(Season 2): DEEP. Episode 4

To read the previous episode, click here

******

The young woman rushed towards Tiwa as she fell. She squatted and shook her body but no response.

“We have to leave!!” her husband told her.

“We can’t leave her alone!” She said and looked at her him. “You heard what she said before she collapsed. We need to take her to the hospital.”

“She could be a thief that is running for her life.”

“I don’t think so! Join me so that we can carry into the car!”

“What if she’s actually a criminal?” he asked her in an annoyed tone. “She could already be dead and that could put us in trouble!”

She stood up and hiked towards him. She pressed her palms together in form of a prayer. “I am begging you in the name of Almighty God. This woman needs medical attention and we are the only ones that can help her right now!”  She peeped behind him and pointed. “Cars are approaching. Do you want to create a scene?”

He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Okay.”

“Thank you!”

Both of them succeeded in lifting Tiwa in their arms and dropped her at the backseat. A small black car was getting closer to them before they drove away. The person driving the black vehicle was Damon. He carefully followed them to avoid suspicion. They had diverted into three different roads before the young woman peeped at the side mirror and gazed at her husband.

“Tony, I think that car is following us.” She said.

He jerked and managed to control his hands on the wheel. He quickly glimpsed at the mirror. “You think so?”

“I have been watching. Why don’t you divert to another road. Maybe I am wrong.”

He nodded in agreement and quickly diverted to the next turning on his right side. Donald slowed down before he drove in the same lane with them. He thought doing that won’t attract them to him. He was mistaken.

“That car is definitely following us!” She exclaimed.

Tony started to drive slowly. “Calm down Ufoma! Do you want me to have an accident?” 

Damon noticed, stopped and parked his vehicle. He wanted them to move far before we would turn on his ignition and monitor where they were heading to with Tiwa. 

“I’m sorry my love. What are we going to do now?” She glanced at Tiwa. “She has refused to wake. We have to go to the hospital right now!”

“Don’t you think we should hold on and see if that car would overtake us? He might be going to our direction.”

“No! She could be a victim of domestic violence and the person in that car might be her husband. Maybe he is looking for her. We can’t take that risk. I want you to speed and take us to any health center we see!”

“No problem.” He increased the accelerator and zoomed off. Before Damon could turn back his ignition, he no longer had eyes on them anymore.

******

Asante called Joyce’s name but when he did not get a response after the third call, Asante and Monday exchanged surprised glances and ran to the room. They met it empty and began to search everywhere, screaming Tiwa and Joyce’s names. 

“Don’t tell me she has escaped.” Monday asked.

“No way!! That can never happen! By the time I lay my hands on her, I will kill her!” 

They found their way into the room that could led them outside, they saw Joyce in the pool of her own blood. She was gasping for breath with blood gushing out from her mouth.

“What happened?” He asked her without feeling concerned about her critical condition. 

She couldn’t open her mouth. The strength for that had vanished. They heard the siren of police cars, they had surrounded the whole building, and both of them had nowhere to escape. 

Asante knelt down and held Joyce by the arms, “Where is Tiwa?!”

“Can’t you see she is dying?” Monday said, pacing round. His body was trembling and he placed his hands on his head. “We are finished!”

“Get yourself a weapon to defend yourself!” He yelled at him, rose on his feet and took the knife on the ground. “Stop behaving like a cockroach!” 

He dropped his hands and motioned closer to Asante. “What is the matter with you? We can’t do anything!”

“Shut up and let me think of a way out!” He screamed.

Some of the police officers and Adebiyi were prepared to enter into the isolated hospital to search for Tiwa, and the heart-taker.

“We have been caught and there’s nothing we can do about it!” Monday told him. “There’s no weapon that can save us! We do not even have a gun! I told you we should get one but your refused and insisted your medical appliances were more than enough! See what you have caused!”

His eyes transformed into a murder stare. He was extremely furious with Monday. “Shut up and allow me to think of a way out!”

“I told you we should kill Tiwa but you rejected my idea. You only want things to be done in your own way!”

Within a blink of an eye, Asante plunged the knife into the middle of his childhood friend’s abdomen. He removed it and began to thrust the dagger into every part of his body. Monday stunned eyes looked at Asante before he fell down and battled to survive the horror he went through. Blood was pouring out from his wounded body. The police were already inside, searching. Adebiyi and Lance, the officer that informed his colleagues for them to check the abandoned hospital found their way into the room where they kept Tiwa.

Adebiyi picked up the ropes and held on to them. He was totally angry and ready to spill blood just to get her back. “She was here. Do you think he…?”

He stopped talking when he heard the scream from one of the policemen. Two of them raced to where they thought they heard the noise. Asante was fighting another officer with a knife. He had stabbed the one that yowled in pain, in one of his eyes. 

Adebiyi eyes sparkled. He went straight towards Asante, neglecting the knife and he fired a blow on his head. Asante touched his head as he felt pain. Adebiyi jumped on him and two of them fell on the floor. Adebiyi right fist pounced on Asante’s bruised face continuously.

“Where is Tiwa?” Adebiyi asked in a furious tone. 

“Go to hell!” Blood had stained most of his frontal teeth.

“Where is Tiwa?”

This time, he didn’t reply but laughed scornfully. 

It infuriated Adebiyi and he continued to hit him repeatedly. Two officers ran to him, pushed him away from Asante. They had to stop him, if they had not, he would have committed murder without realizing until he had finished taking away his life. 

“I don’t think she is here.” Lance said, panting. He heaved a sigh and handcuffed Asante. “You are under arrest for the murder of four models, your partners and kidnapping of an agent of the law.”

“I didn’t kill any model and Tiwa was the one that stabbed Joyce!” He kept on ranting he was innocent and he did not have a hand in the death of the models. Lance took him outside and told him they had enough evidence and they had been inside his house. His lips suddenly closed. The paramedics were on their way for Joyce and Monday. Adebiyi went outside and told Popoola Tiwa was nowhere to be found. 

******

Tony and Ufoma were fortunate to see a health facility and they were mindful of the cars at the back of them. They noticed the black car was not one of them, Tony drove into the parking lot, his wife came out and ran to get help.

She came with two other nurses who carried Tiwa. The couples went to the reception and a male nurse asked for the patient’s name and other vital information. They explained how they found her. The doctor and nurse attending to Tiwa were informed. 

“But we need to alert her family.” the medical doctor said.

The nurse with him peeped at Tiwa once again. She thought she had seen the face before but could not recollect.

“Should we inform the police?” the male nurse asked.

The other nurse eyes sparkled. “Now I remember!”

“What did you remember?”

She pointed at Tiwa. “She’s Tiwa Banks. I have read about her several times in the newspapers and she works for a private investigation agency. She’s quite popular.”

“Are you sure about that?” The doctor asked in a serious tone.

“Positive.”

He stared at the male nurse. “We will attend to her immediately but I want you inform the police about this. They can help us locate her family. Also inform the people that brought her here to wait behind.”

“Okay doc.” He said and left them.

******

“We need to inform radio stations to give Tiwa’s description in case anyone finds her.” Popoola told Adebiyi. Donald waited inside the car.

“Do you think she escaped?” He asked in a worried tone. “Asante has refused to say where she is.”

“What if he doesn’t know? She could have escaped.”

“She will be disappointed in me.”

He held him by his shoulders. “What we should be doing now is to look for her but we need to make a missing report.”

“Yes, we have to inform the policemen. They need to find her. In fact, we need to do everything possible to find her before Donald does. I don’t know if she will be the same Tiwa I knew. What Asante must have done to her, could change her. She might never be the same again.”

He put down his hands. “I hope nothing like that will happen.” 

After officer Lance received a call, he went towards Adebiyi and Popoola. “I got a call from my boss.” he said and smiled. “Tiwa Banks is alive and she is at the hospital receiving treatment.”

Adebiyi’s attractive face beamed in delight! He hardly knew when he grabbed Lance and Popoola together and hugged them. His heart danced in joy. Donald came out when he saw how his employer behaved. He was told the good news.

“I have to see her!” He said in an elated tone. “I need to see my baby!”

The address of the hospital was sent to Lance’s mobile and they drove and reached there by 11: 55pm. They met the doctor and he introduced them to the couple. Adebiyi was almost on his knees, thanking them for their kindness. Before they left, he gave Tony his phone number and promised he would invite them to his home.

Adebiyi, Lance, Popoola and Donald followed the doctor to see Tiwa. She was receiving treatment but not awake. The doctor assured them, she would wake up in few hours’ time. 

******

The following morning, at 7:12am, the sky was becoming brighter when Tiwa opened her eyes and the first person she saw was Adebiyi. 

He speedily uplifted and motioned to touch her hands. He was smiling and tears walled his eyes. He was emotionally drained and overjoyed to see her finally conscious.

Tiwa gasped as tears flushed down her face. “I never thought I would see you again.”

“Me too,” he said. “I am so happy to see you are alive. This is the happiest day of my life Tiwa. You are so beautiful.”

She laughed mildly. “No am not. I look horrible and you have to admit that.”

He laughed hard and sniffed his nose. He rubbed her face softly. “I will not use the word horrible but you still look good.”

Tiwa spread her arms wide and he hugged her on the bed. “I love you,” she whispered. “I love you so much.”

He kissed her lips. “I love you too. I love you very much and I am so sorry for not saving you. You were already gone before we found the building.”

She managed to smile wide underneath the throbbing sensation she still felt inside her body. The painkillers the doctor injected on her was working slowly. It was surely going to take time before the pain would disappear. 

“I wanted to help her.” She said in a shaky voice. “I thought I could save her from destroying her life. I didn’t mean to stab her. I had to do it. If not, he would have caught me.”

Adebiyi stared at her. “What are you talking about?”

“Joyce.”

“Don’t put the blame on yourself.” he said to her tenderly and pecked her forehead. “You had to do it to survive. Joyce didn’t die.”

Tiwa opened her eyes wide. “She did not?”

“No.”

“How is that possible?”

“Well, she lost a lot of blood and collapsed. She was taken to the hospital but Monday didn’t make it. He died on his way to the hospital.”

“I didn’t do anything to him.”

He told her what Asante did. She looked at him shocked and speechless.

Adebiyi added. “Asante is in police custody. I will surely see him when I am ready.”

“I want to see him too. He tortured me.” Tiwa started to cry. It was unbearable to hold back the tears as she recalled the way he treated her like an animal. 

“Please don’t cry my love. I don’t like the idea. You don’t have to see him again.”

“I want to and I believe it’s the right thing to do. I cannot lie, I am still scared, thinking he might find me again and take me. If he is taken to court and the judge sentence him to life imprisonment, he might escape and come back to take my heart.”

Adebiyi sensed the fear in her. “Never.” he said. “It can never happen. I will make sure that they hang or electrocute him. He will never be able to come back and take you away from me again. I will always be with you.”

“Promise me.” She said with tears fingering through her wet eyes.

He moved his face closer to hers. “I promise you my protection, my love and my soul. You are the one for me. Tiwatope Bankole, you are not only my everything. You’re my destiny too and we are going to be together forever.”

She felt relieved and elated. She kissed his lips.

“By the way, how did you find me? Who brought me here? The last thing I remember is running towards a road.”

“A couple brought you here. One of the nurses recognized you. She told the doctor who you were and he reported your case to the police. Luckily, he contacted the station investigating the heart-taker’s case. I was told you were brought to this place.”

She smiled brightly. She was happy to be the woman he loved. “How long have you been here?”

“Since last night.” he replied. “An officer with Popoola, and Donald came with me but you were still unconscious. I told them to go home and I am certain they are on their way here.”

“I think you should go home, take your bath and rest.”

“I can’t. I cannot make the same mistake. I will not leave your sight until you are strong enough to stand on your feet.”

“But I won’t be able to stand the odor coming out from your body if you don’t clean yourself for days or even weeks.” she teased him. “I don’t know how long I will be here.”

“The doctor has not said anything about that.” He smiled again. “You don’t know how happy I am right now.”

A female nurse knocked once and entered. She was holding a silver tray filled with injection and drugs. She turned to face Adebiyi. “Sir, you have to leave.”

“Why?” 

Tiwa looked at her confused. “But why? I want him to stay.”

He glimpsed at her. “I thought you said I should go home.”

She chuckled. “I was only joking.” Both of them laughed.

The straight-faced nurse spoke to Adebiyi. “The doctor said she needs enough rest and I am about to give her some drugs. She will need some food and fruits after she wakes up later.”

“I will definitely bring some food and fruits.” He turned to Tiwa and pecked her on the lips. “I have leave but I will wait at the reception for Popoola.” He kissed her on her chin and walked out. He dialed the phone number of Mr. Bankole.

Mr. Bankole wiped off the tears in his eyes when he peeped at his phone. He excused himself from the doctor he was discussing with and dashed outside. He answered the call and said, “Please, tell me you have seen my daughter.”

“Yes sir, I have.” Adebiyi said happily. “But she’s at the hospital.”

“Is it severe?”

“Oh no! She will get better soon.”

“I have to inform her mother what happened and we will be coming over.”

“You don’t have to. By the time Tiwa is discharged, two of us would come.”

“There’s no time for that Mr. Gold.” he said and shut his weary eyes. “My wife has few weeks to live.”

*****

To be continued….on Sunday.