Chapter 16: Chapter 16

Victoria stalked Darrell's instagram account for the better part of her evening before moving on to Halal's.

Halal, the woman was turning out to be a serious thorn in her flesh, she wondered if they were together right now, Halal and Darrell. The both of them were like Siamese twins these days, and they were acting like lovers not the usual doctor and patient relationship.

"Doesn't she have a husband? Stupid slut" Victoria hissed glaring at a picture of Halal on her instagram profile. "Can you imagine, a married woman dragging my man with me?" she scoffed, she wanted so desperately to teach Halal a lesson.

Smirking as she stalked Halal's followers on instagram, an idea formed in head. "Someone should tell her husband what she's been up to, the poor man probably thinks his wife is faithful to him, but who could possibly tell him what she's been up to?" She smirked when her eyes settled on the instagram handle of Tino_Amity, Halal's husband.

"Nice house, nice decor. Could you turn down the air conditioner though?" Darrell requested, as Halal asked him to sit in her living room.

"Why?" she looked at him quizzically. He looked at her in disbelief "Halal, I know I stayed abroad for some years but that doesn't mean I'm a snowman now, it's freezing in here. How do you even live like this?" Darrell asked.

"Years of preparing myself for life in London" she smirked, turning down the air conditioner. Darrell smiled sadly, remembering why she hadn't gone to London after all.

Halal saw the expression on his face and decided to dwell on better memories "You know I still have that winter coat, it's buried somewhere in one of my suit cases. It's a pity I didn't get to use it" Halal said playing with her earrings. There was a distant look on her face on her face as she spoke.

Darrell cleared his throat not wanting to dig up memories "Will you like to go to a party with me on Thursday?" he asked.

"Oooh, finally some excitement. I was getting bored of sitting around with my lame doctor, Where is this party?" she asked sitting beside him.

"Lame doctor? Take that back Halal, I'm the only reason there's excitement in your boring house wife life" Darrell teased.

Halal rolled her eyes, a playful pout on her lips. "Are you going to tell me about this party or not doctor excitement?" she asked pertly.

It's nothing exciting, the hospital is organizing it for it's staff. It's actually very formal, there's a dress code. Black and white, can you imagine? I don't know who came up with something so formal. I also haven't gotten the venue yet, I'll keep you posted" Darrell informed her while loosening his tie.

As she watched him, she suddenly wished he was her husband and not Valentino. It was so easy to fall back in love with him, to fall back into this routine of being with him everyday. Then she remembered he was engaged, he still hadn't mentioned it to her yet and she hadn't asked.

She decided not to bring it up yet, she wanted to enjoy the little time she had with him before his fiancée surfaced. At times she wondered what this fiancée of his looked like, if she was white, or mixed race, or even African. What did that even matter anyway? The woman was lucky, Darrell was hers.

"What are you thinking of, you look so worried?" Darrell observed pulling her out of the deep hole she'd fallen into.

"I just...I'm thinking of you" Halal said wistfully. Darrell smiled and wiggled his eyebrows playfully. "Good thoughts I hope" he said.

"Darrell, thank you." she said with a small smile playing on her lips.

Darrell looked at her confused "For inviting you to some lame party the hospital is organizing?" he asked amused.

"No" she moved closer to him, her face a breath away from his. "Thank you for being my friend, you and Daria. I don't know what I'd do without you two" Halal said a sad smile clouding her expression.

Darrell sighed and nodded "You've done a lot for us in the past too. Much more Halal, you made a lot of sacrifices for me, for Daria also." Darrell said.

"It was nothing" Halal whispered. Darrell shook his head, countering her statement. "It was everything, you did a lot for us, you even sold the expensive watch your aunt gave to you for petty cash, because I didn't have enough money to pay for my tuition" Darrell reminded her.

Halal smiled "I wasn't going to wear the watch anyway, I was planning to give it you. Selling it then was a better option and it was worth it, you got an offer to go to the US after you graduated and now you've achieved everything you dreamed. I'm proud of you, and I'm proud of Daria too" Halal said.

The sincerity in her eyes touched his core "I haven't achieved it all but thanks" Darrell smiled.

"I'm going to do whatever it takes to help you Halal, whatever it takes. I want you to be happy and fulfilled." Darrell promised.

Halal nodded before getting up "Dinner is getting cold, come on. Let's go, I'll put some velvet cupcakes in the refrigerator so we can have it later for dessert" Halal said not wanting to think much about her loss.

"So will you be my da...plus one for the party, Halal?" Darrell asked.

"Of course doctor Darrell, wouldn't want you to be all by yourself in the midst of the sharks" Halal teased him knowing how uncomfortable he felt around the nurses at his hospital, especially Victoria.

Darrell chuckled amused, those women were indeed sharks, he followed her out of the living room and into the nook where the dining table was situated.

Darrell sat beside her, watching her dish out cubes of boiled yam into his plate. He felt a deep sense of loss as she placed the plate before him.

Halal had been his, he couldn't help but feel like he too had played a big role in their separation.

It was past eleven when Darrell eventually got home from dinner at Halal's. He was about to call her and inform her that he'd gotten home safely when his phone rang.

He checked the caller, it was his friend who had a laboratory at Alesh. Instead of running the tests at the hospital's lab, he'd opted for his friend's laboratory because he felt the staffs at his hospital lab were incompetent.

"Hello Steven, what's up?" Darrell asked wiping his brows.

"Hey, Darrell. I've been trying to reach you for hours now, It's about the samples you sent to me, there's something odd about some of  the samples you sent to me. Come over to the laboratory tomorrow, let's talk" Steven said.

Darrell held his breath before replying "Alright, I'll see you in the morning" Darrell said.

"Good night man" Steven said and ended the call. Darrell closed his eyes briefly, he wondered what Steven had found.