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AARON ANSAH-AGYEMAN

DARK LIGHT

A ChrisEffe Bliss

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The Author

EPISODE 6

 

Rupert Henderson came out of the mall where he had gone to buy water, orange juice, and two fish pies.

Working on the drug case was hectic and he barely found the right time to eat. The mall stocked items he was used to so he normally stopped over to buy food whenever he was hungry and close enough to the mall.

His black Mercedes was parked in front of the mall and as he walked towards it a small Uber car stopped just behind his parked car. The back door opened and a young, beautiful woman literally jumped out.

She looked agitated as she dashed into the mall.

Rupert recognized her, and so he waited for her.

 

He did not know why he waited for her, but he did not bother to delve too deeply into his motives. He opened the backdoor of his car, put his little package in the backseat, and waited for her.

Rupert noticed that the Uber car’s engine was idling too. The driver craned his head to look at him.

“Heroo, sah!” he said in heavily-accented English. “I brock you?”

Rupert raised his eyebrows in confusion.

“I mean has my carl brocked you?” the man asked.

It took a moment for it to dawn on Rupert that he was asking if his car had blocked his exit.

 

“Oh, no, your car hasn’t blocked me at all,” he said with an amused smile. “Actually, I’m waiting for your passenger. I know her.”

“Oh, hokay sah!” the young man said with a broad smile.

The woman emerged from the store just then. She was holding a white polythene bag with some fruits in it. She moved towards the Uber car but Rupert quickly intercepted her.

Eyram looked at him warily for a moment before a wan smile crossed her face.

“I know you,” she said, forcing brightness into her voice. “You’re the one Jon Afful introduced to me. Wait a minute…Rupert, right?”

He smiled and wondered why he was feeling a little happy inside that she remembered his name.

 

“Yeah, Eyram,” he said. “Hope I pronounced that right.”

“You did,” she said with a wan smile again. “Great meeting you again, Rupert. But, unfortunately, it’s a bad time for me. I’m sorry but I have to be on my way. My sister is on admission at the Eden Hospital. She has been on admission for a week now.”

“Oh, so sorry to hear that,” Rupert said with genuine concern. “I’m on my way to the station and I’ll pass right by the hospital. Why don’t you let me take you there? You’ll save some Uber money, get to ride in an air-conditioned car plus spend some fifteen minutes with me.”

She looked directly into his eyes for a few precious seconds.

“Rupert, I’m not going to allow you to fuck me, okay?” she said directly. “I’m not that kind of girl.”

 

Rupert was taken aback by her directness, but he was not offended. He laughed softly and shook his head.

“I’m not seeking to that, Eyram,” he said gently.

“Then what’s this all about?” she asked softly. “You’re South African, and I’ll be blunt with you and say I’m not going to settle down in South Africa. So, I’ve noticed the way you look at me anytime you see me but I don’t see it really going anywhere.”

“Well, point of correction, my parents are both South African but I was raised in England, so I hold dual citizenship. I stayed in South Africa till I was about eight or nine, but since then my life has been in England, and basically involved moving around a lot because of my work.”

She smiled wanly at him again.

 

“South Africa, England, means the same to me,” Eyram said softly. “I’m not staying in either country. Got to be near my Mom now, you know, and my family. I’ve never fancied relationships where I have to go and live outside Ghana.”

He nodded once.

“Listen, Eyram, I won’t deny that I find you attractive and…I don’t know how to put it, but I find you kinda disturbing too. I do respect and appreciate your candour. So, here’s the deal. Let me drop you off, and we will take it from there. It might or might not work out but, whatever this is, let’s take it as it rolls, okay?”

She shrugged.

“Okay, but I want you to have that understand,” she said gently. “My next fuck would be on my wedding night. I’ve had enough of useless relationships.”

He laughed gently.

“I understand.”

 

A few minutes later her things were transferred to the backseat of his car and she was riding with him through the streets of Takoradi in his sleek car.

“Sorry about your sister again,” he said. “Twin sister, right?”

“Yep,” she replied. “She’s the more famous and prettier edition.”

“Well, famous, sure, but as for prettier, lemme be the judge of that,” he said as he looked at her briefly. “What happened to her?”

She looked extremely sad for a moment.

 

“Nobody really knows,” she responded painfully. “She’s been on admission for a week now. She collapsed at home last week after she’s been to the hospital and had some tests done. But everything panned out okay from the tests. The doctors don’t really know what’s happening to her but it seems something – viral, they suspect – is tearing her down. When she was admitted she was so weak, but it has gotten worse. She can’t move any part of her body now. She’s paralyzed from the neck down.”

“Oh, damn!” he said, horrified. “Oh, that’s so bad to hear! I’m so sorry!”

She nodded miserably and put trembling fingers to her lips.

“Five specialists are attending to her but she’s getting weaker,” Eyram said tearfully. “Two days ago, she began losing her sight. She can barely see anything now and still, they can’t tell us exactly what is going on!”

Rupert reached out suddenly and squeezed her left hand gently.

 

“She’ll be fine, Eyram,” he said. “I’m not much of a religious man, but I believe God is gonna come through for her. Don’t worry so much.”

“Thank you, Rupert,” she said gratefully.

“You’re welcome,” he said. “You’re a nurse, right? Saw you in uniform the last time you passed by the station.”

“Yes, I am, but I took my annual leave to be close to Effe,” she said hurriedly.

“That’s good,” he said with a smile. “Listen, tomorrow afternoon I’ll be off too. I’ll take a little break. Can I come over? Maybe do lunch and…talk?”

She looked at his face searchingly for a moment, and then she nodded.

“Sure, why not. Just give me a call first.”

 

“Would be nice to have your number first, I guess,” he said.

She chuckled and picked up a pad with a clipped pen on the dashboard. She scribbled her number on the top portion of the top sheet.

“You have it now,” she said.

He smiled at her.

“Thanks, Eyram. I’ll definitely see you tomorrow!”

***

After dropping off Eyram, Rupert remembered suddenly that Jonathan Afful had asked him to look up Effe’s fiancé.

When he got to the office, he fished out the sheet of paper Jonathan had given him. He tapped his fingers against the surface of the desk as he stared at the name on it: Steve Hollison.

He simply could not come to grips with the fact that Effe could just suffer such a sudden debilitating breakdown. After a while, he lifted the receiver of a phone on his desk and punched an extension number.

“Yes, sir?” a mischievous female voice answered.

“Come here for a sec, Barbara,” he said softly.

 

“Yes, sir, a moment.”

 A short while later, a female operative in a grey suit and a white blouse underneath entered. She smiled warmly at Rupert.

“How’re you, Barbara?” he asked as he held out the sheet of paper to her.

Barbara Perkins was an IT expert and in charge of their electronic queries.

“I’m good, Rupes,” she said with a smile.

“I want everything you can pull out on that guy, please,” Rupert said with a warm smile. “It is a personal query, please. Keep it between us.”

“I understand, Rupes,” she said and looked at him with a suggestive smile on her face. “I’m alone this weekend.”

He looked at her and smiled sheepishly.

 

They had been in a no-strings-attached sexual relationship. Recently, however, she had started a relationship with a young attache at the British Embassy. She had told Rupert she no longer wanted to sleep with him.

Rupert had been surprised that he was hurt a little but he moved on.

Her boyfriend sometimes travelled to England on official trips, and Barbara took the chance to get Rupert back under the sheets.

He did not really like it. He had always frowned on cheating of any sort. It had been different when Barbara had been single but now the whole ball game had changed, and Rupert felt really uncomfortable about sleeping with her.

And then, suddenly, here was Eyram.

 

Nothing was concrete yet but he could feel the undercurrents and knew that somehow Eyram’s opinion of him mattered. Well, it was time to have a talk with Barbara. He would see her over the weekend, yes, but he would make it plain that it was over between them.

“Sure, Barbara,” he said gently. “I’ll see you.”

She made a shuddering gesture with a lecherous smile and then walked out of his office.

***

Eyram entered the Executive Female Ward on the third floor.

It was a comfortable room. The bed was a little bit bigger than the standard ward beds. There was a little refrigerator, three deep armchairs, a wardrobe and a television. At the foot of the bed were two steel-backed chairs.

At the head of the bed were an array of medical equipment, monitors and a screen. Against the wall were many bouquets of flowers brought by fans and well-wishers who had not been allowed to see Effe.

The news of Effe’s sudden illness had shocked the country and beyond.

Messages and prayers for her kept pouring in. The airwaves and social media were filled with a constant buzz of her condition.

 

Eyram paused just inside the room and took a deep breath.

There were three people in the ward.

Her parents were sitting on the steel-backed chairs. Her mother was leaning forward with her hands on Effe’s feet, her expression shattered and miserable.

The third person in the room was Steve Hollison.

He was leaning against the wall near the window. His coat was lying on one of the armchairs and his tie was unknotted. The top two buttons of his sky-blue shirt were undone. There was a look of anguish and distress on his face as he looked at Effe.

 

Eyram moved towards the refrigerator and unpacked the supplies she had brought. Tears came to her eyes when she saw that the refrigerator was still filled with other unused provisions.

She then moved towards the bed. She took one look at her sister and came to a complete stop as her heart thudded with such acute horror that she almost stopped breathing!

There was something very wrong with Effe!

In the morning, before Eyram left the ward, apart from the fact that Effe looked a little thinner and paralyzed from the neck down, there had really not been any sign of any physical deformity on her.

But that had changed!

 

Effe’s face was now a macabre mask!

Her lips were twisted severely to the right and her nose had become swollen and out of proportion with the rest of her face! Her eyes seemed to be protruding rather horribly out of their sockets and were coloured a sickly greenish tinge!

Effe stared at Eyram with great sorrow and tears slowly fell down each side of her eyes.

“What is this?” Eyram wailed in great anguish. “What’s happening to Ef? Why is her face twisted like that? What happened to her eyes? Oh, God, God, God! What is this?”

She was becoming hysterical and Steve moved quickly to hold her.

 

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Premium Story: A ChrisEffe Bliss :: DARK LIGHT :: EPISODE 5

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