Vaults of Secrets - Chapter 7

Read Chapter 6 here and Chapter 8 here

“Hello” Sharon spoke as soon as Kingsley answered the phone.

Her voice was still a bit croaky, but clear enough for someone who had just woken up from a coma. She woke up an hour ago, only to be told by a bunch of strangers in scrubs that she was brought into the hospital two weeks ago after an accident she still has no memory of. The last thing she remembered was being in a cab heading to Abuja. She remembered how she convinced the cab driver to take her to Abuja, after discovering the busses at the park may take forever to take off.

“Yeah, it’s me. I was in an accident, I just woke up an hour ago. Yes, some town in Kogi state, the nurses mentioned it but I can't recall now” She said responding to the frantic questions Kingsley was firing at her. “Oh, sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I couldn’t do much since I’ve been in a coma for two weeks. The driver didn’t survive for God's sake!” She added snapping.

She sighed, rolling her eyes as he continued to rant. She understood his worry and was not even surprised that he believed her to be dead, but she was in no mood for his chastisement and ‘I told you so’. A man died, leaving his family behind and she blames herself for it. That poor man, if only I had just waited at the bus park, she thought shaking her head in regret.

“Wait, what?” She said, interrupting Kingsley’s long rant. “Did you release the documents?” She asked, her eyes glued to the television by the corner of her room.

“How did I know? It's on the news Kingsley. When? How?” She continued, firing question after questions at him as she watched the replay of the video of the Bankoles' arrest.

Kingsley was not to be blamed and Sharon knew that. He thought she was dead and her instruction was to release all evidence in such situations. How could she have planned for an accident that would leave her in a coma for two weeks?

“But did you get any money from the media you sold it to?” She asked, hopeful. "I see," she said, disappointment written all over her face.

“I will talk to you later,” Sharon said in a subdued voice, and ended the call.

“What do I do now?” Sharon said to herself, confused. For the past month, she had lived solely to make money from the Bankoles’ preciously guarded secrets. Now that the whole world knows, it’s worthless, Kingsley gave it away for free, distraught at her 'death'. All her plan for a new life has been based on the money she would get from selling that story, and now that that plan was gone, she has no idea what to do. She has no job to return to, and all she had was lost in the car wreck.

That bitch, Mrs. Bankole still looked good from all angles of the video, she thought angrily, still staring at the television. And what’s with the smile on their faces? “I suppose I should be happy that they have been exposed,” She hissed.

“But what do I do now?” She asked again, resting her back against the wall, confusion written all over her face. "How did everything go so wrong?" she asked. Even the Bankoles were smiling with handcuffs in their hands.

“Is there someone coming for you?” a voice asked, breaking into her thought. Sharon looked up to see one of the nurses standing by her bedside smiling. She shook her head in response, barely concealing her irritation at being disturbed. She continued to stare at the television with a blank expression that matched her blank mind, except for her anger at Bankoles' display of class and oneness at their arrest.

“So how will you be paying for your hospital bills?” The nurse asked.

*Originally published 10 November 2020