Charles Chinedu

Charles had waited at the reception for Vicky to come back but he did not see her. He knew the news about her sisters would take a toll on her. He had found out from Esther two days before they went to the resort. He felt so ashamed and guilty because he had slept with the two ladies too. This occurrence was what he could not control, Vicky knew of it and they had been locking him in to keep him from wandering. But sometimes when he spent the night in his office or somewhere close to their neighborhood, he always found himself in someone's bed. It happened with Nasa, Esther even poor Grace who had just lost her child.

He knew his wife suspected him of cheating but he just couldn't tell her that it was with her friends who were also her half sisters. Charles had felt so guilty that he ended up turning to alcohol to help him get through the day. Taking alcohol made him cranky and he often lashed out on Vicky. He loved his wife dearly and didn't want to lose her. He knew his marriage had taken the turn for the worst and it was all his fault.

The night before Vicky left they had fought and even though he wanted to apologize and make amends before her trip,he found out that she had left the house even before he woke up.

Vicky ignored his calls and texts and when he received a text from Esther about what they intended to do at the resort he resigned to his fate of loosing his wife forever.

He had been woken up around 3am by a call from Esther who told him that his wife was in a critical condition. He booked the flight the next day and was at the hospital where his wife had been admitted within hours.

He met Esther and the other two at the reception, when he saw their countenance he was certain that he had lost his sweet Victoria.

They told him everything that happened and how she had shot herself after finding out about his mistakes.

The burden was something he couldn't bear and as he paced round the hospital waiting for his wife to come out of surgery. He had stayed in the hospital for 9hours before the doctor finally came out.

"Doctor! please how is my wife? Is she..?" he couldn't finish the words, guilt had already consumed him and he felt he was the one who made his wife to put a bullet in her head.

"well I must tell you Mr? ..."

"Chinedu" Charles responded

"Mrs Chinedu your wife is alive. It is still a miracle how she managed to stay alive after she lost so much blood. The bullet she had put in her head grazed her right ear and bore into her skull, creating a crack. The miraculous thing here is that the bullet didn't go through instead it's like the friction caused by her skull kept the bullet together and the cushion from her brain just kept the bullet afloat. Your wife should be dead by now is just the simple term. The pieces of her skull should have done damage or even the bleeding. We have severe cases of edema, bleeding in this kind of incident. the bullet on a normal circumstance should be buried in her brain. My colleagues and I have been trying to find out how the bullet didn't pierce her brain. This is Traumatic brain injury Mr Charles and I can't assure you that she'd come out of it the same person. There might be certain symptoms she would exhibit which we'll discuss later. Nonetheless We've stabilized her but she fell into a coma, so all we have to do is wait for her to wake up. Her vitals are okay and she will be well taken care of"

Charles felt a weight get lifted off his shoulder but something didn't sound right.

"Doctor you said the bullet grazed her right ear, how come? Does that mean the shot came from the right side."

"That would be correct Mr Chinedu" the doctor said

"doctor my wife is left handed, there are a lot things my wife cannot do with her right hand and one of them is holding things steady. Something is wrong!"

"Mr Chinedu I'd advice you went to the authorities for now to make your suspicions known" the doctor said before walking away

Charles couldn't see his wife till about three hours later when she was brought into the ICU, prior to that he had seen Esther and questioned her about his wife's accident.

"Oh please stop telling me she shot herself! The doctor said the bullet came from the right side,the right side! Which practically means Vicky held the gun with her right hand. That is not possible at all. My wife sleeps on her right side, starts with her right hand whenever she wants to bathe, she even wrings her wet towel toward the right when she wants to squeeze water out of it. I could go on and on about the things she does with the right part of her body but I can assure you that my wife couldn't have used her right hand. Have you ever watched Vicky trying to hold something with her right hand? Her hand shakes so vigorously that she transfers it to her left hand immediately. So I ask you? Are you sure you saw my wife put a bullet to her own head with her right hand? "

" To be honest I'm not sure, it all happened so fast. One minute she was yelling because she found out about us and the next minute she was telling us to shut our eyes before the gun went off. "Esther held her hands over her face as she cried." I won't forgive myself if she doesn't make it, I didn't even get to tell her the truth! " Esther was sobbing this time.

" Listen please you need to concentrate and remember. Just breathe, calm down and think. Where was she holding the gun before you shut your eyes? Was it pointed to her left or her right? "

Charles waited for a response while Esther thought deeply. She wasn't done with her thinking before Nasa spoke to the two of them.

" The gun was pointed to her left" I saw her clearly and I think some thing does not add up. The gunshot we heard didn't sound like it came from our front. And Vicky was standing right in front of us"

Charles was pleased with the answers he had gotten. They were almost at the ward were Vicky was placed before the authorities came. They wanted to question Esther and the rest but Charles decided to tag along.

"So what did you find out inspector?" Charles asked impatient and ready to make his suspicions known.

"The women we interrogated seemed to be telling the truth, they couldn't have rehearsed all those and all their answers tally. They all say she shot herself or they felt she shot herself but from the evidence we collected at the sight of the accident. I don't think that is true"

"What evidence did you collect from the site?" Charles questioned

"it was an unloaded gun, we've examined the gun and there was no bullet that left that gun that night. I find it strange that an empty gun put a bullet in your wife's head"

"inspector  I have a lot to tell you. I think someone wanted my wife dead and she was trying to protect her friends by telling them to shut their eyes" Charles hinted

"I'm listening"

Charles explained everything to the man while he took notes, they were going to find out who it was that shot his wife.

After six months Vicky had come to. Everyone had been visiting her, her mother, father her brother Christian and his family. Even her friends and the idiotic Jude came around. Charles had told Esther and Co to stop visiting his wife. He felt he was doing the right thing by warding them off.

One faithful morning Vicky's eyes snapped open and after the doctors examined her she was brought back into her room.

He walked in and started apologizing for his deeds and her accident but the look on her face shut him up. After observing him she finally spoke. "who are you?"

Charles was thrown off for a minute then he remembered what the doctor had told him. He looked at Vicky who was confused and scared and then sat on her bed.

"Hey, don't be scared. My name is Charles Chinedu and I am your husband. We've been married for so long and....., well you were involved in this accident and now you can't remember. This is your ring, as you can see I'm still wearing mine" Charles gave a nervous smile and he noticed that everything he said was not making sense to Vicky.

"I have very beautiful eyes" he let out and she chuckled
He eased a bit then continued.

"it's my gift and my curse, do you know why? Of course you don't know. Well you did before the accident
whenever I tell a lie, you could always tell. My eyes do this involuntary twitching and It just gives me away. That's how you always find out when I lie. You see that's my curse"

Vicky held his face and drew him closer then with a smile she said" Can I see? "

Charles moved closer to her and held her hands making sure that she could clearly see his hazel eyes." I love you Victoria ". She stared deep in his eyes and waited to see any movement but nothing happened.

The he tried again
" I hate your brother "
She watched intently then broke into laughter when his eyes twitched.

"You see, you can trust me"

She smiled again at him then reached out and held his hands

After Vicky was discharged he was very happy, his marriage was better than he could ever imagine and even though the doctor advised getting help for Vicky, he didn't want her to remember. He wanted their family to be happy again. He knew it was a selfish thing to do but he didn't want to lose his wife.

The day he found out his wife could remember was the worst day of his life. His wife's safety had been on the line ever since she got shot and there were measures the authorities were following to keep his wife safe and he didn't meddle.

After thoughts about his past flooded his head he decided to go out to look for his wife. He scoured the hospital and when he didn't find her he decided to call her cellphone. He had been standing beside a sculpture when he heard his wife's phone ring. He followed the sound and when he bent down to pick the object that produced the sound he heard  he saw traces of blood. But Vicky was not there

His heart stopped, history had repeated itself once again.

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Hey everyone
This is probably the longest chapter in this book but I do hope you enjoy