The Complete Assassin Episode 4
written by kayemjay
“Doctor! Doctor!!” Steven screamed at the top of his voice.
A tall, fair-skinned lady walked into the room Steven was. She wore horn rimmed glasses and had a pleasant disposition.
“Steve, bring your voice down. This is a hospital. What is the matter?” She asked with a smile, walking towards the bed where Dorothea lay.
“She squeezed my hand and called Jeffery!” Steven exclaimed happily.
“Really? That is impressive. Move back a little Steven, I need to check her vitals.” The doctor said.
She took out her stethoscope, checking Dorothea’s heartbeat rate. She felt for pulse, pupil dilation and carried out other simple basic vital checks. She was done in a few minutes and turned to look at Steven who had great anticipation written all over his face.
“Your mother is gradually coming out of her coma. I was not expecting her to snap out this early, but this is good. Are you sure there is no one that we can call? Any family? Uncle, Aunt, anyone?” The doctor asked.
She had bent low now bringing herself to almost the same height as Steven, and holding him tenderly by the shoulders.
Steven shook his head slowly.
“Who is Jeffery?” The Doctor asked.
“Jeffery is my dad.” Steven replied.
“Oh dear. Come here.” The Doctor said, taking Steven into a long, warm embrace.
He had stopped crying since. He had come to realize that crying was not going to bring neither his dad nor his sister back. He remembered what his father always told him.
“Stevey boy. You are a man. No matter how old these women think they are, it is your duty to take care of them. Protect them, and be there for them.” His father had said, months ago.
Steven, along with the rest of the family had laughed over it, not knowing that he would need the advice sooner than they all realized. So he had determined to be a man. He had been by his mother’s side for three days now, barely eating nor sleeping. He didn’t shed a tear as he hugged the Doctor back. They disengaged.
“When your mother wakes up, it is important that the first thing she sees when she opens her eyes is you. Do you understand?” The Doctor asked.
Steven nodded.
“Good. If you need anything, just press the button okay? I will be with you in a flash.” The Doctor said rising.
Steven nodded again, watching as the Doctor shut the door noiselessly behind her.
*************
Two weeks flew past in a flash. Dorothea had finally come out of the coma after relapsing twice. Steven was always there for her. He never left her side. He had become very good friends with the female doctor who always brought gifts and beverages for him and Dorothea. His mother was eating and talking now, but it would be a long and arduous journey to get her back to the woman she once was. Even Steven doubted the possibility of that happening. They began to receive visitors regularly at the hospital when news filtered through that Dorothea had gotten out of the coma.
On one of the visiting days, they had so many visitors and Steven saw his mother smile for the first time since the incident. He felt so elated. Amongst the throngs of well-wishers was Detective Samson. The doctor saw him first and accosted him before he got to the patient and caused more harm than good.
“Coming here is not a good move Detective. The patient has just come through a major medical issue and having you around would not be good for her.” The Doctor said through clenched teeth.
“I just wanted to see how well she is doing. Since when did that become a problem?” Samson retorted.
The Doctor was about to reply when Steven spoke from behind her.
“Good Evening sir. Please did you bring my sisters?” Steven asked innocently.
“Ermmm…Err….I would ….” Samson started but was quickly cut off by the doctor.
“Steve dearie, why don’t you stay with your mother a little while longer? I promise to answer all the questions as soon as I escort Mr. Samson out of the premises. He was just leaving” The Doctor said, crouching and holding Steven by the shoulders, whilst glancing at the detective as she completed her sentence.
“Okay.” Steven said feebly, walking back to where his mum lay surrounded by well-wishers.
“Before I go, we have not been able to get any reasonable headway with the culprits in the murder of Jeffery and his daughter. State Divisional Headquarters have not given me access to the files I need to cross reference the clues and evidence we have gathered so far. I am rather handicapped.” Samson said to the doctor.
“So what’s the next step? Are you just going to let this case die? Just because you cannot obtain sufficient intel? What if this was your family? What would you do?” The doctor said, anger written all over her contorted face.
“I am going to keep trying, Doctor. Keep her safe.” Samson said, nodding his head at Dorothea who was laughing hard at a joke from her best friend.
“Unlike you, I am pretty good at doing my job. You have to leave now.” The Doctor said, walking him to the door.
Samson neither objected nor replied. He just walked out of the ward, wishing there was something more he could do.
THREE WEEKS LATER . . .
Steven was back in school after missing the opening week of resumption. He did not miss much as classes had not really started. The boarding school he attended had a flexible arrangement to provide extra classes if needed and he had totally subscribed to it. He knew that his father was dead. He suspected that his sister was too, although he was not really sure. He had been able to reunite with his younger sister, Stella. She now lived with a distant relative in the outskirt of town. Stella repeatedly kept asking to see her father, her mother and Sharon. All the time, Steven told her that if she behaved herself and scored good grades, he would take her to meet all of them.
If only she knew.
Steven’s constant succor lay in knowing that his mother was recuperating and doing well. She had partial amnesia and has lost her memories of the past few months. They kept coming back to her in flashes but she could not really place them. The doctor had told him that regaining her memory was inevitable and he had to be ready when the time came to be by his mother’s side. What he did not know was that the time would never come.
Deep in the middle of a very engaging calculus lesson on his third day in school, two men walked into the classroom interrupting the lesson. They wore black suits on top of white shirts and slim ties. They looked very sophisticated but also carried an aura of importance. They went straight to the teacher and spoke with him in low tones. A few minutes later, the two men stepped aside and the teacher addressed the class.
“Steven Kushimo!” The teacher yelled
Steven was taken by surprise. He was the least person in the class that could be wanted by men as these. What was it this time around? He wondered silently within him. He got up slowly, standing in the position of his chair. The whole class was as silent as an empty hall.
“Please follow these men. The principal is waiting for you outside the corridor. Pack your books.” The teacher said.
Steven did not say a word. He quietly packed his books, stuffed them in his knapsack, and joined the men as they exited the classroom. He met with the principal immediately he stepped out of the class.
“Good morning sir” Steven greeted politely, bowing his head
“Morning my boy. Walk with me to my office.” The principal said. It was more of a command than a request.
Steven obliged. He had no choice.
However, Steven was seriously concerned about what was really happening. He raked his brain to see if there was anything he had done wrong or anything that would warrant the principal coming himself to escort him to his office. Something was wrong. Steven could feel it. He just could not place it. He didn’t wait long to find out.
Steven and the three men walked the long corridor that led from his class till they got to the staircase. They went down the stairs and turned left, walking past the junior classes. Steven could feel eyes on him. Eyes of the junior students telling him in sheer mockery, that he was in trouble. He caught a few stares and noted a few faces. He made a mental note to deal with them later.
They got to the administrative block and eventually to the principal’s office. The office was tastefully furnished. There was a long leather armchair sitting by the wall to the right, and a fine rectangular table smack in the middle of the big office. He had a mini library in three average sized shelves behind his chair, with half of the books missing. There was a water dispenser by his left with the dispenser bottle covered with some sort of cotton fabric. Every inch of the floor was covered with very soft red rug. The office seemed too comfortable for official duties yet, every student dreaded it.
“Sit, Steven.” The Principal ordered, settling in a reclining chair and pointing to a seat on the other side of the table which now separated them.
Steven obeyed. He could not wait to hear what crime he had committed.
Turning to the two impeccably dressed men who had interrupted Steven’s class earlier, the principal said,
“Could you please give us a minute?”
The men turned and went out of the office.
There were no footsteps, so Steven had no doubts in his mind that they were directly outside the door.
The Principal cleared his throat. Steven braced himself for the worst.
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