Chapter 15: Chapter 15

"This movie cracks me up every time" Darrell chuckled taking out 'The gods must be crazy' disc out of the DVD.

"Do you want to watch something else Halal?" he asked her but got no reply. Darrell turned away from the television to look at her and saw that she'd dozed off on the couch.

She looked so peaceful in her sleep that he didn't want to wake her up, who knew the last time she got any sleep. He looked at the antique clock he'd gotten from New Orleans currently hung in his living room. It was past eight, he remembered Halal saying that her husband had travelled out of Lagos this morning. So that meant there would be no problem if he didn't wake her up and left her to sleep in his house.

He sighed and moved to her, lifting her off the plush cushion carefully. He took her in his arms, into his guest room and placed her on the bed, she curled in the most feline way and let out a yawn.

"Good night Halal" he muttered before switching off the lights. As he walked into his own room, he wondered what he would do about his current friendship with Halal.

He couldn't help but feel drawn to her, that didn't mean he'd forgotten what she'd done in the the past. He wanted to forget it but he couldn't, her marital status reminded him every time.

Halal was off limits, that's what his head whispered to him, his heart on the other hand was saying the opposite.

Who changed the sheets? Halal wondered the minute she woke up. It smelled so clean, almost clinical. Was she in the hospital again? She wondered quickly opening her eyes.

The decor was different, she wasn't at home and certainly not at the hospital. This was.....Darrell's house! She'd slept here. In his bed, she pressed her hand to her forehead feeling a little faint.

What happened? The last thing she remembered was the monkey and the white woman on the TV, they had been watching a movie when she fell asleep. She took in a deep breath before stepping out of bed.

What do you do when you wake up in your Ex's apartment, the walk of shame perhaps? No, the walk of shame didn't apply to this situation, she'd done nothing shameful with Darrell.

She walked over to the door and opened it, to her surprise Darrell was nearby. "Good morning" she muttered, her voice coming out weaker than she had expected, "Good morning" he smiled. "Here" he said handing her a bar of soap, a new toothbrush, a fluffy towel and a packet of bath sponge.

"Thanks" she smiled at his thoughtfulness before retreating into the room. A knock came through seconds later and she opened the door again. He cleared his throat "Leave your clothes on the bed before you go into the bathroom, they look a little rumpled. I'll have them ironed, do you have any preferences for breakfast?" He asked.

Halal shook her head, "Are you cooking?" she asked him. "No, I don't cook much these days. I'm going to pick up coffee and vegetable sandwiches at a nearby cafe. I'll be back in a few" Darrell responded.

"Ohhh, black coffee, lots of cream and plenty sugar. I want waffles instead of sandwiches" she grinned looking a little child like. "Sugar ant" he muttered before walking away.

Halal chuckled at the nickname she'd earned from her mother since she was a child, her heart warmed as she went back into the room.

When she got out of the bathroom, her sky blue silk pants and aqua blue top were already ironed and on the bed. He'd also left a brush, blue shoe lace, hair and body butter on the table.

She'd just tied up her hair when she heard the front door close. She got out of the room and walked to the living room, to her surprise it was Victoria who was in the living room and no sign of Darrell.

"What are you doing here?" Victoria asked horrified when she saw Halal. Her eyes were wide in shock and she gasped.

"I came to see Doctor Darrell, any problem with that?" Halal asked crossing her arms against her chest defensively.

"Is it appropriate for a married woman, to be here at a single man's house by this hour?" Victoria asked in a shrill voice.

Halal scoffed "Excuse me, what possibly could you know about being a married woman, miss?" she looked at Victoria in disbelief. Victoria threw her a look of disgust in return.

"I obviously know that no responsible married woman would be at another man's house by this time of the day. I wonder what your husband would say about this" Victoria said.

"I think her husband would want you to mind your own business" Darrell said standing in the door way.

Halal and Victoria looked at the door immediately, they hadn't heard him come in. He walked to Halal and handed her her coffee the way she liked in a Styrofoam cup and a disposable pack containing waffles.

"Doctor Darrell" Victoria eyed Halal with pure hatred before focusing her attention on Darrell. "What are you doing here, how do you even know my house?" Darrell asked.

"I have my ways, I came to get your laundry. Remember our talk about me replacing your fiancée" Victoria's vicious eyes found Halal's own.

Halal's eyes were wide, she didn't realize Darrell had a fiancée. Anyway she'd never asked because relationships was a sour topic for them.

"And I remember telling you to stop bothering me Victoria, I don't return the feelings you have for me. I do not like you, I can't stand you, I won't sleep with you. Get out of my house" Darrell said, all traces of politeness gone.

Victoria gasped now, looking at Darrell. "Fine, I'll see you at the hospital. Good bye Mrs Amity" she said turning on her heels. She walked to the door, and looked backward as if waiting for Darrell to change his mind and send Halal away instead. When Nothing happened, she huffed and walked away.

"I'm sorry about that, the girl is a pain in the butt" Darrell said. Halal tried to laugh but it came out falsely.

"I should go home, you have work to do and I....I have work to do at home also. Thanks for breakfast and everything else" Halal said.

She suddenly wished she had a job. When she'd married Valentino, he'd refused the idea of her having a job. It seemed fine then because he was barely away from her but now that she was always alone, she hated being unemployed.

"I would drop you off but your car is here" Darrell said with a smile.

"Yeah, I came with my car. I should probably go with it. Once again, thank you for the coffee, the waffles and the company. You're a good friend" Halal said.

Darrell grinned "Friend? You're mistaken Halal. I'm your doctor, and you're still my 'not so depressed now' patient" Darrell teased sipping his coffee.

Halal chuckled picking up her bag from his coffee table. "Thanks Doctor, I'll see you on Monday" Halal smiled and walked out of the house.

She brushed a tear drop away from her under eye the minute she walked out of the house. How was it possible that Darrell's new house felt more like a home compared to the house she'd been living in for years now?

And why hadn't Darrell ever mention that he was engaged? even his sister hadn't. She took out her phone from her bag to text Daria immediately.

'Are you at home? I'm on my way' she texted. Daria texted back the minute Halal turned on the ignition in her car. 'Yayyyy! Yes I'm home, please come with chocolate chips and chocolate ice cream' Daria texted.

Halal chuckled shaking her head, and they called her sugar ant.

"Your husband's test results are out. Honestly Halal, I can't fathom why your children keep dying. You two are very healthy and compatible, I'm going through some of the late Doctor Femi's files. I can't find anything about a problem, but I'm not giving up.  You don't have a problem with conceiving, then perhaps it's something the doctors missed while you were pregnant. There are toxics, substances and other things that are not suitable for all pregnancies.  Were you given vitamins when you were pregnant, or injections, doses?" Darrell asked watching Halal's face crumple.

"Yes, I have prenatal vitamins. Doctor Femi prescribed them, I don't take them anymore though" Halal said.

"Do you remember the name or can you describe what it looked like?" Darrell asked.

Halal nodded "Yes, it came in a brown container with a yellow lid. It was a nature made product" Halal said.

Darrell digested the information, "Were you given any other pills by late doctor Femi?" Darrell asked.

"Well, I have fertility pills. Conceive plus, I think it's in my bag right now" Halal said. She searched through her bag for it, and finally brought out the container. She handed it to him and watched him inspect it.

Darrell squinted "Hmmm, how long have you been on these pills?" Darrell asked.

"Since I started consulting Doctor Femi, he prescribed them and I got them at the hospital's pharmacy" Halal explained.

"How effective are these?" he asked curiously. "I wouldn't know, I conceived three years later after my first baby died" Halal said.

"You should have told him, it wasn't effective. I'll get you some other pills, you leave this here. I'll like to go through it's content" Darrell said.

Halal sighed "Alright, thanks" She wanted to tell him that despite the fact that she was consuming the fertility pills everyday, she wasn't pregnant because Valentino hadn't had sex with her.  That was probably too personal, she swallowed her thoughts.

"While you and your husband are trying for a new baby,  keep in mind that there are various positions that could enhance conception. You could google them, just keep an open mind. There are exercises also, try them" Darrell suggested.

Halal twisted her lips nervously, "Anything else?" she asked.

"I'll drop off your new pills in the evening, should I bring take outs when I'm coming?" Darrell asked.

Halal shook her head smiling, they always managed to spend everyday with each other. "I'll cook, I'm thinking of what to cook though. Any ideas?" she asked.

"Vegetable soup" Darrell grinned lazily.

"Nope, we had that two nights ago. How about Yam? Instead of egg sauce let's try garden eggs sauce. I saw this recipe the other day, seemed pretty easy" Halal suggested.

"Anything Mrs Chef, ever thought of starting up your own restaurant?" Darrell teased.

"I'm not that good, don't tease me" Halal grinned getting up. "I'll see you later, don't forget to bring dessert" Halal said playfully.

"I won't madame,  have a lovely day" Darrell said before looking back at the files on his table.

"You too" Halal muttered cheerfully and left his office.

Darrell was getting ready to close from the hospital when he heard a little noise in his office, he groaned in disgust.

"Rat, that's what has been eating up most of those files. Stupid vermin" he opened his drawer and took out a can of sulfur spray he'd stored for situations like this.  He opted to take matters into his own hands.

He wouldn't rest until the rat was hunted down and killed.  He looked under his table, beside the table and in the drawers but there was no sign of the rats only traces of it's handiwork.

He saw a tail by the cabinet, but it disappeared in a flash before he could spray it.  The head poked up under one of his important files,  he tried to spray the head again but he missed. "Stupid, lucky rat" he hissed.

He looked behind the cabinet and saw nothing. He was about to turn in another direction when his elbow hit a rack of files and cause them to fall down

"Well shit, now I have to clean this up" he murmured.

He decided to abandon his search for the rat and decided to arrange the files. That was when he saw it, a brown paper file that must have fallen from the rack behind the cabinet.

He saw Halal's name on the file and realized that it must be some of the late Doctor Femi's files. How come he'd not stored these files at the usual storage cabinet, was he hiding them?

"Damn it, stupid rat" he cursed just before Felicity entered into his office. "Darrell are you okay? I heard noises" she asked concerned.

"There is a freaking rat in my office, call pest control to get rid of it tomorrow. I'll be out all day" Darrell said catching his breath.

Felicity burst out laughing, "I thought something was genuinely wrong, It will taken care of chill out" Felicity said.

"Thanks" Darrell said shoving Halal's pills and a couple of files into his bag.  "I have to go, see you on Sunday" Darrell said.

Felicity nodded "So how is it going with you and Victoria?" Felicity asked.

Darrell frowned "Did you give Victoria my house address?" he asked irritated.

Felicity looked at him surprised "No,  she wouldn't even dare to ask me.  She must have gone through your personal items, she's crazy over you.  How come you don't find her attractive?" Felicity asked curiously.

"I do find her attractive, I'm not a blind man.  She's beautiful, but I hate bimbos. Victoria is dumb, and immature. I still wonder how she got a job here" Darrell said.

"She has connections with the right people. I did hear a rumor about you and Mrs Amity, is there something I should know?" Felicity asked.

"Halal is a patient, that's all.  Our business should be private, I'm tired of the gossips in this hospital!" Darrell yelled.

"Easy, I was just asking. So I know how to defend you when they start talking trash. Darrell you're my closest friend, please be careful with Halal. Her husband isn't a nice man,  he has anger issues. He and her late gynaecologist had issues till his death. I don't want you to have any problems here" Felicity warned.

"Thanks Felicity, I'm a big boy. I can handle my business myself, good night " Darrell said smiling.

"Good night" Felicity smiled and went away.

Darrell immediately wondered if Mr Amity some times took his anger out on his wife, did he hit Halal? He thought briefly.

The thought sent chills down his bones as he walked out of his office.