New Beginning

Chapter 2

Having convinced my dad I went back to the hospital so I could dismiss Felix, on my way to the hospital I packed Lara's clothes and other few accessories I know ladies can't do without. As I drove into the hospital premises I saw the doctor who attended to Lara before I left just about to enter his car, I think his shift was over. I quickly waved for him to wait for me as I parked my car.

As soon as I was done, I headed to his side of the parking lot. On getting there, I asked him about Lara and he said she is responding well to her treatment and with the improvement he saw today, she might be able to go home tomorrow. When I heard that Lara might be able to go home tomorrow I felt my heart jump for joy. I thanks the doctor and dismissed him immediately and proceeded to Lara's ward.

"She's asleep." I said to Felix as soon as I noticed Lara. The face which expressed worry few hours ago is now lit and glowing, she seem better than I left her. Lara is a beautiful lady, no man in his right state of mind could ignore Lara's beauty. When she's amongst other ladies her beauty stands out and makes it easy to fish her out.

Felix and I went outside as I walked him off to his car. We spoke for a while before we finally bid each other goodbye and he promised to come check up on Lara tomorrow.

Felix is a one man woman, he met his wife during our university days. I can also say he's a lover boy, he loves and would do anything for his woman. It's been two years since he got married, now his wife is heavily pregnant she has just 2 months to go. As I walked back to Lara's ward Felix words rang in my head "Give that lady a chance, I know you're still in love with her but you don't want to admit it. It's time to stop being childish, grow up friend!" The last part echos. Thinking of it, I have just been angry with her and I haven't given her the chance to explain herself, haven't held a conversation with her since she came back. Before I entered Lara's ward I promised myself I was going to give her a chance.

"Jacob" she calls as I entered the hospital ward she was in. "Lara" I walked to her bed,"how are you feeling now?" I asked holding her hand, she told me she felt very much better and asked about Felix. I told her it's about 7pm and Felix had gone home reminding her he has a wife to take care of. She only nodded, she asked about dad and mum and told me i didn't have to tell anybody to avoid issues with my dad and I told her I already told my father but I didn't tell her about the lie. Poor Lara,She couldn't hide the worry on her face, she is aware of what my father is capable of. I also told her that the doctor said she's responding well to treatment and she might be discharged the next day. She only smiled when I told her. She tried to sit up which I helped her rest her back on the pillow.

"Lara", I called her name "I'm sorry for everything, it's all my fault and I regret it" she held my hand saying, "you shouldn't be apologizing to me, I understand how you feel and I know you've always been the jealous one, I should have thought about your feelings before letting another man hug me like that and I'm sorry" she said with some emotions in her eyes and voice. That moment, I felt something I haven't felt in years back. "I'll start to treat you right, I promise" I said to her which made her smile and nod. She asked if I was not going home as it's becoming late already and I told her I would be staying with her at the hospital. I saw her blush which she tried to hide, one thing Lara is bad at is hiding her emotions, they always reflect on her face.

Later that night I helped her get up the bed and she had to shower and change her clothes as she has refused to wear the hospital clothes. I knew she wouldn't want to wear sophisticated clothes, I only took those clothes she usually referred to as comfy. I helped her with some other stuff, asked her if she was hungry and she said no. She was still filled with the food Felix brought for her. She asked if I had eaten and I told her I didn't have the time to put food in my mouth, I was too worried. She told me about the hospital cafeteria but one thing is I don't just eat outside anyhow, I knew I couldn't eat from an hospital cafeteria but I assured her I was going to go get some food I only wanted to make sure to pet her to sleep.

She slept locking hands with me, I also dozed off right there only to wake up 6am in the morning, though I woke up several times during the night as the nurses were coming to check up on her. I called my mum around 7am, I was sure she would have woken up. I told her if she could help me with breakfast for Lara which she helped me with. When my mum came, Lara was already awake, she looked so happy when mum entered and I was so glad that her face was looking really much better than the previous day. She had her bath before she took breakfast, mum was with us throughout, she asked me when she would be coming home and I told her she would be at home by evening even though the doctors haven't confirmed it. If at all they say she wouldn't be coming home I already made up my mind to pay for home service because I knew better to not let Lara stay another 24 hours at the hospital.

I helped her with things she needed,I made sure I was with her throughout the day and thankfully the doctor came and discharged her but she was given crotches, she was not given a wheelchair so she can exercise the legs to heal faster, I was so happy about that though the crotches was not in any way better.

We got home, later in the evening that day and everyone came visiting, Uncle Williams was already in the house. My brother's wives helped her with few things and the children were with her, My immediate older sister was already at home with her husband and kids but my eldest sister couldn't come because she wasn't in the country. How they managed to pull everyone together is not a surprising thing, my father must have exaggerated the whole story, anyways it kind of felt good for Lara to have everyone come to her house to support her, I was indifferent about the whole situation.

During dinner, I helped Lara sit beside me, my nephew who's just sixteen years old seated at my other side suddenly asked when Lara and I would get married, i immediately glared at him to keep quiet only for my father to say, "don't look at the boy like that, he just asked a simple question, provide an answer" just before I could think of anything to say Lara spoke "we'll like to take our time sir, I don't think marriage is something we should rush into" she said as she stretches her hand to pick up the glass jug of water which I immediately stood up and helped her with. The only thing I could hear next was the sound of the water I was pouring into the glass, everyone ate silently. I felt so proud of Lara, she has every solution to my problem.

As time pass, Lara began to walk without the crotches and soon she was back on her feet, every since the time I promised myself to give her a chance everything has been going smoothly. I went to the ministry where my father's friend walked and I helped them with the website they needed, I charged them just forty eight million. Not only that, they refer me to different companies and ministries where I develop web for them. Lara and I grew closer day by day. I asked her about who Jeremy really was and she told me the truth. Jeremy was at first a friend, although he told her right from the beginning of their friendship that he liked her but she told him she had someone back in Nigeria whom she really loved. They both agreed to become friends but then their relationship grew stronger as each day passes, then one day Jeremy kissed her and she responded to the kiss. She felt guilty about that and she like she betrayed me, she couldn't summon the courage to talk to me. That was also the time I stopped talking to her, she felt really sad but Jeremy was always there and he always told her I stopped talking to her because I had already moved on, he went ahead to tell her that men don't really have the patience to wait for a lady, especially when they're not even in the same country. She fell for his sweet words and they started going out together. Only for her to realize that Jeremy was not only going out with her but he was also going out with two other girls in her college.

Though she tried to stay away from him, he was always coming back to her, he always found his way back to her. According to her she said she already blocked him everywhere before she left for Nigeria and she doesn't have anything to do with him anymore. I believed what she said and I let everything pass. I also felt really ashamed of my behavior towards her, if I didn't as to childish and I had communicated with her, all of these wouldn't have opened. We decided to start afresh like the young lovers we used to be.

We met with our parents and we explained things to them, and pleaded with them to give us time to start afresh and they agreed with us, they encouraged us to take our time since we have settled our differences but not so long after we settled another issue came up. I continued to work with the ministry and top tiers of the government and some tigger companies alongside creating a video game which took me more than 2 years to create.