“You should not be here.”
“Why?”
He lowered his voice. “Because I did not ask you to come.”
Imani looked at him for a moment. “Must you ask before I care?”
That answer weakened him, but it also made him uncomfortable. He did not know what to say.
Imani gently stepped past him and entered the ward.
Pa Josiah was lying quietly, his eyes half closed. When he saw Imani, he tried to sit up.
“Please, Pa, don’t stress yourself.”
The old man studied her face. “You must be Imani.”
Chidi looked surprised. “Grandpa?”
Pa Josiah gave a faint smile. “You think he has not mentioned your name before?”
Imani turned to Chidi at once, and for one awkward second he wished the floor would open. She smiled softly, then looked back at the old man.
“It is nice to meet you, sir.”
Pa Josiah nodded weakly. “Thank you for coming.”
Imani sat down and spoke with him for some minutes. Her voice was respectful and warm. She asked how he was feeling. She encouraged him. She adjusted the bed sheet when it slid down carelessly.
Chidi stood by the side and watched her.
For the first time, she was not the bold girl chasing him around campus. She was calm, gentle, present.
When they stepped outside, her face changed again.
“How much is the bill?”
“Don’t start, Imani.”
“I’m asking because I want to know.”
“Imani.”
“How much?”
He said nothing. That silence was answer enough.
Imani did not press again in that moment. She only nodded slowly and said, “All right.”
The next morning, Chidi was called to the account office. He went there with fear already sitting inside him. He was sure they wanted more money he did not have.
Instead, the woman at the desk checked a file and said, “A large part of the bill has been settled. The rest of the treatment has also been approved.”
Chidi stared at her. “What?”
She adjusted her glasses. “Payment has been made.”
“By who?”
She hesitated. “A representative came on behalf of someone.”
He already knew.
He left that office with heat rising in his face. When he called Imani, she picked at once.
“Where are you?” he asked.
“Why?”
“Imani.”
She was quiet for a second. “I am near the faculty building.”
“I am coming.”
He found her standing under a tree, waiting as if she had expected this.
“Did you pay the hospital bill?”
“Yes.”
“Why would you do that without telling me?”
“If I had told you, you would have stopped me.”
“You had no right.”
Imani’s face changed. “No right?”
Chidi ran a hand over his face. He was angry, tired, and ashamed all at once.
“I said I was handling it.”
“You were not handling it, Chidi. You were drowning.”
The words landed hard because they were true. He turned away.
Imani stepped closer. “Chidi, your grandfather needed treatment urgently. I know someone through my father. I made calls and helped arrange it. He’s getting the care he needs now. That is all.”
“That is not all.”
“Then what is it?”
He looked at her. “It is another debt.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “A debt? I didn’t do it so you could owe me.”
“I will owe you anyway.”
“Why do you always make everything so hard?”
Chidi laughed bitterly. “Because my life is hard.”
That shut her up.
For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then Chidi said quietly, “You don’t understand how this feels.”
“Then help me understand.”
He swallowed. The words were difficult, but once they started coming, he could not stop them.
“You step in like it’s nothing. One call, one payment, one decision. For you, it is small. For me, it is not small at all. It is my grandfather. It is my responsibility. He is all I have left.”
His voice roughened.
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