34 IT HURTS THEM MORE (SEBASTIAN'S POV)

"Easy..." said the doctor while he held me and I took each step with caution. "One step at a time."

It was like I was learning to walk all over again but I didn't complain because I knew the surgery was successful and very soon, I would be on my feet once more.

Spending almost a year on a wheelchair thought me a lot of things. And the last eight months hadn't been easy for Rachael and I.

Little had we expected that our lives would change so much after Segun had shot Jay. Rachael had hit rock bottom.

"Do you know where my sister is?" I asked my therapist once we were done for the day and I'd returned to my wheelchair.

"I think she went to the chapel." the red haired man responded I nodded before wheeling away towards the hospital chapel.

I wheeled into the dark chapel filled with lighted candles and some pews. I could see Rachael facing the alter as I went down the aisle to meet her.

"How was your therapy session?" she asked me once I was next to her.

"They said I'm getting better. I should be walking normally in a couple of weeks." I replied.

"That's good." she gave me a small smile. "Let's go and eat, I'm hungry."

"This place is nice and all, but it's so cold." Rachael said as we entered the diner.

"Well, you better get used to it since you'll be attending Harvard." I smiled. We got a table and picked up the menu.

"Yeah, and while I'm at it, I might also meet Queen Elizabeth." Rachael joked. She liked everything about London but she would never admit it because according to her, she would miss Nigeria.

"Who knows. Anything is possible." I shrugged.

"Good day, Mr. Marshall, Miss. Marshall, are you ready to place your orders?" the blonde waitress addressed us with her lovely British accent. Rachael and I were already used to the Marshall name since our grandfather was that influential at home and overseas. And plus, the car with the Marshall industries logo on it could have easily given us away.

"I'll have a burger and fries." I said to the waitress.

"I'll have the same, with a milkshake." said Rachael. The waitress immediately left to get our food after we'd placed our orders.

"Have you called Mrs. J to know how she's doing?" I asked.

"Uhm... Yeah, she recently went back to Nigeria because she was already tired of staying in India." Rachael said without taking her eyes off the menu making me wonder what exactly was so interesting about it.

"That's good. She has been there since after her surgery, she must miss home."

"Yeah." Rachael mumbled. The past eight months had changed everyone. Rachael would soon turn seventeen and she was looking much more beautiful since she started wearing makeup. She definitely didn't look like someone who had just written JAMB. In as much as she knew she might not need WAEC and JAMB results, she insisted on writing them and undoubtedly passed.

"What was your JAMB score again?" I asked her.

"263." she looked up at me. "Why are you asking?"

"Nothing." I smiled. The waitress finally brought our food and we didn't hesitate in digging in.

"Tunde called me yesterday." she said. "He's finally done with rehab but he plans on schooling in DC."

"Well, that's good." I mumbled. "Have you ever wondered what it would be like working in the White House?"

Rachael furrowed her eyebrows, "Where's that coming from?"

I shrugged, "Just thought of it."

"Nothing good ever comes out of your thinking." she said before taking another bite from her burger.

"Hey! I was the one who came up with the idea of grandpa paying for Mrs. Jacobs' surgery."

"Yeah, at the cost of our freedom!" she added. "You got everything you wanted, didn't you?" I couldn't tell if the tone in her voice was an angry one.

"You talk like going to Harvard isn't a life time opportunity that was offered to you on a silver platter." I snapped. "Right now, your mates are struggling to get admitted into any university at all but you're grandfather is rich enough to send you to Harvard and you're just being a brat about it."

"You know very well that the only reason I accepted that deal was because Mrs. Jacobs was dying and I owed it Jay after keeping it from him!" she dropped her burger and gave me a stern look.

Eight months ago, the day Jay was shot at the party, Mrs. Jacobs lost it. She collapsed and she was going to die if they didn't operate on her immediately. Somehow, Sir. Marshall Graham came in person to the hospital that day. Rachael and I were stunned.

Rachael called him the devil's incarnate while I called him our saviour.

"You have enough money to save her life." I'd told the aged man. "Save her and we will come and stay with you and Rachael will go to Harvard."

It might not had made sense but through his letters and the one time we spoke, I got to know that our grandfather was desperate to have us. We'd successfully ignored him for several months - thanks to my sister - and I knew he would do anything just to take care of us.

And that was how the old man paid for Mrs. Jacobs' treatment in India, paid for my surgery and therapy while giving us a royalty lifestyle. So if you ask me, I think I was a genius and lifesaver.

"It was never your decision to make." Rachael repeated the same thing she'd been telling me ever since I blurted out the idea.

"Most people would kill to be in your shoes right now." I told her.

"I just want a simple life, Sebastian." she said calmly. "And besides, every breath I take feels like its all because of him." she was referring to grandpa.

"I'd be lying if I said I can understand you." I ate the last part of my burger and began eyeing Rachael's burger that was barely touched.

"And everything about that villa irks me." she was referring to the Marshall family villa in Abuja where we resided with the rest of the extended family. "Have you ever wondered why all our uncles, their wives and children are still staying under the same roof when they can buy Abuja itself?"

She was right. But in the villa stood different mansions, one for each family.

"That villa is a murder scene waiting to happen." she added before she resumed eating her burger.

I ordered some fries with ketchup and ate slowly before my iPhone 12 vibrated in my pocket.

It was an incoming call from Iris.

"How is my favorite cousin doing?" her voice filled my ears. "Hope London is treating you well?"

"It would have been better if you were here." I said. Out of all my cousins staying in the villa, Iris was my favourite. We were already very close.

"I would have loved to come along but I had to stay back because of the book I'm publishing." Iris was a writer and a very good one at that. She was about to release her second book. The girl was just full of accomplishments.

"And how is that going?" I asked her.

"It's been going smoothly." she replied. "I can't wait for you to get back. We have a lot to talk about."

"I hear you." I grinned even though she couldn't see me. "I'll Skype you tonight, okay?"

"Okay, till then. Bye." she hung up immediately and I smiled to myself.

"Stop smiling like that before people actually think you were talking to your girlfriend." Rachael said while putting the last of my French fries in her mouth.

I glared at her not only for finishing my fries but also because of her silly remark. But I was without doubt that if Iris wasn't my cousin, I might've had a huge crush on her.

We strolled around around the park aimlessly and talked about anything.

"I just realized that I never really apologised for keeping your multimillionaire grandfather away from you." I laughed at the way she laid emphasis on 'multimillionaire'.

"You don't -"

"I know I can be selfish at times..." Rachael interrupted, "But I was only doing what I thought was right. I'm sorry."

"Who are you and what have you done with my sister?" I asked sarcastically and we both laughed. The Rachael I knew would never really say "sorry" but I found myself smiling at the thought that she was becoming a better person.

"You know, there's something I've learned," I looked up at her figure hovering over me, "Those who love you don't mean to hurt you and if they do, it hurts them more."

"You're right."

"Come on, let's go home and finish packing." I suggested while wheeling towards the car waiting for us.

"Finally," I heard Rachael mumble behind me.