Maria finally fell asleep and Lexis stood up from the bed and closed the door quietly before returning to the hall.
''Is she asleep?'' Aunt Anne asked worriedly as soon as she saw Lexis outside the room of Maria.
''Yes, she is asleep. Kobby prescribed some medicine that I gave her. It will help her sleep for a while so that her mind will also rest. She will be fine, aunt. Don't worry too much about her" Lexis told her.
''You must be tired. Why don't you go home and rest? If you tire yourself so much, it will be bad for the baby'' Anne said.
''Okay, call me as soon as she wakes up. And don't leave her by herself. Right now, she is too stressed and sad. Her mind is a little fragile. We shouldn't let her be by herself" Lexis said and took her bag from the couch.
''I won't. I will take care of her. Here, I prepared some tonic that is good for you and the baby. Is late, so this will be perfect instead of solid food" Anne said and took the flask that she poured the tonic she brewed and led Lexis outside the apartment.
Kobby met them on the way and took Lexis' hand.
"Aunt Anne, thanks for the tonic. I will drink some tonight before I go to bed" Lexis said and took the flask from Anne.
"You can heat the rest and take it tomorrow. Kobby, drive safely back" Anne said and waved them before going back.
Kobby took the flask as he led Lexis to the car "You must be tired" he said to Lexis.
"More than that, I am worried about Maria. I still don't think is good to let her be alone. Let's hurry with the moving and make her join us. I won't be able to rest and be assured if she isn't in my line of sight"
"I'm jealous of your friendship" Kobby said.
"Don't be jealous. Maria isn't a competition. I am just sharing the love I get from you and everyone with her. Maria is such a sweetheart and doesn't deserve what she is going through"
"She will be fine very soon. Maria is a strong woman"
"You're right. Let's get home and catch some sleep" Lexis said as she got into the car along with Kobby.
....
Maria opened her eyes as soon as she heard the sound of the car. She wasn't really asleep but she knew Lexis needed to rest hence she fake her sleep so that Lexis could go home and rest.
Maria took her phone from the table and started scrolling her contacts. She got to Ad-Din's number and the temptation to call him grew stronger within her. She looked at the number for a long time before throwing the phone away and her tears started flowing again.
This wasn't the first time she attempted to call him but didn't have the courage to do it. She felt she had hurt him and he must hate her right now that is why he never bothered to call her again since that day.
She yawned as the medicine began to kick in. She was feeling sleepy for real now so she laid back on the bed and closed her eyes.
A moment later, Anne opened the door and looked at Maria sleeping before she closed the door back and went into her room to also sleep.
...…
A month had slowly passed and Maria started following Lexis around to her postnatal and other hospital appointments after the latter had literally preached and consoled her. Maria knew her friend was genuinely worried about her hence she decided to put her worries and heartache behind her by tagging alone and showing her support to her friend who was getting due for delivery.
Lexis was now going to her last month and found doing a lot of things difficult. Maria also wanted to forget of certain things so she turned into Lexis chauffeur, bringing her to anywhere she wanted to go. She also got to breath in some fresh air.
Maria still thought about Ad-Din once in a while and wondered what he was up to every night. She wondered if he ever thought about or missed her like she did. She missed him a lot and wished to see him. There were times that she would go and hide around the school just to see his face. Those times when she managed to see him, he looked happy. Maria felt he was having a nice time unlike her.
She knew they had barely a week left to start their final exam which was important to him, so she stopped going to the school that week to avoid running into him. It would be weird if that were to happen.
She never would have guessed that she wasn't the only one doing the sneaking, and playing hide and seek.
It was the same with Ad-Din, every night he would go to her apartment and watched her through her window until she went to sleep. He would only leave her apartment when her lights were turned off. He had seen her at his school most times but pretended not to notice her because he knew she didn't want to be seen by him. But, he was a little glad that she thought about him enough to go and look for him at the school.
Maria's thoughts were shaken and she came back to her senses when she heard her name across the road and looked up.
Lexis waved her hand at Maria as she stood across the hospital road. Maria looked at the snacks in her hands and shook her head before crossing the road to meet her.
She had gone across the road to get some snacks for Lexis and lost track of time as she thought about Ad-Din.
Lately, Lexis was on a snack craze as she would ask for snacks every now and then, so Maria decided to get her some now that they were out.
Maria kept smiling and walking across the road and didn't see that a truck was coming her way. Her phone fell in the middle of the road and she turned back to pick it. She bent down and picked the phone and stood up when she saw the truck coming at her closely.
Maria froze and stood stupefied on the road and couldn't hear any voice at all. It was like she was being glued to the road and couldn't move. She only saw that Lexis was screaming and walking with her big belly beckoning towards her and other people screaming at the truck driver.
"pah"
Maria didn't know how it happened. But, she could see herself flying in the air. She was floating while Lexis rolled with her stomach on the road. She opened her mouth but couldn't say a word. She tried to scream Lexis name but nothing came out.
Maria could see her own life being sucked out of her as she was landing on the ground. Her body fell first followed by her head that hit the ground and she finally lost consciously.
The truck driver finally stopped the truck at a distance and got down. He saw people rushed to the road side and gathered around the two women he just ran over and panicked. They were both unconscious and had lost a lot of blood.
He stepped back one and two steps before running back to the truck and taking off. He drove away hastily without a second thought fleeing the accident area and leaving them to their fate.
...…
The two women were rushed into the emergency room as the doctors and nurses rushed inside with them. They were placed on stretchers and pushed into the surgery room.
....
Ad-Din was in class when Calia rushed inside and called him and a horrified expression and panting.
''Ad-Din, Ad-Din, just now, Miss Lee, she''
''She what? What happened to Maria?'' Ad-Din stood up anxiously.
"The guy I asked to watch over her and report to us if anything happens. He just called me now" Calia couldn't breathe well and her voice choked.
"What happened? What did he say?" Ad-Din asked impatiently. The class was bow quite watching them.
''He said that Miss Lee was involved in an accident when she was crossing the road and was rushed to the hospital'. Calia barely finished and Ad-Din rushed out in his uniform and Calia followed him.
They got to the school's entrance and stopped a taxi and Ad-Din got in and looked at Calia asking ''which hospital?''
''First Hospital, be careful, Ad'' Calia said and Ad-Din nodded his head and told the driver to go, they barely turned when the truck that hit Maria and Lexis took a sharp curve crashing into the taxi Ad-Din took.
Calia heard the crash sound and turned and saw that the taxi had hit a pole while the truck driver drove off without stopping.
''Ad-Din?'" Calia screamed loudly and rushed across the road to the taxi and saw that both the driver and Ad-Din were unconscious and she screamed before taking her phone out to make a call.
The driver was the most hurt as his hand held unto Ad-Din's head with his hand and the car's window glass broke from the impact cutting into his hands.