A man was walking or trying to. He leaned against the wall, and with every step, he grunted in pain as he limped. The man crawled till he reached a figure in the same division. The figure's head was down; one leg leaned against the wall. Arms crossed, the lady glanced at the man approaching, then continued looking down. She didn't move till he limped over.
"Silenced"
"Affirmative"
The lady placed her leaning leg down, put her arms in her trench coat, and walked away. The man limped behind her.
**********************************************************************
On Monday morning, Nathaniel was surrounded by tablets and tools- medical tools. He sat at the edge of the bed in his hotel room, trying to treat his wounds. He had cuts from where the gun bruised his skin; other cuts were from crawling around in the bushes all night.
He still had two places where the gun passed through his skin—one on his left arm and the other on his right side. Nathaniel huffed and winced while he tied a bandage around his abdomen. He had already placed cotton wool on the shot area; luckily, no bullet was inside. His arm had a bullet; he had saved that wound for last because the thought of digging for a bullet gave him a concussion.
Nathaniel closed his eyes and felt for the bullet; when he found it, he placed it on a tissue beside him and started treating the wound. He worked like an expert. Nathaniel got a needle and thread; he gulped and closed his eyes. No matter how many times he did this, it always pained him. He had taken painkillers, but the pain of sewing that place together was excruciating.
Nathaniel was drenched in sweat. By the time he finished, he was sweating and breathing heavily; by the time he finished, he slowly tied the place with a bandage and winced each time the bandage crossed the stitch. Then he placed bandages all over the rest of his body and pushed the medicines to the floor. He put the glass of treatment on the table.
Nathaniel used his good hand to reach for the remote to the tv and turned it on, then he laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. He closed his eyes and let the tears slip through. His whole body was throbbing, but it didn't even compare to the heartache he felt.
Nathaniel turned to the side; tears were flowing uncontrollably; he knew Amara was in trouble but dead; that was the worst outcome. If only I had come sooner. He wanted to delude himself into believing she was alive, but he couldn't. Nathaniel knew she was gone because the description the tipped hat man gave was accurate. Even the vaguest descriptions of his sister have blue eyes and blond hair. Nathaniel could see her blue eyes lose their sparkle, and her smile faded, her face covered with blood. He shut didn't budge from his mind.
"Why,"
Nathaniel's eyes could not stop watering. He turned to face the ceiling; what would he do now? She was gone, just like that. He wanted to see her face again and hear her laugh again.
Nathaniel never wanted her to go with that man, but he wasn't around. His mum told him that they had picked Amara already. He started planning to get her back, but it was too late.
Nathaniel could see all his memories with Amara flash before his eyes. What did she know or want to know that was worth dying for? He could not imagine it, he could never imagine her thought process, but she always knew his. Nathaniel closed his eyes; tears just kept on flowing to the sides of his face. He didn't bother to stop them. He twisted and turned till he dozed off.
Nathaniel woke up with pains; he sat up and then laid down again. What was he going to do now? He had no leads and didn't even know where the baby was. He placed his palms on his face.
Nathaniel had the rest of Monday evening to do… what? Nathaniel could not remember if he had any other plans. He looked to his side; the light shone behind the cotton of the square room. A medium-sized hotel room. It had one bed, beside the bed was a big curtain; opposite it was the door; on the wall opposite the bed was a tv, the tv had a bathroom door on one side, and a tray filled with tea bags, besides that table was a large wardrobe where he placed all his clothes before leaving on Sunday night.
Each bead side had a bedside table. One table had a landline, while the other had a lamp. Nathaniel rubbed his palm over his face; then reached over to the phone. He glanced around before picking up the book beside the phone. He sat down at the bedside and flipped through it with room phone numbers: he ran his index finger along each page till he saw room service, then dialed it.
"Hello, room service," a voice chimed, "how can we help you?"
"Um, I want to order-"Nathaniel glanced at his watch, "dinner."
"Okay, we have a menu in the other book besides this phone- what would you like?"
Nathaniel skimmed through; he looked for the familiar meal
"Can I have a pizza? 2 pepperoni pizzas?"
"Sure, it will be in your room in an hour."
"Thank you"
He cut the call and sighed before looking around. He ran his hand through his hair. Maybe I should take a bath, he thought. So, he went to the bathroom, put on the tap, and let the water run into the bathtub.
Nathaniel sat at the bathtub's edge, watching the water, his eyes filled with tears. He tried not to think about what he will have to say to his mum, but He was confident, but he had no proof, and he didn't want to call her till he was sure she was dead; why alarm everyone now? the water kept pouring, so made his tears. Nathaniel wiped them with his index finger.
"Amara, if you could see me now," he said with a smile.
"you'll say, 'chin up, my friend always says, there is a bright side- somewhere."
But was there a bright side? He thought about the child but didn't know where to start looking. He heaved a defeated sigh.
The bath water was full, so he removed his clothes and stepped in. He let out a long breath as the cold weather touched his skin and submerged himself in the bath. Nathaniel was tall, so his knees still showed, his arms were dangling outside the tub, and his head hung outside it,
"Ah," he groaned, nothing like a cool bath after a night of crying; even his eyes were sore. The water stung his injuries, but he didn't bother. His bandages got wet, but he just sunk deeper into the bath. Nathaniel lay still in the tub for a while. Then he heard a knock on the door.
"Room service," someone called with a nock.
"Coming,"
Nathaniel got out of the bathtub and looked around; he spotted a bathrobe. So, he wore the bathrobe and placed a towel on his head.
"Room serv-, "the person said as Nathaniel opened the door, "oh."
The lady was dressed in a blue suit with a sailor's hat hung adjacent to her head. She flashed him a girly smile as Nathaniel made room for her to push the cart.
She glanced at him before she pushed it to the front of the tv.
"You can leave the cart outside when you're done," she said before battering her eyelids.
"Thanks," he said
"Not a problem," she replied with a girly giggle. She stood there
"Call me- er the room service any time you need something."
He nodded while she walked out. When the door shut, Nate sighed. He sat beside the cart and opened the pizza; its aroma filled the room. Nathaniel's stomach growled; he had not eaten all day.
The first box of pizza was finished in a matter of seconds. Nathaniel pushed the cart to the front of the curtain and opened his wardrobe. He paced his hands on his hips. Look at the bright side, he thought, but all his clothes were on the greyscale. The only other color in his wardrobe was white. Nathaniel looked down; maybe he should pick shoes first.
He squatted, then brought out three boxes, one after the other. He opened each one; all the shoes were black and new. He bought them on his way to the hotel. The shoes were different. The first was a sneaker with white shoelaces, a flat mule shoe, and an oxford shoe. He put on the mule shoe, and then Nathaniel shuffled through his wardrobe till he picked up a grey turtle neck long-sleeve shirt. He brought out one of his black jeans. Then he wore everything and pushed the cart outside. Nathaniel had already stuffed the pizza box into a small fridge under the left beside the table. Then he picked up his bag from the wardrobe and dropped it again.
He had nowhere to go, no lead. The thought made his eyes cloudy.
"No," he declared to no one in particular while he cleaned his forming tears. Then Nathaniel heard a buzzing sound; he picked up his bag and opened it. It was his phone, someone named Roberto.
"Yo Roberto," he said, sounding as cheerful as possible. He placed an arm on the frame of the wardrobe, "what's up?"
"what's up? You were supposed to meet me this afternoon, remember" said a man's voice; it was a deep voice, so it sounded more threatening than worried, but Nathaniel knew otherwise.
"What happened," the voice said
"I- I got tied up, and I- uh didn't make it," Nathaniel responded, his hand running through his head.
"Well, obviously, anyways, I can't complain."
"No?"
"No, I had a meeting and forgot; that's why I'm calling by 6 pm when the meeting was by 3 pm.", the man sighed. Nathaniel could hear computer keys tapping.
"You could come tomorrow, say 2 pm?" the man said, "it's the least you could do."
Nate huffed out, then said, "alright, 2 pm," he tilted his head and added, "to your office?"
"Sure, I'll text you the address," the man said before cutting the call.
Well, Nathaniel thought, I have somewhere to go tomorrow; he sat down on the side of the bed and laid back; he smiled. Roberto was Robert's nickname. Nathaniel has known him since college; they searched for jobs together. Before Nathaniel got a job in PLC incorporated, a petroleum industry based in Austria, he and Robert shared an apartment. If she remembered correctly, Robert moved in with his girlfriend two years later and went to Austria to work.
Nathaniel sat up. Immediately after hearing about Amara from his mum, he returned to Belgium on Saturday and booked this hotel for four days. Then he called Robert and told him he was back in town. That's when we organized the meeting. Nathaniel smacked his forehead as the memory came back. He must have forgotten what the tipped hat man told him about Amara… the thought of Amara made his eyes misty, but he brushed it off. He still has to avenge her, that's if she's gone. The new sense of purpose made him get up from the bed and pick up all the medicine. I've got to tidy this place up.
Nathaniel placed them on the coffee tray and removed his shirt to replace his bandages. Putting them again didn't hurt as much as before. Eh finished quicker than before. Once he was done, he looked around; maybe I should have some work to do. Nathaniel got up and walked to the open wardrobe. He picked up another bag; the first bag was a small pouch. This one was a rock sack. The biggest compartment had a laptop in it.
Nathaniel picked it up, sat on the bed, then moved inside it and placed the laptop on his outstretched leg.
He tapped away on that laptop till he could tap no more. So, he put the computer beside him, turned on the bed, and slept.