11 Engulfed In Fear

Nurse Rola stared openly at Tinka with her

mouth agape. She couldn't begin to fathom the

weight of what had almost happened in her

absence. She had noted something spooky in the

way Tinka made an appearance, especially with

the scenario she created the previous day but she

had thrashed her thoughts with the fact that

lovers fight and reconcile.

Tinka also stared wide-eyed at the nurse. Why

was she staring at her like she was an abomination? If she didn't take enough time to

see to her dressing, she would have assumed that

she was robed in rags with the way the nurse's

eyes bulged out to glare at her.

"I said, what are you doing madam?"

"Excuse me? I am visiting a patient. Is there

anything remotely wrong with that? You let me in, remember?" Tinka was beside herself with

rage as she glared at the rude nurse.

The nurse came into the room fully and closed

the door. "What are you doing with a pillow?

You want to commit murder? I need to call

security" she took out her phone.

For the first time, Tinka saw the pillow she

had clutched in her hands and dropped it like it was on fire. She blanched. "Security? Wait, no. I don't even know how the pillow got to my hand."

"Explain that to the police when they arrive" the

nurse hissed. She already had her phone against

her ear.

"What? No…" Tinka tried to pass but the nurse

blocked the exit. She had no choice but to push

the nurse out of the way, causing nurse Rola's

phone to slip out of her grasp, shattering on the

floor.

Tinka fled, with her heels making crazy noise on the tiled floor. The nurse took her time, gathering her precious Samsung S4 phone, giving Tinka enough time to make an escape.

The nurse didn't even seem keen on pursuing her. When she got to the end of the hall, she paused for some seconds to regain her composure, then she walked fast but calmly in order not to rouse any suspicion. She hoped to God that the nurse would not emerge from behind. She hurried to the reception to sign out in the hospital's register with a strained smile. She almost raced out of the building, looking behind her constantly to be sure she was not being followed. She stopped the first bike she sighted and jumped on it.

Nurse Rola went to the doctor's office feeling very agitated, frightened and angry. The demented lady had succeeded in shattering the screen of her phone. She could only imagine what she would do if she sighted her now. She would make sure Tinka pays for what she did.

When she was given permission, she entered

Doctor Timothy's office with rage written all over

her. At the same time, she didn't know what

would happen when the doctor found out that

she had let a murderer get away unscathed.

"What may I do for you nurse Rola?"

She had been standing there for some minutes without speaking and Doctor Timothy became forced to interrupt her thoughts.

"Sir, something just happened some minutes

ago." Doctor Timothy gave her his attention.

"Someone came to visit the patient in ward 7;

the one brought in by Mr. Raymond. Her name is

Miss Tinka. She said she had brought some

provisions for the patient and I let her in."

The doctor was sort of surprised because he

remembered the reception Tinka had given him

days ago when he went there in the middle of the night. Knowing that more info was still coming, he waited.

"After dropping the provisions, she said she needed some privacy with the patient, so I excused her. When I got back, I saw her with a pillow clutched in her hands in a fierce manner,

suggesting that she wanted to suffocate the

patient."

"What?" He exclaimed, jumping out of his seat

immediately.

"But sir…" She was not allowed to finish her

statement when the doctor shoved her out of the way, causing her phone to slip from her hand again but luckily, it fell on the leather chair. She took it and ran in pursuit of the doctor.

Doctor Timothy got to ward 7 and checked

everything he needed to check to be sure that

Tinka hadn't done anything stupid. Relieved,

he faced the nurse who was already behind him.

"Where is she?" He growled.

"Sir, I am sorry, as I was calling the security, she

pushed me away and ran. I have evidence sir, when she pushed me, my phone fell and the screen cracked. See sir" she raised the phone for doctor Timothy to see.

"I see" he said glaring. Instead of saying anything, he left the room. The nurse pursued him.

"I am sorry sir."

"I am not angry at you Rola, you will get your

phone replaced, don't worry." She sighed. Doctor

Timothy opened the door of his office and called

the security with his intercom.

Fred sat in his house in Mbale, still feeling that unhindered fear. When his father had died and left him with this house, being the only property he owned, he had doubted if he would ever step into the house, not to mention, reside there. He had arrived in Mbale, instead of Ajumani, where he had told his neighbour Chris he was heading to. He knew that it was easy to be tracked down if he had

told Chris the truth. And the thought that the police would be searching the wrong place should have at least put his mind at rest, but it didn't. He felt even more agitated, shaking and jerking at every sound. If he was ever told that he would murder a human

being in his life, he would not have believed it, but here he was, running away like a common criminal.

He stood up and paced the sitting room in slow

strides. As much as he tried to block out the day

everything crumbled, he was not able to shut it

out. He held his head as everything came playing back, making him feel crazy. He had murdered the love of his life with his own hands; how unthinkable. He heard something and froze. It sounded like a knock, or was he imagining things? He stood on that spot until he heard the knock again, louder this time. His heart raced.

Nobody knew he was in Mbale. He had told no

one. Who could be at the door?