"Niko come on." She cried as she shook Raymond's motionless body. "Ma'am stop it." A strange voice yelled. "Over here." The person said. His words were followed by running feets. With her mouth slightly opened, she watched as the paramedics raised him from the floor then placed him on the stretcher. "Hurry, he has lost a lot of blood already." The first man yelled at his team. Just as he was about to make a u-turn, Julia grabbed his hand and with her gaze fixed on the blood filled floor, she asked, "Is he going to die?" "He won't. Be positive." He said, "Please excuse me, I have to leave now." "I'm coming with you." She snapped and even before he could take a step, she was already at the entrance of the mansion. There was chaos in the ambulance as the paramedics tried to control the bleeding. Worsening the situation, his breathing became slow and his pulse inconsistent. While all these were going on, Julia was still trying to reach out to his friends. When they wouldn't pick up
For the hundredth time, Julia left her seat then went to the glass to peep on the doctors who were in charge of Raymond. When Doctor Anderson passed earlier, she tried to speak to him but he didn't give her audience, this skyrocketed her worry. "They are still hovering around him, I can't even catch a glimpse of him." She mumbled, flopping on the seat beside Stella. "You don't have to worry yourself, Raymond is going to be fine." Stella coed as she took her hand in hers but she pulled away almost immediately. With bloodshot eyes, she rose, "It's almost four hours since he slumped and you are telling me he is going to be fine?" She yelled. "What do you want to hear then? Fine, Raymond is going to die, isn't that what you want to hear? He won't survive and all fingers will be pointed at you, you will end up in the prison as a murderer. Isn't that what you want to hear? I have more words to say to you if you don't mind." Stella yelled back, marching her angry gaze. The waiting room b
At the end of Julia's tale, there was a long silence in the office. While Julia was looking expectantly at him, hoping he would spill Raymond's current health condition, Doctor Anderson was fuming with rage. From her story, he believed Niko and Adam were fully aware of the symptoms but they were trying to patch it up until he got home. "Niko, Adam, where are they?" Doctor Anderson said, breaking the silence in his office. "I don't know. They have refused to pick my calls and even reply to my texts. The last time I dialed their phones, the call didn't go through since it was switched off." She mumbled, sipping from her cup of coffee. "Can you do something for me?" He asked, leaning towards her with his hands clasped together. "Sir." She replied with a raised brow. "Bring his friends to the hospital before six pm, that's nine hours from now. I want to talk to three of you at once." "But… I have no idea where they are right now. Their phones aren't even connecting." "Six pm." He
Niko raised his head only to bury it after a while as he resumed shaking his legs while fiddling with his fingers. The thought of what Anderson will do to him and Adam was making him fidget. "I said I'm going to explain things on your behalf." Julia snapped when she couldn't put up with him anymore. "Do you know Anderson?" He asked with his gaze fixed on hers. "I do, he is the medical doctor in charge of Raymond." She replied. "If that's only what you know about him, you don't know him at all. You think he is going to be moved by this tale, nah… you must be mistaken." He said, raising his hand above his head. Julia became mute at once. It was her turn to start fiddling with her fingers. When Adam rejoined them, he placed his phone against Niko's ear. "Are you going to come to the hospital now or do you want me to send some escorts?" Doctor Anderson asked in a sarcastic tone. Not expecting he was the one on the line, Niko veered backwards as he darted his eyes around. "I will be
Julia and Raymond's friend were already at the garage when she suddenly turned around then began to sprint towards the hospital. Ignoring their call, she increased her pace until she got to Raymond's ward only to be greeted with a scene. "I'm his sister in law and I have every right to see him." Stella yelled with her hands balled into a fist. "You can't see him." The head of the security replied, matching her angry gaze. "Do you know who I am, just a phone call will place all of you behind bars." She snapped, wielding her phone in her hand. "And another call will bring them out of the cell within a second." Julia retorted and at once all eyes were turned in her direction. "Hey, I didn't know you were here. You see, all these jerks don't want me to go in and see Raymond. Tell them to let me…" "He is resting and doesn't need disturbance." She interrupted. Chuckling, Stella placed her hands on her hips, "I can't believe you are still mad at me. I called Erica so she should come co
With her hands stretched above her head, Julia, who spent all her night surfing through the internet only to crash on the couch a few hours to dawn, yawned widely as she slowly opened her eyes. For the next few seconds, she allowed her gaze to adjust to the soft morning light filtering through the curtains. "What? 9 am, damn! I already missed my class." She groaned, throwing her head backwards in frustration, wishing she had obeyed Niko's instruction the previous night. With a shrug, she rose from the couch then began to grope towards the kitchen. After making a quick cup of coffee, she returned to the table then pulled the laptop to herself. "He still hasn't replied to my email." Shs muttered, scrolling through her unread emails. Thanks to her persistence, she got in touch with a botanist who had promised to do his research and get back to her. "Let me call Niko." Shs mumbled, reaching out for her phone. Picking it up, she saw a series of missed calls and unread messages from Ni
That evening, after recovering the money from the fake botanist, Niko found his way to the mansion where Adam and Julia were waiting for him. "Here, I made sure he paid every dime he collected," Niko said, stamping a brown envelope before Julia. "You shouldn't have gone that far. Moreover, money is not an issue." She shrugged, running her fingers on the envelope. "I don't blame you. You have everything at your beck and call, that's why it's not an issue for you." Turning in Adam's direction, he asked, "What's the next step?" He asked. "While we were at Anderson's office, he made a couple of phone calls so he was able to link us with a botanist in Japan. He is going to welcome us at the airport when we arrive. Also, I processed our tickets, and our flight is scheduled for 10 am tomorrow." He replied and after a while, tossed an envelope on the table. Half an hour later, Julia was left to herself. After spending another half an hour staring into space, she groped her way to her ro
The following day, just as he had said, Rashford and his team arrived at the hotel and together, they set out in search of the flower. While Rashford and his team went a separate way, Julia and Raymond's friends went another. On their return that evening from looking around all the gardens and making inquiries from the locals, they were exhausted. "We go again tomorrow." Rashford said. He too was disappointed they couldn't find the flower. Doctor Anderson had told him the urgency of the situation and since he owed him a favor, he wanted to help in every way he could. "Yeah," Niko replied and after seeing them off, he returned to the suite to join Julia and Adam. Immediately after he walked it, Adam tossed his phone on the table and with a large scowl said, "The media are at it again. These guys derive joy in spreading false news." He groaned whilst Julia wrapped her hands across her chest with a large scowl on her face — The caption of the news had gotten into her. "JULIA BROOKS,