Chapter 6 Chapter 6
He couldn't believe he was this concerned for someone else other than his mother. While he was standing there, a lady rushed in crying out loud and she was accompanied by a young guy probably her son.
"What happened to my daughter, where is she?", she cried out bitterly.
" Who is your daughter ma'am and what is her name", the nurse at the reception asked.
"Her name is Bethany Marvin", she replied faster.
The nurse directed her to where I was standing and I saw them coming towards me.
" Good evening Mr., please where is my daughter Bethany", She inquired with so much sadness.
He didn't know what to do as he wasn't familiar with the lady in question. He mustered some courage as a man and replied,
"Madam, your daughter is in the ward and she is in an unconscious state because she inhaled a lot of smoke from the fire", He answered back sadly.
" Sir please tell me that my sister will be fine, she is all we have left now since our dad passed away", the young boy spoke out.
Hearing these words from him, Duke broke down as he realized how important she was to her family.
"I promise you madam that I will do my absolute best to see that she recovers soon", he answered.
" Please who are you to Bethany, are you her friend?", she asked concerned.
He was dumbfounded for a second and didn't want to reveal his identity as not to make them feel uncomfortable so he retorted,
"Yes, madam I am her colleague from work".
" Thank you for bringing my daughter here, we are grateful". She said holding his hands.
For a moment, he felt like he had known the lady from way back and he felt nice.
"It is nothing madam", he replied.
He ushered her to sit down and wait for the doctors to come out with some good news.
While they were waiting, Duke saw Henry walk into the hospital and he immediately excused himself to go and meet his friend.
" Hey man, how are you coping? he asked.
"Dude, I am alive but one of my staff got trapped in the fire and now she is unconscious battling for her life". He answered.
" Oh so sad. But what are you doing here? he further asked.
"I was the person who brought her in here so I have to know what the matter is".He replied.
Henry looked at him in amazement and couldn't believe his ears.
" Wait let me get something straight here. The Almighty Duke feeling bad for a mere staff?". He chuckled.
Duke looked at him and didn't know what to say so he sat quietly.
"I know this face, and it's been very long since I last saw you this way". Henry continued.
" What do you mean, I am just concerned for her that's all", he defended himself.
Henry gave him a long and doubtful look that made him ask why he was staring at him in that manner.
"is anything the matter?", Duke asked his friend.
" Nothing sir just find it difficult to believe that you still have a heart in there". Henry whimpered.
Their conversation was slash as he received a call from his mother.
He knew that his mother must have watched the incident at his house from the television and that was why she was calling to find out how he was doing.
"Hello....", he said as he picked up the call
" hello Duke, how are you son", she asked worried from her voice.
"I am alright mother, I am at the hospital". He explained.
" Hospital?, Which hospital son I am coming to right away", she cried out.
"Mother, I am doing alright I wasn't harmed, it's just one of my staff that got trapped in smoke", he narrated.
His mother was very persistent but he assured her that he will be back home as soon as he could and that she had nothing to worry about.
She hung up the phone and he returned to meet his friend. They both talked again for a while and he saw the doctor coming out.
He told Henry that the doctor was out so they went to meet him. As they approached the doctor, the girl's mother jumped up and asked,
" Doctor, how is my daughter's condition now?".
"Doctor will my sister be alright? can she already come home with us?". Her kid brother followed with another question.
The doctor took a deep breath like a fish that was taken out of water for some time and was put back into it.
" She is out of danger now. The breath in a good quantity of smoke and that had to be taken it out but now she is out of danger". He answered.
"Thank goodness for this news", her mother said with a tone of relief.
" Thank you, sir, so can she go back home, now with us?", her younger brother asked.
"I am afraid that won't be possible as she has to be placed under observation before she can be discharged", the doctor muttered.
" How will we afford the bills, she can't stay here doctor". The woman cried out.
"For the meantime, her health is important and she has to stay here for some days as I said". The doctor insisted.
He begged to take his leave as he had other patients to attend to and he retired.
Duke who had been standing behind them and listening to everything, couldn't help but feel bad for the situation.
He overheard the mother of the lady lamenting on how she was going to settle her daughter's hospital bills coupled with the fact that, she is the breadwinner of the family and now she is in that position.
" Don't cry mother, I will look for part-time jobs and we will pay for sister's hospital bills", he said to his mother.
"How will you do that, your sister is everything to us, and now that she is in this state, how will we cope?. She asked her son.
On seeing the whole scenario, Duke felt like he was witnessing a tragic movie.
He walked up to Bethany's mother and extended his sincere apology for what had happened to her and assured her that she need not worry because the hotel was going to cover all the hospital expenses.
" Really sir?", Bethany's junior brother asked in happiness.
"Yes, that's a right young man. The hotel provides assurance coverage for all the staff who work there.
Her mother was relieved as she whizzed and leaned on her son for support.
With a gaze of recognition, She said thank you for being here for your friend.
" You don't have to thank me, madam, it is natural". He replied.
It was late and he had to leave so he told Bethany's kid brother to contact the hotel's secretary if there was any problem whatsoever.
I have to take my leave now madam, please do take some rest. He said so and left.
Henry said goodbye too and joined his friend and together, they left the hospital premises.
Henry looked at his friend in the car and couldn't recognize the Duke he knows from the one he just saw back there in the hospital.
" Hey man are you okay?", Henry asked as he drove him home.
"I am alright bro". He replied after a deep sigh.
" what the hell happened to your hotel?. Man, that fore was huge", he grumbled.
"I don't know if it was man-made or natural, I was just told to leave the premises as the hotel was in flames". He narrated.
" This is not good for business but I am glad that there was no loss of lives". Henry spoke out.
Duke was fully aware of what will happen to his reputation if someone had died in his hotel.
Henry drove him home and he came down from his car and they both went into the house.
"Welcome sir Duke, I am glad nothing happened to you", the maid said.
He nodded his head as a sign to show that he is reciprocating the gesture.
His mother came down happy as she embraced her son warmly asking so many questions at the same time.
" mom, I am very fine and healthy as you can see", he told his mother.
"Did you have yourself checked? maybe you suffered some internal combustion without knowing". She went on as though I was a kid.
I looked at Henry and I could see him laughing at the situation. When I looked at him, he stopped like a child that was caught stealing something.
He was glad to see his mom and to be back home because he had evaded death but his happiness was short-lived as he saw that the devil was still in my house.
" What is she still doing here mom, I thought I made it clear that I didn't want to see her here again?". He asked furiously.
Henry who had noticed that his friend was beginning to lose his temper, tapped him on the shoulder and said,
"You just lived a terrible experience so you need to get some rest".
Duke understood that there was no point in shouting so he bid farewell to his friend and he took off to his room and told the maids that he needed no disturbances.
Henry greeted Duke's mother and pleaded to take his leave.
" You are leaving because your friend is angry not so? She asked.
"No mother, It's late and I have to get home as it is not safe out there by this time". He replied.
" Aunty, Duke will never be able to love me", She cried out.
"He loves you, my dear daughter, he is just tough because that is how my son is just exercising a little bit of patience", His mother convinced her.
Duke had gone up to his room and he was so furious because his mother is forcing her friend's daughter on him whereas the lady is as arrogant and empty as an empty vessel with so much noise.
Physically she is beautiful but intellectually she is a numb skull. He grumbled alone in his room.
Duke knew he had to stop thinking about her so as not to ruin his mood that was already tensed from what had happened at his hotel.
He moved to his fridge and got a bottle of water which he drank from the bottle and later dropped on the table by his bed.
He felt so good after that, and he got up and went to the bathroom to have his bath.
When he opened the shower, the cold water came down on him and the wounds he had sustained from the dragging in the fire became manifest.
He could feel the pain and only then did he realize that he had sustained some burns.
He stopped for a minute and closed the shower. He turned to the mirror to check the parts where he was feeling the pain to see how bad the burns were.
After looking at them closely for a moment he said with a huge breath of relief,
"They aren't so bad after all!".
He opened the shower again and took his bath and came out of the bathroom when he was done.
The water dripping off his body was immediately wiped off with his towel as he came back into his room to play his favorite classical music.
" I love good music", he related as he reached for his music device.
Whenever he had difficulties in life, he will always play music as his dad thought him to do.
"Music is the essence of life", His father would perpetually say.
After setting the music to a lower volume so as not to disturb the peace and tranquility of the entire house, he fell across the crisps sheet on his bed and took out his phone to call Henry to know if he had arrived home already.
He rang his phone and his friend picked up and he had reached home. He wished him goodnight and hung up.
" The night had been a battle for survival", he recollected what happened.
Duke arranged himself in a comfortable position appealing for sleeping when he remembered about the young girl he had saved from the burning furnace.
He felt sad for her and her mother as she is like the pillar of her family but she is in such a state right now.
Duke couldn't explain what was wrong with him but it was something that he couldn't explain.
Time seemed to be going in slow motion when the forces of nature had taken over him and the gloaming took over his eyes and he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
The table was set and the maid had prepared breakfast thinking that Duke was coming down for breakfast as his mother asked for him to be called downstairs.
"Good morning sir Duke, breakfast is served". The maid called out.
The silence made her knock again, but she noticed that he wasn't in his room, so she went downstairs and told his mother that he had already left.
" Where could Duke have gone to on an early Saturday morning?", she asked stray.
Bethany was still unconscious till morning but she had been transferred from the ICU to a normal ward.
Her mother and brother had spent all night at the hospital praying and hoping for her to regain consciousness but to no avail.
Duke arrived at the hospital and he had some foodstuffs with him.
"Good morning Madam", he greeted like an angel.
" Good morning sir", Bethany's younger brother answered.
It took her mother some seconds before she could recognize Duke. She hadn't recognized him as he was dirty from the fire and smoke last night and she wasn't herself.
"Good morning sir", she responded.
" you can call me Duke Madam", he said calmly.
He handed over the things he had brought for them and pleaded with her mother to at least go home and have some rest but she was adamant to stay at the hospital till her daughter wakes up.
"Please Madam, you need to have some rest because you need to be strong by the time your daughter wakes up. You wouldn't want her to see you in this state not so?", he asked concerned.
" Mom he is right I need to take you home to get your medications", Her younger brother put in.
Bethany's mother didn't want to leave her daughter all by herself but Duke assured her that he will watch over her till she wakes up.
He promised to give her a call if she wakes up.
The mother left hoping to get better before the day gradually runs out.
Duke watched them leave and he went and stood at the door of her room watching her unconscious and helpless and he couldn't help but wonder why he was so concerned about a staff that he had never known works at his hotel.
"Could have fallen in love with this girl?", he asked in surprise.
No way as he wasn't the type of person who believes in love talk less of believing in love at first sight.
He left from there and went to the hospital canteen to get a cup of coffee.
The expression on his face as he walked through the hallway was that of disgust as he detested the memories the hospital aroused in him, but he was there and he couldn't even explain why.
He remembered every deceitful act his ex-girlfriend had put into place just to make money from him.
The lying conniving doctor was her then-boyfriend and together they made a fool out of him.
The straw that had broken the proverbial camel's back was when he discovered that they were a couple and that she was expecting a baby for him and her mother was the mastermind behind the big plan.
" How desperate can people be just for some cash", he sighed and grab a cup of coffee, and started walking back to where Bethany's area was.
Time had passed by and the hotel staffs that had sustained minor injuries were in the hospital and they came to visit their colleague and to take the news about her improvement.
When they were directed as to where her wards were, they went there straight away and on arriving, they met their boss dozing on the chair in the corridor due to tiredness
One of them called out his name and he opened his eyes and saw that there were people in front of him.
The staff greeted him and asked about their colleague.
She told them that she was stable now but still unconscious.
"Mr. Smith seems to be in his good mood since last night because I wouldn't know how to explain such a behavior", a staff commented.
He was shut up by his other colleagues immediately before he could put them into trouble.
One mustered the courage to ask what will become of them since the hotel had gone down in flames.
" Why will you ask that now, can't you see that Bethany is lying there unconscious? another staff yelled out.
"It's okay, the Human Resource team will contact you all for jobs elsewhere". He told them.
They were filled with so much happiness that they didn't realize when Bethany's Mother and brother had returned.
"What is happening here", her mother asked with joy thinking that her daughter had to token up since she saw everyone jubilating.
" Welcome Ms"., one of them greeted her.
She was eager to hear the good news but she was told that a new job will be given to all of them including her daughter when she wakes up.
"Say thank you to your Boss for having such a good heart", she said happily.
The personnel told her that their boss was standing right there and it was Mr. Duke.