The following day I woke up to Frank's missed calls, loads of them. I had actually woke up late, it was almost nine o'clock now. I quickly withdrew from the bed, went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. Thus, I took a warm shower and then came out and changed into a light dress.
After that, I dialed Frank's contact and fortunately for me he picked the call in time. "Hello, good morning dear" he greeted. I could hear noise in the background, it was obvious he was at work. Probably in my department even, for I believed his floor would never be this noisy. He was at the top floor, the chief executive officer's floor.
"Hi, morning" I responded, "Hope you reached home safely yesterday, and how are you this morning?" I politely asked.
"Yes, and I am fine" he replied, "How about you?"
"I am fine too. Sorry I was unable to pick your call in time, I was deeply asleep that's why" I explained to him. I know he had no problem, he would definitely understand.
"I thought as much," he said and then asked if I heard from Jessica. By mentioning Jessica's name, I didn't know when I smiled. Too bad he wasn't close to see my genuine smile.
"She's back" I responded.
"Back? You mean back home?" he uttered, and from the sound of his voice you could tell he was surprised.
"Yes, back home. She came back while I was deeply asleep" I said and then narrated everything to him, even the conversation I had with her in her room I gisted him.
"Wow, unbelievable!" he said.
"Yeah, I also couldn't believe it at first. I thought I was still dreaming" I giggled. Just then I heard someone's voice on the background, talking to him about some documents.
"Right? Then bring them in right this instant, let me go through them" he said to the person before returning his attention back to me, "Laura, see you soon. I will come over to check on you later, I have something very important to do now" he apprised me.
"Alright, no problem. See you later" I said.
"You too" he ended the call.
Hence, I heaved a sigh and plugged the phone on charger before heading downstairs to prepare something for breakfast. Jessica was probably in her room sleeping, she must be tired. I didn't want to disturb her, thus I decided not to check on her. I headed downstairs and, surprisingly I found her eating in the sitting room.
"Hey, morning" she greeted me the moment she acknowledged my presence.
"Morning," I smiled and waved at her. By the looks of things, she's eager to finish eating so she could go out. I could tell by her dressing and the handbag she kept on the center table. "Are you going somewhere?" I curiously asked.
"Yes, I want to see a friend of mine" she responded.
"A friend of yours, who's that?" I asked. I knew I shouldn't have to avoid infuriating her, but my curiosity wouldn't let me stay mute. I just hoped she doesn't end up going berserk or yelling at me on top of her voice.
"You don't know her, she's an old friend. I want to ask her about the she's currently enrolled into, about their school fees and everything" she responded with no iota of sadness on her face, she sounded as though nothing is wrong with her. Like someone that doesn't know how to yell at people or even get angry.
"Does she school here? Tell me you are changing your mind on Oxford" I uttered out of excitement. I was really happy to hear her say that, although I wasn't really sure if she meant her words.
"Yes, I've changed my mind on Oxford. I am studying here" she cleared my doubt, making me to heave a huge sigh of relief. I had been waiting for this day a long time, if only Aunt Vicky was healthy to hear her daughter say what she said. She had also yearned for this day to come, and now it is here.
"Wow, that's great!" I uttered, not even knowing how exactly to express my joy. "It's really great, and I am very pleased to hear you say that"
"Thank you" she said and then pointed towards the direction of the dining table, "Your breakfast is there, spaghetti and some tomato sauce. I also fried some meat balls, everything is set. If you can't eat it all, keep some for Frank in case he comes"
"Alright, no problem. Thank you" I beamed at her.
"You are welcome" she said and continued eating while I headed to the dining room.
She had really tried with the meals, she must have woke up so early to prepare all that. I poured some spaghetti into a plate, added some tomato sauce and then forked three meat balls to my plate.
"Wow, it's delicious. So yummy" I murmured to myself the moment I took my first spoon. "So this girl can cook like this?" I murmured again after taking the second spoon.
Just then, she came and walked past me to the kitchen to wash her tableware. When she was done, she bade me goodbye and left, promising to come back as soon as she got the answers she needs from her friend.
The moment she left, I began thinking about her while eating. Suddenly, my phone rang. And when I checked I realized it was Lorraine. "Hello!" I said the moment I picked the call.
"Hi, Laura. Good morning" she said.
"Morning," I uttered, hoping to hear good news from her about Aunt Vicky. But then she asked about Jessica, if she was fine.
"Yes, she's fine" I said and added to my response, "And she has changed too"
"Nice, however keep an eye on her because we don't want her roaming about..." she said rendering me speechless, I had already allowed her to go out... what then should I do? I wondered. "Understood?" Lorraine completed her words.
"Yes, I mean... sure!" I acknowledged, moreover I didn't even get much of what she said.
"Good!" she ended the call.
When I was done eating, I took the remaining food to the fridge and then cleared the table. And while washing the dishes, our door bell rang. Who could that be? Frank? I wondered as I quickly rinsed my hands and dried them with a towel. "Yes, I am coming!" I said as the ringing continued, the patient seemed to be impatient. Did he or she thought I was sleeping or something? I hissed as I headed straight to the door. "Who is..." I said halfway as I opened the door, only to find out it was our neighbor, the doctor. "Mrs, Smith?" I was surprised to see her.
"Yes, it's me. Can I come in please?" she wrinkled a brow at me.
"Yeah, sure" I nodded positively and made a way for her to come in.
"Thank you" she beamed at me and then walked into the house. Thus, I shut the door off and asked what to offer her. "No, please, don't bother yourself dear" she turned down my offer.
"Even coffee?" I tried to offer her something but still she was adamant.
"I am fine, trust me" she said as she walked over to the sofa and sat gently. It looked as if she was going somewhere, but then decided to come and see me.
"Okay" I sat on the opposite chair gulped, hoping to hear something good from her. She was a doctor at the hospital where Aunt Vicky was receiving treatment, and I bet she knew everything concerning the incident that landed my aunt into coma.
"I hope I am not disrupting you from your morning chores?" she uttered.
"No Ma'am, it's fine" I said, eager to hear what brought her to our house.
"Oken then," she said and cleared her throat. "Actually, what happened to your aunt isn't exactly what you are thinking about. However, whatever I tell you now please don't let anybody know you got that from me, okay? And I would be very glad if you don't even share it with anyone"
"Cross my heart, I will make sure nobody gets to know it came from you. And about sharing it, well, I would like to share to whom it may concern. People that would be willing to help us, especially in raising funds if it's what I am expecting" I said, hoping it wasn't what I was expecting.
"What exactly are you expecting?" she asked. Tough question.
"I... I was actually thinking it's stroke" I stuttered.
"No, it's not. What makes you think it's stroke?" she asked looking serious. I shouldn't have told her about my fear, what I was expecting and what I thought was wrong with Aunt Vicky. I should have just waited calmly for her to tell me what led to her fall and what exactly the problem was.
"Actually, seeing her in that life machine made me thought about a lot of things. Also, judging from our unfinished conversation before it all happened I think she didn't fall just like that. It must have been something related to her health" I explained.
"And then out of all sicknesses, you handpicked stroke and made it thr cause of the problem?" she asked, and seeing how speechless I was she smiled, "Well," she continued, "it isn't stroke" her confirmation made me to heave a relief sigh. "Yes, it's not stroke. At least not yet"
"What do you mean, at least not yet?" I was confused by her last statement.
"Well, the fact that she fainted as a result of dizziness, and the fact that she has high blood pressure, it's obvious she's developing a sign of stroke. Her blood pressure was very low when she fainted, and that leads to deprivation of oxygen supply to the brain. Hopefully, our emergency medical team were summoned in time. They brought her to us and, I can assure you in a day or two she would recover" she broadly explained. I was happy to hear her explanation even though I didn't understand some of the things she said.
"Thank you, Mrs Smith. I really appreciate it, and I am very sure my Aunt would be happy to hear about your help" I cheerfully said.
"You are welcome" she stood to her feet, "however, I would like her to stay for some time in the hospital even after recovering. That will help her recover more and fully redeem her health" she added.
"Alright, Mrs Smith. I will let her daughter knows about it when she returns" I said as I stood to my feet as well.
"Jessica, right?" she wrinkled a brow at me.
"Her daughter? Yes, Jessica is her name" I responded.
"That girl is a confused teenager, and what she's doing is what is hurting her mother. If she doesn't change in time, she may end up ruining her mother" She cautioned.
"Hmm, you don't need to worry about anything, Mrs Smith. The girl has changed totally, she's now a born again. I talked to her and hopefully, this change is for good!" I joyfully said.
"Well then, I hope so too" she said and began walking towards the door, "Try as much as you can to not let your Aunt return back home when she recovers, I would be glad if you do that"
"I will do that, I assure you" I said and escorted her outside. Thus, she bade me goodbye and left. She was really a good woman. I used to think she was a nosy neighbor before, but gradually I learned she wasn't like the other neighbors. She was totally different.
If only all neighbors were like, it would have been great. There wouldn't be evil eyes, and the whole streets would have been safe even during festivities. But reverse was the case, hence one needs to be very careful with the people around them. Let those people earn their trust before welcoming them with open arms.
