"My name is Hammad Idi Labo," she heard him say, and she had to pull her phone away from her ear to make sure she heard him right.

"I'm sorry, but can you say that again? I can't believe what I've just heard." She said instead, sitting up from the chair she was seated in, while conversing lovingly with Iya Agba. She knew if it indeed turned out to be Hammad, she knew whatever it was that compelled him to look for her number and call her wasn't good and it was serious enough.

There would be exchange of words, heated ones. Or maybe, he had heard about what she did to him yesterday in this same hospital and he wanted to thank her and apologize for all that he had ever done to her. Just that when he opened his mouth, she had never thought that would be what he would say.

"You heard me right. Or maybe, you weren't expecting me to live after what you've sent them to do to me?" He said, his words carried too much venom and anger that she had to pull the phone away for a moment, yet again.

She stared at blank space as she thought. "What do you mean by that? Look," she began with a heated tone, "I don't know what you're trying to play at, but whatever it is should be stopped right away. I saved your life, I understand that you usually carry too much hatred in you, but the least I expected from you is this."

He hissed and wished there was a way to snap at her through his phone. "I'll find you wherever you are. This won't do on the phone." He said and ended the call in a breath. She stared at her phone with a discombobulated expression as she thought about what all this was about and she couldn't find a single answer.

She hissed so loud that it might as well echo through the walls of the hospital before she walked back to the room, making sure her expression was as neutral as it could be. She smiled when their eyes met with Kulthum and sat down.

"You're back early today," she said and Kulthum nodded her head before she immediately stood up.

"Yes, can I please talk to you, Yusrah? When I walked in, you were on call."

They walked to the corridor and the unease she saw on Kulthum's face was making her on the edge. "What's wrong, Kulthum?" She asked with a worried look on her face.

"It's Alhaji, I don't know what he means by that but I did something on my own accord." She began and looked around, as though she wasn't sure they were safe and alone in the hospital corridor. "The twin daughters of Sadiya are now living in your chamber. One of them occupied your room and I saw one of your jewelries with them both today."

"What in the deuce!" Yusrah exclaimed and Kulthum nodded with terror in her eyes. "How dare him?!" She yelled and Kulthum sighed with a worried look on her face.

"I know, that's why I did something on my own accord. I locked your mother's room, we may not know, but she may have kept something she wouldn't wish to be found by someone else but you. When they asked of the key, I told them it was with you."

Yusrah didn't know when she pulled Kulthum and hugged her as warmly as she could. "Thank you so much, Kulthum. You really have no idea how this has made me feel, I'm so thankful." She said with a lovely smile on her lips. She felt her eyes stinging with tears but that was the closest she had ever been to tears but they weren't an inch from flowing down when they got sucked up by something and boom, they were no where to be found.

She sighed as she pulled away from the hug and collected the key Kulthum had thrusted her way. She watched as Kulthum went back to the room because she obviously needed some time alone. She kept fondling the key and felt the way her heart ached with so much pain. The lights on the corridor blinded her view and she wished she could scream her agony out. And now, even the jewelries she had so much hope had been taken away and she clearly knew that she wouldn't be able to get them back.

She decided to take a walk, or maybe if she could find a cab, go home and see what she could get from Abla's jewelries or if she had kept some cash in her room. The remaining twenty thousand Naira had little to no more left in it and she knew she needed to quickly find a way out for herself.

While walking through the long corridors that seemed endless, she took the stairs, because she wanted the walk to be long, maybe far away from the hospital that before she came back, maybe the chunk in her chest had vanished. Her eyes were slightly closed when she nearly bumped into a patient being wheeled, "I'm sorry, I wa-" she began, but a hiss ended her talk when she saw that it was him, and he was flashing her a look that spoke highly of his hatred for her.

She should've thought about running on him in these endless corridors. And she really wasn't in the mood to face him now, knowing so well what he started on the phone call will certainly end in a disaster, she wasn't ready for that. She tried to maneuver beside him when she heard him spoke.

"Whoever this is doesn't really have some manners. Can we please go? I need to talk to the doctor, I have to be discharged." He said in an angry tone and she understood that he was talking to the nurse, and not her.

"Okay sir." The nurse said, and bewildered, not pained a bit like when he used to give her the dismissive treatment, Yusrah watched the retreating back of the nurse as the sound the wheels were making was still audible to her ears.

She walked further, wondering if he had chose to knowingly act like this because he didn't want to talk in the presence of the nurse or there was something else. She hissed softly and saw Rasheed walking into the hospital, she smiled at him and waited until he reached her before he greeted her.

"Good afternoon, Ma." He greeted her respectfully and she waved dismissively at him.

"Rasheed I told you to be calling me Yusrah, that's my name." He only bowed his head down a little, smiling softly at her. "And Iya Agba woke up today, we were chatting just now. She has asked about you."

His face instantly lit into a smile and he nodded his head before quickly, he excused himself and walked into the hospital while she walked out, thinking so hard about the destiny of her life. What she had to do and what she shouldn't do now that she was penniless and an orphan.

•

Hammad stared at the ophthalmologist with a confused look and there was anger simmering in his eyes. He wished he could see the face of the person that was trying to tell him that nothing was wrong with his sight, that his eyes were healthy.

"Then can you explain what this is?" He asked in a slightly raised tone, wishing he could smash all the things he could lay his hands on.

"I will have to refer you to a Neurologist, sir. But for all I could see and after conducting all those tests on you, nothing is wrong with your eyes. Now, we have to wait for the Neurologist's examination and if there's a need for us to meet again..."

"Why in the world do I need a brain doctor?! Did I tell you that I was hallucinating or there was some sort of craze wrong with me?! If an eye doctor can't explain what the hell is wrong with me that I can't see faces, I wonder who in the whole world is supposed to know." He kept yelling at him and it was so hard to explain to Hammad that he needed to be checked by the neurologist so they wouldn't have to make a mistake while consulting him.

It was late in the evening when the results from the neurologist was out and when the doctor asked for him to come in so they could talk, he told the nurse that he needed to be alone with him, and she heed to what he had said. "Good evening, Dr..." His eyes instantly scan the tag on his breast pocket and he called his name, "Dr Wasi'u. I hope that you do have an answer to this?" He pointed at his face to show him that he really wasn't seeing a thing. And it had been over five hours since he woke up, he really thought it wouldn't take an hour to go back to normal.

"You had an accident two days ago, Mr Hammad..."

"Call me Hammad, please." He softly said, resigned at last as his shoulders slumped in defeat. He really was hopeful. Maybe a few pills will regulate everything, it was hard to live this way and he had only lived this way for a few hours.

"Okay, you had an accident two days ago and hit your head so greatly at the process. So, they had to conduct a crucial surgery in your brain to immediately stop the bleeding over there, so crucial that is beside your right fusiform gyrus. They may not have explained it to you, but I'm sure they have explained the risks to your wife because she had signed..." He closed his eyes, damn his wife! He would never let Yusrah go scot free with this. She had to pay for everything she had done to him, she would; and with her blood!

"So, one of the risks involved when the right fusiform gyrus is messed with is prosopagnosia, that's face blindness. You aren't totally blind, you could see everything in the world but the faces of people. I believe that's exactly what's bothering you now, is it not?"

Hammad felt as he breathed in and out to help calm himself. "Is it curable?" Please, he silently begged, let it be. I really can't live like this.

He could feel his eyes getting filled with tears, but it wasn't like he was together with Abbi for him to show weakness like he wanted. This was a hospital and he was supposed to act like the man he was.

"I believe it is. But sometimes no matter how much you try, it couldn't be cured, you just learn how to cope and live with it." He clenched his eyes shot and the first thing that crossed his mind was, he would never see the face of his Abbi again. He would never get to see the face of the woman he may love, that's if he'd ever love one before he died. And among the things that ache the most, if he had a child in the future, he would never see his face or hers, he wouldn't ever know what he or she looked like. What differed this with blindness was sooo little that if not he would kill himself to go entirely blind, he would have wished it was the case instead.

"I'm not talking about majority of cases. My case, what do you think will happen?" No matter how much he wanted to act as strong as he wished to show he was, his voice croaked and a lone tear rolled down to his cheek. He wiped at it and added, desperately. "Please tell me it can be cured."

•

Just like they had predicted, after so much tests and doctor's visitations, Iya Agba was discharged today and the happiness on Kulthum's family faces wasn't something she had ever seen. They were so happy that it immediately showed on their faces. She watched as Rasheed took all their things to the cab they had called and loaded everything.

"Kulthum, I need to go home and see if I can get into Abla's room. I'll be back shortly."

Kulthum hugged her lightly while she nodded her head, "May Allah take care of your affairs, Yusrah. May ease find you before you come back." She loved being prayed for, she felt some light in her chest as she whispered an Ameen to her prayers.

She waited for a bus until she found one, because she surprisingly loved the buses, she always opted for the seat by the window because it gave the best view and of course, some air away from the smell coming from the people sitting in the bus. She was used to confused stares she was getting from those people and it was obviously because of her way of dressing. She dressed expensively, and even though she really wished it wouldn't come down to that, she may have to start selling off some of her clothes to make ends meet.

She walked the distance to their home. No, it was no longer home since Abla wasn't in it. To the house she had lived with her mother. She saw the gateman and smiled softly at him while she aimed for the door, but he stopped her midway. "I'm sorry, but Alhaji has asked me not to let you in whenever you come, ma."

Yusrah took a step back as the words hit a blow into her heart. "I understand what you're trying to say, but I just need a minute. I happen to forget an important document in my room, I need to take it."

She knew she didn't have a very good relationship with the workers of the house, like she hardly even noticed them, but she wasn't expecting this. She didn't even know his name. "I can't let you inside, ma."

She palmed her face softly and shook her head slightly, "Do you not know me?"

"I sabi you na, madam Yusrah."

"Then I believe you know that my mother died only two weeks ago, right? I didn't get the chance to take everything with me while leaving. It won't take long, I promise." She was hopeful that the look she was trying to conjure on her face had been established and when she saw him sighed, she became hopeful.

"Please, don't cause me any wahala o. I fit lose my job for this." He slightly opened the door for her and she didn't know when she flashed him a grateful smile.

"Thank you, I'd never forget this in my life. Thank you so much." She walked briskly into the house and didn't even get time to be emotional about it, she needed to quickly get into Abla's room, check for her jewelry box and leave with it. Maybe for the other things, Kulthum can sneak them for her.

The door to their chamber was opened and when she entered, she had to close her eyes for a moment to make sure she didn't loose her balance. She saw Abla everywhere and she wanted to collapse right there and cry until her lungs failed, but her eyes didn't even get glistened with tears. She was walking to Abla's room when someone walked out of the kitchen called out her name.

"Yusrah?" She turned and met one of the twins, what was her name again? She couldn't say.

"Yes," Yusrah straightened her back and appeared as the confident woman she had ever been. She may be crumbling down, having her walls caging her into a dungeon in her mind, but she would make sure that no one knew.

"What are you doing here?" The lady asked and Yusrah gave a lopsided grin. She placed her arms around her chest and poised greatly. Mission failed, she had to look for another way to get into Abla's room, certainly not today. Because she wouldn't let them know the key was here with her.

"Don't you think I should be the one asking you that? This is my mother's chamber and just because she's dead doesn't give you the right to wander through her kitchen that way..." She hissed softly, "What's your name again? You know I hardly give unimportant things that much of a time."

The lady scoffed and walked toward where Yusrah was, "And who do you think you're telling that to? Because that your blind mother that gets nothing to do but sit and eat those awful Turkish dishes is the only person that doesn't deserve much of a time, just like Baba makes sure she knows. And for my name, you're too low to know it. If you'd please get out of this living room before I loose my temper-"

Before she was done with what she was saying, Yusrah's palm that got in contact with her cheek, giving a resounding slap was what stopped her midway and she stumbled, almost loosing her balance. "Don't you dare," she began through gritted teeth. "How dare you address my mother in that way?"

"Did you just slap me?!" She asked with anger boiling in her eyes.

"I can as well do what's more than just a slap. Just try demeaning my mother again, say another bad word about her and I'd make sure you sleep on a hospital bed today."

"Because of that blind wench you foolishly call mother..."

"Did you just say wench?" She asked enigmatically and walked towards the girl, who kept moving back, "Because I honestly do not want to punish you for a mistake you haven't done."

"I said a wench! What do you think you can do to-"

Yusrah pushed her to the floor and the mug she had just kept on the was beside her, she picked it up and threw it at her, hot tea inside or not, she didn't give a damn. She heard the scream that escaped her mouth, but her eyes were blinded with too much rage to give a damn.

"I'll make sure I change that damn ugly face of yours until it resembles that of a true wench, goddamn you!" She roared and took the next thing she could lay her eyes on, slashing it on her. She had had too much rage and hatred stuck in her, she really wished by the time she would be done with this girl, she wouldn't have killed her. Because really, she gave no damn!