35 CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE AN ABHORRED MONSTER

"I languished in pain on the hospital bed, I cried and cried till my voice box was so hurt that I could no longer speak properly" These were the words with which Tolu opened the show this night.

My parent made the hospital their home, Ayo and Richie were going to and fro from the hospital at the beginning of my hospitalization, but when I clocked three months on that bed of affliction Richie began to wane in his commitments.

Sometimes he would come and sometimes he would not come for days, and when I would asked him why he was away from me, he would used his work as excuse. But as busy as Ayo who was not my man was, he never missed a day!

Sometimes he stayed all night with me in the hospital, only to rush home in the early morning to change for his office. At the beginning of this ordeal he used to come to the hospital with his girlfriend

And this girlfriend happened to be the daughter of my MD, since I joined the company and he introduced her to me as his friend's girlfriend, the lady took me as a friend.

But when it got to a point that Ayo began to spend too much time with me because of the lack of seriousness from Richie, his continual comings to the hospital cause a rift between him and his girlfriend, because she complained that he did not spend much time with her again.

Although I was not aware of this rift in time, I would have forced him to stop coming since my parent were always around.

Meanwhile, the day came when all the bandages on my face were removed, because the wounds on my face and body were healed. Richie was not there when this happened, but I heard from my parent that Ayo instructed the doctor not to remove it in his absence.

And because he was consistently seen with me because by the doctor, they listened to him because they knew I needed a person like him around when u would see the new me.

When I was unwrapped, I knew I must be a fearful sight to behold, because my mom burst into uncontrollable tears! Even Ayo was shaken when he saw what I had become, but he quickly put himself together for my sake.

The doctor had warned them that they must completely keep mirror away from me until the Psychologist in the hospital instruct them to let me look at myself.

Three days after I was unwrapped, Richie came and he saw what I had turned into, and till he left he was trying to avoid looking at me, because I looked completely like a monster!

Before I was unwrapped he has been staying away from me, now that I looked like a monster he harboured me totally! But not Ayo, he would come straight from his office every evening and cheered me up.

I tried so many times, begging him to bring mirror so that I can look at my appearance, but he would not.

The first time that I looked at my face in the mirror it was Richie who let me see how I looked.

That particular day, my mom who stayed with me went home to bring warm clothes for me, because the weather was growing cold because of the harmattan.

And surprisingly, Ayo came so late that day. When Richie came and he saw that I was alone in the room, he managed to play a little bit with me; though all the while trying not to look directly at my face.

Suddenly he just asked me if I would like to look at myself in the mirror? I told him that I have tried to do so but the doctor and my parent said I should let my face be properly healed before I should do so.

Richie did not say anything about what I said, he just asked me again if I would like to see myself? To this I replied yes, and I braved myself up not to break down in his presence no matter what I see.

I knew he no longer have interest in me, he was just coming because of what people would say if he did not come. Even his parent did not for once showed up in the hospital to see me.

Without wasting time, when I said yes, he brought out a small mirror from his bag and placed it in front of my face. When I saw myself , though I had said in my heart that I won't break down in his presence, but the shock of what I saw was too much too much for me to bear, I completely looked like horrible monster!

I broke down sobbing and

cursing the men who poured acid on me. He consoled me to no avail, and he left me to continue to bemoan myself

It was not more that five minutes that he left and Ayo came in. When he saw how broken I was he knew without doubt that I had seen myself in a mirror.

And he did not waste words on it, he just asked me straight who gave me a mirror? When I told him that it was Richie, he scowled and jumped shouting in rage, "That bastard, I will kill him today!" Just like that he rushed out of the hospital.

Though I was afraid that these two friends were about to get at each other's throat because of me, but somehow I was comforted that at least someone will take it out on Richie on my behalf.