Chapter 134 OVERSHARING WITH A STRANGER

Chapter 134 OVERSHARING WITH A STRANGER
Godiva's POV

Neither of us made it very far before doubling over. My stomach roared as my heartbeat became alarmingly unstable.

"I blame your yogurt," he groaned.

"My yogurt?" I frowned. I didn't like the way he was trying to push the blame on me, so I protested, "You bought it!"

"You drank it voluntarily!" he shot back.

"I was peer-pressured!"

"I barely said two words!" He tried to say more, but I guessed the pain had become unbearable at this point.

We somehow managed to laugh despite the pain. He held onto me as we stopped running, gasping between steps.

A nearby security guard noticed our condition.

"You two don't look okay."

"We're... fantastic," Jamal wheezed. "I think we've been poisoned, sir."

"Oh no."

He immediately left his post and hurried towards us. After staring at my pale face, he lifted my eyelids to examine them, then quickly helped us while using his other hand to put a call through to his colleagues, and the rest was history.

Five minutes later, we were sitting inside the nearest clinic. I was so glad these kind-hearted security personnel were able to get us medical help this quickly.

The nurse asked what had happened as she stared at Jamal with a somewhat judgmental and inquisitive look. I genuinely wanted to burst out laughing, but I didn't have the strength to do so.

"We shared yogurt, ma," I finally answered weakly.

"Again?" She sighed. Her voice carried exhaustion, as though she had dealt with similar cases before.

Both Jamal and I looked up at the nurse, then at ourselves. "...Again? What do you mean?"

"The street vendor near the skating park?" the nurse asked, gesturing with her hand.

I nodded slightly.

The nurse pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're the fourth case today."

"What?" I asked in shock.

"Looks like the refrigeration failed this morning." She took a deep breath.

I stared blankly. "So... I wasn't poisoned?"

"No, not poisoned, my dear. It's food contamination," she corrected gently. "And it's still dangerous. Thank God you two made it here in time."

Medicine was pushed into our hands, and we swallowed it as we waited for the nurse's final verdict.

"We'll have to call your parents over for proper documentation," the nurse spoke professionally, pulling down her goggles and staring at both of us from the corner of her eyes.

"No, no... I'm not from around here. Mama is miles away, and I came here to spend my holiday with my godmother. I wouldn't want to cause her any trouble. I wouldn't want my mother getting involved either."

The nurse saw my sincerity and patted me on the shoulder.

"It's okay, young lady. Just relax. Nobody is calling any parents."

But almost immediately, the sweating began. I guessed the drugs had started taking effect.

Jamal fanned himself with a magazine.

"I've never sweated this much," he said. "I look terrible," he added.

"You actually don't." I smiled between gasps.

"You don't have to lie," he joked as we continued to endure the discomfort.

Suddenly, I looked sideways.

He wasn't joking.

For some strange reason, that made me smile because he sweated unusually fast.

The waiting room slowly became less miserable. We started talking about music, movies, terrible childhood memories, favorite foods, and embarrassing skating falls.

Time slipped away so naturally that I forgot we'd only met a couple of hours ago.

"You laugh differently now," Jamal suddenly said.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked amid smiles.

"When we first met, your laugh sounded... careful, more like you were merely being polite." He stretched, drying himself with a towel.

"What about now?" I blinked.

"Now it sounds real, like you're finally letting yourself loose."

Those words hit harder than I expected, maybe because they were true.

I looked down at my hands.

"I came here to get away from someone," I finally opened up.

"A bad breakup?" he asked, concern written all over his face.

"Not exactly." I hesitated.

He waited patiently, with no pressure in his expression and no interruption. He simply wanted to hear me vent.

So I talked about Jerald and the so-called messy drama with the transfer student. I also talked about how controlling he'd become, especially his messy crash-out after the camping trip, just before we started dating.

I tried as much as possible not to exclude my own faults in all of this. Lastly, I talked about how coming to stay with my godmother felt like my only chance to breathe.

Jamal listened quietly. He didn't interrupt once.

"Anyway, I need to head back home now. My godmother would be panicking since I've been out for quite a long time." I tried to get to my feet, but I was too exhausted to do so.

I felt like closing my eyes and taking a nap.

"You haven't told me anything about yourself. I've been the one talking all this while," I added as I turned to stare at him.

He leaned back thoughtfully.

"You mentioned someone earlier." He hesitated, wearing a thoughtful expression.

"Yes, I did," I said, raising my eyebrows. "Hakeem, my boyfriend's best friend."

Jamal's expression changed, not dramatically, but just enough for me to notice.

"...You know him?" I asked, sensing his slight hesitation.

"I do." He slowly nodded.

"What do you mean you know him?" My heartbeat stumbled.

"I mean..." he said carefully, "...I've met Hakeem more than once."

The room suddenly felt much quieter as he looked straight into my eyes.

I didn't know how the conversation had led to this point, but at that moment, I needed to grasp every piece of information I could get.

I wanted to ask him about Hakeem's sister and the truth about this small town. At the same time, I was suspicious, somewhat hesitant.

How could I verify anything this guy told me?

I wasn't even sure he would have answers to my questions.

He might know Hakeem, but he definitely wouldn't know the relationship between me and Hilda's dad.

My heart skipped, every instinct warned me to walk away.

Instead, I heard myself whisper, "Please tell me all you know about Hakeem."