.\nThen, let my teeth show that I couldn't make it into the good life.\nPerhaps,the young ones I have would learn from the character of war. \nI hope they'd strive to make way for the good,\nSince it's enemy, the bad is never at rest. \nBut, I'm sorry!\nI never meant to hurt a soul. \nYet,that became my living duty. \nI wish I'd be good in the hereafter. \nFor now, I'm bad because I've been bruised in my soul.",
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      "body": "![images (3).jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbnGeosKhGBCRYWe3PR1J5FVXP2B47bofvv8nUMjrMbPc/images%20(3).jpg)\n\n“Come on, man. Think like a Surgeon. Let’s cut!” Jerry said as he dropped an envelope on the table. He bent over and flipped a Surgical Textbook open.\nEmeka took a deep breath. He had never seen Jerry so enthusiastic about something and maybe that was a good sign but at the same time, someone had to be reasonable here. Jerry had just stepped out of Toni’s room with the ‘get me on my feet’ rule and he didn’t seem to be thinking straight here. All he wanted was to get her on her feet in its literary context, but that was not going to give a lasting solution. He sighed as he watched Jerry look through a book. “Bro, I think we should talk about this” Emeka said.\nJerry was engrossed in the textbook he was looking through. “Not now.”\n“Jerry, I know you feel you can go all Ben Carson on her right now, but we have to be logical here. She has had epileptic seizures from her history and I don’t think we should take that chance again.” Emeka started.\nJerry closed the book. “You are not getting the point. We can cut through and remove the mass of the tumour, do you know what that will do for her?”\n“That will buy her more time and in the end, you will still lose her.” Emeka replied. “I think she should start the treatment as soon as possible. Besides, it is the patient and her sister’s wish that she does Chemo and since we know it is the brain we are focusing on, we can switch to Radiotherapy for effectiveness. Don’t start putting your emotions into this thing.”\n“You and I know how Radiotherapy works…I can’t watch her go through it. It is so much pain.” Jerry retorted.\n“You don’t have to watch. You just have to be there for her, man. I think we shouldn’t waste any more time with these decisions. It is obvious the tumour is escalating to other parts of the system and if we keep dilly dallying about it, we would get nothing done.” Emeka replied.\nJerry shook his head. “The Director asked me what I think we should do and I think surgery is fine, I would go over to him and tell him about my decision and I would try to make Toni and Nora see reason. Besides, AEDs can be given for the seizures.”\n“Jerry, you and I know that\ncytoreduction of the tumour is the best we would get out of this. You have seen the neoplasm , it is better to let her do radiotherapy. Besides, I think we are going to have problems gaining access to the tumour because of the size and location. It is at the skull base, man. Think. There are many possible outcomes of the surgery, we could tamper with her brain tissues, she could suffer memory loss or something worse, are you willing to take that chance?” Emeka asked.\nJerry took a deep breath and leaned against the table. Emeka was right, but he still believed he could remove as many tumour cells as possible, but he had a very slim chance because of the size and location of the tumour. He fumed as he sank into a chair. His eyes were soon wet. “I am out of ideas, bro.”\n“Look, Jerry, radiation therapy will kill the tumours but won’t harm her brain tissues. Let’s take a chance on this.” Emeka replied as he took a seat beside him. “Toni is trusting you to get her back on her feet, but not for a month or two. She wants it to be forever.”\nJerry nodded. “This isn’t going to be easy for her.”\n“Well, we both know it is not going to be, but she is a fighter. Let’s believe.” Emeka replied.\nThe door opened and the Director walked in. “What would it be?” he asked as he picked up a copy of the scan that was lying on the table. “Hmm…this is big.” He said and replaced the scan on the table. “Jerry, do you think we can cut?”\nJerry blinked. “Err…Sir, I…I was thinking-”\n“-We are thinking radiotherapy would work.” Emeka said, staring at Jerry. “We can’t cut this.” He said through clenched teeth.\nThe Director nodded as he stared at Jerry. “I hope you know that you would be off most of her treatment.”\n“No way!” Jerry objected.\nEmeka took Jerry’s hand. “Man.”\nJerry blinked. “Sir, I can’t afford to be kicked off her case. You know what she means to me.”\n“And it is exactly for that reason that you have to sit out of this one. I would get you tonnes of cases-”\n“-I don’t want anything. I just want her.” Jerry replied, cutting in.\nEmeka cleared his throat. “Sir, I think Jerry can be on the team for the Radiotherapy since we won’t be doing surgery.”\n“No. I won’t bend the rule even a bit. There is a surgery in about an hour. He is the lead surgeon.”\nJerry fumed. “Sir! Don’t do this.”\n“I can’t have you mixing emotions with this.” The Director replied.\nJerry clasped his hands together. “Sir, I have put my emotions aside. I am just a surgeon and her Doctor.”\n“It is not so easy, Son. Sit out of this one, we’ve got it.” The Director replied and stared at Emeka. “Come with me, we need to go and prep the patient.” He said and walked out.\nJerry pulled Emeka back. “He can’t do this to me. Please beg him. Toni wants me to do this.”\nEmeka blinked. “Jerry, you know how it is. You can’t. You need a right frame of mind.”\n“Don’t give me that crap! You can convince him. It is not surgery.” Jerry replied angrily.\n“This is why he won’t let you in on it. Cool off, man.” Emeka said and walked out.\nJerry fumed as he kicked the door.\n***\nToni brushed Nora’s hair. “So, I want to draw up my will.”\nNora flipped her head over her shoulder. “What is that?”\n“A will. Legal statement showing who I give my share of our family’s fortune to.” Toni replied with a smug smile.\nNora frowned. “I know what a will is, I just don’t know what you need it for right now.”\n“Oh come on, Nora. You and I know that it is only necessary I do this now, besides, amendments can be carried out in the nearest future should events change.” Toni replied.\nNora took a seat opposite her. “Are we being less optimistic now? Jerry is doing everything he can and you are here throwing it all away with wanting to draw up a will.”\nToni sighed. “Nora, why are you talking like this? I want to live, but in case I don’t, I want to leaveve something behind for my foundation and stuff.”\n“Are you saying I am going to collapse your foundation in the event of your death? Give me some credit, Toni.” Nora said, standing up.\nToni sighed. “I didn’t mean it that way, sis.”\n“I don’t care how you meant it, but it hurts.” Nora replied.\nToni nodded. “I am sorry.”\n“Yeah. I have got to take a walk.” Nora replied.\nToni sighed. “Are you for real? I said I am sorry.”\n“I know you are. I just didn’t expect you to have that sort of opinion of me.” Nora replied.\nToni smiled. “Are you trying to pick up a fight with me? I promise I will be dead before you are back from your walk and you are going to carry the feeling that you fought with your sister before her death to your grave.” She concluded with a wide grin.\nNora rolled her eyes. “Don’t start guilt tripping me.”\n“Oh yeah…it worked. I am sorry.” Toni said with a smile.\nNora sighed and took her seat. “Don’t start scaring me, Toni. You have to be in the right frame of mind for any treatment to be effective on you.”\n“Trust me, I am motivated to live.” Toni replied.\nNora smiled. “James would be here to see you in the evening. He left early this morning.”\nToni nodded. “Hmm…that’s cool. I need to have a talk with him anyway.”\n“What talk could that be?” Nora asked.\nToni shrugged. “It’s personal.”\nNora folded her arms. “Personal?”\nToni nodded. “It is important I talk to him, that’s all. Don’t be scared.”\nThe door opened and the Director walked in with Emeka. “Good morning, ladies.”\n“Good morning, Director.” Nora greeted.\nToni stared at the door expecting it to open but it didn’t. She stared at Emeka looking for an answer.\nEmeka cleared his throat. “Jerry is not coming.”\nThe Director stared at her. “As you understand, Doctor Jerry can’t be let in on this due to his emotional attachment to the patient.”\nNora nodded and took Toni’s hand. “Okay, so, what’s going to happen now?”\n“We are going to start the radiotherapy by tomorrow. We can’t have any more surgeries as the tumour is in a delicate position of the brain. So, are you ready?” The Director asked.\nNora stared at Toni. “You ready?”\nToni nodded. “Yes. I have always been.”\nEmeka smiled. “Okay. So, we would move you into a new room tonight and we can start off from there.”\n“Can I see Jerry?” Toni asked.\nEmeka nodded. “I’ll tell him to come.”\n“No. I want to go to him.” Toni said.\nThe Director shrugged. “We’ll get a chair for you.” He said and walked out.\n“I’ll go with him.” Nora said and walked out.\nEmeka took a deep breath as he sat beside her. “I have heard a lot about you and I…I am honoured to finally meet you.”\nToni smiled. “Trust me, I am more beautiful than this. I am just allergic to Hospitals.” She said with a smile.\n“Of course, you are.” Emeka said with a soft chuckle.\nToni stared at him. “Jerry is a good guy.”\nEmeka nodded. “I know. He is one of the best men around. I am glad he found you.”\n“Me too…”\nEmeka took her hand. “Would you please not leave him?” he asked as a teardrop rolled down his eyes.\nToni gasped. “Oh…I think you are also emotional. You can’t be on this case too.” She said as she laughed.\nEmeka laughed as he wiped his eyes. “You have a good laugh.”\n“I know. I can’t help being a diva.” She replied.\nHe nodded. “You stay alive, okay?”\n“I am alive.” She replied.\nNora returned with a wheelchair. “Let’s go, baby.”\nToni smiled as she got on the wheelchair.\n***\nJerry sipped his cup of coffee as he stared at his wristwatch. He had a surgery in about thirty minutes. “Make this count, Jerry.”\nThe door opened and Toni wheeled in.\n“Toni?” he gaped as he went over to her. “How did you…?”\nToni smiled. “Never mind…not like you don’t know how I got here.”\n“Emeka.” He replied.\nShe nodded. “So…you won’t be my Doctor?”\nHe nodded. “Yes. I…I am sorry. I wanted to be there, but the Director won’t let me.”\n“Neither would I.” she replied.\nHe knelt before her. “The session starts tomorrow. I will be by your side every step of the way. I promise to hold your hand throughout.”\nToni rolled her eyes. “Don’t get all mushy okay. Besides, it means you would hold one hand while Nora holds the other. How am I going to cope with two of you professing love?” she asked with a smile.\n“I love you.” Jerry said.\nShe shrugged. “The question is, who doesn’t love me?”\n“Are you going to class me with the majority?” Jerry asked with a smile.\nShe shook her head. “No. You make up the vast minority.”\n“Vast? Minority?” Jerry asked.\nShe grinned. “You are everything…and much more than I wanted.”\n“Oh my…I am honoured.” Jerry said as he kissed her hand.\nShe nodded. “You should be.”\n“I have a patient who is due for surgery now.” He said, staring at his wristwatch.\nShe smiled. “Oh really?”\nHe nodded.\n“Come here.” She said as she kissed his forehead. “Go save a life.”\nJerry smiled. “You got it.” He said and walked out with a smile.\nTears rolled down Toni’s eyes as the door closed after him. “God please…allow me love this man.”\n***\nJERRY\nWho knew surgery could be fun? Tearing…sewing…tearing…sewing…fixing…smiling. I didn’t understand that it could bring me so much joy…until today. Being a surgeon is everything I have always wanted and I forgot what it was to have that dream until today. They say love can do a lot for you…much more than a lot for you. It gives life. It gives light. It gives hope. It gives much more than you have ever expected.\nAs I walked into the theatre with optimism, my team lit up. I had never seen them smile. It was as though I was ready to lead an army into battle and they were willing to fight with me…for the first time. Toni. It all came from her. Maybe Magic…maybe a fairy tale, but Toni is pure and true. I couldn’t ask for anything more, the gift of Toni to my life was something I couldn’t question.\nAnd yes, my patient lived.\n***\n“Hey…”\nToni rolled over to see Jerry. “Hi. How was it?” she asked.\nHe smiled as he took his seat beside her on the bed. “Patient is fine. I am fine.”\n“That’s good to know.” She replied. “I am nervous about radiotherapy. At first, I thought it was going to be chemo…but now it has a different name.” she said with a soft chuckle.\nJerry nodded. “Yeah. Radiotherapy is more effective and it is a better option.”\n“So I heard.” Toni replied. “I pray I survive this.”\n“You will survive it. I know that you are strong and you can go through this. I am here for you…every step of the way.”\nToni stared at him. “Would you?”\nHe nodded. “I am not going anywhere…you just have to promise me that you will stay.”\n“That is not in my power, is it?” she asked.\nHe looked away.\n“Do you love God, Jerry?”\nJerry shrugged. “He created us, right?”\n“That’s not the question. Do you love God?” she asked.\nHe turned in her direction. “I don’t know.”\n“You don’t know?” she asked.\nHe nodded. “He doesn’t have much love for me either.”\n“Why would you say so?” Toni asked as she sat up.\nHe stared at her. “Frankly, I have never had the best things of life except for good grades.”\n“Good grades are something.” She said, cutting in.\n“They didn’t save my first patient.” He replied.\nShe smiled. “You lose some, you win some.”\n“Not your first. It is unforgivable.” He replied.\n“By who?” she asked.\nHe stared at her. “I don’t understand.”\n“By whose standard is losing your first patient unforgivable?” she asked.\nHe was silent.\n“I know the pain hurts so much, but, we tend to take ourselves too serious and important that we forget the essence of being human.” She started. “Would saving your first patient have mattered if you went on a failure streak afterwards?”\nHe stared at her. “You don’t understand.”\n“Make me.” She said with a smile. “Look, Jerry, we are allowed to lose, but the only thing you are not allowed to do is give up. You saved a life today because God was with you.”\n“Why didn’t he save my first patient? Why did he let you have Cancer? Isn’t he God?” Jerry asked. “You talk so much about him, and it is obvious you love him…why did he let that happen to you? Why?”\nToni sniffled. “I am writing a novel. I don’t know if I would have all the time in the world to tell you who Toni was before I got Cancer…but I want you to know that there isn’t so much of a difference. I am still happy. I am still alive. I just have Cancer…and oh, I quit drinking.”\n“You used to drink?” he asked.\nToni smiled. “Heavy boozer!”\nHe smiled faintly. “Toni, I want to understand God the way you have come to understand him, but he has to keep you alive for me to like him.” He said.\n“Giving God conditions, are we?” she asked with a smile.\nHe shrugged. “I don’t know. Let him keep you alive, then, we have a deal.”\n“Ever heard of Job in the Bible?” she asked.\nHe nodded. “Sort of.”\n“Try to read the Book of Job in the Bible. I am in no way comparing this situation to his, but that is a man that never stopped loving God. I am living proof that God cares about you and I. Talk to him. He listens, Jerry.”\nJerry blinked. “I don’t know about that…what am I going say to him?”\n“First, you ask him to forgive you of your sins and give him your life. Let him be in charge of it all.” She said.\nHe smiled. “I think you should rest, Toni.” He said as he rose to his feet. “I have to go home to get a change of clothes and then I would be back for the night. Nora is outside. I would tell her to come in.”\nToni smiled. “You can run, but you can’t hide.”\nHe blew her a kiss and walked out.\n***\n“So, you ran away because she was telling you about God?” Mrs Aiyenugba asked as they ate.\nJerry shrugged. “Not exactly. But, I don’t understand why she is so passionate about him when clearly he isn’t about her.”\nMrs Aiyenugba dropped her spoon. “Jerry???”\n“Yes! You don’t let Cancer come near someone you love…I know he is God and he can do everything. Why can’t he take it away?” he shouted.\nShe sat back as she watched Jerry rant.\n“All I want is for her to be fine…he should know that.” He shouted as tears rolled down his face. “He doesn’t have to take her away from me. I thank him for bringing her my way, but I want to have her.” He shouted as he broke down in tears.\nMrs Aiyenugba nodded and walked over to him. “When I lost my husband, I felt God was unfair too…he knew I loved him, but God loves him more and I had to understand that.”\n“Just like that? No disrespect, but you have had the best days with your husband, but God isn’t even giving me a chance with her…” He protested.\nShe smiled. “The best days are yet to come. As long as you live, you make the most of each day and every moment and who told you that Toni has not had the best of her days with you already?”\n“Don’t try to patronize me.” He replied.\nShe nodded. “Not my plan to do that, but I feel you should give yourself some credit already. Every man has his purpose and duty to fulfil, and when we are done, we are done.”\n“Toni can’t be done.” He replied.\nShe stared at him. “Jerry, talk to God. He listens.” She said and dug her spoon into the food.\n***\n“So James, what are your plans for Nora?” Toni asked.\nJames stared at her. “I like her a lot. I know we can make it work.”\n“Really?” she asked.\nHe nodded with a smile. “Am I on the hot seat here?”\nShe nodded. “Yes. I love my sister and I want to be sure that I am leaving her in the right hands.”\n“You are not suggesting that you are going to die, are you?” he asked.\nShe shrugged. “We would all die someday…or face rapture.”\n“Look Toni, I know it seems I hit on you the first day we met, but-”\nShe raised a finger. “I don’t care about that. I want to know your intents.”\n“I want to be there for Nora. I want to love her, protect her, and take care of her. I know I can do it and I want you to trust me to be able to.” He said.\n“James, I have nothing against you…Nora would do this to Jerry if she were in my shoes. I wish you guys the best.” She said.\n“Are you saying goodbye already?” he asked.\nShe sighed. “I don’t know…but for as long as I am here, I am here.”\n***\n“God, I know I am not a good guy. I have not been to church in a long time. I have been drinking too much and maybe a little more than too much. But, I have found a good girl and I can’t let you take her away from me. The Director already said I won’t be treating her, but I don’t believe we even treat anyone, I think you do. Please, God, can you treat Toni for me? God, I…I won’t be able to go on without her…If you knew that you won’t keep her alive, why did you bring her my way? Were you trying to tease me? God, please…I can’t do this on my own…Teach me your ways, help me to understand you and everything that happens around me. Let me love you and help me to be a better man.” Jerry said as he knelt down in his room.\n“God, forgive me for all the wrong things I have said to you, but I am hurting so much and I want you to fix me. I want you to take care of Toni. I can’t do this on my own…God, please.” He cried as he slid into the floor.",
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      "body": "![unnamed.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZmW8rjCtqPHzbFTBSLhTzeLNFWydNGMJk2uc4SRgJbsy/unnamed.png)\n\nEmeka pulled Jerry. “Come on, man. Emergency.”\nJerry stood stoned. “That is Toni.”\n“Toni?”\nJerry nodded. “My Toni.”\nEmeka blinked. “Oh my God! Busted.”\n“What could be wrong with her?” Jerry asked.\nEmeka swallowed. “I don’t know, man. Let’s go find out.”\n“Oh God.”\nA Nurse approached them. “The Director is asking for you both.”\n“What’s going on?” Emeka asked.\nThe Nurse stared at them. “We are trying to stabilize the patient.”\nEmeka nodded and pulled Jerry along. “I know you are scared of going in there right now, but, you have to know what’s going on.”\n“No, man. I will wait here. You can tell me.” Jerry said, backing out.\nEmeka nodded and hurried into the theatre. Jerry took a deep breath as he buried his head in his hands.\n“Jerry?”\nHe looked up as Nora stood before him. She was in tears. He took a deep breath and allowed her crash into his arms. “She-just-crashed.” She struggled to say. “She was singing and then I didn’t hear it anything anymore. She just went down.”\nJerry gasped as he felt Nora’s heartbeat pound heavily. It seemed serious. He looked at Nora. “It’s going to be alright.”\nShe shook her head. “It won’t be. Toni is sick.”\n“She is here with us now. She is going to be fine. We would take care of her. I promise you.” He assured.\nShe took a seat. “You don’t have an idea, do you?”\n“What?” he asked.\nNora sniffled. “Toni would kill me if I told you, but, what the heck? You are going to find out anyway.” She said as she cried.\nJerry knelt before her as he wiped her eyes. “ What is going on, Nora?”\nNora stared at the stethoscope on his white overall. “You are a Doctor?”\nJerry took a deep breath. “Nora…I…I can explain.”\n“You lied to her…to us.” She said.\nHe nodded. “I…I just wanted to protect her.”\n“Protect? From what? From who?” she asked.\nHe swallowed. “The other part of me that I didn’t want her to see. It is a long story, I swear and I can’t start explaining it now. But, what is wrong with Toni?”\nNora sighed. “You think changing the topic will change things?”\n“No, it won’t. I would come back to the issue. I would explain it to you…to her. But, what is wrong with her?” he asked.\nShe shrugged. “Why don’t you go in and find out for yourself?”\n“Nora, I can’t show up there. I…I can’t let her find out this way. I swear that I will come down to the house and explain everything to you and to her when she is better. But, I need you to tell me what the problem is.”\nNora shook her head. “It might take a while before you visit both of us in the house. We actually would be your visitors here.”\n“What do you mean? Stop it!” He cut in, feeling offended.\nNora stood up. “Don’t raise your voice at me.”\nHe took a deep breath. “I am sorry, but, please tell me what is wrong with her. I can’t go in there and you know it, it might upset things. She can’t find out about me like this. You have to help me.”\n“It is all about you, right?” she asked.\nJerry sighed. “I just don’t want to upset her right now. She didn’t look good and since Emeka is not here to brief me on the happenings, I just want you to…”\nNora forced back her tears. “I…I can’t.”\n“Please. I care about Toni. You can’t lock me out.”\nEmeka approached them. Jerry hurried to him. “What’s up?”\nEmeka took his hand. “Let’s talk inside.”\n“What is going on?” Jerry shouted.\n“Dude, you have to calm down.” Emeka replied.\nJerry yanked out of his grip. “I don’t want to calm down. Tell me. Now!”\nEmeka took a deep breath. “Jerry, you don’t want to do this here. Let’s go inside and I will tell you all you need to know.”\n“I don’t want to go inside! Just spill it!” He shouted back at Emeka.\n“She has cancer.” Emeka replied.\n***\nJERRY\nCancer? Cancer? Right? Not sure I heard it right but it sounded like Cancer. Cancer at this moment seemed like a zodiac sign and not the disease I knew it to be. I am not sure why my trousers are wet but think I have been laying on the grass outside the Hospital for over three hours now. Now I know why the grass is wet, it should have been sprinkled. I have been here staring into the sky. It is really blue.\nEmeka said she has Cancer. Nah…Toni can’t have Cancer. Sleeping on the left side of your bed can give you bad dreams. I would sleep again and by the time I wake up, this would all be a bad dream. Emeka would run out to me from the ward and say ‘she has malaria’. Yeah. Malaria. That’s more like it.\nAll my life, my wits and guts have been put to test…for the larger part of it, I have failed. As far as this field is concerned, I have tried and failed. I have never counted those failures as one that might pierce through my heart even though it did p---k it. But when you face a test that is bigger than you…when you see someone you love on that surgical table and you fail, then, you have really failed. This is Toni. My life. She had come into my life and changed everything for me.\nCall me ‘deep’ as the society might want to term it, but her smile and laughter were artistic. It had a pure reflection, one that took me forever to fathom. I was enchanted from the first day I set my eyes on her. Maybe Magic. Maybe Love. Maybe Life. All I know is that I felt something pure and true, and it was Toni.\nI had every reason not to show up before Toni. One, my lies had found me out. It would be a total shame for her to find out about me under the circumstance and two, I have nothing to offer her. Of what use would it be if I showed up before her and still didn’t save her life? Pointless. It is time to go home…maybe travel…maybe run away…maybe nothing. Maybe I would just watch her from the side-line.\nWhy did she never tell me? Or had she tried to tell me? It must be the day we went to the movies…that day, we had seen a movie on Cancer. It had to be that day. Yeah, Cancer is a b---h. She wasn’t wrong. It is a b---h!\n***\n“Sir, he has been here like this for the past three hours. He won’t let anyone come near him.” Emeka complained to the Director.\nThe Director stared at a lukewarm Jerry and then back at Emeka. “I can’t have him like this. Get security to bring him in.”\n“He has rebuffed them, Sir.” Emeka replied.\nThe Director stared at him. “Why do we pay them if they can’t bring one man inside?”\n“Sir, he is related to Toni. Our patient.” Emeka replied.\nThe Director sighed. “Well, if we don’t get him out of this state, we are going to be treating a depressed Surgeon soon. Tell them to use whatever force in the universe that they can to bring him in.” he said and returned into the Hospital.\nEmeka approached Jerry. “Hey.”\nJerry ignored him.\n“Dude, I…I know this is all a shock for you, but, Toni doesn’t need this from you.” Emeka said.\nJerry didn’t say a word. He just stared.\n“I am not going to lie by saying I know how you feel because no one knows how you feel right now, but, I am going to tell you the same thing that you are going to tell any man who is torn right now, you can’t afford to pull away.”\nJerry stared at him and sighed.\n“Look, Jerry, I know you are breaking up inside. I know everything about now seems senseless, but trust me, man, you would pull through. Toni needs you. We have stabilized her and she might start Chemo soon. Are you going to be the guy who runs away when she needs you most or the guy who sits her through this one?” Emeka asked.\nJerry took a deep breath.\n“Bro, I love you…and I would be here for you every step of the way…we would fight for Toni. We won’t let her go. Are you with me?” Emeka asked.\nJerry wiped his tears and rose to his feet.\nEmeka stretched out his hand to him. “Let’s go in.”\n“I can’t.” Jerry replied and walked away into the streets.\n***\nNora hurried to Emeka as he approached her from Toni’s room. “How is she?”\n“Stable.”\nNora sighed. “Don’t you have another term? This is all you have been saying in the last few hours. Can I see her? Talk to her? Just say hi?”\nEmeka nodded. “She is…”\n“-Please. I beg you. She is all I have. There must be something you can do.” Nora begged.\nHe nodded. “You can’t be in there for a long time.”\nShe nodded. “Thank you.” She said and hurried into Toni’s room.\nToni turned as Nora took a seat. “You’ve been crying.” She said as she managed a chuckle.\nNora burst into tears as she kissed Toni’s forehead. “Toni…”\n“Don’t cry on me.” She replied.\nNora sniffled as she stared at her. “I am sorry.”\n“About what?” Toni asked. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”\nNora drew her chair closer. “Toni…I…I don’t know what to do or what to say.”\n“Say nothing, Sis. You panic too much.” Toni replied. “I am going to be fine.”\nNora took a deep breath\n“Has Jerry called?” Toni asked.\n“Uh?” Nora asked.\nToni smiled faintly. “Jerry…Mr Nice outfit. Have you suddenly forgotten who he is?”\nNora shook her head. “No, I haven’t. There is a lot of work at the Bank. He has been busy.”\n“Okay. Don’t tell him anything.” Toni said.\nNora blinked. “Oh.”\n“Have you?” Toni asked, looking concerned. “I…I want to be the one to tell him.”\nNora nodded. “I didn’t tell him anything, Toni. I swear I didn’t.”\nToni swallowed. “Thank you.”\n“Do you want me to call him?” Nora asked.\nToni shook her head. “Chemo starts tomorrow. I am going to look really horrible. Just tell him I travelled or something. What’s the time now?”\nNora checked her wristwatch. “Ten pm.”\n“It’s late. You should go home.” Toni said.\nNora shook her head. “No. I am staying right here.”\n“Come on, Nora. What could possibly happen to me?” Toni asked. “Nora, go home and rest.”\nNora sighed. “You know I am not going. Quit trying.”\nToni nodded. “I know. I just thought I could try harder. So, what are you going to eat?”\n“James is on his way. He would bring me some food and a change of clothes.” Nora replied.\nToni smiled. “That’s good.”\n“Are you sure you don’t want Jerry around?” Nora asked.\nToni blinked. “I can’t deny I want to see him, but not here, and certainly not like this. So, just stop bugging me about it.”\n“I don’t want to bug you about it. I…I just want to do the right thing.” Nora replied.\nToni stared at her. “Right thing? What do you mean?”\n“I don’t mean anything in particular. I am just concerned about keeping Jerry in the loop on this matter.” Nora replied.\nToni sighed. “Look Nora, I know this seems wrong but, I…I can’t let him know that I am sick. If he finds out, he would be broken. I can’t do that to him.”\nNora nodded. “I know how you feel and if that is what you want, I respect it.”\n“Thank you.” Toni replied. “I want to rest.”\nNora nodded. “Take care. I would be outside.” She replied and walked out.\n***\nJerry smashed another bottle into the wall. “Let me see if you can top that.”\nMrs Aiyenugba hurled her bottle into the wall. “I did fine.” She said with a chuckle.\n“Tell me…what’s the point if you are going to lose the one you love? Nothing.” He said and laughed. “I deserve another bottle.” He said and opened his drink.\nMrs Aiyenugba watched him drink another bottle of alcohol. “You have had too many to drink, Jerry.”\n“Too many? She made me quit…and what for? She has Cancer, she didn’t even tell me a word. She let me fall in love with her. She is selfish. Just like every woman, self-centred and -”\nMrs Aiyenugba silenced him with a slap.\n“What did you do that for?” he asked as he nursed his cheek.\nShe stared at him. “One, Feminist. I can’t watch you talk about the female gender like that. And Two, How dare you say she is selfish? She loves you.”\n“I am hurting here. Where is she? She is there. Sick. Tired. I can’t even look at her!” he yelled.\nShe sighed. “Jerry, you left her in the Hospital. She needs you. You can’t run away right now.”\n“But I don’t know what to do. She is dying. I can’t help her. What use am I to her?” he shouted amidst tears. “I want her to stand up from there and not be sick. I want her to be fine.”\nShe nodded. “Jerry, do you think she wants to be there?”\nJerry drank more from the bottle and threw it into the wall. “I want to drink more.”\n“Come on, Jerry. It’s late into the midnight and we have been drinking forever. I think you should rest so that you can go to the Hospital tomorrow to see her.” She replied.\nJerry stared at the door as the key hole rattled and the door knob turned. “Emeka is here.”\nEmeka walked in. “Dude.”\nJerry wiped his tears. “Hey, man.”\n“How are you?” he asked as he collected the bottle from him.\nJerry stared at him. “I want to die, Emeka. I want to die.”\nEmeka sighed and hugged him. “It’s going to be alright. It is going to be.”\nMrs Aiyenugba smiled. “There are no drinks for you, Emeka.”\n“I know ma’am.” Emeka replied and then focused on Jerry. “Toni is stable. I think you should come and see her.”\nJerry sniffled. “You know I can’t. I am just useless to her.”\n“Jerry, you are not useless to her. You are the man she loves. She would always want to be with you.” He replied.\nJerry shook his head. “How do I tell her? I can’t look her in the face and say, ‘I have been lying about being a Banker’.”\n“Jerry, right now what matters is not that you are a Surgeon. What matters is that you do what is right and love this woman.”\n“I love her. Are you blind?” Jerry shouted.\nEmeka nodded. “I know…but love is not shown when you are here tearing apart. You have to be by her side. Fighting. Working. You can’t be here doing this to yourself, Jerry.”\nJerry nodded. “Fine. How do I talk to her?”\n“Just talk. You don’t have to worry about anything right now. You just have to be there for her. Fight for her. Let her know that you won’t leave her.” Emeka replied.\nJerry sighed. “I am so tired. I just want it all to go away. It’s just like a nightmare. I love her so much, I don’t want to lose her.”\n“You won’t lose her.” Emeka replied.\nJerry shrugged. “I don’t know about that, Emeka. I am scared.”\n“She is a fighter. I met her. She is lovely. Go to her, don’t leave her alone.” Emeka replied.\nJerry nodded. “I’ll go there tomorrow.”\n***\n“I still can’t believe that someone like Toni could have Cancer.” James said as he stroked Nora’s hair.\n“We don’t choose these things, James.” She replied.\nJames nodded. “Yeah. I…I just don’t understand. She is so beautiful, so special, and so kind. Why her?”\n“I ask myself those questions every time. But, I have never found the answers to them. I just want to see her okay.” She replied.\nHe nodded. “Maybe Chemo would do fine.”\n“She believes in surgeries, but the problem with the surgeries is the seizures she gets. She had a relapse yesterday in Church. I never saw it coming, the drugs had been working well.” She replied.\n“Nora, I want you to know that I would be here with you forever, okay?” James said. “And we are going to be strong for Toni too, because she needs us right now.”\nNora nodded. “I don’t know how to tell her that Jerry is not who she thinks he is.”\n“Jerry? The guy with the Pyjamas?” he asked.\nShe sighed. “He is a Doctor here at the Hospital, but he has made us believe that he is a Banker.”\n“Really? Why would anyone lie about their profession? Especially being a Doctor? It’s a noble profession…anyone would be proud of it.” He replied.\nNora nodded. “My sentiments exactly. I am shocked he deceived us all. I can’t get my head around why he would do such a thing. I am too tired thinking about my sister to worry about him.”\n“It’s okay. We’ll get through this…all of us.” James replied.\nNora nodded.\n***\n“Good morning, Toni.” Nora said as she drew the curtains back.\nToni smiled. “How are you doing?”\n“Fine. Did you sleep well?” Nora asked.\nToni nodded. “Yes. I didn’t have you staring at me all night. That made my life a lot easier.” She said with a smile.\nNora chuckled. “Interesting observation.”\n“You do know that you can be really boring, Nora?” Toni said as she rolled over. “The Nurses will soon be here to prep me for my first session.”\n“How do you feel about it?” Nora asked.\nToni sighed. “Enthusiastic.”\n“You don’t sound it.” Nora replied.\nToni nodded. “Correct. How can you ask such a question?” she asked with a chuckle. “How does anyone feel about Chemo? Hair loss? It’s a good thing I have prepped myself for it by cutting this hair.”\nNora smiled. “How many hours to go?”\n“I don’t know.” Toni replied.\nThe door opened and Jerry walked in.\n“What are you doing here?” Nora asked, staring at him in his overall.\nJerry swallowed. “I want to see Toni.”\nToni stared at him confusingly. “Nice outfit, Jerry.”\nHe smiled. “Hi.”\n“Hey…” she said.\nNora clenched her teeth as Jerry came closer. “What are you doing?”\nJerry stopped as he got to her. “I want to make things right.” He replied.\nNora shook her head. “I’ll excuse you both.” She said and walked out.\nJerry walked over to Toni and took her hand. “Hi,”\n“So…Nora told you?” she asked.\nHe shook his head. “No. My friend did.”\n“Your friend?” she asked.\nJerry nodded. “Doctor Emeka is my best friend.”\n“Oh? He is a really nice man.” She replied. “I am guessing he gave you his overall so you could feel like a Doctor?”\n“I am a Doctor.” Jerry replied.\nToni smiled. “Nice try, Jerry.”\n“I lied to you all this while about being a Banker.” He replied.\nShe sat up. “Jerry…what are you saying?”\nHe took a deep breath. “Toni, I am sorry. When that kid saw us at the mall and called me Doctor, it was because he had been my patient here at the Hospital. I…”\n“Go on.” She said as she stared at him.\nJerry nodded. “Being a Doctor has been a nightmare for me. I would do anything to avoid being called Doctor Jerry. I am a failure in this field, a lot of people die under my watch. I…I don’t get to keep people alive. I am scared, I am nervous and I fail a lot. I also drink badly and I…I know I would have sounded irresponsible if that day when you met me at the bar, I said I am a Doctor. I would have disappointed from the start.”\n“But you did disappoint me from the start.” She said with a smile. “But, it doesn’t matter, Jerry. You are a good person, you don’t have to lie about who you are or what you do.”\n“Or that you have cancer?” Jerry said as tears rolled down his eyes.\nToni smiled. “I never lied. You never asked.”\n“Was I supposed to ask you, do you have cancer?” he asked.\nToni shrugged. “I just didn’t tell you and yes, Jerry, I am sorry.”\n“Toni, you don’t understand. This is too much for me, why you? You are so…so…beautiful, so full of life, so nice, everything right. Why you?”\nToni smiled. “Why not me?”\n“Just stop it.” He said as he took his seat beside her on the bed. “My record of success here is zero. I don’t do well. I have never done well.” He said.\n“What happened?”\nJerry cleared his throat. “I…I lost my first patient. I just came off fresh into the theatre and they placed a dying woman in my hand. I was scared, I didn’t know what to do. I lost her. I disappointed her family and…and I never made it through it. I don’t think I ever will.”\nToni took his hand. Jerry took a deep breath and released himself from her grip as he rose to his feet. “I don’t want you to feel sorry for me, Toni. Forget it.” He said.\nShe took his hand again. “I don’t care if you are a Doctor or a Banker. I don’t care if you have tried hard and failed in the past. All I want you to know is that I love you so much and I would be there for you until our dying day. And I also want you to know that this lady on this bed is desperate to live and afraid to die and so, I want you to get me on my feet, Doctor Jerry.",
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      "body": "![window-view-1081788__480-1.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmT3RfSfYxoxDUu76tErc1jeYg3z98xeUFrcbq7QMSah9m/window-view-1081788__480-1.jpg)\n\n\nJerry pushed the door open as he put the bags in. “It is not too large, but, you are going to like staying here.”\nMrs Aiyenugba looked round. “Petite. I like it.”\n“Thank you. So, you can stay here while I talk to your children on your behalf.” He replied as he closed the door.\nShe smiled as she took a seat. “I don’t need you to talk to them on my behalf. If they don’t think I am needed there, it would be unfair of you to force me on them.”\nJerry nodded. “Fair enough. I have enough room for two here.”\n“Does she stay with you?” Mrs Aiyenugba asked.\nJerry smiled. “No. She won’t…at least, not yet.”\nShe nodded. “Good. When do I get to meet her?”\n“Ah…I don’t know. I am going over to her place in an hour.” He replied.\n“Don’t worry, this Old woman won’t be here to bore you for too long. I might kiss my grave soon or maybe I would just check into the home and make new friends there. Come to think of it, I don’t think there would be boring women there. They would all have tales to tell.”\n“And men too…Old men too! Who knows…you might fall in love.” Jerry said with a sneer.\nMrs Aiyenugba smiled. “I love the fact that you know there are no boundaries to love.”\n“Of course, there are no boundaries to love.” Jerry echoed.\nShe chuckled. “I know. I just said that.” She replied with a smirk.\n“I like your sense of humour.” He said.\nShe smiled. “I try. But sometimes, my jokes get really flat and maybe that’s why my children and grandkids don’t want me around. But who cares? I am person first before I am their family.”\nHe stared at her. He was in awe of her. She had a full depth of knowledge about life. She knew she was a person before having a family, hence, she owed it to herself to be happy. She took his mind to Toni. Toni amazed him. She lived one step at a time, full of life and beauty. He’d be damned if he didn’t spend the rest of his life with Toni.\n“Have you called your Mother?” Mrs Aiyenugba asked.\nHe shook his head. “No. I…I should call her today.”\n“No, you are not going to call her anytime soon. Hmm…what happened?”\nJerry relaxed in his seat. “I haven’t saved a life yet.”\n“I don’t understand.” She said as she sat up.\nHe took a deep breath. “My career has been a huge mess.”\nShe smiled. “They dread you at the Hospital.”\n“I am the worst. No one gets to live when assigned to me.” He replied.\nShe shook her head. “I am alive.”\nJerry chuckled. “Well, you know what I mean. Critical conditions.”\nShe nodded. “You always have a special relationship with your patients.”\n“But I always let them down in the end, the patients that need me always get disappointed in the end.” He replied.\n“Do you believe in yourself?” she asked.\n“No.” he replied, bluntly.\nShe smiled. “That’s honest.”\n“And trust me, there is nothing to believe in. This is a bare case of a man who has failed at everything that he thought he had loved.” He blurted.\n“I beg to disagree, I am a happy woman because of you…and that girl is lucky to have you.” She replied.\nJerry smiled. “No. I am lucky to have her.”\n“Do you think you are handsome?” she asked.\nHe shrugged. “People say so.”\n“Do you own a mirror?” she asked.\nHe nodded. “Yes, I do. Where are you going with this?”\n“I would like you to check the mirror and answer that question again.” She said.\nJerry walked in and returned almost immediately. “I have checked it.”\n“Now, are you handsome?” she asked.\nHe nodded. “Yes, I am.”\n“You don’t always need everyone to make you feel good about you. If you don’t love you for who you are, no one can make you feel loved.” She replied. “So, I think that lady is lucky to have you and you have to learn to understand that.”\nJerry took a deep breath and then smiled. “Thank you.”\n“One more thing, you are going to save a life. Then, you would save lives. You just have to believe in yourself and trust God. He gives life.” She said and yawned. “Now, you have made me talk much more than I bargained. I am tired.” She said with a smile.\nJerry smiled. “I have to get ready to go out now and prepare for my evening shift. What would you have for dinner?”\n“Are you going to cook for me?” she asked.\nHe nodded. “Yes.” He replied, standing up.\n“I am coming with you.” She replied.\n***\n“So, what’s the plan? The Doctor wants to see you this evening, right?” Nora asked.\nToni smiled. “Yeah…I should head out to the Hospital for some examinations. He has the results from my last scans so I guess I won’t be out for long.”\n“You know what I mean, Toni. When are you telling Jerry?”\nToni took a deep breath. “I don’t think I ever want to.”\n“What! That’s wickedness, Toni.” Nora protested.\nToni relaxed in her seat. “You don’t understand. It won’t change anything.”\n“It changes everything.” Nora retorted. “Besides, I thought you didn’t like getting attached to people. This seems to be overdoing it.”\nToni was silent.\n“Don’t go quiet on me, Toni. We have to face this now or never. You are going into Chemo and you can’t be quiet about it to him.”\n“I want to be quiet about it. Please, respect it.” Toni replied.\nNora hissed. “Toni, I don’t like this.”\n“Well, you are my sister and you owe it to me.” Toni replied. “Besides, the Doctor said I have to see him today so we can know the stage of the cancer before Chemo starts.”\nNora nodded. “That is normal. But, I am not in support of you hiding this from Jerry.”\n“It doesn’t matter.” Toni replied. “Have you thought of the possibility that I might just survive it and he doesn’t need to even know that I once had cancer?” She asked with a smile. “Let’s see the positivity in everything.”\n“I am trying to see that with you. You just have to stay alive…for me.” Nora said, quietly.\nToni grinned. “I am not going anywhere.”\nNora smiled as she hugged her sister.\n“Enough!” Toni said, wriggling out of the hug.\nNora sighed. “You can be really boring, Toni,”\nToni nodded. “So, James, right?”\n“Yeah. He asked me out, I told you, remember?” Nora said with a smile as she sprawled out on the couch.\nToni crawled up to her sister. “And you are really cool with him, right?”\nNora popped her eyes at Toni. “Get on with it, Toni. What is it?”\n“I don’t know. I…I just have my reservations.” Toni replied and took a seat.\nNora stared at her. “I know how you feel, someone is coming in between the both of us, but I think-”\nToni started to chuckle and eventually burst into a horrid laugh.\n“You think it is funny?” Nora asked.\nToni nodded. “Yes. You are sounding as though you were my single mother.”\n“I am your mother, Toni, Deal with it. Now, as I was saying, I know you are jealous of James’ presence in our life, but I want you to understand that nothing and no one would ever come in between us.” Nora concluded with a smile.\n“Except death.” Toni chipped in quickly\nNora frowned. “Do you always have to ruin the moment? That was the closest thing I had to being romantic and you just had to ruin it.”\n“I chipped in reality.” Toni said with a smile.\nNora stared at her with a grimace. “I don’t like reality.”\n“Who does?” Toni asked, standing up. As she rose to her feet, she slumped to the floor.\nNora hurried over her. “Toni!”\nToni took a deep breath. “I am fine. I…I must have hit the table or something.”\n“There is no table here! Oh my God! Toni!” Nora gaped as she helped her up to a seat. She stared at Toni hands. “Oh my God! I have to get the Doctor. Have you stopped your drugs?”\nToni rolled her eyes. “How can I stop the drugs that you feed me with every day?”\n“You are looking pale.” Nora said.\nToni shrugged. “I will see the Doctor this evening. Nothing to worry about.”\nNora sighed as she watched Toni sit up. “What time is your appointment?”\n“7pm. Besides, it might have just been a spasm. Nothing to worry about.” She said with a smile.\nThe doorbell went. Nora rose to her feet. “I’ll get it.” She said and hurried to the door.\nToni looked over her shoulder as she watched Nora usher Jerry in. She immediately faked a smile. “Hey!!!”\nJerry smiled. “Hi, how are you doing?”\n“Amazing!” she replied.\nJerry took a seat. “That’s smooth.”\n“I would be in the kitchen.” Nora said as she walked away.\nJerry took a seat beside Toni. “You don’t look as good as you sound today.”\nToni raised an eyebrow. “Really? I am fine.”\nJerry lifted his hand to her forehead and she immediately gripped his hand. “Hey…I…I am just checking.”\n“You are not a Doctor…and please don’t tell me that service as a paramedic passes for that.” She said with a smile.\nHe nodded as he returned his hand to his lap. “Fever?”\nToni nodded. “Yeah. But it would pass. I already have some drugs for it.”\n“That’s good. So, I have a new housemate.” He started. “She is very lovely.”\nToni smiled. “She? That’s something.”\nHe nodded. “Yeah, she was kicked out of the Hospital with no place to go.”\n“Oh? What about her family?” Toni asked.\n“They don’t want her home. Her children are sending her to Victoria’s Homes. She doesn’t want to go there.”\nToni tried not to smile. She was glad he was talking about an elderly female. She cleared her throat. “So…so, is she comfortable at your place?”\n“Sure. It’s not as big as this place, but, it is very spacious.” He replied. “Do you want to take a walk?”\nShe checked her wristwatch. “I have to be back before 6:30pm.”\nHe nodded. “I got you.” He said as he stretched out his hand.\nShe smiled as she took the hand. “Nora!” she called. “I will be back in about an hour.”\n“Be careful!” Nora called back from the kitchen.\n“Okay, Mom.” Toni said with a grin as she pushed the door open.\n***\nNora couldn’t take her mind off Toni and what she had called a spasm. She knew it wasn’t. It was a good thing that they had to see a Doctor soon. Nora knew it would be unfair of Toni not to tell Jerry what was going on. She had to tell him even though it would hurt her sister…or maybe she would just keep quiet and honour her sister? She sighed as she battled with her thoughts. She wanted to cry. She needed their parents now. When their parents had died, she didn’t think she was alone because she had Toni with her. But now, Toni seemed to be fading away. She didn’t want to let her go. It was not right to let Toni go. But then, how was she going to keep Toni alive? Who would fight for Toni?\nTears started to roll down her cheeks as she sliced the onions. It had to be the onions that brought the tears. But then her heart ached as she tried not to cry out. The onions couldn’t have touched her heart. She couldn’t hold it in anymore as she broke down in tears. The maid in the kitchen stared at her boss as she cried freely. She wasn’t shocked. Nora cried almost every time. She walked over to Nora and put her hands around her.\n***\n“Chocolate flavour for me.” Jerry said as he handed Toni her ice-cream.\nToni took a seat as she started to scoop. Jerry joined her almost immediately. “So, what do you want to talk about?”\n“You.” She said, quietly.\nHe smiled. “Okay…here I am.”\n“Is there a difference between lying and not telling someone what they ought to know?” she asked.\nJerry choked on his ice-cream. Could she have found out about him already? He knew he’d be damned if she found out before he told her. He coughed.\n“I am so sorry. What happened?” she asked.\nHe cleared his throat. “I guess the ice-cream went wrong. Anyway, what were you trying to say?”\n“I want to know if there is a difference between lying to someone and not telling them what you think they ought to know.” She said.\nJerry took a deep breath. He didn’t know what his next word should be.\n“I don’t know really, that’s why I want to know. Would be right if I was to tell you something and I didn’t?” she asked.\nJerry sighed. This question made it easier for him. “Erm…I think it would better if you did, that way, no one holds something against the other.”\n“No. This is not about holding something against you or me, let’s say more like hiding important information. If the information was going to hurt you, would you want to know?”\nJerry took a deep breath. “I am not sure. It sort of depends on the kind of information, you know?”\nToni smiled. “Just forget it. Been enjoying quizzing you.”\n“Really?”\nShe nodded. “I like seeing a serious mood sometimes…you fared fine.”\nHe smiled. “So, what if I was hiding something from you? Or…what if I have lied to you?”\n“All is forgiven.” She replied.\nHe stared at her. “Really?”\n“As long as you have not lied about your name.” she said with a smile.\nHe nodded. “I am Jerry.”\n“Good.” She stared at her wristwatch. “I have to head home.” She said.\nJerry mouthed.\n“What is it?” she asked.\n“Toni, I…I like you so much and I…I want to know if you would go out with me.” He asked, squinting his eyes.\nToni smiled. “Is that a rehearsed speech?”\n“No. But…I can try again.” He said.\nShe smiled. “I like you too…so…that’s life made easy.”\n“Is that a yes?” he asked.\n“Don’t make it sound like a proposal. You are too formal.”\nJerry smiled. “Wow! Cool! So, we are official.”\n“Now, that’s formal.” She said with a smile.\nJerry knew he couldn’t do anything to jeopardize their relationship. He watched her as she checked her wristwatch again and rose to her feet. “Toni, I have something to tell you.”\n“Now? I am very late.” She replied, without looking at him. “We could attend to it later…if you don’t mind.” She said as she gathered her bag. She was feeling weak and didn’t want to have to pass out before him.\nHe nodded. “Let me take you home.”\n***\n“So you lied to her?” Mrs Aiyenugba asked as she sipped her drink. “What were you thinking?”\nJerry sighed. “I didn’t feel proud about it, it was pointless to tell her the sort of Doctor I am.”\nEmeka laughed. “Still she would find out…and when that happens, your life would be over. This new thing you think you have going on would be cut short.”\n“Don’t be such a killjoy.” Mrs Aiyenugba shot in Emeka’s direction. She then turned towards Jerry. “If I had known when you came in last night, I would have tossed you back to go and tell the truth.”\n“It is not too late.” Emeka cooed.\nMrs Aiyenugba stared at Emeka. “You are such a good friend.”\n“I really did try to tell him the truth, ma. Jerry is just a born liar.”\nShe nodded. “And he has a worthy accomplice in you.”\n“Well, I try to be a friend.” Emeka replied.\nJerry smiled at him. “I love you, bro.”\n“Mutual feeling.” Emeka replied, coldly.\nJerry grinned. “Would it kill you to say you love me too?”\n“No. It might just hurt my ego a little bit.” Emeka replied.\nMrs Aiyenugba smiled. “Don’t you guys go to church?”\n“I am going to the Hospital.” Jerry replied, standing up.\nEmeka nodded. “Me too.”\n“What is wrong with you both?”\nJerry smiled as he approached the door. “Later ma’am. There is enough food.”\n***\nNora stared at Toni. “We can leave now.”\nToni shook her head. “The choir is about to minister.”\n“I should have forced you to see the Doctor yesterday, I don’t know what made me weak.” Nora said angrily as she stared at Toni’s face.\nAn Usher walked past them.\n“Service in session.” Toni said as she turned to Nora with a smile.\nNora frowned. Toni had returned from her outing with Jerry yesterday and gone straight to bed, so she missed the appointment with the Doctor. Nora had to accompany her to the church because of her sister’s frail look.\nThe choir rose as it was time for their ministration. Nora watched Toni as she smiled. She loved God. Nora didn’t understand why everything bad was happening to Toni. She had seen herself as the perfect alternative if anyone was meant to suffer. She was the one angry at life and at herself. Toni on the other hand, loved life. She lived every moment of it.\nThe church rose to sing and dance. Nora was the only one sitting. Toni was dancing, swaying from left to right. Nora swallowed painfully as she stared at the Altar. She didn’t understand where Toni got her joy from. Nora was angry. All she wanted was for her sister to live, was that too hard? Tears started to stream down her eyes as she thought hard.\nNora lifted her head up as she watched Toni. She was no more dancing, her eyes were shut. Toni dropped to the floor.\n***\n“Emergency Unit!” The announcement went off in the Hospital.\nThe door flew open as the paramedics rushed Toni in on a stretcher. Nora cried as she ran after them.\nJerry and Emeka ran towards the Hospital Entrance.\n“Toni! Stay with me!” Nora cried as they wheeled her in.\n“Out of the way, people.” A paramedic shouted.\nJerry paused in his track as he watched Toni being rushed in. “Toni?”\nNora cast a glance at him and then ran on with the paramedics..",
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      "body": "![images (3).jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbnGeosKhGBCRYWe3PR1J5FVXP2B47bofvv8nUMjrMbPc/images%20(3).jpg)\n\nNora feared it would come to this. Toni stared at her. Nora swallowed painfully as she watched Toni wipe her own tears. “We have talked about this before.” Nora said quietly.\n“About me dying peacefully, right?” Toni asked as she approached her sister slowly. “I am afraid, Nora. I want to live.”\nNora firmed up as she tried to fight back her tears. “Stop it, Toni.”\nToni wanted to stop the tears but she couldn’t. “Nor…Nora.” She stuttered amidst her tears. “Nora…Nora.” Toni cried and broke down into her arms.\nNora shut her eyes as she hugged her sister close. “We can do this, Toni. We would.” She said and kissed her scalp. “Let’s do chemo, Toni.” She whispered to her.\nToni broke away from Nora. “NO! I don’t want it. I can’t afford to fade away before my own eyes.”\n“Toni, listen, we can survive chemo. I know this. You are a fighter. You will survive it, you can’t take another surgery. You are too weak for it.” Nora replied.\nToni sniffed. “I want to love Jerry. I can’t do that in chemo.”\nNora sighed. “So, you are willing to risk everything for him? What about me, Toni? Toni, you can do this Chemotherapy once and for all, and come back and love your man. You do the surgery now, you have seizures, and you get weak, then stronger…then weaker again. Is that what you want?”\n“That way I won’t have to fade away before his eyes.” Toni replied.\n“That way you get to kill him inside. You would break everything that is left of him. Is that what you want and…and most importantly, he would never forgive you for doing this to him. Let’s live through this and never look back.” Nora pleaded.\nToni smiled faintly. “Let’s? There is only one person in this room with Cancer, Nora, and it isn’t you.”\nNora nodded. “Yes, it isn’t me and yes, most times, I wish it were me. I can’t watch you lose your spirit. I can’t watch you fade away.”\n“Let me have the surgery.” Toni replied.\nNora shook her head. “No, Toni. I can’t.”\nToni sank into a chair. “What do you want, Nora?”\n“Let’s go in for chemo. I will be with you every step of the way, I would never leave your side.” Nora said.\nToni smiled. “Is there a part where you get to share in my pain? Because sitting and watching my pain can be pretty useless, don’t you think?” she asked with a soft chuckle.\nNora didn’t understand how Toni did it. She had changed the whole situation in a flash with a laugh. Little wonder Jerry was enchanted by her, who wouldn’t be? Toni was a beauty. She ravished from the inside such that what people saw on the outside as beautiful was only a compliment. With thoughts in her heart, she snuggled up on Toni’s lap. For a split moment, she wondered who needed comforting…it should be Toni, but then, she knew she did too.\n***\n“Hi Doctor Jerry.” A nurse greeted as Jerry walked in with Emeka. “We have missed you around here.” She added as she turned into one of the private wards.\n“I don’t get it.” Jerry started.\nEmeka stared at him. “What?”\n“How can people look into your eyes and lie?” Jerry asked.\nEmeka chuckled. “That’s rich, coming from you.”\nJerry stopped. “Dude, that nurse just lied that she missed me. Clearly no one did. Survival rates have gone up, how could I be missed?”\nEmeka smiled. “You are not the only problem that the Hospital has, besides, mentality is very important in saving a patient. Both from you and the patient, so sometimes, you might be doing your best and the patient isn’t. And most importantly, it is God who saves lives. We are just the tools.”\n“I am such a faulty tool then.” Jerry said as he pushed his office door open. “So, the director wanted me back because the patients have increased here at the hospital or because you put in a good word for me?”\n“Me? I had nothing to do with it. Why would I want to ruin your honeymoon?” Emeka asked as he took a seat. “Patients have increased. With all the happenings in town, casualty rate has gone up and as such, the tendency for mortality rate too is upped. This is where we as Doctors come in, we try to reduce the mortality rate.”\nJerry nodded. “Toni thinks I should join a help support group for my drinking issue.”\nEmeka smiled. “Interesting. The fact that you think it is an issue means it is an issue. I am happy to learn that you are going to stop.”\n“I just want to make her happy. I don’t want to do anything that would hurt her.” Jerry said.\nEmeka shook his head. “You just missed a vital step to redemption.”\n“And that would be?” Jerry asked.\nEmeka sat up. “You are doing this because it is best for you. It is obviously going to be good for her too, but first, you are doing it because it is the right thing to do.”\nJerry sighed. “I guess you have a point.”\n“I always have a point.” Emeka replied as he relaxed in his seat. “So, what is your plan for the new girl? When do I get to meet her?”\n“Which of the questions should I answer first?” Jerry retorted.\nEmeka grinned. “You would make a very jealous lover. So, when do I get to meet Miss?”\nJerry cleared his throat. “I don’t know. I am not ready to have you tell me that you saw her in your dream in a wedding gown and that you know she is for you.”\n“Guy! I am not that kind of guy. I won’t do that to you, but if she is for me, you can’t put asunder.” Emeka replied with a smile.\n“You are not her type.” Jerry replied as he hung his stethoscope around his neck.\nEmeka smiled. “You are not a very good judge of character.”\n“Case closed. You are not meeting her. About my plans? I really do want to be with her and I’d do everything to be the perfect man for her.”\n“Jerry, you are a good guy. That I know. And I think you have found someone special but I must remind you, you are walking on a thin line with the little lies you have started building, you might want to break it all down, you still have the time.” Emeka said, standing up. “When I eventually meet her, I would introduce myself as a Doctor. At least that way, you won’t have told too many lies.” He said and gave Jerry a light tap.\nJerry swallowed at Emeka’s words. Emeka’s words had a way of turning into a nightmare for him from the little he had seen.\n“Let’s go do some rounds, bro.” Emeka called as he walked out of the office.\nJerry took a deep breath and followed him.\n***\nNora shot a wicked glance at Toni. “Are we really watching this?”\nToni chuckled. “We just finished the first half. A few minutes break and they will be up and running for the second forty five.”\n“I don’t like football.” Nora replied angrily.\nToni nodded. “But Mommy, you said I can watch whatever I want and that you would be by my side all the way. Did you forget?”\nNora groaned. “This is cheap blackmail, Toni. It is ridiculously cheap.”\n“Wrong. It isn’t cheap. If it was, it won’t be costing you this much discomfort.” She replied with a smile.\nNora frowned.\n“I think you should learn to like football. I bet James likes football and if you want to warm your way into the heart of that guy, you should know a little more about the sport. Start by picking a team.” Toni advised.\nNora hissed.\nToni nudged her in the waist. “Dear Nora, this advice is priceless. I can assure you that most ladies that lose their guys to the sport don’t understand that they could actually enjoy the sport together. If she is so unwilling to love the game, she can love the boys.”\nNora stared at her with a raised eyebrow.\n“I am being honest here. There are a lot of cute guys that play football.” Toni replied. “So, let me bring you up to speed with football. To start with, the team in the red jersey is Arsenal and the team in the blue jersey is Everton-”\n“-Not interested.” Nora replied.\nThe doorbell went. Nora sprang to her feet in delight. “I’ll get it.”\n“Why do you hate football so much?” Toni asked, laughing.\nNora ignored her and hurried to the door. Toni focused on the Television as the players from both teams returned to the field.\n“Hello, Toni.”\nToni turned round and smiled. “Hey! James! How are you?”\nJames smiled. “I made it in time for the second half, so I am great.” He said, taking a seat.\n“What do I offer you?” Nora asked.\nJames shook his head. “Nothing. I just need to focus on my boys.”\n“Arsenal.” Toni asked\nJames nodded with a smile. “We are the best.”\nToni hissed.\n“Let me guess, Chelsea?” he asked.\nToni smiled. “Atta boy! Jose’s Army. The Roman empire!”\nNora fumed as she watched her sister bond with James. “I think Arsenal will win.” She said, jumping into the discussion.\nToni turned her head at Nora with a cynical smile. “I see…”\nNora nodded and took her seat beside James. “You know, the best thing about football is the passion. I think they put a lot of passion into it.”\nToni sneezed.\nJames stared at Nora and then at Toni. “That was awkward.”\n“Was it?” Toni asked.\nJames nodded and turned back to the Television.\n“Goal!” Nora shouted as she watched the ball roll into the net.\nJames stared at her. “I thought you were in support of Arsenal?”\n“They scored, right?” she asked, dumbly. “They are wearing the blue jersey, right?”\nToni stared at James with a smile. “Now that is Nora’s sense of humour. She knows that Everton scored, but she just wants to troll you.”\nJames stares at Nora. “You are mean.”\nNora nodded with a smile. “I know.”\nToni winked at her and walked away.\nNora watched the rest of the game in silence. Toni had just covered up for her. Once again, she found herself competing needlessly with Toni who was in no competition with her.\nJames was enjoying the game, but Nora’s silence was worrisome, so he turned to her. “Are you okay?”\n“Yeah…sure.” She replied.\nHe shook his head. “You are lying to me.”\n“No. I am fine.” She replied.\nJames stared at her. “I don’t care if you don’t know jack about football.”\n“Really?” she asked.\nJames smiled. “For now… After a while, you can start supporting Arsenal, so we can tease Toni together.”\nShe smiled back. “It sounds like a good idea.”\n“I want you to go out with me.” James said. He stared at Nora. “Officially, I want to be your boyfriend.”\nNora stared at him. “I don’t know about officially.”\n“Is that a yes?” he asked.\nShe shrugged. “I think so.”\nJames smiled.\n***\nJerry replaced his stethoscope around his neck as he took his seat beside a patient. “I heard you haven’t been taking your medications, ma’am.”\nMrs. Aiyenugba turned away from him. “Where have you been?”\nJerry smiled faintly at Emeka and then back at the woman. “I had to go away for a while. I am surprised you are still in the hospital.”\n“I like it here.” She replied and then turned towards Jerry. “I really do.”\nEmeka gestured to Jerry and walked out. Jerry stared at her. “Why would you love it here? You should be with your kids and grandkids.”\nMrs Aiyenugba scoffed. “They don’t care about me.”\n“Why not? Your daughter brought you here, remember?” he asked.\nShe nodded. “I do, but, they don’t want me at home. I caught them saying they have booked me in at Victoria’s Homes. They are just waiting for me to feel better, so I would just stay here till I die. You would let me, right?”\nJerry hesitated. “I…I don’t think so.”\n“Why not? I have my own room here, there is a Television too and I am sure you would visit me every day, right? Well…when you are not spending time with that cute girl.”\nJerry stared at her. “What girl?”\n“Don’t think I haven’t noticed the smile on your face since you walked in here, you hardly smile like that. Who is she?” she asked with a smile.\nJerry smiled at his favourite patient. She was a comic relief and was known for pulling silly jokes, but then she was right about his smile. The thought of Toni made him happy. He was going to go home to see her no matter the time he closed from work. She really did light up his world.\n“So, who is she?” she asked again.\nJerry drew closer to her. “Toni. And yes, she is amazing.”\nMrs. Aiyenugba nodded with a smile. “I know she is. My husband thought I was the most amazing woman in the world too…and I thought he was, until he left me. I then knew he was the most selfish man. He decided to cheat me by dying first.”\nJerry chuckled. “Come on…”\n“I am serious, why would you leave anyone you love to suffer? The one who hurts is not the person who dies, it is the one they live behind.” She said.\nJerry nodded. “But won’t it be selfish of you if you had died first and left him behind?” he asked.\n“I am the woman.” She replied with a smile.\nJerry smiled. “Seriously?”\nShe nodded. “Yes. Ladies first, it is.”\nJerry laughed. “You are unbelievable, Mrs. Aiyenugba.”\n“Betty.”\nJerry smiled. “I would never call you by your first name.”\n“Why not? It is my name and I am giving you the right to call me by it.” She replied.\nJerry shrugged. “I choose not to. You could be my Mom.”\nShe nodded. “Speaking of families, how is your family?”\n“They should be fine.” He replied.\nShe stared at him in a puzzling manner. “They should? When last did you phone them?”\nHe sighed. “I don’t know.”\n“Your mom is going to end up in Victoria’s Home too.” She cooed as she picked up a newspaper. “Mothers are a gift from God. They are your first defence. She is the mother lion, she is ready to tear apart the hyenas for her cub. Why won’t the cub love her when he should?” she asked.\nJerry swallowed. “I…I love my mom.”\n“Show it.” She replied.\nHe nodded. “I would call my family.” He said, standing up.\n“You won’t. I know that look.” She replied.\nHe bit his lower lip, “I will prove you wrong.”\n“This is not about me. This is about you, Jerry. It is about you. Just you and you alone, no one else.” She replied and dropped the newspaper by her bed. “Tell the Doctors I am not going home. I have no place to call my home. I will just stay here till I die. At least, I will have a casket to call my home when I am gone.” She said, sliding down to rest.\nJerry took a deep breath and walked out. He was lost in his thoughts about what Mrs. Aiyenugba had said that he didn’t see Emeka approaching him.\n“Guy!” Emeka said as Jerry walked past him.\nJerry stopped and apologized. “I am sorry.”\n“This Toni girl will be the death of you.” He said with a smile.\nJerry smiled faintly. “When last did you call your parents?”\nEmeka shrugged. “I don’t know. My sister keeps in touch with them, so that should cover for both of us, right?” he asked with a grin.\n“Love your parents when they are alive.” Jerry said.\n“ Oshey, Aristotle!” Emeka mocked. “You shouldn’t spend too much time with Mrs. Aiyenugba, that woman pollutes the mind.”\nJerry frowned. “She is a good woman. She made me realise how unfair I have been to my parents.”\n“We are busy, Jerry. We have a lot to do. Even our parents know that.” Emeka replied. “Please ignore that woman, besides, the hospital is tired of her consuming space. I think they are calling her family in tomorrow.”\nJerry blinked. “Her children don’t want her.”\n“That’s understandable. Look at how quick she has poisoned your mood. She is a venom.” Emeka said with a smile.\nJerry ignored him and turned to walk away. Emeka hurried up to him. “What do you want, Emeka?” Jerry asked.\n“Why are you so serious, Jerry?” Emeka retorted. “I think you are paying her too much attention.”\nJerry pushed his office door open. “Why shouldn’t I?”\n“I don’t know. She is just a patient.” He replied. “You don’t owe her anything, do you?” Emeka asked.\n“I know I don’t, but she has given me a reason to think about my family and myself too.” He replied.\n“I think you should think more about the surgical cases that we have this night. From what I heard, you are leading a surgery.”\nJerry’s face fell. “No.”\n“Look, man, I want you to believe in yourself. You have to save a life today. Save another tomorrow. And then, next tomorrow…and then, you won’t have to worry no more.” Emeka said with a smile.\nJerry swallowed. He had a lot to worry about. The nurses always looked defeated before any of his case. The mere sight of Jerry made them believe they were fighting a lost battle, he had never proven them wrong. They talked in groups in the hospital and he was sure he had a role to play in it. Emeka always inspired him, but then, he still felt defeated. The nightmare of his first case never let him be.\n***\nToni struck the keys of her laptop as she typed. Nora stared at her. Toni had not said a word to her since James left.\n“Are you not going to talk to me?” Nora asked. Toni had her headphones on, but Nora knew she could hear her. “Toni. Please.”\nToni turned at her. “How much longer?” she asked.\nNora swallowed. “I don’t know what came over me. I…I was jealous.”\nToni smiled. “Nora, I can never hurt you. I hope you know that.”\n“I do. But what about James? He can hurt me.” She replied.\nToni shook her head. “No, he can’t hurt you. You have control over your heart, you decide what comes and what goes and in this situation, it is hard to decide because of the emotions, but still, you decide.”\nNora drew closer to her. “Forgive me.”\n“I hold no grudge against you.” Toni replied. “I wish I knew how to, but I don’t.”\nNora grinned. “Thank God,”\n“Yeah.” Toni replied. “I am going to church tomorrow. Are you coming?”\nNora stared at her. “Oh…no. I will just stay here.”\n“Why? Still fighting with yourself?” Toni asked with a smile. “Because if you think you are fighting with God because we don’t have our parents with us, you are wasting your time. Job lost everyone and everything, yet, he trusted God and He didn’t fail. He never does.”\nNora turned her face away. She had avoided Church ever since their parents died. She was angry. Toni’s diagnosis gave her more reason to be angry, she didn’t understand why all these were happening to her. Toni never stopped praying. Nora quit.\nToni continued typing on her laptop. Nora stared at her. “What are you doing?” she asked.\n“Writing.” Toni replied.\n“Writing? When did you become a writer? I know you have always been one at heart, but when did you start putting it to some use?” Nora asked.\nToni smiled. “A week ago.”\n“That’s recent. So, what are you writing?” Nora asked.\nToni stared at her. “My novel.”\n“Novel?”\nToni nodded. “My life is too much excitement to stay bottled in…I want the world to read.”\nNora smiled. “That’s lovely.”\n“Thank you.” Toni replied and closed her laptop.\nNora stared at her. “James asked me out.”\n“And you said yes?” Toni asked.\nNora nodded. “That’s what I want.”\nToni smiled. “I know.”\n“Do you think I am right?” Nora asked.\nToni shrugged. “I really don’t know, but, I just think that you should be happy. If he makes you happy and you make him happy, then, it is fine.”\n“You are not so convinced about James, are you? He is a great guy. He even sensed that I didn’t know jack about football.” She replied.\nToni smiled. “Still you should know.”\n“Whatever.”\nToni took a deep breath. “Nora?”\n“What is it, Toni?” she asked.\nToni stared at her. “I phoned the Hospital. I am starting Chemo..",
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