Hit and Run X

She was floating. She couldn’t feel anything solid around her. She couldn’t recognize anything around her. She couldn’t even feel herself. She was floating in air; not water. Then the voices came, some tortured, some happy but all were distant. She didn’t want to be wherever she was alone, so she imagined moving towards the voices, it wasn’t difficult moving, she was part of space now. The first face she saw was her mother’s. “Come to me child, it’s over now, we can be together again”, came the voice from her mother. It sounded like nothing she remembered of how her mother’s voice sounded. But still, she wanted to embrace her so much, it’d been too long since she saw her, since she “died”, she thought. It struck her, her mother was dead, how could she see her? “Daberechi, we’ve been waiting for you.” She spun in the direction of the voice, it came from her father but sounded nothing like him. She longed to be in both their arms, though she thought something wasn’t right. As she moved towards them, she heard her name, very distant. “Daby, come back to me, please, vixen, you can’t go.” She didn’t need to think twice, she recognized this voice, she knew she had to go back to that voice. She looked at her parents again but they looked almost like… demons? Then it dawned on her. Her parents were dead, how had she got here? She heard her name again, deeper and closer and she turned with all her might to go back to the voice, to Kaycee’s voice. Something was dragging her towards her parents, but something strong dragged her towards Kaycee then everything went black, again.
                                           ***
“Daby, come back to me, please, vixen, you can’t go”, said Kaycee outside the door of the ICU as the doctors battled to bring Daby back. It had been two days since the surgery and Daby had been in coma. Kaycee had come in to see her when the “monitors” started beeping. Seemed her heart stopped beating. “Open, clear…” said the head surgeon as he used the defibrillator on Daby’s chest. “She’s not responding, doctor”, one of the doctors said. “We try again”, the head surgeon replied, “open, clear…” The electric charge that went into Daby’s heart was enough to power an electric iron. Finally, the “monitors” started reading life and Daby was stable again, but still in coma.
                                                    ***
Uncle Somto and Chikanyima arrived that day of the attack while Aunt Tricia and Ifeanyi stayed back in Anambra. News of Mr Johnson’s treachery spread like wild fire, so did Kaycee’s heroic act. Victory was yet to be celebrated because Daby hadn’t opened her eyes. Kaycee brought flowers everyday for the next five days while Chikanyima stayed at the hospital most of the time.
                                                    ***
She opened her eyes slowly and couldn’t recognize where she was, only that she was lying in a hospital bed. She looked around and saw flowers, beautiful daffodils and Kaycee with his head on the bed. She closed her eyes again and thought of how she got there. She remembered driving home one night after dinner with Mr Johnson and a car hitting her. Oh.. She opened her eyes again and tried to move but felt a sharp pain in her head. She looked at Kaycee again and smiled to herself. How long had he been here? She thought. “Kaycee”, she called gently. He stirred and raised his head up and his face was filled with extreme joy as he looked into the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. “You are awake”, he laughed, “you are awake”, he moved closer and planted a kiss on her bruised forehead. “I am”, she replied smiling, “how long have I been here?” “A week”, he replied and saw the horror in her eyes. “You gave us a scare, your uncle and Chika have been here also, Chika stays during the day, I stay at night.” Daby was almost in tears, “I can’t believe I’ve been out for a week” Kaycee smiled and kissed her forehead again with so much affection. She closed her eyes, taking in the care. “I’ll get the doctor”, he said and left her.
The doctor came in to check her vitals and some minutes later Uncle Somto and Chikanyima came in to see her. “Daby, don’t ever scare me like that again”, Chika cried as she hugged her cousin. “Welcome back”, Uncle Somto said simply. They told her in turns what had happened, how Mr Johnson had been behind everything and how Kaycee had saved the day. She cried and remembered how Kaycee had warned her not to go out that night but she had been stupid and left anyway. She had even told him not to follow her, thank God he hadn’t listened to her, she would have been with her parents now. Mr Johnson was the one after all, her instincts were right the first time.
Daby stayed two more days in the hospital for the doctors to keep an eye on her. She was out of danger now. The day she was discharged, Chika was helping her pack up when Kaycee came in with more daffodils. Chika smiled to her cousin and pretended that she needed to use the toilet. “You look well”, he said. “I’m better than the last time you saw me”, Daby said accusingly. “Yeah, I’m sorry I hadn’t come back, I figured you needed to be with your family”, he replied. “I needed you too”, she said looking at him, “are those for me?” she eyed the flowers in his hands. “Err, yes, they definitely are”, he replied handing her the flowers. She inhaled it and smiled, “daffodils, the same as these others” she looked at the others. “I guess it’d be weird to ask a detective how he knew my favorite flower was daffodil.” He laughed, he realized he had been holding his breath. Daby set the flowers and managed to stand in front of him. “Kaycee, thank you, thank you for saving my life, I was so stupid and annoying but you put up with me, you were there through my dark times. Thanks for not giving up on me.” Kaycee took her hands in his and kissed both her palms, “I can’t imagine my life without you, I guess you already know that.” Daby kissed his cheek and almost stuttered, “so I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with this annoying lady here, my place, I’ll order good food and wine and…” Kaycee laughed and held her in his arms, completely enjoying her uneasiness. “Are you asking me out, Miss Daberechi Ekeh?” Daby made a face at him and replied with a coy smile, “yes I am.” Then I can’t wait for this dinner”, he replied and brushed his lips gently on hers.
                                                   ***
Three months later, Daberechi Ekeh, CEO of Ekeh Real Estate Company made sure the Olawole lands were checked by professionals from the government and it was confirmed that oil was indeed there. She partnered with the government and her business bloomed. With Uncle Somto overseeing business in the East, her father’s business progressed even more. She had Kaycee by her side and things were great with them, he was getting to understand her and she was learning to be romantic. Chika came to visit whenever she could. Daberechi was more than satisfied with her life at the moment.

                            The End