Chapter 5

'I'm gonna have to arrest you'.

Macy felt her heartbeat slowdown. He was going to arrest her.

She had imagined getting every other punishment, but arrest?. Hell no.

She didn't need it. She couldn't afford it. She didn't need anything that will bring her close to going back home. An arrest would warrant questions about her family and relatives. She hadn't run off and so far away just to be found few weeks later. Her intention had been to stay as far away as possible. She couldn't face her family,not yet. She had come here to get her life together,to heal.

She opened her mouth to speak,but no words came out.

She needed to say something, anything. Cry,howl,beg,anything. Anything that will stop this man from putting her behind bars. Even if it'll mean crawling and rolling herself on the ground.

But still she couldn't say anything,she couldn't even cry.

Then it hit her again. That sudden feeling of tiredness. That sudden need to sit down somewhere, anywhere.

The whole place began to swirl before her. Her vision became blurry and the  room began to fade.

Macy knew she needed to keep her eyes open. She wasn't going to embarrass herself all the more in the presence of this strange man. She needed to fix this thing but her strength was already draining out and her legs have become wobbly and threatening to give way beneath her.

Her eyes caught her employer walking up to them,worry written all over her face. She was saying something she was too far away to understand.

Another man seemed to have miraculously appeared before them.

She closed her eyes then, unable to keep them open any longer and her knees gave way beneath her.

***

Daniel paced up and down the reception,guilt eating him up. Had he been too hard on her? Had he shouted too much? Had she been originally sick?. He didn't understand it.

One moment he was barking at a woman for ruining a twenty million naira worth of contract for him and the next moment, he was bearing her in his arms racing down a hospital passage.

He tried to process the happenings of the past few hours and it made no sense to him.

She had stood there,saying nothing to him and when he had voiced out his inner thoughts. She had whitened as sheet and had collapsed unto the floor.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around. It was Bryan.

'Hey man,what's up. Is she up?. Bryan asked.

'I don't really know'. He answered.

'She looked really sick,man. I wonder why they'd let a sick woman work there. She could cause great damage for them. I've seen that lady there a couple of times though. She always seems distant and distracted'.

'You should tell your girlfriend that. By the way,where's she?'. He felt his guilt transform into anger. He then looked around but saw no sign of the woman who'd walked into them earlier.

'I just saw her off. She says they have big guests coming up this evening and she needs to put things in order. She however,extracted a promise from me,to help her watch Macy until she's revived. She said I should tell you how sorry she is and that once Macy is out of here. She'll try to work out something with you. Bryan explained.

'That's her name?'. He asked,a bit surprised. He didn't know a lot of people bearing that name.

'Yea. Her name's Macy'. Bryan affirmed.

'This is so funny. All of this. I mean,her staff damaged my property and then she collapses and the boss leaves her with me in the hospital. What am I supposed to do? Keep an eye on her? I honestly do not know what to make of all of this. Man,I was going to arrest her and then sue her for vandalism'.

'You mean she deliberately poured the wine on those papers?' Bryan looked a little bit taken aback.

'She damaged the paper,didn't she? So I don't really care whether it was deliberate or not'.

'Well,we have to stay and make sure she's alive. You won't drag a dead body to court would you?'

'Whose side are you being on? Why are you been too reasonable anyways? Didn't this contract mean something to you too? Weren't you the same person who went through hook to land this deal?. Daniel felt his anger bubble up again.

Why was Bryan being so disgustingly reasonable.

'Look Daniel. There's something called a heart and a conscience, Remember? She's sick,OK? It could be something serious, or even worse. The least you could do as a human is make sure she's alright and then worry about your contract later. Besides,having someone arrested and the media all over you is something you can't afford right now'.

'We're talking about a woman who just fainted. It could even have been an act to get me all soft hearted and forget what she did'. He reasoned.

'Well,shouldn't we let the doctor confirm that?'

Daniel was opening his mouth to argue some more when the doctor walked up to them.

'Hi Mr. Williamson. Mr. Carter'. She greeted. 'Mr. Williamson. I'd like to see you in my office'.

Daniel looked at his friend in confusion.

'We'll go together'. Bryan intervened.

They arrived the doctor's office and sat down.

'Mr. Williamson. Your girlfriend is doing great. Your baby is unharmed too. But I'm afraid, she sprained her ankle and that's because she had a pretty bad fall.

'What the hell...' Daniel began. He was stunned.

Bryan nudged him and he swallowed back his words. The doctor continued.

'She'll need a lot of care and attention too. It's normal for a pregnant woman to feel fatigued and faint sometimes during her first trimester, but when it gets very frequent like hers,it calls for great concern. Plus,she seems to be working so hard and that is affecting her baby. If she doesn't slow down,she may end up arising some complications for herself. I'll also advice that she register for antenatal care. With that,she'll get checked from time to time,just to be on a safe side. You will go and see her now,then go to the nurse whose desk is by my office entrance. I'll give him a written diet guide for her. I'm rushing off to perform a surgery so I won't be chanced to meet you again. The nurse will attend to your other needs. Meanwhile, your girlfriend has been discharged'.