Episode 42
<>Val’s side of the story continues from the previous
episode
After cleaning up in the toilet, Clara returned to the room and sat on the bed, breathing deeply.
‘’so how do you advice we handle this Charles’s case?, seriously I don’t know how to act it out. I equally fear for my cousin’’ she muttered with a frown.
‘’just like I earlier suggested, you guys should try meet my director. I believe he will get a way to help you guys without putting Vivian’s life at risk. For now I can’t really show up my face because I’m still on suspension. But please be careful with Charles. That guy is a snake’’ I replied seriously while she smiled and shrugged.
‘’’Charles will never harm me. That I know for sure. Let me call Vivian, the poor girl just left her room for us, not minding how tired she was after the long trip from Lagos’’ she breathed and picked up her phone. After few minutes she dropped it on the bed while I stared at her curiously. ‘’what’s wrong?’’ I asked
‘’she isn’t picking up. I hope she’s alright’’ she replied with a worried tone. I instantly sat up.
‘’let me go search for her’’ I offered, standing up.
‘’let’s go together’’ she added, grabbing my hand tightly. Together we headed to the door but as we stepped out of the room, we saw two of the hotel staff approaching us. One of them was carrying a lady on his shoulder and as they drew close we recognized Vivian. I couldn’t help but gasp. ‘’what’s wrong with her?’’ I asked curiously.
‘’we found her lying inside the toilet downstairs near the bar.
According to the barman who served her, he said she was
served just few drinks before she headed to the toilet. He insisted she didn’t drink much. I guess she needs a little rest sir’’ the guy carrying Vivian managed to explain, leaving us with no choice than to allow him inside the room where he softly lowered Vivian on the bed before leaving.
Clara drew close, sat on the bed and checked her out, slowly frowning.
‘’something isn’t right. Vivian can’t drink herself to this state. Check her pulse. Her pupils are dilated and her body temperature very high, her breathing is equally abnormal. I’m scared, I think I should call our family doctor right away. She isn’t alright’’ she said to me while I shrugged. ‘’I hope you are not over reacting?’’ I asked cautiously as I drew closer to check out the sleeping girl myself. Just like Clara said, she appeared more like someone slipping into come than someone dead drunk but then I also knew excess alcohol intake could equally react badly to a person’s body in different ways and so couldn’t really make any good judgment.
But suddenly Vivian sprang up with great energy, like someone who just transformed into a vampire, gave out a loud breathe, fell back heavily on the bed and started shaking rapidly and uncontrollably, leaving us totally stunned and confused.
‘’my God she’s having a seizure, I have to call our family doctor right away. Something is very much wrong with her’’ Clara screamed with fear but before she could finish the sentence, Vivian instantly stopped shaking, breathing faintly. We just couldn’t believe it.
Thirty minutes later we were in a private hospital at the other end of the town. Clara had to desperately call her family doctor who demanded that Vivian should be brought over to his hospital and with the help of her security team who had been waiting outside the hotel all evening, we made it to the hospital in no time where the doctor instantly started work on her.
It was a long wait as we waited at the reception, wondering what could have happened to Vivian. She looked very healthy and aright before leaving us in the room earlier in the evening. I couldn’t help but suspect foul play just like Clara had suspected all along.
The doctor soon showed up, looking very serious.
‘’let’s go to my office’’ he added, leading the way. On getting to his office, he breathed deeply and studied us for some seconds.
‘’Vivian was lucky to have been brought here on time. She had excess amount of cocaine ingested in her system which caused the high body temperature and seizure that followed. The alcohol in her system equally didn’t help matters. I have dealt with this kind of situation in the past and I hope you know that I have an obligation to report my findings?’’ he muttered seriously while Clara and I exchanged glances.
Vivian was never known to be a drug addict and we couldn’t understand how cocaine got to her system, moreover she was inside a secured hotel all evening unless of course the drug was in her system before she got to town which was highly impossible. I couldn’t help but feel that somehow
someone got to her when she was out in the hotel bar and injected her with the stuff. That was the only logical explanation I could come up with and there wasn’t any doubt things were going to get bad for her. Her reputation and plans were now very much at stake, because in a country like Nigeria no one takes a junkie seriously. The only remedy was to find the perpetrator of the dastardly act which equally was going to be a herculean task.
I suspected it was Charles’s doing but there wasn’t any evidence to back it up, moreover I equally was yet to figure out why he left her alive after getting the record he needed from her in Lagos.
‘’what do you think my dear?’’ I heard Clara ask softly. There wasn’t any doubt she was so scared and worried. To be continued
Clara the state governor’s daughter