***
I didn't realize I had fallen asleep. Not until my groggy eyes pried open, squinting as they adjusted to the sunlight peeking in through the blinds. Where was everyone? Flora and Amarachi had no doubt returned to class. And Stella?
The needle in my vein stung a little, bringing my attention to it. My gaze climbed up the plastic IV tubing till they settled on an elevated iron stand towering above me. It held the bag of fluid, now half-full, giving me a clue of how long I'd been asleep.
A rustle of paper alerted me as I moved my non-dominant hand. I raised it to my face. It held a message:
We didn't want to disturb you when you dozed off. Your friends are in class. I'm having a short meeting with the principal. Will probably be back before you even notice am gone.
With Love From Your Fairy Godmother.
I smiled. Amarachi had obviously told her how she believed my life to resemble Cinderella's. Once again, sleep tugged at me. I embraced its invitation. Sleeping my way through the drip session would be more fun than just laying in bed, watching lazy drops of fluid slide down the tubing one by one. I let my drooping eyes close.
The door flew open, yanking sleep off me. Stella would never throw open the door like that. Not unless the building was ablaze.
"Back off!" Raheem? What was he doing here?
I shifted in bed until I had a full view of him as he trudged into the room, carrying an immobile female student in his arms. Her hair dripped with water as though she'd been in a long shower. Her legs and hands hung limply. Her head dipped backward, baring a thin, vulnerable neck. A group of students trailed behind, hurling questions at Raheem.
"What happened?"
"Will she be alright?"
Raheem cursed under his breath and kicked the door, slamming it in their faces. Wedging his foot against the door, he slid a hand half-way from underneath the unconscious girl and locked the door.
"Nurse!" he called out, his eyes darting around the room. "Where's the cursed nurse, damn it!"
Students crowded around the window, straining their necks to peek through the blinds.
"What happened?" a girl asked.
"Nothing," Raheem retorted. "Nothing that concerns you. Now get out of here. All of you! Move!"
Placing the girl on the bed next to mine, he raked slender fingers through his disheveled hair. His panting told me he'd broken into a race to beat time.
"Where is the damned nurse, I said!"
Realization hit me as I stared at the girl: the innocent petite girl I'd bumped into outside the principal's office.
"Doreen!" I gasped. "What happened to her?"
Raheem sized me up. His unimpressed gaze told me he would not speak to anyone but the nurse. But then he shrugged.
"Swallowed water," he said. "Maybe there's more, but we can't tell until she awakens. Now tell me where the damned nurse is!"
I bolted upright in bed and yanked out the IV drip. Luckily, I knew some ways to help Doreen. I sprang to my feet. The room ran fierce circles around me as though I'd been spinning my life away. Slamming my eyes shut, I fought to steady myself.
Relief washed over me as control seeped back into my arms. The strange whoosh weaving its way around my head subsided just enough to bring my attention to the tightness of arms around my profusely perspiring body. I stiffened.
My eyes narrowed open and I stared into the face of my hero. He stared back at me. Had he not rushed to my side in time to slip his hands to my waist, I would be sprawled up on the floor.
"What the hell, girl!" he said. Anger flashed in his eyes, but he didn't turn them away from me. Neither did he let go of me. The close proximity of our faces made me shudder.
"We already have one case here and you're so desperate to add to it?" he asked.
"Get your hands off me," I snapped.
I splayed a palm on his chest to shove him off, but he didn't budge. His firmness told me the message he tried to pass across: nobody pushed him around and he only acted on his own accord.
My head hadn't stopped spinning, but I could manage just fine on my own. His clasp on me loosened just enough for me to disentangle myself from him. I staggered backward and plopped down in bed, willing myself back to normal. When his gaze lingered, my ire spiraled out of control.
"What are you doing staring at me?" I yelled.
"Figuring how I can help you," he said. "Why else would I look at you?"
"Who said I needed your help? Don't help me! Help her!"
"Well, what am I to do?" he yelled. "The nurse isn't here!"
Again, he combed through his hair with his fingers. I figured it came naturally when he battled with nerviness.
"Call the principal," I said. "She's with him."
He pulled out his Smartphone. It had to be the iphone7 everyone held in a ridiculously high esteem. News had already spread high and low about him flaunting an iphone7. I could never understand why a person would give out bundles of naira in exchange for an ordinary phone. Were there not reasonably priced phones with good features in the market? Obviously, it all boiled down to ego.
"Not available." He groaned, slamming the phone into his open palm.
Walking to the students crowding the window, he ordered, "Go fetch the nurse from the principal's office. Run!"
Feet shuffled as the students backed away from the window.
"We shouldn't wait for them to arrive," I said. "I know a thing or two. Let's get her on the floor."
"Are you crazy?" Raheem asked. "The floor is full of germs!"
"If you had a brain, even a pretty dull one, and obviously you don't, you'd know that soft surfaces make the process ineffective."
Raheem seemed genuinely clueless. "What process?"
"Are you going to help save a life or not?" I asked.
Arms folded, he pressed his lips together and watched me. It dawned on me that he wouldn't help. I wrapped my arms around Doreen and pulled her toward me, but found myself falling toward her instead.
"Will you just stand there?" I yelled.
Hearing his footsteps approach, I stepped away. He brushed past me and gingerly swept her into his arms as though she weighed no more than a leaf. He set her down on the floor, between the rows of bed.
Taking my mind back to movie scenes where drowning people-or people who swallowed water-had been rescued, I knew what to do. A mouth to mouth resuscitation had to be it. I sank to my knees and undid the buttons on Doreen's waistcoat. Pulling at her tie, I let it sag.
Turning her head to the side, I stared into her face. And there I found beauty. Not the regular beauty, but one reminding me of sleeping beauty. After allowing water drain from her mouth and nose, I slowly returned her head to the center.
Raheem's quietness almost made me forget his presence. I splayed my palms on Doreen's chest and pressed down rhythmically. Her nose and mouth spurted water. She remained motionless.
"Please wake up," I said.
I continued pressing down on her chest. Pinching her nose, I lowered my face to hers, pumping strong breaths into her mouth. Western High would not lose another student. I breathed into her again. Once. Twice. Thrice.
Someone turned the doorknob from the other side. A knock followed.
"Open up," Stella said.
"That's the nurse?" Raheem asked. I nodded, but he'd already opened the door. Stella rushed to my side. Sir Amadi stepped in after her.
"Let me take it from here," she said.
Just as I withdrew my hands, Doreen jerked, letting out a strangled gasp. Her eyes flew open. A nervous laugh escaped my lips. Coming out in ragged bursts, it sounded weird in my own ears.
"You made it!" Grinning, I looked over to Raheem, Stella and Sir Amadi. Their joy mirrored mine.
Doreen raised herself to sit, her move robotic. Her lifeless gaze peeled its way into the wall across from her. My brows furrowed at her reaction. I had expected a smile, or just about anything to express her delight in escaping death. But she burst into tears, banishing th
e smile from my face.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
Stella gently shook her. "Tell us what's wrong. Are you hurt?"
She searched Doreen's body, but found no visible sign of pain. Doreen's gaze stayed fixated on the walls. Although I knew I'd find nothing but white paint, I followed her gaze.
I looked back at Doreen. Her cry rose like wildfire, piercing my eardrums. With every breath she took, her chest rose and fell like she would fall into a seizure. She clapped her palms over her mouth to stifle her cry.
"Doreen?" I called.
With wide eyes casting a distant look at the walls, and her face drained out of color, she looked like she'd seen a ghost.
"She's real!" she cried, turning to face me.
Her hands reached out and grabbed my wrists, the suddenness causing my heart to lurch. The look in her eyes sent a chill enveloping me. I would wrap my arms around myself if she didn't have them in a death grip as though without gripping me painfully tight she could not find the words to say.
"She's real! She tried to kill me ..."
Frantically, her fingers flew from my hands to her neck. They stretched around it, giving me the idea that whoever tried to kill her had wrung her neck. My eyes held Stella's for a second. She nodded, getting the message.
Moments passed and I waited for someone else to try squeezing the answer out of Doreen. But everyone held back. I could tell they wanted me to carry on.
I cleared my throat and opened my mouth to speak, but Doreen cut me off. "I swear I'm not making this up. She was there. There was a presence."
"Please calm down," I said, my voice laced with an unscheduled fear. My gaze flitted to Sir Amadi, and then to Raheem and Stella, wordlessly begging them to help calm her down.
Raheem crouched beside her. "What did you see?"
Crying harder, Doreen threw herself at him in a desperate embrace. Raheem blinked, knocked off balance by the impact. Uncertainty clouded his features. Sir Amadi held out a hand, wordlessly ordering him not to shove her off.
"What's your name?" Raheem asked, his voice dropping to a whisper. His hand patted her back like a father would a child.
Doreen sniffed. "Doreen."
"Doreen," he echoed. "Please, have no fear. Whatever tried to hurt you is gone now. I'm here. We are all here. And you are safe. But we need you to tell us what you saw."
"She's no human," Doreen said. She looked up at Raheem's face. "She doesn't have a face. It's all hair. Long, black hair where her face should be. And she...and she attacked me because I saw her."
A chill slid down my spine. We had a potential murderer amongst us.
"Damn it, girl!" Raheem snapped. Seething, he detached himself from her and stood up. "Are you telling us or not? Tell us who attacked you or we are filing this as a suicide attempt!"
Doreen gulped down her fear. "Bloody Miri."
CHAPTER EIGHT
Sleuthing
"The sooner we find out whoever tried to kill her, the better."