As early as 6:00AM, Pastor and the elders of the church were already in the hospital to see me. In that moment, I counted myself lucky to have known Christ. If not for Christ, what would they be doing with a poor sales boy like me? Tears of gratitude filled my eyes and were dropping. Pastor noticed the tears and started comforting me.

“Kingsley please, take it easy on yourself. We should be thanking God for the victory he granted you. Many people have died through this means but God delivered you by his mercy. Do you understand me?”

I nodded my head in affirmative, though he misunderstood the reason for my tears.

“I was not around yesterday. I went for a revival programme. It was when I got back around 11:30PM that I heard what happened. I tried contacting you through your phone but Lawson said you were asleep. My advice to you is that you should relax and be grateful to God. Don’t allow anything to bother you. The church will take care of the hospital bill. If you need anything, let Lawson contact us. Another thing is that you will be transferred to a private ward.”

“Daddy, thank you for everything. God bless you. However, I plead that you should not bother about transferring me to a private ward. I am okay here.”

“You have no choice. The church has already taken a stand on that. We have to go now. You know that today is Sunday. But before that, let’s pray.”

After the prayer, the elders exchanged pleasantries with me. Pastor gave me some money and they left.

They were scarcely out of sight when Paul and Vera arrived almost at the same time. Paul brought bread, milo, milk and a flask of hot water, while Vera came with a big plate of jollof rice. She wanted to serve the food but I told her that I will prefer to take hot tea. I appreciated her for her kind gestures after which they both left for church service.

“This Vera is a nice person. If you are observing her from a distance you will not notice it,” Lawson said as he was trying to serve me the tea I requested for.

“You are right. I am surprised,” I chipped in.

Lawson suddenly looked at his watch and told me he needed to attend to something urgently.

***********

By afternoon time, the private ward was filled up with people. Some of our church members visited me. The place was lively as they were chatting and laughing freely.

“Justine was really looking good today,” Vera announced. This made all the girls to fall on themselves in laughter.

“That new look fit him perfectly. In fact, I have never seen him as humble as he was today,” she continued, after a while.

“I was wondering if he bought those sun shades this morning or he acquired it in preparation for the rainy day,” Gift said.

“I think the later, is the case. He knew that one day, his sins will find him out. Then he will use it to cover his swollen eyes,” Vera replied in an amusing tone.

As the girls were busy chattering like birds, our no-nonsense brother, Paul was shifting intermittently on his chair. Obviously he was not happy with their activities. Paul was a nice brother. One of the few detribalized members. He was ever ready to render assistance. However, he was quick-tempered and doesn’t tolerate nonsense, especially from girls. This made him always get into fights with them.

“Do you know the funniest part of our presido’s dairy today?” Gift asked again.

“We don’t know. Please tell us,” they chorused.

“When I asked him what happened to his face, he told me that he was involved in a bike accident on his way to church.”

“Did he really tell you that?” Precious ask, sounding surprised.

“Of course, your president said that. He never knew that, Godwin, his supposed friend had let the cat out of the bag!” Gift was demonstrating as she talked.

“That was so pathetic. Most times, deceivers will be so engrossed in their act of deceit that they won’t know when they start deceiving themselves,” Precious commented.

“That is the truth,” Vera corroborated

Paul could no longer endure the gossip. So he rebuked them.

“Gossip has become a serious business for you! Even in this kind of atmosphere, your mouth cannot rest. This is the challenge I have with girls.”

“Sorry o. I know that you are hurting because we are talking about your partner in crime!” Vera fired back at him.

The other girls giggled. Though, they were trying to hide their face so that Paul will not pick on them. Vera was the only person who was bold enough to face him.

“What do you mean by that statement?” Paul challenged her.”

“It means that you are a suspect. The way you have been supporting Justine since yesterday is suspicious,” Vera accused him.

“It’s alright please. Let’s not fight over this matter,” Gift intervened.

I had been wondering about what happened to Justine. Trying to find out from the girls would mean setting the stage for another episode of gossip. I was sure that Lawson didn’t know either because both of us had been together in the hospital. The only strange thing was that he wasn’t showing any interest in the discussion. Lawson rarely keeps quiet when discussions were going on, even if he doesn’t know anything about the issue. I made an attempt to find out if he knew what happened to Justine in whispers but he pretended not to have heard me. Gift, however answered the question on my mind.