I woke up from bed feeling so weak and tired.Drake was still in the hospital and the doctor asked me to come in today to get the result of the tests that were carried on Drake.

I walked into the bathroom and I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I looked really pale, I could see the heavy eye bags that were around my eyes.

I wasn't looking good and that's because of the physical and emotional stress that Andre was putting me through. I shook the thoughts from my head as I stepped into the shower allowing the cold water to wash away all my problems.

I got out of the bathroom and decide to wear something casual and comfy so I put on a plaid shirt and a white pair of jeans.

I walked outside of my room and approached the dinning as I trailed down the stairs. The twins were having breakfast with Monica who was packing some plastic container filled with food into a lunch bag.

"Good morning Skai, did you sleep well ?" Busayo asked me as I settled in my seat.

"It was manageable." I replied her looking down at my bowl of oatmeal. I looked up at Monica who was zipping the lunch bag where she had packed some food.

"Where are you taking that to ?" I asked her with my finger pointing at the bag with one of my brow arched.

"Oh it's for Mr Johnson, I want him to have something to eat this morning, can you please take it along as you're going ?" My face relaxed after knowing her intentions, she was thoughtful and kind to pack some food for Drake.

"Oh that's so nice, at least we wouldn't be spending money purchasing food for Drake at the hospital. Thanks Monica." Busola said as she reached out for a slice of bread from the other slices that were on a dish.

"Busola that's enough, c'mon let's go get ready." Busayo said as she held Busola's hand to stop her from having a slice of bread.

"Get ready for what ?" I asked them as I put a spoon of the oatmeal in my mouth.

"We're accompanying you to the hospital."Busola said as she stood up from her seat.

"What ?! No you're not."I dropped my spoon immediately I heard her statement.

"Why ?" Busayo's gave me a clueless look.

"It's not safe going out like this especially now Andre and his gang are out to get us, look the cops have their men around the house alongside the guards. You two are safe here." I stood up and walked over to the twins and kissed their foreheads.

"But what about you ?" Busola asked me as she held my hands in hers.

"Yeah you'd only have one guard following you to the hospital." Busayo had a worried expression on her face as she looked up at me from where she sat.

"That's why you two should stay home and no need to stress yourself, Drake would be coming back home today so you'd have time to spend with him." I hugged them and I approached Monica who stood at the end of the table.

"Thanks Monica, please keep an eye on the twins till I'm back with Drake." I instructed her as I took the bag from her hands. I waved them bye and dashed out of the house.

###########

I walked down the lobby with one of the guard trailing by my side. I approached Drake's ward, James was standing by the door. He stayed the night at the hospital watching over Drake.

He is so loyal and faithful to Drake, even after Drake had lashed out at him and the others at the house,he was still here guarding him.

"Good morning Miss Skai."He greeted me as I approached him.

"Good morning." I smiled at him as I stepped into the room. My gaze fell upon Drake who was busy with his phone while he laid in bed.

"Hey, how are you ?" I greeted him as I dropped the lunch bag on a table top by the side of the bed.

"Much better but I still feel weak by the way you look good." I rolled my eyes at his statement because I know what I saw in the mirror this morning and it wasn't good.

"Oh wow your sarcasm is back." I crossed my arms as I gave him a cold stare.

"I'm serious." He turned his attention back to his phone. He looked really serious as he typed on it.

"What are you doing ?" I asked him as I took a seat by his side on the bed.

"Work." My eyebrows furrowed as I took the phone from his hands which made him look at me with an annoyed expression.

"You're not working in here, you are sick !" I stood up from the bed to get the food.

"But a lot of things could go wrong at the company and you might not have a contract anymore." He said as she sat up on the bed with a smirk on his face.

"A company can be revived but not one's life, so now eat ." I said with a straight face as I took out the plastic container that contained Drake's food.

"Wow oatmeal! How did you know that's my favourite." He said as I opened the lid of the container.

"I didn't, Monica made it and that's what we all ate at home." I replied as I dipped a spoon into the bowl and handed it to Drake.

"What are you doing ?" He gave me a clueless look with his eyes fixed on the food.

"Giving you your food ." My answer sounded like a question because I was confused at what Drake was driving at.

"Do you expect me to feed myself ?" I was about to scold him but he made a loud groan gripping his abdomen.

"Drake are you okay ?" I rushed towards him then he smiled at me and put the spoon in front of me.

"My stomach wants you to feed it." I slapped his shoulder slightly as I rolled my eyes. I can't believe he pretended to experience pain so I could feed him.

"How petty !" I took the spoon out of his hands and eyed him and sat beside him.

I scooped a little amount of the oatmeal and fed it to him. His eyes were fixed on me as I fed him, I avoided making eye contact with him but I didn't succeed as I was now looking back into his eyes.

I felt his hands moving upwards on my face taking a loose strand of my hair, putting it behind my ear. I remembered the countless times Andre used to this to me, there was a time he tried braiding my hair but ended up cutting it.

I shook the memories from my head and looked away from Drake's alluring eyes. I dropped the bowl of oatmeal in his hands and got up from the bed.

Drake was still smiling and he laid his head on the pillow with his eyes still fixed on me. I couldn't make eye contact with him because things were getting awkward.

"Aaaarrghhh..." I turned my head sharply towards Drake who groaned in pain but I rolled my eyes thinking it was one of his acts.

"Really ?" I crossed my arms but he didn't look amuse, he was gripping his abdomen tightly and his face was red.

I rushed towards him and cupped his face with my left hand while my right hand was on his hands that were gripping his abdomen.

"James!" I shouted from the room and James rushed in immediately.

"Go get the doctor !" He rushed outside the ward leaving the door wide open.

"Drake the doctor is on his way ." I tried to pacify him but he was in so much pain and I didn't know how much pain he was in until I saw a drop of tears rolling down his cheek.

The doctor and some nurses rushed in . One of the nurses ushered me to get down from the bed while the Doctor injected Drake with a syringe which made Drake to start foaming up.

"Drake ! What's going on?" I shouted at the doctor as the nurses rolled Drake away from the ward into the lobby.

"Ma'am you should calm down, were taking him into ICU." He said briefly as he rushed outside following the nurses, I tried to follow him but James held me back.

My vision became blurry due to the tears that were bubbling in my eyes. I turned around breaking down in the arms of James as I cried heavily.

He pat the back of my head as I cried. I couldn't stop and I didn't want to stop crying. I'm tired of problems that keeps surfacing in my life.

"James I'm tired !" I cried as I left his arms.

"I've always been tied down with so many responsibilities, I've never had anyone watch my back , each step I take there's always one responsibility added." James watched me closely with his eyes showing worry and concern.

"But Drake was the only one ready to take up some of my responsibilities, he was going to take care and protect me but now he's too sick to do that and he's my responsibility now." I paused letting tears flow freely from eyes, I held my head with my hands as I cried.

"He's my responsibility now, I have to make sure he's well and doesn't die, James why can't my life be simple ?!" I slumped into one of the seats in the lobby trying to wipe my tears bit they kept coming.

James say beside me and brought out a face towel. He handed it to me, I took it from him as wiped my face.

"Life is complicated but it's how we handle our problems that makes it simple." I looked at him with furrowed brows as I wiped my tears.

"What do you mean ?" I asked him as I put a loose strand of hair away from my face.

"Problems make life seem complicated but when we handle these problems well, life may seem simple."He took the towel from my hands and wiped a tear from my cheek.

"Skai, you're a strong woman but now you're letting Andre get to you and he's weakening you." He narrowed his eyes as he held the towel up.

"You see this towel, it proves what I

just said, you can't depend on anyone to help you fight your battles and that's why you were crying because you felt you're losing the battle because Drake can't protect you anymore. " I blinked my eyes repeatedly as I sat up in my seat to listen closely to what James was saying .

"So Skai, you need to brace up and strap your boots, face this battle and come out victorious." I looked at James whose eyes were fixed on me. He made a lot of sense with all that he said.

I was shocked at the advise he gave to me considering he was a guard and didn't talk much, well never judge a book by it's cover.

"What if I get discouraged ?" I asked him rubbing my eyes that were sore from crying.

"That's why you have Drake and all of us, we'd help you, cheer on you and that's the support you'd get from us." He smiled warmly at me as he put his hands around my shoulder.

"How do you know all these ?" I asked him as I rested my head in his shoulder.

"Life teaches you lessons, Skai." He chuckled as he rubbed my arms back and forth.

After an hour or so, the same doctor who rushed Drake into ICU Wales towards us with a smile. His smile was so broad which revealed his perfectly arranged teeth.

He was so tall and slender with a nice low cut. He looked really nice for a doctor.

"Hello I'm Jeff, I'm sorry for how we met earlier, a life was at stake and we had to do what we always do, save lives."He put his hands into the pocket of his lab coat.

"What about Drake ?" I asked him as I got up from the chair.

"Oh he's fine but he's still in an unconscious state, don't worry he'd be fine since we know the cause of his pain." He smirked at me as he ushered me to sit.

"We had to do administer treatment that'd clear the bad substances out of his digestive system, and now he's recuperating." He said as he settled beside me.

"So what's the substance that's messing him up ?" I asked him with my hands waving anxiously at him for an answer.

"Well when I took some samples and examined them, they turned out to be something that shouldn't be in the body meaning he was poisoned. " My eyes went wide by his answer but I blinked away the surprised face I had.

"So you figured out a toxic substances in him, and that's it ?" I looked at him with annoyance, I felt annoyed not at him but at the fact someone was doing this on purpose.

"Yeah because we found some chemical compound that can't be found in any food substance, so I guess we should report this to the police." He got up from the seat and was about to walk away when a thought hit me.

"Jeff, can you please test some samples of Drake's food ?" He turned swiftly with a surprised look on his face.

"I'd love to." I immediately paced into the ward where Drake was admitted and took the bowl from the table.

"Monica if you're responsible for Drake's ailment, I promise you, you're going to face double of what Drake's facing." I said to myself as I grabbed the bowl into my hands, looking down at it with a furious face.