CH29: PRIDE

This is a passion work. So, I would really appreciate it if you leave behind a review when you're done reading.

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CH29: PRIDE

By 1:10 pm, the bus conveying the visitors arrived at the hospital. Hospital attendants were on hand to guide each visitor to the ward of the patient they wished to visit. Mr. and Mrs. Balogun were amongst the visitors. An attendant was on hand to guide them to Korede's ward immediately they arrived. As they got close to the ward, the couple could already see their son through the glass wall. He was dressed in military uniform with a bandage wrapped around his right hand and was currently looking out the window with his back facing the door(1). The couple could barely contain their happiness.

Korede Balogun heard the door of his ward open. He turned around to see his mother and father. He smiled and made his way to them and greeted them,

"Hello, Mother. Hello Father."

The old couple didn't say anything. They just pulled him into their embrace. After six months of coma, their son was finally awake. That was all that mattered. It was only after a good while that they release him.

"Come son, let's go home." Shade Balogun said.

"There's something I need to do first, Mother." Korede replied.

Babatunde Balogun smiled. He probably knew what his son wanted to do. He patted his wife's shoulder and made way for Korede. Korede smiled back and walked out of the ward. He made his way to the previous ward where his teammates were.

He saw some people around them. He guessed they're his teammates' families. While the others were strangers, he recognizes one person. The infamous genius programmer, his programming teacher, and most importantly, Mary and Champion's Father, Ebube Onuoha. However, the man Korede was seeing now was different from the man he knew. Sadness was not hidden in the man's eyes. After all, two of his children were lying there comatose.

Korede looked at the other people around. By Abdul-Lateef's side was a middle-aged woman. She was rubbing his cheeks with her left hand while holding his hand with her right. Korede believed her to be Abdul-Lateef's mother. Korede recalled what Abdul-Lateef told him about himself. Abdul-Lateef was an only child. His father was a soldier. The man was the reason for Abdul-Lateef's great marksmanship. He had been training his son on how to shoot since he was fourteen years. Unfortunately, he died four years ago on active duty. His wife was crushed. It was only for her son that she managed to pull through. Now, that son was in a coma. She more or less had no one.

Korede shifted his sights to Temitope. There was a man by his side. The man was not doing anything special though. He was just sitting there staring at the youth on the bed. Due to their resemblance, Korede believed him to be Temitope's father.

Finally, by Fatima's side is a family. A middle-aged man and woman, a teenage boy, and a girl around Dare's age being held by the woman. Seeing the family, Korede remembered that today was a weekend. That explained why the whole family could come. The woman was sitting hold the little girl in her embrace while holding Fatima with her right hand. The boy was sitting on the side of the bed while the man was standing behind the woman with his hand on her shoulders. Korede believed them to be Fatima's father, mother, brother, and sister.

He took a deep breath and walked in. His parents followed him but Mr. Balogun made them stay outside. When he entered, all eyes turned to him. The people present couldn't help but be surprised. Just yesterday, Korede was also lying on a bed in this room. Now today, he was standing before them. He looked round at everybody in the room.

"Mr. Onuoha, Mrs. Abdul-Salam, Mr. Lawal, Mr. and Mrs. Mohammed. You probably already know this. My name is Korede Balogun. I was the one who led our team through our last mission." Korede said before pausing.

Seeing that he had everyone's attention, he continued, "I know that you all are in a measure of pain. I can't imagine what it feels like to watch a loved one be there and at the same time not be there. I can't pretend to understand so I won't. There're a lot of things I can't say, but one thing I can is, I'm sorry. Sorry, you have to go through this. Sorry for the pain we have caused you. I am truly sorry."

Everyone in the room was surprised by Korede's sudden apology. Before they could react and say anything, Korede continued, "However, that is not the main reason I'm standing before you. Rather, I am here to ask you not to blame your children's courage and sacrifice but to be proud of them. Although I cannot tell you what happened that day and what we did, I can tell you that we saved thousands, if not tens of thousands, of lives that day. We all knew what we were getting into but your children did not falter. They did it anyway. So I stand in front of you proud. Proud to have served with them. Proud to have led them. Proud to have fought side by side with them. They are heroes in their own right.

So I ask you to also be proud. Proud to have given birth to them. Proud to have raised them. Proud of what they have become. As you do so, I offer you the only thing I can. I offer you my salute of gratitude" Korede made a military salute to them. The salute was in the best posture he could muster to show his high regard to them.

Maintaining the posture, he continued, "This is my gratitude to you. Gratitude for giving birth to my teammate. Gratitude for raising them to be who they are. Gratitude for letting them be the heroes they are." He maintained the posture for five minutes. During that time, nobody spoke. Nobody did anything. They all just looked at the youth in front of them. (2)

If it was another person that said all he said, it was possible they may have disregarded it. However, with the words coming from the person who experienced the same thing as their children, it seemed to carry more weight. As he said, they couldn't help but be proud. Though the pain and sadness were still there, now so also was pride.

Pride for their children.

When the five minutes were up, Korede turned to leave. Before he walked out the door, he heard,

"Thank you."

He was surprised and turn to the source. It was Mrs. Abdul-Salam who said it. The same person who lost her husband to the military and now her son is in a coma. She is probably the last person Korede expected to thank him. Following her lead, the other parents also thanked him. Not only did Korede remind them to be proud of their children, but he also gave them something far more precious.

Hope!

He did not realise it but his mere presence had given these parents hope that their children would wake up too.

He walked out and rejoined his parents. They both had a smile on their face as they both heard everything he said.

"I'm proud of you." said Mr. Balogun.

Hearing those simple words, Korede couldn't help but smile. He looked back at the ward. He saw that it was not so gloomy anymore.

'For now, this is all I can do. Soon enough when I learn to control my Will, I will come back to wake you guys.' Korede promised in his heart before he walked out of the hospital with his parents.

When Korede and his parent walked out of the Hospital, they found Colonel Balogun waiting outside for them in a car. He was sitting in the passenger seat while a soldier was in the driver's seat. Once he spotted them coming out, he got out of the car and walked to them.

"Good Afternoon. Mother, Father" Colonel Kola Balogun greeted his parents.

"Afternoon dear" His mother replied while his father just nodded his head. Since Colonel Balogun was a higher ranking officer on the base, the two didn't show too much affection lest it affects his public image. Colonel Balogun wouldn't have minded though.

"If you're ready to leave, the car will take you out." He said, pointing to the car. "I will come to see you as soon as I'm free. Things have been hectic lately."

The couple nodded and made their way to the car. Korede was about to follow them when his brother stopped him.

"I've spoken to my friend. She says she can introduce us to a master she knows. However, take note, it's just an introduction. Whether the master accepts to teach you or not, still depends on you and your luck." Kola Balogun said.

"That's all I'm asking for. Thanks a lot, bro." Korede responded.

"Anyway, we leave in a week. Before then, you have to come back for a debrief of the mission. There're still some facts we want to verify." said Kola

"We? You're coming too? I thought you're busy." Korede says, quite surprised.

"If I don't come along, how would you know where to go? As for being busy, I should be able to clear my schedule by the end of the week. That aside, if you do get accepted by the master, I'll get a leave for you. What's left is to tell 'your' parents you want to leave again. That's all you. I'm not putting my head into that." Kola said to his brother.

Korede's face changed on hearing his brother's word. He had forgotten about informing his parents. He felt a headache coming. He drowsily walked towards the car. Kola smiled, taking pleasure in his little brother's troubles.

Just as Korede was close to the car, he remembered something vital his brother didn't tell him. He turned back and asked, "Hey bro, where is this master?"

Kola replied with a smile, "Okinawa, Japan."

"What?!" Korede was dumbfounded. Kola just laughed and walked away. Korede was left wondering how his brother got contacts to Japan. Shaking his head, he walked to the car and got in. The car drove off the base.

A Week Later

It was a somewhat relaxing week for Korede. His mother showered him with a lot of care. He enjoyed himself and ate to his fill. When he told his parents about his impending departure, they strangely didn't say anything about it. Shade, however, cleared her schedule for the week to pamper him before he left. Babatunde was speechless. She fed him so well that not only Korede was full, even the symbiote had its fill. The only snags in the week for Korede were the debriefing at the base and a visit to his aunt, Bisola Balogun. During the debrief he gave an account of the events leading to the building collapse. Of course, he didn't talk about the symbiote nor the entity he made the deal with. He was grilled again and again for hours to confirm his account. Korede felt like a criminal in interrogation. He was about to reach his limits when he was finally told he could go. On a side note, Korede asked the symbiote about the said entity but strangely, he was not surprised by the answer he got.

[You are too weak to know].

Honestly, Korede wasn't expecting an answer anyway so he just threw it to the back of his mind.

Also during the week, he visited his aunt. It was not easy for him to go but he had to. All things considered, the family was doing well. Korede was finally able to put his mind at rest. He also visited the graves of the deceased members of Alpha team to pay his respects.

Finally, the week came to an end and it was time to go meet the master.

Muritala Mohammed International Airport(3)

Korede and Kola Balogun arrived at the airport to board a flight to Okinawa. It would take about seventeen hours to arrive at the Naha airport, Okinawa. Not long after they arrived at the airport, boarding of the plane commenced. Not too long later the plane took off. (4)

[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion really matters to me.]

AUTHOR'S NOTE/RAMBLING

1 I'm tempted to put that the father smacked his son for trying to act cool by standing by the window with his back to them. Luckily I managed to resist.

P.S childish author.

2 I write this in remembrance of all those that have served their country with courage, dignity, and valour. As well as for their families. #ArmedForcesRemembrance.

3 since there're no coups in the country's history in this novel, the airport should probably not be named after the man but I decided to leave it like that since the man was the first head of state that I knew as a result of the N20 daily allowance I used to collect back in the day.

4 I know the ending of the chapter was a little rushed but I just felt I'd dragged things on for too long.

Finally, we can move on to another arc. Hope you enjoyed it. As always I welcome any comments or suggestions.

[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion really matters to me.]