Third Person's POV.

Amanda and her parents were torn by the news of Agozie's shooting. But now rushing to the hospital, with the hope that all would turn ou well and things turned out fine, they couldn't describe how exactly they'd walk out of there feeling the same.

Thanks to the some of the kind neighbors of Chioma's that heard the gunshot, they were able to rush to the hospital. The shock of their life played before their eyes as they stood, staring at what used to be a vibrant young man. For the rest of her life, Amanda wasn't sure she'd get over the shock that had befallen her. Staring with utter belief and shock slapping her in the face.

She felt hatred and hurt, bile reaching her mouth and making her see red. Chioma was to blame for it. She had no one else to pin the blame for it, she needed to pin the blame on someone!

Maybe if he'd returned home on the day he arrived at the city, without having to visit Chioma, maybe - just maybe - he wouldn't have to be what he has become now. Lying helpless and every ounce of life seemingly drained from him. Motionless. Lifeless. Despite Amanda's tight grip on his hands, hoping if she'd held him tighter and longer enough, he'd open his eyes and say something stupid as always. Something that'd make her laugh and be forever grateful for him. Grateful for that goofy nature and take solitude in every moment they spent together.

He was more than a cousin to her, he was her brother. She told him everything, and anything she did - he'd know about it. He never made her feel the void of being an only child, he'd filled it up with his amazing persona, his charisma, charms and everything about him.

Her parents watched as this girl fell to the floor the minute the doctor pronounced him dead. She wasn't saying anything, wasn't even crying. She only stared like a breathing corpse, trying so hard to scream in refute but each time she tried, the screams got stuck in her throat; dying a natural death. And getting lost inside her mouth.

"Amanda..." Her mother tried saying, her eyes blurred by her constant tears but Amanda wouldn't even move, she wouldn't even blink. Just stared into space, shocked by everything. Trying so hard to process everything with great difficulty.

"Amanda..." Worried, her father joined in to calling her name, each shaking her vehemently, hoping to get a sign that she was still in there.

"Amanda..." The voices now seemed distant, like echoes in her head. Voices that panged a certain feeling of sadness in her heart.

"Amanda..." The echoes got louder, sharper and scarier. Yet she wouldn't move, wouldn't blink and wouldn't even say anything to them. It almost felt like she held her breath, hoping to run out of air and possibly die too.

"Amanda..." That was the last straw, gripping on her purple hair extensions, a scream finally erupted from her mouth, like a piercing cry being thorn out of her throat, ripped out of her throat with great difficulty, in an ear-splitting screech.

"No! No! Nooo!!!" She finally yelled.

* * *

Amanda hurriedly jumped out of her bed, panting like she'd just ran a marathon. Her heart raced in an erratic thump within her chest and she felt her head pound furiously, the blood in her head pumping with so much aggression.

Suddenly, she felt nauseous and ran towards the bathroom to vomit, feeling sick. It'd been a dream but felt so real. She had a feeling that something wasn't right somewhere. She could feel it, it almost felt like she knew it and had seen it in reality. Like she'd just seen it in her dream over and over again, and she dreaded it's confirmation.

Immediately, she got on her knees, making the sign of the cross, she prayed that God would intervene. The shock from her dream was still very fresh and she still felt like she'd been screaming for hours. After her short but very powerful prayer, she thought it'd be right to call Agozie.

She was just about doing that when her parents came rushing into her room, her heart skipped a few beats and she gasped in shock.

"Amanda, Agozie is in the hospital. Get dressed, we're leaving now!" Her mom said in a hurry, the fear she'd earlier felt clawed at her chest as she immediately rushed to her walk-in closet and grabbed a pair of jeans and a blue hoodie. Slapping down a pair of black slippers, she put them on and without wasting much time, they were out of the house and on their way to the hospital.

* * *
Chioma's POV.

"Guy, wetin 'im for tell you yesterday?" I heard a ragged and husky voice say. The smell of weed being smoked attacked my nostrils and I slowly gaged, like it punched and smacked my lungs, hating the smell of the environment. A mixture of sweat, and a very pungent odour filled the air; pervading the entire atmosphere with it's horrible scent, although the smell of alcohol and cheap bear was way stronger. Flies were everywhere and some perched on my skin and I tried wiggling my body - which happened to be tied to something - in order to get rid of the stupid flies.
["Guy, what would he have told you yesterday?"].

My eyes were blindfolded, making it difficult for me to see anything and my hands were tied to something, that I figured was a rusty pole. A few places on my wrists hurt and some appeared to have been as a result of the scratches from the pole.

"The babe don wake!" One of the guys loudly yelled. I grunted as I heard the sound of their approaching footsteps, my heart raced the minute one of them got really close to my face, his hot breath - which stank of alcohol and weed - fanned my face and I scrunched my nose in disgust, he was a reeking mess! My heart squeezed within my chest the minute I felt his hand on my face.
["The babe is awake!"].

Eww! Who knows where those hands have been?!

I wanted to yell at the lowlife so badly, to make sure he'd regret laying his hands on me, so he'd think twice before ever trying to kidnap me...but they had the upper hand now, doing that would be the death of me.

Suddenly, he laughed at the way I shivered at his disgusting touch, his hands roaming around my face in a really disturbing manner. Irritating!

What kind of sociopath is this?

The rest of the gang laughed and I noticed he pulled his hand away from my face, taking a long drag of his cigarette and puffing the smoke in my face. I gagged, coughed and wheezed at the smell as tears gathered in my eyes and left a stinging sensation in them. The cloth tied around my mouth made it really difficult for me to breathe and each time I coughed, it came out muffled. For some reason, they all found it amusing. I felt it's cause they're probably wasted by now and I hoped and prayed that they wouldn't harm me while I'm here.

"You dey fear?" He laughed, pulling the cloth off my mouth, giving me access to breathe properly.
["Are you scared?"].

"I'll have your head for this, I swear. You'll regret kidnapping me! I swear it!" I threatened, I couldn't stop myself from spitting those words out of my mouth and I hoped he got the message.

Much to my annoyance, the guy laughed, again, and I heard a chair being pulled towards where I was sitting on the dusty floor; tied to a rusty pole. He burped loudly and the funky smell that came rushing out of his mouth made me gag once again.

Dude, ever heard of this cool invention called a toothbrush?!

"You dey form phoné for me na. You wan form say your papa na big man, abi? Wetin I go do you for here eh, you go lucky say you no die for my hand!" He threatened, his words dripping with so much venom laced in every word. I wasn't really fluent at Pidgin English, but I could understand to an extent what he had just said. I got scared by that threat, recalling the gun. They could just shoot me right now and that'll be the end of the road, for me.
["You're forming English for me now. You want to let us know that your father is rich, right? What I'll do to you here, you'll be lucky to get out of here alive"].

"What do you want from me? If it's money then just say it!" I gave up in my confidence, I didn't want to upset them and my voice sounded really helpless. He chuckled, leaning further...his smelly breath fanning my face - once again - as I tried so hard to hold my breath. Without warning, he grabbed my face with his firm yet rough hands. I winced at the forced at which he held onto my face.

"You be fine girl na. We fit help each other" he said and I felt disgusted at the audacity he had to say that. The lack of respect in his voice made me see red and without think twice, I spat on his face. He let go of my face and cussed under his breath and the next thing I knew was a tight slap delivered at my right cheek.
["You're a fine girl. We can help each other"].

For a second, my head hung low and a piercing sound split through my ears...ringing in my ears and causing my head to feel heavier. I was just about recovering from the first slap, when another followed and I whimpered, tears spilling out of my eyes but getting absorbed by the blindfold. I tried swallowing a sob and I hoped he'd stop hitting me.

I couldn't take it anymore and my lower lip throbbed from the cut that formed as a result of the heartless slap.

"Omo, see this girl oh! Spit for my face like this! See as she be like mop stick! Make I whoaz am na! I go..." He slapped me again, and resulted to punching me.
["Dude, take a look at this girl! Spat on my face like this! Look at how she looks like a mop stick! Let me slap her now! I'll..."].

Must be the alcohol.

Without being able to bear the pain any longer, I cried out loud. Begging that he'd stop hitting me. And he laughed when I begged, grabbing my face once again and I winced in pain.

"You're not longer fighting me? I thought you were so confident na. Awon Ninjago" he said, his grip on my face increasing. I winced and whimpered, too weak to even make actual words come out of my mouth.
["Them Ninjago"].

"What...do you...?" My breathing became ragged and uneven. "...want?" I breathed out before my eyes fluttered close, but I definitely didn't miss his response.

"I want you dead" he had said, before my eyes gave way and I fell unconscious, once gain; drained from all the beatings I'd received.

* * *
Third Person's POV.

Chioma was no where to be see, Agozie was in a critical condition and panic threatened to eat out every last ounce of sanity Amanda had. It was just like her dream, except this time, it was all real. Her parents stood behind her, rubbing her back soothingly as they waited for the doctor to arrive.

Amanda was the one affected by everything the most. One: she was worried about her best friend's whereabouts and two: she was deeply worried about her cousin. She didn't want anything bad to happen to either of them and the thought of her dream actually coming true scared her, a lot. She contemplated telling her parents about it but didn't want to get them worried unnecessarily.

To her, she felt today wasn't her day at all. She certainly had a lot of bad lucks today, one being the fact that her boss had an accident and the other being the fact that her cousin was shot, and now hospitalized, and her best friend was kidnapped. All on the same day!

His condition wasn't determined yet and the more time went by, the more her fear of her dream coming true slapped her senseless. She needed no other bad news today, as it were, it was really late already and instead of snuggling in her king-size bed and getting her mind set for work, here she was thinking about her cousin who was at the verge of death.

The only little information they'd gathered from the doctor was that he was shot twice at his chest region.
Which was awfully scary and his chances of survival were slim. She couldn't and didn't want to imagine what she'd do if he we're to be proclaimed dead by the doctor - like in her dream. She definitely needed no other bad news and felt the need to pray again, wondering if she must've done something that had caused ALL this. In a way, she was mad at Agozie for going over to meet Chioma and she was also mad at Chioma for welcoming him to her house and not telling her. She didn't know what to do or how to act about the whole situation. Putting the blame on them was the only way she could vent out the pent up anger.

She didn't want any heartaches, she didn't want to lose her cousin 'cause he's the closest person to a brother, to her. Her other cousins were all stuck-up, and Agozie's sisters were included. And although Agozie was the only son, he was very nice to her. He'd do anything to ensure that she'd be happy. She was happy and grateful for that and the thought of him leaving was too much for her to handle.

How would his parents react about this? They still hadn't told them about his condition and didn't even know how to. Agozie's the only male child of theirs and if anything happens to him, they wouldn't be able to take it. She was aware it'd take a miracle to save him and at this point she needed that miracle. She needed the God of impossibilities, the Almighty that never fails - she needed him the most now.

She was aware of the numerous testimonies and miracles others have had and experienced in the past, and she was definitely hoping hers wouldn't be a different story.

She silently prayed, making a promise to go for thanksgiving if only Agozie would survive. She needed to see him smile again, that carefree aura about him, that charisma and his happy-go-lucky persona. She was incensed at the fact that he didn't even think to call her and let her know that he was finally back in town, and he'd gone to see Chioma first. But the rational part of her, which still hadn't been killed by her irrationality, poked at her conscience - making her feel guilty for blaming her best friend for Agozie's condition.

It's not like Chioma had prayed to be kidnapped, or had prayed that Agozie be shot. It wasn't her fault that things turned out that way, as it were - and still is - her whereabouts were still unknown and only God knows what she must be going through. She was probably being mistreated and here she was pinning the blame on her. The girl probably had no idea of Agozie's intentions of coming to her house first. She didn't know he'd be shot else she probably would've sent him home.

It was selfish of her to blame her friend like that and she felt ashamed for even thinking that. The situation got the best of her and she wasn't thinking straight, her emotions were all over the place. The quagmire currently at hand had really done her no good. Her heart thumped erratically within her chest and her parents reached for her hands and held on to them. She didn't have much to say to them, in fact, she had nothing to say to them. She only offered them a worried look and so did they, although they tried to be encouraging.

She didn't know what to think anymore. The stress wasn't good for her, she felt drained from everything else and didn't want to be bombarded with more causes to worry.

Finally, the doctor made his way out of the emergency room, after spending approximately two hours, forty-five minutes in there. She'd timed him, hoping it'd help take her mind off the uneasy feeling she was having.

Immediately, they approached the doctor, throwing numerous questions his way. She didn't miss the look of worry in the doctor's eyes and with that, she feared what his reply would be. She gripped the chair nearby, for fear of passing out due to the suspense she was put under. Her breathing suddenly became ragged by her panic and she hoped she would pass out, even before hearing what the doctor had to say.

"We've tried the best we can. We tried taking the bullet out and luckily, that was successful. But as for now, he's in a coma, experienced due to the shock from the gunshot. He's rather lucky that the bullet didn't get into his lungs or damage his aorta, or other major blood vessels. We've done everything medically possible to help him, and as it is, he doesn't look like he's responding fully to the treatment we've been rendering. As for now, the rest is in God's hands. He's in a really critical condition and his chances of survival are really slim. I'm sorry but we can't do anything else to help him" the doctor replied and her parents held onto her, noticing the weakening in her knees. Their eyes read dread and her father's held much more worry.

"Doctor, please try something. Maybe you can__"

"Ma'am, I can't do anything. He's currently in a coma and there's no other treatment we can give to help him now. He won't be able to respond to them" the doctor said and her mother finally lost it. She slowly fell to the floor and wept.

"Can we at least see him now?" Mr. Chukwuka, said. The worry couldn't and definitely didn't go unnoticed.

"Sure" the doctor replied.

"Thank you, doctor" Mr. Chukwuka said, shaking hands with the doctor who in turn offered him a pitiful look before leaving.

With the doctor gone, Amanda held the tears in her eyes, she needed to see him first. Hold her cousin's hands and cry. Like a walking corpse, she walked into his provided hospital room. Her limbs were a bit shaky but she ignored the shakiness in them and walked towards the room, her parents following closely behind her.

The minute she pushed the door open, she gasped in fright at the numerous amounts of tube connected into his arms and the slight upward-downward movement of his chest; a slight sign of life, made a small - barely visible smile - appear on her face.

The neon green thin line and small waves displayed on the life monitor and she placed a hand over her mouth to keep her from sobbing. Pale, with an oxygen mask over his nose, Agozie lay half-motionless on the hospital bed and she forced her legs to move towards his bed where she sat beside me, holding onto his hand so tightly and hoping it'd be enough to make him open his eyes. She didn't want to let go, for fear of losing him by letting go of his hand.

Her parents were concerned about her, she wasn't taking this news pretty well - none of them were! But hers was way worse, it was almost like she was losing her sanity by every passing minute. She stared at the Agozie's half-motionless body as the tears welled up in her eyes, spilling out of her eyes recklessly. She didn't dare to reach for them and wipe them off, she just stared at her helpless cousin slipping away slowly.

She'd imagined he'd open his eyes soon, and she kept staring, hoping he'd do that. Maybe if she stared long enough, and hard enough, he'd open his eyes again. But he didn't and she looked like she was losing her senses. She ran a frustrated hand through her hair and gripped hard on it. She didn't want to scream but the screams came out either way. She felt like loosening up that pent up frustration.

"Calm down" her mother had said to her, her voice a bit shaky. "He's still alive just..." She choked on her words.

Amanda turned to look her in the eye, with bloodshot eyes, trying to choke down the impact of his condition into her soul with just one look.

"Mom, he's dying. I can feel it, he's slipping away and there's nothing..." Her words got stuck in her throat, she tried gasping for air, tried calming herself down, but each try landed her back to square one.

Her parents immediately engulfed her in a hug while she sobbed and nestled on the crook of their necks.

"We need to help him... he's... he's..." She sniffled and tried calming herself down but failed miserably.

Her father placed a kiss on her forehead, rubbing her back soothingly and muttering the words: "nothing will happen to him,"  to her. He was worried about how he'd break the news to Agozie's parents. He knew his brother wouldn't take it well, Agozie was his only male child and he was really close to him. His marriage had been in shambles due to the fact that his wife hadn't conceived a male child, not until Agozie arrived. His mother was the most grateful person for his arrival. Hearing that her son was at the verge of death would definitely traumatize her.

Mr. Chukwuka worried how he'd comfort them, he wondered if they'd be able to handle the news and he felt the need to speak to his elder brother first, before letting anyone else know about it.

Amara was in a bad shape, he worried over her health and most especially; that of Agozie's. He didn't want anything bad to happen to either of them and he was ready to do anything in his power to ensure that no harm came to them. But this point, he had absolutely nothing he could do other than praying to God for a miracle.

He hoped that things would turn out better, but from the looks of things, he wasn't so sure it would. He tried being optimistic, didn't want to look at the odds and numerous possibilities of things going wrong, anymore. He needed to have faith in God, and trust that no harm whatsoever would come to him.

Looking Amanda over, and down to Agozie, his heart heavied. He had to be strong for his family's sake, didn't want to add to their worries.

"He'll be fine" he muttered under his breath, and trying so hard to believe in his own words. His facial expression seemed to contradict his words, but he tried, nonetheless, to stay positive.

* * *

Eldest daughter of the very famous business tycoon, Mr. Obiora Aniobi, gets kidnapped.

The news of Chioma's kidnapping made the headlines and panic arose in the entire Aniobi household. There still wasn't any sign of her, no one had called to request for a ransom and her father was the most affected by the news. He'd made sure to visit all the television networks available and put up the news of her abduction, also adding a humongous reward to whomever was willing to find his eldest daughter.

Amanda stared at the large flat screen TV on her bedroom, her mind not totally on what the lady in the news was saying. It seemed like she was no longer in this Earth, she stared expressionlessly at the television, eye bags underneath her eyes, hair, disheveled and face, all blotchy, eyes reddened and puffy and her nose was also reddened.

She appeared to be like a breathing corpse, she wasn't saying anything. Even when she was spoken to, she wouldn't say anything. She was traumatized by everything. Her best friend went missing and no one knows if she'd okay or even dead by now, and her cousin was fighting for his life in a hospital, in coma.

She was stressed out by the news, her head pounding with so many scenarios of what Chioma must be going through. She didn't even have her best friend by her side to at least comfort her, she needed Chioma by her side - especially at a time like this. But instead, she was no where to be seen, probably being tortured by the cruel bastards that kidnapped her.

Suddenly, her mind went to Chioma's parents. And Amara. She wondered how they must be feeling about the entire thing and she hadn't even called to know how they were. She was too emotionally downcast to even eat, let alone talk to anyone. She couldn't even sleep well last night she'd cried all through the night the minute they got home and woke up with a splitting headache in the morning. Her parents were worried about her but didn't know how else to try calming her down, and even her boyfriend; Ade, had tried calling and for the first time ever, she ignored his calls. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.

She wasn't mad at him, or anyone in particular, she just needed some time alone, some time to herself. To gather her thoughts and put herself together, but turns out: she wasn't quite doing a good job in trying to calm down, she was doing the opposite. In fact, she was a hot mess, she hadn't even taken her bath and neither had she even eaten anything, nor drank anything.

With a sigh, she lay back on her bed, tears gathering in her eyes as she pulled the duvet over her body, snuggling into it and letting out a sob. Once again, her phone rang for the umpteenth time today and she need not to be told who was calling. It was Ade, trying once again to reach her. She knew he'd come over soon enough, to know what's wrong with her. He probably knew what was wrong with her cause the news of Chioma's kidnap was all over the news.

Feeling too drained to do anything else, and ignoring his calls once again, she closed her eyes and tried falling asleep, and in a matter of seconds, she was sound asleep. A hint of peace filling her, although for a very short time.

__________________________

Okayyyyy 😥💔 who else is pitying Amanda?😞

She's one of my favorite characters and I feel bad for her, so much. And Agozie?

I was surprised that a lot of you wanted him to die. Loooooollll!!! That made me worry on his behalf 😂

Anyways, what do you think will happen next?

Who do you think is responsible for all this?

What do you think will happen to Amanda?

And Amara 😩?? Girl must be feeling like a pile of poo right now...🧘🏾‍♀️

Her father? What do you think will be Femi's reaction?

Her mother's?

Truth be told, this chapter was really sad for me to write. My older sister literally threatened to stab me with a pen if Agozie dies😂😂 I had to take cover. The girl even threw a few books at me, crazy person. chidex2004, you're a handful 🤭😂😂😂

I was now confuseddddd!!!😂
See pen near my neck as I was typing and I had to spare his life😂...but who knows? I might change my mind😈😈😈
Muahahahahaaha!!!

Also, this is my longest chapter so far: 4444 words!!! I would've made it get to 5000 but I felt it'd be too long.

Want another chapter? Then please, PLEASE vote if you liked this one ☺️ and pleaseeeeee leave a comment. I see all of ya, esp. the silent readers. I see all the comments and votes and I really appreciate them. I try my best to reply comments, the ones I can. Just know that I see it all and I really appreciate them.

Also, it's time to parte!!!! 💅🏽💃🏾💃🏾💃🏾💃🏾💃🏾💃🏾This book just hit 25k+ reads, ohmygawd!!!😭😭😭😭 You guyssssss, thanks a million times!!!❤️❤️❤️💝💝💝 I can't stress how much your support gingers me to write further. Thank you all😘😘😘

This book is slowly drawing to an end and I'm sure you'll be happy to know that my next book will be a Teen Fiction. I won't disclose the name, yet. I'll do that at the end of this book and I'll need y'all to PLEASE help me decide which cover to use for it. Till then...

I can't wait to share it with you guys, but only after MTTSS is finally done. Love you guys so so muchhhh ❤️❤️❤️💝💝💝

PS: y'all are finally gonna meet Ade, again. I dunno if y'all remember meeting him at the beginning of the story but he'll make an appearance in the next chapter...🤭

Till my next update,
Bye...