Chioma's POV.

"Take this" Amanda said to me, stretching out her hand to me; which contained some pills.

"No thanks...I'm fine" I lied.

I was far from fine, my entire body ached from yesterday's crying and continuous screaming and Amanda kept insisting that I go to a hospital, which I immediately declined. I've never been a fan of visiting a hospital when I'm sick, in fact, I barely do.

But at the moment, I felt so miserable that I began to slowly consider it. My head ached severely, my breath hitched and my face; pale. I found it difficult to actually breathe and my body felt so weak. I could barely even saying anything.

"Chioma, you don't have a choice. You're clearly not feeling well and you haven't eaten anything since yesterday. And I'm so sick of having to tell you this; you really need to go see a doctor. Its getting worse!" Amanda yelled and I rolled my eyes tiredly.

"I'm fine" I managed to say, turning my head to the side, trying to cuddle myself.

"Ugh! Chioma...please quit being so stubborn! I'm trying to help you" she exclaimed, her voice withholding frustration.

I didn't say anything cause I was too weak to speak, too weak to even feel sorry for myself. I only ignored her, wishing she'd just go home and rest. She'd been here, with me, ever since she arrived from work yesterday. And God knows how much I'd told her to go home, but still she refused.

"Chioma..." She said, her voice solemn as she placed her hand on my forehead, checking my temperature. "It's getting really worse..." She mumbled to herself, but I still heard her.

* * *
Femi's POV.

I couldn't go to see Chioma yesterday, I didn't want to hurt Kunmi and I felt extremely terrible the minutes she cried when I'd insisted on seeing Chioma. I decided to stay back, but I didn't feel glad about that. I felt awful and definitely wasn't happy about it.

All through yesterday, I'd been thinking about going there. But Kunmi decided to sleep over alongside Damola and I just couldn't ditch them and leave.

I'd spoken to Amanda about not being able to come anymore and I'd asked her to take a day off just so she could take care of Chioma properly. But one thing I'm certain of; is that I'm definitely going to see her today. I just hope Kunmi doesn't try to stop me again. Her behavior yesterday was so absurd and so unlike her. She was being awfully selfish and even I couldn't ignore that fact. Damola was also aware of this and kept trying to change her mind but she was adamant and kept bluntly refusing to understand anything.

It's not like I was going there to live with her, I only wanted to help.

"Good morning" Kunmi mumbled sleepily, as she finally got out of bed, turning to my direction with a small smile on her face.

"Morning" I mumbled back and she smiled once more, rubbing her eyes sleepily and reaching for her phone.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"6:52am" I replied.

"Oh..." She turned to look at me and I slowly averted my eyes. Truth be told, I was mad at her for stopping me. I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that she'd tried so hard to stop me, and actually succeeded in doing so. The Kunmi I used to know was never that way. She'd never put me in that kind of situation; of having to choose between my friends and someone else. To me, she had always been a nonchalant and carefree person. But now; she seemed to have changed. "Did I do something wrong?" She asked me, tilting her head to the side to meet my eyes.

I didn't say anything to her. I didn't want to get her upset by telling her that I still wanted to go and that I didn't like what she had done yesterday. But...that wouldn't be the best option. She'd only get mad at me, and as much as it pains me to say this; I don't even want that. I don't want to hurt her, not even a little bit.

"No...I'm just a little tired" I lied. She finally let out a sigh and came closer to me, sitting right in front of me and raising my chin to look her in the eye.

"Talk to me. What's going on? I know you're lying and I also know you're upset about something..." She took a short pause, locking eyes with me. "It's because of her, right?" She asked, a solemn yet small smile on her face.

I didn't say anything, I only heaved a sigh and shook my head; no.

"Don't lie to me. I know it is" she said, slowly marring her face with her frown.

"No, it's__"

She held her hand up, indicating that I'd stop talking, and I immediately did.

"Forgive me if I was being inconsiderate yesterday. I shouldn't have stopped you from doing what you wanted to, that was wrong of me. I apologise for wanting my friend to spend more time with me. I didn't mean to upset by that" she said and slowly slipped out of bed, hurt evident in her eyes and in her facial expression. On seeing the sad look on her face, my heart clenched and a feeling of guilt engulfed me.

"Kunmi, wait!" I called out to her, but she didn't listen and walked into the bathroom. "Kunmi, I'm_" and before I could say anything else, she shut the door.

"You guys are now fighting?" Damola, who had just woken up a few seconds ago, asked.

"I don't know what's wrong with Kunmi. I...I don't just know. She's confusing me. It's not like I'm going over there to live with Chioma, I was only trying to help her cause she's sick. Her behavior is so uncalled for" I replied and Damola shrugged.

"Women are very difficult to understand sometimes. She's probably having mood swings, just give her time" he replied and stood up from the bed and headed towards the door. "I'll be downstairs, I'm hungry. Lemme go and eat" he announced before leaving.

"Food will not kill you oh!" I yelled out for him to hear.

"I swear!" He hollered back.

With him gone, I walked towards the bathroom and knocked at the door, leaning my ear closer to the door.

"Kunmi! Kunmi, I'm sorry. It's not because of her, I was just tired. I'm really sorry!" I yelled, knocking on the door.

I got no reply, no grunt or hiss or anything. Just silence.

"Kunmi! Please!" I begged. "Why are you angry na? I didn't even say anything to you. If I did something wrong, then I apologise. Please, don't be angry with me na" I pleaded once more, yet I got no reply whatsoever.

"Should I kneel down and beg?" I asked, her silence getting on my nerves. "Talk to me na!" I beckoned and still got no reply.

I grunted in annoyance and left the room entirely. Since I was already dressed for work, I decided to head to work instead. On an empty stomach.

* * *

"You don't have to always do what she says. You don't always do what I say, so why are you always panicking when she's_"

"Damola, you know how Kunmi gets when she's upset. She's not even talking to me to begin with, and to be honest, I'm beginning to not care. I mean, I didn't even do anything. She asked me to stay at home yesterday, and I did. All because she had asked me to, and now this morning she's getting angry at me cause I didn't like what she did. Talk true, if you were the one; won't you get upset with her? Me, I have tire oh!" I blurted, pouring out all my frustrations.

Damola laughed at me, the minute I stopped talking.

"Dem don use you do experiment (They have used you as an experiment)" he said, chuckling.

"Actually, it's not funny. This is serious" I said and he eyed me.

"I didn't say it's a joke. Anyway, you're just trying to please her too much. Like I said, you don't always have to do as she says. Just because we're all friends doesn't mean you'd have to do every single thing she says. I mean, it's your life and not hers. She already knows me, I don't use to answer her some times" he shrugged, leaning back on his chair.

"Hmm...you're kinda right though. But still, I'm not happy with this silent treatment she's giving me. I called her seven times today and she didn't pick. Which is so unlike her" I said, huffing out air from my mouth.

Damola made a face, throwing his head backwards in thought.

"I'm thinking about something..." He stated, dramatically stroking his chin in thought.

"About what?" I asked, returning my attention back to the document before me.

"What if...? Somehow, somehow...What if Kunmi actually likes you?" He asked, an expectant look on his face. I dropped my pen almost immediately and gave him an amused look.

"Are you seriously being serious? I know she likes me" I shrugged.

"Oh my goodness! Are you that clueless?! I don't mean as a friend, the other way around. As in, it has pass friend zone things. She's catching feelings, you grab?" He asked and I immediately shook my head in disbelief, laughing at his stupid assumption.

"First of all, Kunmi isn't that type of girl. Second of all, she's just being a protective friend, that's all" I replied and he facepalmed himself and groaned.

"God give me strength to talk to this dumb child! Duns, use your head na. Think about it. The first time Chioma came along with us, Kunmi acted weird and claimed she was "tired" and ditched us..." He said, putting up air quotes at 'tired'.

"I started having my suspicions then, but I decided to ignore it, thinking she just doesn't like Chioma. Now, the other day you mentioned Chioma's name, her mood changed. And now yesterday and today's events should've slapped some wisdom into you. Abi, you don't have sense?" He asked, lazily staring at me.

I blinked in disbelief, laughing.

"Damola, Kunmi just doesn't like Chioma. She didn't get her first job because of Chioma. She's only upset each time she hears Chioma's name cause she doesn't like her" I replied, dismissively.

"Or cause she's jealous?" Damola asked, a knowing smile on his face.

"Jealous of what exactly? Chioma and I aren't that close, so what is she getting jealous of?" I asked and Damola repeatedly facepalmed himself.

"Are you seriously this clueless about girls and their drama? Okay, let me explain in such a way an extremely foolish baby would understand..." He said and I rolled my eyes at him and crossed my arm right in front of my chest.

"Go on" I replied.

"Cool. Now, when a girl starts acting overly protective of a boy because he's spending so much time with another girl, it simply means that she's jealous. It's basic girl psychology" he shrugged.

"Or something you just made up. Girl psychology? Pfft!" I scoffed. "And besides, Chioma and I don't spend that much time with each other. Just occasionally bumping into each other" I replied.

"Really?" He replied, sarcastically. "She stayed at your house for a day, you two went on a "fake" date together, you guys kept bumping into each other, you accompanied her to her house to beg her parents to let her come home again and you guys have also spent time with each other on different occasions and with various scenarios. It's common sense, Kunmi likes you" he added, grinning from ear to ear.

"Damola, quit assuming arrant nonsense. That's not true, now will you leave me alone so I can finish up with this?" I replied, returning my attention back to the paperwork before me.

"Keep ignoring it, until you can't do that any further. I know what I'm saying, I've dealt with a lot of ladies so I should know" he said, folding his arms.

"Yeah, you do" I replied, sarcasm dripping from my voice.

"He-goat!" Damola said and I laughed.

* * *

After work, I immediately got in my car and decided to pay Chioma a visit. The address to her place was still in my phone and so I read through it, asking questions, occasionally, to passersby I met on my way.

On arriving at her place, I got down from my car and walked to the front door and gently knocked at the door. I took a minute or two to take in the environment. The place was beautiful, organized and moderate.

Finally the door came open and Amanda gasped in shock when she saw me.

"Sir, I...you didn't tell me you'd come today" she said. "Come in" and she gave way for me to enter.

"I wasn't sure I'd come. Where is she?" I asked, my eyes slowly roaming around the interiors of the place, it was indeed stylish.

"She's in her room. She's currently sleeping and from the looks of things, I think she's getting worse" Amanda informed and I let out a sigh.

"Please show me to her room. I'm taking her to the hospital" I replied and she immediately led the way into Chioma's room.

On getting to her room, I met her sleeping body on the bed, her back towards us. She lay limply on her bed, her small body seeming even smaller, now wrapped in a ball as she snuggled into her comforter as she finally turned to our side, still asleep and occasionally muttering words incoherently. She looked pale and had dark circles underneath her eyes, her entire appearance looked really pitiful. You'd just want to hug her on seeing her. Small, fragile hands wrapped lazily, around her comforter and her body occasionally turning from side-to-side.

I walked to her side, placing a hand on her forehead, feeling for her temperature. She was really burning up, looking drained and weak all at the same time. I found myself sitting beside her on her bed, reaching for her hands which she unconsciously wrapped against mine.

"I'm cold" I heard her mutter in her sleep, I noticed her shaking a bit, her teeth slightly chattering.

"I'll go get her some more blankets" Amanda said and immediately scurried away.

"I'm cold" she said once more, and I stared at her, pity evident in my eyes. I hadn't seen her like this ever before, she looked extremely miserable and sounded like she could barely even hold up a breath. And without thinking twice, I hugged so close to me, wrapping her hands around mine and drawing the comforter closer to her body.

"I'm here" I murmured under my breath. She snuggled into my shirt, squirming, drawing closer, wrapping her hand around me as far as her small hands could let her.

"I got the blankets!" Amanda announced, and I turned my head to meet her smiling goofily at us. "The blankets, sir" she said, her smile still glued to her face, as she handed me the blankets.

"There'll be no need for that now. I'm taking her to the hospital" I replied, slowly lifting her up but she kept pulling me back, drawing me closer to her.

"Chioma, wait. I'm_" I tried to explain but she only pulled me even closer.

"Let me help" Amanda offered and slowly pried Chioma's hands off me.

With that, I carried her in my arms and walked to my car with Amanda following behind me.

Chioma continued to mutter incoherently, snuggle deeper into my shirt and even wrapped her hands around my neck for support. I didn't mind that, not at all.

And once we arrived at my car, Amanda helped me open the car door and I carefully placed Chioma at the backseat and Amanda got in to stay with her. Taking the driver's seat and turning on the ignition, I immediately drove out of her compound and headed off to the hospital.

________________________________

Sorry the update is coming late. I intended to update in the morning but things didn't go my way as planned.

Anyways, how was this chapter?
All in favor of slapping Kunmi, please raise your hand 🙋🏽‍♀️

Please don't tell me I'm the only one that wants to slap sense into her oh!!😂

And Femi? How did you find his actions?

Next chapter coming up soon,
I say 'soon' cause I don't want to raise your hopes up for no reason. This lockdown has taught me to never be too sure of anything,  I am telling you😌

Also, please don't forget to vote if you liked this chapter❤️. And feel free to leave a comment on your thoughts. You guys are so funny, in previous chapters a lot of people were willing to beat Kunmi 😂 The girl should take cover abeg.

Okay now, lemme go and get out fast fast,
Till my next update,
Bye...