Song: No Kissing – Patoranking ft. Sarkodie

*Unedited* (Sorry for the delay. I've just been being a downer and convincing myself the book was bad)

Michael was attached to more machines than I'd been attached to when I was in the hospital. According to the doctor, he had so much smoke in his lungs that he might not make it to twenty-nineteen.

I wanted to go outside and kill all the birds that were chirping happily like it was a great day. I had his hand clutched firmly in mine, praying to the God that had abandoned me a long time ago that he'd make it.

I couldn't be without Michael. He was ninety percent of my whole life, and it was horrible that it took his near death for me to realise that. I didn't care about Mr. Faye or Mr. Mark anymore. The chief was dead and I was no longer a captive of Mr. Faye's son.

When Michael wakes up, we'll go back to the village and get married. I would forget about everything else. My education, my dreams, they didn't compare to him. He was all that mattered. He was the only thing that mattered.

Wolfgang came inside Michael's hospital room holding a tin foil pack. He crouched in front of me and touched my knee. "You need to eat." He said.

I shook my head. "I need him."

His long dark lashes framed his beautiful eyes. He looked so peaceful while asleep, but the sight of him like that, looking like he'd never see the sun rise again, it made my heart hurt. He had to wake up. I didn't know what I'd do if he didn't. I didn't know if I could live if he didn't.

"Do you think he'd want to wake up if you're not here? According to you, you're all he has left. He won't want to live in a world where he has nothing left."

I chuckled sadly. "Great point. Leave it on my lap, I'll get to it soon."

"You won't." He said. "Come with me right now."

I shook my head as the tears spilled over. "I can't leave him."

What if he was gone by the time I got back? What if I wouldn't have the chance to say goodbye? What if he woke up and was looking for me, but then realised I didn't care enough to stay? I couldn't do that to him. He was my everything, and now, I hoped I could be his.

"Dammit Elorm, stop being so stubborn. It's not like if you leave him for a second, he'll die."

"You don't know that."

"I do know that. It's not you that's keeping him alive. Don't be delusional."

I glared at him. "If you came here just to be like Kofi, you had better leave now."

"I should bring Kofi. He's always able to get you to do things."

"I don't want to see that son of a gun here. If I do, I promise you, I'll kill him." I spat. I hated Kofi so much more after he tried to stop us from using his car. How dare he try and leave Michael to die?

"Big talk for someone with a broken leg and ribs."

"Try me." I was serious about it. If anyone tried to get between Michael and I, well, I'd get between them and life.

He sighed exasperatedly and rubbed his face. "Kofi told me that you've been starving yourself. Why?"

I scoffed. "He's such a gossip."

"Oh, I noticed. You're a skeleton compared to when I first met you."

"Maybe it's because I had my freedom snatched from me. Maybe it happened when Kofi decided to leave me at the mercy of the elements with no food for nearly three days!"

It was so annoying how Kofi could come and act like he cared when he's maltreated me more in these few days than I'd been maltreated in my life. He made me so angry; I felt murderous whenever I thought of him.

He looked at me for the longest time, but I ignored him because Michael stirred.

"Michael." I whispered. There was no response for the longest time, but my heart was beating so loudly and quickly that it was resonating in my head. He had to wake up. He had to see the new year, he had to see me. Maybe, even if he could just open his eyes and see me, he would be motivated to come back.

"Michael, ple–" I was cut off by the pressure I felt in my hand. He was squeezing my hand.

I laughed cheerfully, with tears freely running down my cheeks and buried my face onto his shoulder. "I knew you wouldn't leave me." I couldn't explain how good that moment felt. My heart was still racing, but out of sheer happiness.

He had a mask over his face, supplying him with oxygen so he couldn't talk. He opened his eyes slightly, but closed them again. Suddenly, his grip went limp.

My smile faded so quickly that I felt like a snake. "Michael," I tapped his chest.

The machine monitoring his heartbeat went crazy.

"Michael!" If I was attached to one of those, I'm sure mine would be beeping even faster and louder than his was.

Almost immediately, a doctor and two nurses burst into the room. I was grateful that they were so quick because I knew that his life would be saved if they were fast enough, but I knew that their arrival would mean that I would have to leave. I didn't want to leave.

"Elorm, we need to go." Wolfgang grabbed my hand.

"No. I can't leave." I protested, snatching it away from him and cradling Michael's face.

The nurses were on Wolfgang's side. They made sure to kick me out of the room and draw the curtains over the glass doors before they went over to him.

I kicked with my good leg and screamed, crying my throat hoarse, but they didn't let me in. Wolfgang had his arms around me and was dragging me away from Michael's room.

"Elorm, get a grip over yourself!"

"Leave me alone!"

A nurse headed over to us and threatened to kick me out, reminding me that this was a hospital and I couldn't make noise.

I spat on her face.

Very inappropriately, Wolfgang started laughing and soon, we were both thrown out of the hospital.

"I'm not leaving until he gets better," I settled down in the car after yelling at, scratching and biting the security.

"You're crazy," Wolfgang laughed, but he sobered up quickly, "I wish someone loved me like this."

I rolled my eyes. "Stop thinking about yourself. He might not make it to twenty-nineteen, oh my goodness."

The thought had tears forming tiny rivulets at my chin. I didn't even want to think about what I would do if he didn't make it. Even if he hated me, he had to make it. It would be better seeing him with Diamond or anyone else than dead.

"He will. I promise you that he will," he said, pulling me into a hug.

"And if he doesn't?" I whispered, the thought being too painful to even say out loud.

"I never go back on my promises."

My stomach decided to ruin the moment, gurgling hungrily. I laughed sadly, then took the pack of food from Wolfgang. I ate all the chicken and a little rice because I didn't have much of an appetite.

"So where are we going now? The penthouse? Ideal, because it's not too far from here."

"What are you talking about? I'm staying here until Michael gets better."

"Oh no," Wolfgang groaned, resting his forehead on the wheel.

I ignored him and crossed my arms, wondering if his heart was back to normal already.

"Okay what if you want to take a shower?"

I glared at him. "I'm not leaving for even a minute!"

"You've been banned from the hospital!"

"Temporarily!" I yelled back.

He groaned again. "He wouldn't want to wake up to a smelly Elorm."

"Let's hope my putrid smell disturbs him so much that he'll be forced to wake up."

He laughed after that. "Why don't you wake him up with a pleasant smell instead?"

"No, bad smells are more effective."

Wolfgang sighed.

The hospital let me back in that evening so that I could spend the last minutes of the year with him.

When it got to ten seconds left for the year to end, I counted down with him, even though he probably couldn't hear me. "Three, two, one..." There was cheering and the loud sounds of fireworks when I pressed my lips to his. "Happy new year, my love." I started crying again when he didn't open his eyes.

I really thought he would. I thought maybe, the magic of the new year coupled with true love's kiss would wake him up, but it turns out that I had watched too many fairy-tales. I fell asleep on his shoulder after that.

A nurse woke me up. She had come to kick me out because 'visiting hours were over', like we were in a boarding school or a prison. I really wanted to slap her flesh away, but I didn't want to be banned again because that would be permanent.

I left and went to Wolfgang's car. He'd gone to shower and change his clothes, and he got us food.

"I'm honestly surprised you left willingly." He commented, laughing when he handed me my tin foil pack.

It was yam chips, hot pepper and grilled tilapia. "My third favourite. How did you know?"

"I didn't actually. But I do now," he winked.

I turned away uncomfortably, unwilling to flirt with another person when the love of my life was fighting for his life. We ate in silence, but I couldn't eat much so I finished the fish and began to play with the remaining yams.

"So you eat only protein now or what? You're going to get kwashiorkor."

"I'm not in the mood, okay? Leave me alone," I told him.

He exhaled.

"Do you know when the next visiting hours are?"

"At this point, you're obsessed."

I glared at him. "And so what? Just answer the question."

He shook his head. "Visiting is not until tomorrow. They only allowed you to spend yesterday with him because it was the last day of the year."

"You're saying 'allowed' like he's a prisoner."

"The doctors know what's best for him. Some people hear what goes on in real life even when they're in a coma, you bein–"

"What do you mean? He's not in a coma, he's just asleep. Don't say such stupid things," I spat.

He exhaled exasperatedly and shook his head. "I thought you cared when Kofi was sick, but compared to this–"

"I didn't care about him. I don't, and I never will."

"He's gone. You won't have to worry about him. I tried to talk to him about you but immediately I said your name, he got so angry that I thought he would try to kill me."

"Good."

"Just when I thought you two were finally starting to get along."

"I thought so too, until he had to go and become a stupid idiot."

"But on the real, you have to get away as soon as you can. My father will know by now that one of his businesses was destroyed. Michael, you, Kofi, you're all in danger."

I laughed. "So that's why he left? What a coward."

"Will you stop it!" He bellowed.

I was surprised, to say the least. "Don't yell at me."

"Kofi has suffered so much at the hands of that man. If I were him, I would do the same. You should be scared too. If he finds you, you're dead. There's no two ways about it."

I frowned. "I can't move Michael."

"Then why don't you go into hiding? Let me worry about Michael."

"You're crazy if you think I'm going to leave without Michael."

He looked at me and shook his head in a teasing manner. "You really think you're all powerful, don't you? Whether you're with Michael or not, what's going to change?"

"Well, in one scenario, I'm not with him. In the other, I'm with him. I believe that's a change."

"Ha. Funny."

"It wasn't supposed to be funny. I'm serious."

He rolled his eyes, exhaled and hit his wheel repeatedly out of frustration. I side-eyed him with a bored expression, then lay my head on the window, my thoughts automatically going to Michael.

"Well I can't leave you to your fate because I have feelings for you!"

I continued to look at the road and think about Michael, pretending like I didn't hear him.

"Elorm. Elorm!"

Silence.

"What is this? Clearly not love! Heck, you're in love with the idea of love, it's making you crazy!"

I turned to him sharply. "Don't you dare say that I don't love him. I love him so much that it hurts! I love him only."

"That's it." He automatically locked all the doors.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

He sparked the car. "Taking you to safety."

"Not you kidnapping me again."

"I will do what needs to be done." He drove off.

All I saw was red. I was completely ready to lunge at him and bite his hands off, but before I could, he stopped the car. "Just so that you don't try anything foolish."

I didn't see it coming. The world faded away.

* * *

I woke up to arguing. I wasn't too frightened when I opened my eyes and saw surroundings I was familiar with. The Louis Vitton sheets were comforting. What wasn't comforting though was the three grown men arguing over me.

Kofi had wet hair, like he'd just stepped out of the shower. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and a pair of grey sweats. "I've already told you that I won't have her at my house. I feel like dad already knows the roll I played in the chief's death. Harbouring her is just a death sentence."

Wolfgang was wearing a grey hoodie and he looked so tired. He had dark circles beneath his gorgeous eyes. "We can't just leave her. Dad is going to kill her."

Nathan was wearing a button up shirt. He had pulled the sleeves to his elbow and about three of the buttons were undone. His curly hair was resting on his shoulders as he said, "I agree with Wolfgang."

"She wants to die! Who are you guys to get in the way of that? Her body, her rules!"

My head hurt. I couldn't really remember what happened before I came here, but I vaguely remembered saying those words.

"You have to be joking," Nathan spat.

"What are you even doing here? You're not allowed in my house," Kofi retorted.

"Kofi, please calm down. Why are you even so angry?" Wolfgang asked him.

"Because! You two know how much dad hates me, yet you bring someone who doesn't even want our help to my house. You both are so selfish!"

"I know why he's angry," Nathan crossed his arms, "it's because he feels that we somehow like her more than we like him. He's angry because we never lifted a hand to help him when he was being abused, but we're helping a stranger this much."

Kofi faced him. "Oh, so now you can talk about it? Really, I didn't even know you were aware it was happening."

"Sarcasm doesn't fit you," Nathan spat.

"Nathan, back off," Wolfgang warned, "I find it absolutely disgusting that you can say that with no shame."

"Thank you!" Kofi yelled, gesticulating wildly.

"Kofi, on behalf of both of us, I apologise for our nonchalance, I–"

"Apologising is not going to give me my sanity back. Don't waste your time," Kofi cut him off.

"I know. I'm still sorry that it took us this long to come to our senses. I promise you that if it happened again right now, we wouldn't sit back and watch." Wolfgang said calmly.

"Speak for yourself," Kofi said, looking at Nathan.

Nathan uncrossed his arms and a look of remorse crossed his face. "I wouldn't either."

Kofi scoffed. "Don't worry, I don't need your help – though I doubt if it'll ever come – I'm not that same little boy I was. I started fighting back a while ago, they weren't beatings anymore. They were fights, and I'm proud of myself for not being a coward like both of you. So especially now that I'm at my strongest, I don't need two cowardly pieces of shit to fight my battles."

I lay there, stunned, wondering how he could say that to his brothers when they were just trying to apologise and be there for him. They were just as stunned as me, watching as he went upstairs.

Before he left though, he turned around and said, "I want that trash out of my house in the next thirty minutes."

So I'm back to being trash? What happened? I thought we were getting along.

"Kofi!"

Nathan was about to go after him, but Wolfgang grabbed his elbow. "Let him go. He needs some time alone."

Nathan sat back on the bed like all his energy had been drained from him. "Why didn't we do anything? Why, Wolfgang? Why?"

Wolfgang shrugged and sat beside him, putting his arm around his shoulders. "I think we were scared. 'Better him than us.' I think we thought that if we tried to stop it, we would get treated the same way. We didn't want that."

"We don't deserve him," Nathan said solemnly, resting the side of his head on Wolfgang's shoulder.

"We definitely don't. If I were him, I'd hate us, but he doesn't. Even after everything we've done to him. He has the purest heart among all of us. Heck, he has one of the purest hearts I've ever had the pleasure of coming across."

"He's definitely not going to kick her out too, right?" Nathan asked, lifting his head. "He might act like he doesn't care, but he does. Doesn't he?"

They must not have realised that I was awake. I closed my eyes so that they wouldn't realise that I was eavesdropping and they'd say more.

"He does. I know he does. You should've heard him talk about her when the chief beat her up. He was so angry. I... I think he cares about her, in his own weird way, you know? Ever since she got beaten up. I started suspecting it then but I confirmed it during the time we spent here in the penthouse. Maybe because she was abused like he was."

"You like her though, don't you?" Nathan asked.

"That's not important. She's obsessed with that boy."

Which boy? Was he talking about Michael? I hadn't even seen Michael in a while.

"But you do."

"A little," he confessed, sounding shy.

"It's been a while since you had a crush."

"You know I've been distancing myself from females."

He told Nathan about his problem?

"Yes. Do... do you ever want to... with her?"

"To be honest, yes," he said, making them laugh, "but who wouldn't?"

"Me."

"That's different. You're gay."

Then they laughed again. I wondered if it was a joke or if he was really gay.

"But the point is that I won't. I have the upper hand now."

"I'm happy for you." Nathan said.

I was just praying that they'd get to more interesting stuff. It was no secret that Wolfgang liked me. I wasn't even surprised. He wasn't very subtle about it.

"What now? Do we take her away?" Nathan asked.

"Do you have any properties that dad doesn't know about?"

There was silence so I assumed Nathan answered with his head.

"I don't either."

"Should we talk to Kofi?"

"I don't think he wants to see us right now. Let's call it a day. We'll figure out what to do tomorrow."

"Nathan, Wolfgang?" I spoke up, realising that they were about to leave.

They both looked at me, but Wolfgang had an apprehensive look on his face for some reason. "You're awake?"

I was so tempted to say, 'no, I'm sleeping.' "Yes... why does Kofi hate me again?" I knew he didn't really hate me, judging by the conversation they just had, but the last times we spent together, he was enjoying my company.

I vaguely remember him ignoring me after that, but that must've been because he didn't want me to know that he cared about me.

Wolfgang frowned. "You mean you don't remember?"

I frowned too, suspiciously. "Remember what? My head hurts."

"Oh wow," he smiled, too brightly, "that's great news."

"Is there something I'm supposed to remember?" I tried sitting up but my broken ribs pulled me down.

"No. Of course not. Um, you and Kofi had a tiny fight." He said.

"About what? And why can't I remember it?"

He looked around the room. "Um, you fell and hit your head."

"I know you're lying to me. You're acting like I'm some annoying fictional character who can't see that they're obviously being lied to."

He laughed and came a little bit closer to me. "Okay fine. You were angry with Kofi because he didn't tell Michael the truth. You were angry with me too but you know I'm much more likeable than he is." He winked.

I felt an unsettling feeling in my stomach at the thought of him flirting with me.

"And you're experiencing temporary amnesia as an after effect of your concussion. This isn't the first time you've had a memory lapse."

Okay that made sense. But the thought that I was having memory lapses unsettled me. Something could've happened that they were keeping away from me, so I decided not to trust any of them. Kofi didn't know that I had amnesia so I'd ask him. Yes. I'm so smart, honestly.

"Can I talk to Kofi, please?" I told them. "I just want to put any bad blood behind us."

They shared a look. "I don't think he'd want to talk to you right now." Nathan spoke up.

I needed to talk to him as soon as possible because any time I wasted will give them the opportunity to fill him in on the alleged lies. "Please. I mean... I've come to care about Kofi a lot these past few days. I can't stand the thought of there being any problems between us."

I was such a convincing liar. Kofi might care about me but if he was on fire, I wouldn't even spit on him. These past few days have been nice or whatever, but I knew that he was just being pleasant because he was sick. Whether he cares about me or not, he's a disgusting person.

They shared the same look again, and Nathan nodded subtly.

"Okay, I'll bring him here." Wolfgang said.

"No!" I said too quickly. His face twisted with suspicion, and I hurried to amend my mistake. "I mean, I know he won't come. Take me to him instead. Where are my crutches?" I looked beside me.

"They're in the car. I insist, you should let me bring him. You're doing too much damage to your ribs by moving around this much."

"He's not going to come," I protested.

"Give him the benefit of the doubt," Nathan said.

I frowned. "I don't want to talk to him anymore."

"Don't be like that. I'll go and call him," Wolfgang said.

There goes my plan then.

I waited crossly, doubting that he'd come at all when he finally did, after almost an hour or two. "That long time."

He rolled his eyes and started leaving.

"Wait!" I had to at least try. Maybe they hadn't told him anything. Maybe, I was also being paranoid and no one was lying to me about anything.

He stopped and turned around. "What?"

"Why are you so mad? If anything, I should be angry." I glared.

"You should be angry?" He scoffed. "That what? I saved you from getting–"

"You didn't save me from anything! The chief would've had that heart attack whether you arrived on the scene or not."

"Maybe he wouldn't have had the attack if there wasn't any GHB in his system."

"You don't know that."

He rolled his eyes again. "This was a waste of time. You don't even remember how stupid you are."

There. There it was. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you don't remember how stupid you are. Did I stutter?"

"No. Explain yourself."

"In the last few hours before your memory lapse, you became even more stupid than usual. And you don't remember. The end."

"Kofi," I glared at him, "stop being so annoying."

"What do you want me to say?"

"What I did that made me so much more stupid!"

I could sense that he was tempted to say it.

He didn't though. He came and sat beside me, then leaned so close that I thought he was going to kiss me. He tilted his head down and said, "Look at this."

It looked like a cut at the spot that was between his eyes. It was a cut. "How did that happen?"

"You really don't remember?" He asked, astonishedly, leaning back. "Whatever did he hit you with?"

I rolled my eyes. "I already told you. He bashed my head into the floor."

He kept looking at me, and I had a sneaking suspicion that that wasn't what he was talking about.

"How did that happen though?"

He turned away from me. "You threw a stone at me."

"Really?" I laughed.

"It's not funny. I could've gotten hit in the eye."

"But you didn't."

"And–" he was cut off by loud knocking on the door.

"Are you expecting anyone?" I asked. I drew the sheets over my legs cautiously. My skin was tingling, my hairs were standing on end. It was my sixth sense, I was sure of it, and it was telling me that that knocking sound at the door was going to change my life. In a bad way.

"No," he said cautiously, "I'll go and check it out."

He started to leave, but I grabbed onto his hand. He stopped, looking at our conjoined hands.

"Come back okay?" I told him.

He frowned and snatched his hand away. "Don't touch me ever again." He spat and left in a dizzying cloud of spontaneous rage.

All I did was touch him, and it was only because I wanted his attention. He's acting like I actually wanted to touch him.

Jerk.

I just wanted information on who that was at the door because their presence was making me feel so uncomfortable.

I heard a disturbing sound and a cry and I was so startled that I jumped a little, then regretted it of course when my ribs started acting up. There was complete silence after that, and it made me so scared that I buried myself underneath the sheets.

I was as quiet as I could be, and I was so very scared too. My hands were shaking at that point, and my whole body became colder, which I assumed was an effect of the fear and pain. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to listen.

The walls of the penthouse were too thick, so I ended up not hearing anything. I decided that I needed to make a better effort to hide myself, knowing that it was weird none of the guys had come to check up on me. At this point, I was like their sister. Except, of course to Wolfgang who had a crush on me.

I started crawling to the bathroom, wincing every time that sharp pain shot through me, reminding me that I had broken ribs. I was just about to get inside when I had images flashing through my mind.

At first, I frowned, wondering how they could seem so real and whether they were just a product of my imagination, but then, I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes, allowing them to flow.

It took some time, but I slowly remembered everything.

The first thing I thought of was the most creative way I could put an end to Rhys 'Wolfgang' Faye's life. I was so angry that I began digging my nails into my palm, gritting my teeth angrily. I completely forgot about my previous fear of whoever was out there and let out an angry scream.

I was so angry and so thirsty for his blood that I helped myself up by using the wall to support myself, and hopped with the aid of the wall to the living room so that I could rip his throat out.

What I didn't expect to see though was a bloody Kofi who was still being beat up, while two goons withheld Nate and Wolfgang back.

The man who could only be Mr. Faye looked at me.

* * *

We thought Chief Amegah was bad aye? 😕 Btw, I hate the way this chapter ended and the way the whole book is going 😤😣😣 it's like all the villains will just come to where they're staying and scare them to death. Don't worry, I'm preparing a twist. See you!

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