Leukaemia is a kind of blood caner that affects the body's white blood cells. There are two types. Acute, that is, fast growing and chronic, that is, slow growing. There are different types of leukaemia and the one Esosa has is acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) also known as acute lymphocytic leukaemia and acute lymphoid leukaemia, the doctor had explained. It is common in childhood cancer. ALL occur when the body makes too many lymphoblast. The patients tend to have numerous immature white blood cells in their bone marrow.

The symptoms were signs she turned blind eye to. The ones she had noticed in her daughter but had not paid so much attention too were tiredness, lack of appetite due to building of cancerous cells in the liver and spleen, making them larger, in the process, squeezing the stomach, painless lump in the neck caused by large lymph nodes, bruises, fever and paleness which she had thought was caused by lack of iron and she had tried to cure with blood tonic.

Tears gushed in Osas's eyes as she read what was on the screen of her phone while her daughter laid on the hospital bed, fast asleep with tubes connected to her body. It was a sight that broke her heart. A sight that made her shed tears. Why her daughter? She kept asking herself. Why her innocent lively baby? She still does not have an answer to it. The past two days have been hectic and emotionally draining.

There were other symptoms Esosa had not exhibited like joint pain, infection caused by low white blood cells and dizziness. After rushing Esosa to the hospital in the middle of the night when she woke up barely able to breathe, blood test had been carried out. Osas remembered the doctor telling her they have to carry out further tests because they deduced something serious. She had prayed in her shattered heart. A prayer that came from the depth of her soul, a mother's prayer. Bone marrow and lumbar puncture confirmed Esosa has leukaemia.

She had cried her eyes dry the past two days unable to allow the doctors start the chemotherapy because she felt like whatever was happening was a nightmare she wanted to wake up from. Every morning, she woke up to find a bitter reality waiting for her. Osas took the big step after thinking thoroughly and finally accepting the fact that her daughter has cancer. She met the doctor who explained the treatment procedure to her.

ALL treatment will take a very long time, about two years to three years. The doctor had made her understand while she was a water work mess that chemotherapy is the use of different drugs to stop cancer cells growth. It's not the only way to treat leukaemia. Other ways are radiation therapy, chemotherapy with stem cell transplant and target therapy. There are three phases of ALL treatment. Remission or induction therapy, consolidation and maintenance. The aim of induction therapy is to kill the cancerous cells in the blood and bone marrow. Consolidation is aimed at killing the cancer cells that can cause relapse and maintenance is to destroy any cancer cells that might have survived the first two phases.

Osas read on google that chemo can be given through the vein, mouth or the use of more than two chemo at the same time. She wondered how much pain her daughter will have to go through. Chemo has side effect like loss of hair. She can't imagine her daughter bald because of a life threatening disease. The healthy long hair will be gone in few months. Other side effects are nausea and grumpiness. There is possibility of Esosa using a wheel chair for a while because the chemo might affect her joints.

The past two days, she has met a lot of doctors than she could count because a team of doctor will be needed for ALL treatment. It's going to be so hard emotionally. Osas saw herself breaking down worse than ever as days rolled by. Her social worker had said the journey will be a marathon which Osas fears she might not be able to complete. She does not know how much she can take. Jafar had tried to be there for her. Her mother had tried to make her have hope and faith. Jafar came to the hospital with Umar around four during visiting hours and left at six when it ended. He did not leave until a nurse had come chase him away. Her friends had been around too including her cousin, Adesua. Adesua brought her kids. The children were unable to liven her daughter because Esosa was down, very weak and bed ridden. Esosa's still yet to understand what's happening to her because Osas is yet to tell her. She could say the hardest thing to do was breaking the new about Esosa's cancer to people. She choked on every word that left her lips.

She got no idea what the next few months to two or three years have in store for her. She does not know what's coming her way but she hopes this journey will be easy for her and her daughter will be among the lucky ones cured from leukaemia.

-----

Is hallucination part of intermittent explosive disorder? Joshua typed on Google on Monday morning when he got to work. What had happened to Lola had baffled him so much that it left him with so many questions running through his mind. While he consoled her the other day, she had slept off and he had taken her to bed. When she was sound asleep, he had gone to where she kept her pills and checked them. He was no doctor to know what they were about but he was sure those pills were not just for her intermittent explosive disorder. There was more to them.

He wanted to ask his mother in law, speak to the woman about it but he chose not to because if they had wanted him to know, they would have told him and the woman does not like the sight of him. The guy who tailed Lola told him she had gone to the hospital to meet her psychiatrist again. She ought to. Not after what had happened the day before. He wondered who she had delusions about. Who is this man?

He clicked on anything that spoke about intermittent explosive disorder. Nothing spoke about a relationship between intermittent explosive disorder and hallucination. It just kept telling him more about the disorder than hallucination. Giving up on the search on intermittent explosive disorder, he searched for hallucination.

There were a lot on it that baffled him. He clicked a site that spoke about it types, causes and treatments. The site mentioned causes he was not sure were the reason behind Lola's hallucination. Lola's hallucination seemed to be caused by something traumatic. Something had happened to trigger such a thing.

Two pairs of eyes, one belonging to a woman and the other to a man observed him from the transparent glass of his office. The woman had her hands wrapped around her chest and the man stood next to her with his hands in his pocket.

"He seem so worried" The woman said with a little smile on her face, her eyes never leaving Joshua.

"I noticed too. He had rarely say a thing this morning" The man leaned on the railing behind them.

"Is something wrong with his wife at home because that's only when he gets like this"

"We can say so"

Joshua looked up and his eyes met theirs. He gestured a hand and the woman headed to his office.

"I think I have something to do" she smiled at the man and headed to Joshua's office.

-----

"Tell Sukanmi that he should ensure all deliveries for today are done" Lola said to her personal assistant.

"Yes ma'am" Tiwa nodded her head.

"When is my interview with Hadiza Jamal?"

"I scheduled it for Wednesday since your schedule is tight today and tomorrow"

"Oh good" Lola sat back in her seat. "That's all for now"

"Alright ma'am" Tiwa headed out.

Lola stretched back in her seat. Business's going well. It had been a stressful and successful Monday until she had to leave for her psychiatrist place. The day before, she had shown Joshua a side of her she was not meant to show anyone. Oh God! She ran her hand through her hair. Only God knows what he is thinking because he is not saying anything about it. This morning, he had made breakfast before she woke up.

Her time with Doctor Ben was great. He helped her, calmed her down even though he knew nothing will calm her down. But the night before, that man was there. He was standing there in front of her. He felt so real and he chased her. She exhaled, kicking off her pumps to sit up and bury her head in her hands. Her mind was going crazy and with the way things are going, it will go crazier.

Her harsh childhood and teenage years hadn't been helpful and that guy made things worse. She sighed, getting to her feet. She felt restless. She was at least glad Joshua had not said a thing about it. She needed to do something. This cannot continue like this. Her mother had said that irrespective of how much they wanted to hide everything, he would know. What happened the day before was a way to make him curious. She had fallen asleep in his arms. She groaned palming her face. The telephone rang. Lola lifted her face from her palms and looked at it before picking it up.

"Ma'am" came her personal assistant's voice.

"Yes" she replied, voice hoarse.

"You have a visitor. Mr Charles is here to see you"

"Alright let him in"

"OK ma'am" The call ended.

Lola prepared for her expected visitor. She wore her pumps and made her hair neat. She needed to be presentable to this new client of hers. There was a knock on the door. She wore a smile ambling out of her table with confident steps to stand in front of it.

"Come in" she said, making her smile professional.

The door opened and in came a lanky figure. Her eyes went wide, smile evaporating. She lost balance but got a hold of the table. Her visitor smiled at her, walking further into her office. No! She shouted in her head, every part of her body frozen with shock. He can't be here! He should not be here! Her breathing came out ragged and harsh. Her hands trembled at her sides. On shaking legs, she stood.

The more he walked closer to her, the more her heart lurched and fear settled on every part of her. She was too astonished to move, to speak, to do a thing. What she was him standing in front of her with a smile. Danger swirled around her.

"Sweetheart" His lips stretched. "We meet again"

"Oh my God!" she whispered feeling faint.

Nausea rolled up her throat. Her head fell back. With a quick roll of her eyes behind her head, her brown iris fusing with her white, she slumped but he caught her with a pleased smile as she fell limply in his arms.

-----

"I have something I think you will like to gift your mother. I bet she will like it" Loretta message had said. "Will you come over to my shop?"

An hour later, Joshua parked by the side of the road, across Loretta's shop.

"Hey" Loretta greeted, striding towards him when he entered. Her face perked up with a smile. She wore a pair of blue jeans and chiffon wrap top, her curves prominent. "Glad you could make it" She threw her hands over his neck as she kissed his cheek. "Come in" She led him to her office. "Just sit here and I will be back in few minutes. I have a customer I want to attend to"

She walked back few minutes later with a lace material in hand and a sales girl holding a heap of clothes.

"This is the material" She dumped a material on the table, right in front of him. "It's lace. One of the new arrivals. These are ankaras and some other laces I am sure your sister and Sophia will love. Something for you and your brother. Drop them" She said to the girl. She girl did as she was told then left.

Joshua sat up picking up the lace. "I like this" He touched the material to feel it. "The colour is nice. I am sure mami will love it"

"I knew it" She beamed, resting a hip against her table.

"How much is it?"

"Fifty-five thousand"

"Anything for my mother. She deserved better. I will buy it and any other one" He fetched his card from his wallet. "I hope you have POS?"

She gave him that look that said really what do you take us for? "We do"

"Good. I like the ankara too. I like everything. You got eyes for good things. Can you get something for my wife too?"

He had not seen the smile disperse from her face like a thin smoke in the air. "Nice ankara and laces of good qualities. I don't mind the price"

Loretta grinded her teeth together. She closed a hand next to her, the other one tensed on the table. "I will be back" She gritted.

"No!" Joshua got up. "I will choose myself"

Thirty minutes later, Joshua had shopping bags at the back of his car. Loretta had followed him with the excuse that she wanted to see him off. He had gotten nice laces and ankara for his mother, wife, sister and sister in law. There was a lace he got for Lola which was the most expensive clothes among the purchased goods. How much does he want to spend on that woman? Loretta thought in her bitter heart. He did not spend such amount on her.

"Since we are done" She forced a smile. "Can you have dinner with me today at my house?"

Joshua rested against his car. "Loretta" He blew out air. "You need to stop contacting me"

Colour drained from her face. Her eyes went wide. "Why?" She tried not to stammer.

"I understand you want us to be together again but we can't. I am married. Lola might not be the perfect wife but I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I want to be faithful. We had once dated and being close can lead to a mistake I am not ready to make. You need to stop all this. We need to stop meeting"

"If that's what you want" She raised her head high, trying not to show how cruised her ego had been. "Fine"

-----

He had his legs crossed as he flipped through the file he had in hand, one page after the other, bliss rocketing through him. The corners of his lips arched up, eyes gleaming with glee and evil. He shut the folder and looked at her across the table. When she passed out, he had laid her on the cushion to have a little nap before he drives many things going down around her. She will need the sleep because she won't be having much of it anymore.

He exhaled with ease, with contentment. There was easy flow of air through him, he could feel every bit of it. Finally, he can now live in peace since he had seen her. There was no need to watch her from the shadows anymore. No need to send those present and pictures. He rested his eyes on her face. Still the sleeping beauty she was. Her thick eyelashes that framed her eyes would barely kiss her cheeks and those pucker lips of her would be more desirable than they used to be.

He felt his muscles tense up especially the one he couldn't wait to ramp into her. She escaped years ago. Now she won't. The longing for her was sizzling and molten in his veins. He felt his veins rise against his skin. He kept the file away, got to his feet and marched to her, long graceful strides.

Slowly, he bent down next to her, his hand resting on the side of her pretty face. Smooth skin, the brown of coffee, under his wide palm, soft and alluring. How much he wants to kiss every inch of hers, run his tongue through her skin and know if she taste as she smells. He traced his eyes over her eyebrow. The seductive round had always moved up with pride. He trailed her face, trailed the outline of her lips. His breathing ragged. He had to control. He can't do anything today. He just needed time with her and she would be pleading beneath him.

She stirred and he kept his hand on her hair. Her eyebrows furrowed together. An expression that wants him to kiss the space in between her brows. Her eyelashes flustered. One lift of the fanlike pair and her eyes were on his face.

Brown eyes, eyes which were bound to raise the sexual desire of any man, eyes that would corrupt a man's mind and make his thinking go wild, eyes that were full of complexity, too much were buried in them, the same eyes bulged out of their sockets. He smiled at the fear that laced them. She jumped up, away from him and he relaxed back getting to his feet. He rounded the table to sit down.

"Wh....wh...what are you doing here?" she stammered, curling in her seat, her hands pressed to her chest.

He chuckled. "Missed me?" he asked.

"You are not meant to be here. You are meant to still be behind bars!"

"There are ways to get out. I am not here to have long talks. I have just come for something that's mine"

Her breathing hitched. She understood him not when he had that mischievous glint in his eyes. Lola coiled harder, her legs pressed to her chest. He smiled.

"Here" he threw the file on the table in between them. She stared at it then back at him, her eyes cautious as they moved. He chuckled. "It's nothing dangerous for now. Check it babe" he called her the name he used to call her. The pit of her stomach roiled. "Then we shall get down to business"

"I....I....I...am.....am not touching it. What's in it?"

"The key to you being mine"

"You are crazy, Anthony"

"I have always been. Check it!" he order with his chin pointed at it.

She refused but eyed it like it was some bomb that will explode soon. Anthony chuckled. He leaned over and picked it. Getting to his feet, he rounded the table to meet her. She was trembling, sweating profusely. His presence sent dread running through her body. She warped harder wishing the chair would swallow her as long as she would be away from him. Lola tried not to whimper as her eyes began to get glassy.

She knew it! She had that feeling he would come back and here he was standing in front of her with so much poise, confidence and sophistication. He still had not lost them.

"Two years ago, in the city of Los Angeles, something happened" he said. "Two friends on a bright sunny day, when the beach was begging to be filled with people and many cooled their skins in the water enjoying the summer while it lasts, stayed back home to spend the beautiful summer day in their home" Lola heartbeat increased. What the hell is this leading to? Why is he reading it like a story? "They watched movies and enjoyed the company of one another. One was dark, the pretty Nigerian and the other was a brunette, a beautiful Filipino" he paused, his eyes meeting hers. There was a ghost of a smile on his lips.

Lola's heart stopped beating. For a jiffy, her breathing halted with it. She felt her air flow begin to seize. No! She understood him. She knew where this was going. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes then back at the file before sitting down on the centre table, in front of her.

"Then an argument began. It became violent. They began to shout. The brunette shoved the black beauty aside to walk away. That irked her. She pulled the brunette back. In the process, the brunette slipped on the banana peel on the floor but that had not sent her to a place of no return. The other lady slammed her into the glass table when she slipped" he kept the file away.

By then, Lola could barely breathe. She felt like the walls were closing on her. Everything around closed on her. She tried to regulate her breathing which did not help. Anthony stood up and went to the dispenser. He took a disposable cup from it and filled it with water. As he did, he looked at her with a smile. No sympathy for her. He wished she could die but not this way. He wants her death to be slow, painful and miserable. Returning back to her, he handed her the cup. Lola had not hesitated to collect it. She clasped the plastic in her shaking hand and took in the entire cup of water. He sat back where he stood up from.