Hannah's Pov
Time: 5:06 AM
Location: Brooklyn Heights, NYC.
Date: November 2nd
6 missed calls and Nathan was yet to call back. I bit my lower lip as I called him again, this time via a normal call but he still didn't pick up.
We had spoken yesterday when he called, exactly 1pm my time.
"Hey Nathan. I was just calling in to check up on you. Is the fever so bad? Have you gotten some meds? I'm off to get ready for work. When you see this, please call me. Xoxo. Hannah."
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Time: 4:52 AM
Location: Brooklyn Heights, NYC.
Date: November 5th
"Nathan? Is anything the matter? I've not heard from you for a while? Are you fine? Are you mad at me? Please call back. I really miss you."
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Time: 7:22 PM
Location: Brooklyn Heights, NYC.
Date: November 16th
"Nathan, this silence is getting scary. Please pick up or call back. We need to talk urgently."
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Time: 11:23 PM
Location: Brooklyn Heights, NYC
Date: November 30th
I slammed the phone face down against the rug where I sat, frustration and hurt pricking hotly behind my eyes. For the eleventh time tonight, my call to Nathan went straight to voicemail.
"1,2,3," I whispered, trying to rein in my anger before picking the phone again and dialing his number again.
"Come on, Nathan," I whispered, wrapping one of my hands around my neck as I stared at the phone, wishing he'd actually just pick up.
I didn't get it. I didn't understand anything and I didn't want to think anything went wrong but it was so hard.
Nathan had always been so reliable, always there, always picking up. But now, a month has passed since I last heard his voice, four long weeks of silence.
I dialed his number again for the umpteenth time, listening to the rings. As usual I was directed once again to voicemail, by then, tears had begun to form in my eyes. "Nathan... Please, just call me back. I'm worried."
No response.
Hanging up, I laid face up and pressed my fingers to my temples, heaving heavily as I replayed our last conversation in my mind. He'd sounded tired that day, but he'd brushed it off when I asked about it. Had he been keeping something from me? Was it beyond the fever?
"No, he's fine," I said, rejecting the idea immediately. But for some reason, it left a seed of doubt sprouting in me.
"What if I was wrong?" I found myself asking, sitting up immediately and pulling my phone to myself.
I scrolled through my previous whatsapp messages with him, my thumb pausing over his last one. "I love you, Hannah. Take great care of yourself."
These words hit me like DEJA VU. Just like 16 years ago, when we were just teens.
"Just like when we were teens..." I repeated, remembering something. The last time he said these same words to me, his family moved away from Abuja to Lagos and we lost all communication for 4 years before we bumped in a meeting just a few weeks before I was to travel abroad for studies and consequently a job.
I could feel a headache coming from when I stood up abruptly, so much that I had to press my fingers against my temples. Apart from the fact that my mind was spinning, my hands felt cold, my breathing was rigid as different thoughts passed through my head.
Was he going somewhere else? I couldn't wait any longer. I had to know where he was going.
Without a second thought, I grabbed my phone and dialed the airline to book the next available flight back to Nigeria.
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Time: 4:03 PM (WAT)
Location: Lagos, Nigeria
Date: December 2nd
I pulled my trolley bag to the exit terminal where my younger brother was supposed to be waiting for me with the car.
"Hannah!" I heard someone call out as soon as I exited the airport. My head swerved towards the direction of the voice and I saw my younger brother, Harris, waving at me wildly. He was very happy.
A smile morphed on my face and I started running, ignoring the eyes of others, till I got to him and engulfed him in a bear hug.
"My goodness, I missed you," I gasped, tears of joy swimming in my eyes while he chuckled.
"I miss you too sis," Harris said, kissing the nape of my neck as he inhaled deeply.
When we finally broke the hug, I pressed his cheeks just like I had always done when we were younger. "Oh sister, stop it!" he protested, feigning anger. "I'm 21."
"And I'm 32," I returned and we broke out in laughter.
"Which is why, I need a nephew or niece ASAP," Harris said with a giggle. "Mom had started selecting different types of asoebi when you declared you were coming home."
"Where's Harriet?" I asked, changing the topic immediately.
"Her period came so she had to stay back." Harris and Harriet were my younger siblings and they were twins. Although we came from different mothers, Mrs Dewunmi had always treated me like her first child ever since my dad, a half cast, had to remarry when my mom died.
"Let us go then, I'm very eager to meet mom and dad and Harriet."
The journey home was long and it gave me time to think. Harris left me to my thoughts as he enjoyed songs from… Burna boy, my sweet 16 crush. I literally crushed on him for weeks.
I blushed remembering the crazy things I did then until I stumbled on a memory of me crying when I found out that Burna boy had a woman in his life and Nathan telling me that it was okay to crush on celebrities.
I bit back a laughter but I couldn't stop the wild smile that lit up my face.
Mom was literally the one who opened the gate for the car. She was so happy to see me. I guess that's what happens when you've not seen your daughter for the past 12 years.
Harriet was next, she had a lot of things to tell me but managed to whisper to me that Harris was dating someone before Dad pulled me in for a bear hug as he muttered a Yoruba that I was sure mom taught him.
"Ọmọ dada," he began, patting my back lovingly. "I missed you so much."
Mom had a lot of things to say over dinner and of course, she didn't miss the conversation of getting married.
That night as I went to bed, I realized how badly I wanted a life with Nathan. The next few days were spent attending functions as mom was so eager to introduce me to many of her friends
Apart from that, I knew she secretly hoped that I'd meet someone and hit things up with him.
"Mom!" I called out, pulling on a pair of leather boots. "Mom, I'm leaving. I'll be back in the evening!"
I waited for her reply and when she did, I grabbed my black clutch and her car keys and left. Opening the car GPS, I typed in the location and the map showed up.
It was a forty minute drive from where I was.
Just as I was about to drive out, Harriet rushed out. She wanted to go with me as a bid to escape the upcoming event that mom was hosting.
I obliged her reluctantly and she joined me in the car. She had a lot of things to say making the ride to Nathan's place extremely eventful.
We stopped to buy a lot of things on the road and 'dare I say' my sister was a shopping maniac.
I slowly pulled in front of the estate where Nathan had told me he lived. We were stopped by the security men who wanted to know where and who we were looking for.
"Mr Nathan Akinleye. Phase 2, Block A, House 16," I responded, ignoring my sister giggles after finding out I was going to see a man.
"Okay," the security man said, punching some buttons on the telephone. "Name ma'am?"
"Hannah George. And my sister, Harriet George," I responded curtly while he nodded.
I didn't hear the consequent conversations he had with whoever he was on the call with as I was deep in thought, running over the lines of the apology I had so meticulously rehearsed.
We were soon let go in after giving us some directions. It wasn't hard to find the building but as I approached, a young man stood in front of the gate waving me down.
"Hannah right?" he asked, as soon as I winded down. I nodded. "My name is Tunde, Nathan's friend and neighbor."
"Oh yes, I've heard about you," I acknowledged, flashing a small smile at him. "I came to see Nathan."
"Tegah told me," he said. "Nathan is not here currently, so I wanted to take you to see him."
"Oh, thanks a bunch," I said, gesturing to him to come in. Harriet took my cue and exited the front seat and sat behind while Tunde settled in her previous position.
The directions Tunde gave, led us to a private hospital and for the first time, I asked him the question that had long been on my mind. "Where is Nathan?"