CHAPTER FIVE

Lamisi rubbed her arms as the sensation of needles pricked into her skin. She had to look down to make sure they weren’t real. She hated hospitals. No, not even close to the word. Detested, deplored, despised all rolled into one would better suit her feelings about the institution. She still hadn’t gotten over childhood incidences of treatments and injections which had supposedly been meant for her own good.

“Are you okay?” Precious asked as they sat in the waiting area of the Emergency Room while Blaise’s two friends had gone to his bedside.

She lied with a nod while clasping her trembling hands together. She wouldn’t be okay until the disgusting antiseptic scent left her nostrils.

Precious shook her head with a deep frown altering her beauty. “I’m surprised you volunteered to join us.”

“What was I supposed to do?”

She kept her voice low, out of earshot of Abdul’s and Musah’s wives. The youngest one kept glaring in her direction. Not the first time a Ghanaian woman had given her nasty looks she didn’t deserve. It wasn’t as if she’d pushed Blaise and laughed over him in victory. Lamisi ignored her.

“The guy broke my fall by letting me land on top of him.” For a moment, her nausea receded as she recalled his heroic action along with a kiss she’d never forget.

For those few seconds in his embrace, she’d allowed herself the luxury of believing that only they existed in the world. The craving she’d experienced to get even closer had magnified by a thousand as she lay sprawled on top of him. That kiss had been inevitable.

Or so she allowed herself to believe because her stomach roiled with the wretchedness of her guilt. She’d kissed another woman’s man. If he couldn’t say outright that he wasn’t dating Deola, then it meant they were. Having been cheated on by two guys in the past who she’d thought she’d been seriously involved with, she never wanted to make another woman experience the same type of detrimental betrayal at her hand.

“Let’s go.” Her friend’s voice jogged her mind into the present. “I came to make sure he got the X-ray. We don’t need to wait.” She raised a finger and moved them left to right in Lamisi’s face. “Your phobia of hospitals is making your eyes look glazed.”

Lamisi blinked several times.

“I don’t have a phobia.” She rubbed damp palms against her jeans. “Just a debilitating fear.”

Those last words had come out as a mumble.

Precious considered her.

“And yet, instead of staying at the hotel, or even in the car, you decided to come in. Interesting,” she drawled out.

“You had to be there to see the acrobatic feat he performed.” Lamisi rolled her hands around themselves, failing to replicate with their motion what had happened. “Escorting him here was necessary.”

Precious nudged her shoulder with her own. “You’ve had a crush for years. He’s gorgeous, successful, and from what I observed, seems to like you, too. A guy doesn’t stare at someone like he did you unless he appreciates what he sees.”

Wait until she told Precious about the kiss, the impromptu song, and Deola.

Her shoulders slumped at the last. “Let’s stay a little longer. I want to find out how his ankle is. I hope it isn’t broken.”

What could she do for him if it was? Nothing. Why was she fighting nausea and a possible fainting spell by hanging around?

“I doubt it, but it’s better to be sure. You look more green than brown right now. Let’s go see how he is so I can get you out of here.”

Every muscle in her body had become sore as if she’d been, well, climbing a mountain. She wasn’t sure if her jittery legs would be able to support her if she stood. She shivered as sweat meandered down the side of her face from the terror threatening to drown her.

“I hate hospitals.”

Precious looped a comforting arm around her shoulders. “I know. That’s why you being here for him is so shocking. You like him, don’t you?”

“I respect his music. It’s incredible. Most people don’t recognize that he’s taken a social stance while dancing to his songs. Not until he gives his interpretation during an interview. Plus, he protected me when he didn’t have to.”

Precious raised a brow. “Weren’t you the one trying to stop him from falling when he tripped?”

She wasn’t having that conversation again. Nor would she admit that she liked him. It didn’t matter, anyway. He was making his way up the music charts while she’d be completing her doctorate within the year. They lived completely different lives, and other than being multilingual, probably had nothing in common.

Then why was she still sitting in this dreaded hospital waiting for him?

“Help me up. That mountain did bad things to my legs, and I’m not sure I can walk anymore after sitting for so long.”

Precious laughed. “What makes you think I can get up myself?”

Lamisi’s breath snagged as her attention caught the hiplife star hobbling down the corridor. “Here comes Blaise with his friends.”

At the sight of him without plaster of Paris on his lower leg and supported by Musah alone, she forgot the soreness of her body, stood, and went to him.

“So, it isn’t broken?”

His charming crooked smile eradicated the misery she’d suffered through while waiting.

“No. Badly sprained, though.”

Relieved and unable to keep her hands to herself when she’d been so worried, she reached out and touched his arm. She wasn’t sure who passed the current, but she took a moment to enjoy it before letting her arm drop. “That’s great to hear. Much better than a break.”

His eyes captured hers and refused to release her. “You stayed?”

“Yes.” She ignored the heat creeping up her neck and hitched a thumb at Precious. “She wanted to make sure they treated you well.”

Precious cleared her throat.

So what if she’d just revealed her true feelings to her best friend with that tiny lie? She’d deal with the teasing later.

He shifted his eyes away, leaving her with a longing to bask in them.

“Thank you, Precious.”

“No problem. It was actually—”

“We need to go.” After years of friendship, she knew when Precious was about to rat her out. “It’s a long journey to Accra. And you should get off your feet. I hope you’ll be able to elevate your leg while you drive back.”

“He’ll be fine,” Musah said. “Let’s go.”

Blaise raised his leg. “Lamisi has a point. The doctor instructed me to keep it up and iced.”

Not wanting to leave him, she lunged at the opportunity. Nothing prevented her from getting to know him. As her favourite musician.

“Since it’s just Precious and myself in her car and yours is full. How about if we give you a ride?”

A choking sound came from Precious.

Blaise cut off anything Musah had opened his mouth to say. “I accept. It’ll give us a chance to finish our discussion.”