TWO WEEKS - Episode 19

As in all the Sundays, Wayne went to Boston to visit his girlfriend.
He was happy when the nurse told him that, Sasha was awake. He went up to her room, paused a few seconds outside the ward door and, prayed before he got in.
He pushed the door open slowly and revealed Sasha sitting on the bed, with her legs hanging on the air. She bent her back, reviewing a couple of photos.
Wayne smiled. He knew immediately that they were the photos that he took with her the previous week. Thinking about the past week, he admitted that, a lot had changed in his life since then. Though there were no physical changes, the emptiness and the grief in his heart had disappeared.
She must have noticed the incomer because, after a few seconds, she turned her head to the entrance.
“Astrophe," she called in a low voice.
He beamed at her and shut the door behind himself, walking toward the bed.
“How are you doing?” He greeted, offering her a side kiss.
“I’m better” she replied.
He pulled the metal chair that usually hanged around in the room and sat facing her, relinquishing a bag with her gifts at the corner of the bed. “Really? What does the doctor say?”
“He says that, I have been responding well to the therapy. More than he expected.”
He laughed a little. “Not therapy. That’s Jesus.”
She raised her eyebrows in queer and almost whispered. “What?”
“I have been praying for you,” he told her charmingly.
She broke into a grin that made him seem a bit foolish. “You have been praying for me?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
She managed a short laugh. “Okay. Thank you, I guess.”
He was silent for a few seconds. At that time, he thought that, he needed to declare his interests. “Sasha… I have to tell you something.”
“More surprises? Tell me.”
He shook his head, chuckling. “Alright. I know that, you used to see me as this person who is, well, a gangster maybe, an alcoholic… but, I have changed now.”
She grimaced and eyed him for a while. “Clearly. You weren’t the preppy kinda guy.”
He broke into a laughter and felt his khaki trousers. “No, no. It’s not the recent dressing style. In fact, I’m still working on it. I want to get suits. I’m a lawyer, you know?”
She nodded and sighed with exhaustion. “So, if it’s not the style then, what’s changed?”
He turned to the bag at the foot of the bed and picked it up, taking out his Bible from it.
She laughed. “Oh my God. You are a Christian?”
He turned to her. Inwardly, he felt a little bit shy to admit so. “Sasha, God has helped me with my nightmares.”
She laughed again and ended up coughing.
He held her quickly, releasing the Bible on the bed. “Are you alright?” He asked in panic.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.” She said, giggling.
“Let me pray for you,” he offered, recalling the lesson of exercising faith in church.
“No!” She retorted, jerking his hands with unexpected strength.
He gulped, staring at her in amazement. “Sasha. I’m only going to pray for you” he said, indignantly.
“I’m okay!” She snapped. “And I honestly do not agree with your Bible things.”
Wayne was very upset by her attitude. He begun to regret going there. Inwardly he wondered what he should do. Holy Spirit, please guide me? He asked.
She picked up the Bible and returned it to his lap. “Take that back. Let’s talk about other things.”
He sighed. “Sasha. Tell me why you don’t want to hear about God.”
“He doesn’t exist.” She replied quickly.
He frowned. “Why do you think that?”
“If he did, Astrophe. I wouldn’t be here right now.” She said, struggling with a lump of tears in her throat. “I wouldn’t be sick while all of my college mates have already begun their internship and are on their way to earn their careers.”
He sighed first. “Sasha. Have you ever welcomed God in your life? Have you ever entrusted your life to him?”
“I sang in church choir!” She cried. “Yes. When I was a little girl. I praised his name and, I thought that, he was a good God. But, he let me live such a seeming perfect life, only to kill me before I even graduated.”
Wayne took her hands. “Sasha. I can’t say that, I know much about God but, all I’ll tell you is that, he’s not who you say he is.”
“If not then why am I here?”
“Maybe you didn’t know him as much when you were a little girl and, he wanted to get you to this point so that, you can turn and serve him newly.”
“What are you talking about?” She asked with tears flowing her eyes.
He was delighted to take his Bible again. “I was reading the Word of God and I was so happy to come across this word...” he said, shuffling the Bible pages.
She was silent, frowning at him with impatience.
“Job, chapter 22 verse 21. The Bible says; Agree with God and be at peace, thereby good will come to you.” He read and turned to her whose eyes had widened with amusement. “So, there. There is no peace or good without knowing God. All the lives we live, we humans are being too self-centered, thinking about ourselves and not knowing that, it’s all about God. God wants us to know him and because, he is so bigger than ourselves; the things that we see to be impossible such as the treatment of Leukemia, are very much possible. He makes us go through trials so that, we can remember him and get the peace that we need.” He said and smiled, feeling refreshed as the words came out of his mouth. “God is going to heal you, Sasha, the minute you accept to turn to him.”
Sasha was silent; considering his words. “I used to read the Bible when I was a kid. I never came across that verse.”
“See? you need a Bible. I was watching CBN on Thursday evening and, I saw many people recover from various sicknesses, after turning to God. God can heal you too. Allow him to.”
She looked down and sighed. “But, I’m going to die.”
He lifted her chin to face him. “No. Don’t say that, please?” He requested her. “You are going to live. I am going to pray with you.”
She smiled a little, feeling comforted by the hope that he provided.
“Now, I can’t be coming here every night and I will go to Ohio next weekend to see my mother. So, all I’ll be doing is, sending you Bible verses and sharing with you some of the sermons of our pastor cause, I have them recorded in my phone. Will you be faithful to follow them?”
She took in a deep breath and nodded.
He smiled and gave her a long warm hug. “You’re going to be fine, Sasha. Tonight’s improvement is the first sign.”
“I hope so Astrophe” she said somberly.
He drew back and grasped her palms. “Let’s pray.”
She nodded.
He begun to pray by inviting God into the room and ask for his forgiveness. He sensitively asked God for her healing and for the healing of his own mother. Halfway through the prayers, Sasha was crying, asking God to start all over again with her. Wayne was touched and hurt by each tear she shed but, deep inside he was sure, Jesus was many times, touched by the pain, she was going through.

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Vicky had a full house the next morning. After Sunday’s show, she became more famous than ever before. The people who already knew her took the liberty of telling others that, she was the baker of the renowned Prettiz. So, guys, girls and even older guys and girls, visited her apartment for a pack of Prettiz.
She was still in her sports clothes, wearing a green apron over her sweatshirt, selling out her final packs to a couple of ladies when, Wayne arrived.
She had not seen him after the previous afternoon; not in the morning jog. He waved at her from afar and she smiled back at him.
“5 dollars?” One of the ladies asked, catching Vicky’s attention.
“Yes dear.” She replied.
The lady took out some money from her purse and handed it to Vicky.
“Thank you and God bless you.” Vicky bid her.
The girls left and Vicky sighed with exhaustion.
She was standing behind the window of the kitchen that connected to the living room where most of her visitors arrived to. They picked the stuff from that window.
“Hi," Wayne greeted, standing outside the window.
“Hallow,” She replied “how was your night?”
“Ah. Better than ever.” He said proudly, nodding.
“That is good. How can I serve you?”
“Four of those Prettiz I think. I also would like to talk to you.”
She turned to her counter and gave him a bag with four of the buns. “That would be, a buck.”
He gave a lopsided smile, taking out the cash from his wallet. “How has business been going?”
“As you can see, I have more customers. I thank God. Tithe pays off.”
“Tithe?” He asked, exchanging his money for his order. “Is that a new ingredient?”
“No. Tithe is the ten percent for every earning. For example if you earn a hundred dollars, you take 10 percent of it to church.”
He raised her eyebrows in amusement. “Ten percent. Oh. So, you say it pays off, how?”
“Because, you give to God; that means trusting God with your money. You know, God knows that, money can rule over men’s heart so, he wants us to trust with him. When we give tithe to church, we honor God’s word and he blesses our finances.”
He nodded slowly. “I will try that out though, I don’t have a job.”
“You can tithe your allowance. From the college or your family.”
He scratched his head and remained silent. Family was a sensitive topic to him then.
She glanced at the door and seeing that it had stayed for a while without opening, she turned back to him. “You had something to tell me?”
“Oh yeah.” He said and turned to the entrance then back to her. “Where can we talk?”
“Come inside.” She replied and took off the apron, turning to the kitchen.
He rounded the wall and entered the room, then pulled a chair and sat behind the round table, opposite her.
“Well, it’s about Sasha.” He said and waited for her reaction. She seemed to be caught a bit off-guard. “And my mother.” He added quickly.
She became mild.
“Vicky. I know that you are a prayerful person and I can say one of the few sensible people left on this earth. I trust you.”
She grinned. “Thank you. I give glory to God.”
“Amen to that.” He agreed and added. “So, my mother. She is suffering from Cancer. The last time that I communicated with home was a couple of weeks ago and my dad told me that, she had less than a month to live. That was before I received Jesus and now I know, admitting God into my life changes everything. So, I hope that, she is still alive. I look forward to see her at the end of the week after receiving my grades.” He paused getting more sensitive as he went on. “I am asking you to pray for me.”
She nodded. “First of all I would like to say that; I am happy that you believe that she would be alright. Our God is a miracle worker. He is a healer.” She said warmly and added. “I will pray for your mom, Wayne. And because, it’s very important, I will also fast to ask God for her recovery. However, since they are agreement prayers, you should also join in the fasting prayers.”
“Oh I will be praying. But, fasting you say? How does that work?”
“You can exempt yourself from the things you love to eat for a couple of hours while focusing on praying for your mom. If you can, you can also stay without food for up to twelve hours while praying for her.”
“Oh. I’ve never tried staying that long without food. You have?”
She smiled a little. Yes, fasting was her lifestyle. But, she wasn't going to brag. “Listen. There are many kinds of fasting. As you read the Bible, you will find that out but, basically there is; fasting from the things you love to eat, maybe sugar or candy. There is also fasting for hours without food but, drinking water; that mainly covers twelve hours. Also, fasting twelve hours without food or water; three days consecutively without food or water, seven days likewise and forty days without food or water and etcetera, basing on one’s own agreement between himself and God.”
“Oh. 40 days. That’s a long journey.”
“Yes but with a tremendous outcome.”
“I don’t know if I like sweets and well, I already stopped taking alcohol so, I’ll try out for the twelve hour fasting but, taking water.”
She nodded. “It’s alright and a nice step. When would you like to start?”
“Tomorrow. Is that okay?”
She nodded. “I’m ready. Do you already have a timetable for praying?”
“Yap,” he said. “I go to my ghetto twice in a day for personal prayers.”
“That is good. You can also request for God’s presence wherever you are.” She said and rose from her seat, turning to her shoulderbag at the one end of the table. “And what’s wrong with your girlfriend?” She asked, taking out a couple of plain papers and a pen from the bag.
She sat with the items at the table.
“Sasha. She is suffering from Leukemia. She was sicker when I saw her last week. I prayed for her and when I visited her again yesterday night, she was better.”
Her face became pitiful. “Oh. I am so sorry for her. But, she is going to be well. God is going to handle her health.”
He nodded and sighed. “So, you can see? There’s a hell of problems that I’ve been facing."
“She is going to be fine… Astrophe?”
“Oh.” He said, realizing for the first time that he had kept that truth from her. “Yeah. That is my first name. I was born as Astrophe Harts, the Wayne came in Ortegun when I was desperately looking for a way out, to hide from my past.”
She was silent for a short while, battling within herself to ask the next question. “You seem to have a complicated past, right?’
He drew a deep sigh before nodding in agreement. “Yeah. A long terrible story.”
She seemed sorry. “Ever thought of lifting the burden off your shoulder?” She asked, meaning to share.
“I would share my things with Sasha but, she also has a lot to bear. She was about to graduate see? But then, she fell sick and after diagnosis the doctors found out that, she had Leukemia. She was hospitalized and has been there for more than 7 months now.” He took a moment to add. “That and my mother’s condition has managed to make my life very miserable.”
“But, now you’ve met Jesus,” She reckoned.
He nodded strongly. “Yes and after the personal miracles I have experienced believing, I am sure that he will change my life and heal those I love.”
She smiled. “Surely he will.” She said and turned to the paper in her hand. “Have you ever come across Hebrews 11:1?”
He searched his pockets for his phone. “No. I know the Hebrews. They are the Israelites, right?”
“Yes. It seems that, you have been reading.” She reckoned.
He laughed a little. “Yeah. I finished the whole Genesis. Apart from John, of course. And I also perused other books. The Bible is very sweet.”
“Ezekiel 3 says so.”
“Thank you. I will check that out.” He said, scrolling his cellphone screen. “So. Hebrews 11:1” he repeated.
“Exactly.”
“It says here that… I shall read in the name of Jesus.”
“Amen.”
“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things yet unseen.” He read and raised his glance to her. “I read this word to Sasha last week. Yesterday, I saw the the improvement.”
“Amen. God is a wonderful miracle worker.”
“Yeah. And you know, it was like, a voice speaking inside my mind telling me to open to this very verse.”
“It wasn’t just any voice. It was the Holy Spirit. After you receive Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God enters your heart and advises you in the Way to living a life worthy of praise and glory to God.”
“That is amazing then.”
“The Spirit also guides you in your studies.”
“What will I have to do to get that guidance?”
“Simple. Pray before you study.”
“May I have that?” He asked, glancing at the paper in her hand.
She passed it to him.
“And the pen, please?" He requested.
She gave it to him and he begun to note down.
“So. Pray. Give tithe and what else do I do to make a good Christian out of myself?” He asked.
“Hebrews 11:6”
He turned to his phone. “Without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” he glanced at her. “Wow. Faith is everything aye?”
“Yes.”
He noted down. “And what else?”
“Colossians 3:16.”
“Mm. Lets’ check that out.” He said and scrolled on his phone, asking “is it in the New Testament?”
“Yes. Just after Philippians.”
“Seen it. Okay. 3 verse 16. The Bible says in Colossians; Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” He read and noted that down. “So, I have to be reading the Bible often?”
“Yes. Get addicted to reading the Word of God and to pray.”
He nodded. “I will exercise that and await the results.”
“Surely you will.”
He dropped the pen on the table. “Thank you very much. Anymore?”
“Surely. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Show kindness and love to all men.”
“Oh. Jesus said that.”
“Yes. In John and all the other Gospels.”
He took the pen again and wrote on the paper. He tapped his phone as he did and after a while, retreated the pen. “Thank you very much.”
She smiled receiving it. “You are welcome.”
He pushed back his chair, rising. “Well. I’ll see you later during practice.”
“Okay.”
“Bye.” He said and walked out.

Victoria turned to the table afterward and made silent prayers. “God. Thank you for my recent success," she begun. “I can finally begin to save for my new laptop and buying a new phone.” She paused to add, “I am asking you to intervene in my friends’ lives; Wayne, Annie. Annie left more than two weeks ago and we haven’t heard from her since. Her father was ill and she left because of that. Wayne’s mom is also sick and he is worried about finding her alive when he has to leave next week.” She sighed. “God I believe in you as a healer as your word says so in Exodus 15:26. I request for the healing of Wayne’s mom. You know how much she means to him. Please show yourself in his life and rectify it as you see fit.”
She continued praying until half an hour later and she left the room, to prepare herself for classes.

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TWO WEEKS - Episode 15

Inside a train to Massachusetts, Wayne went over his life. He then realized that, he did not have a getaway from campus for over a long time. Though he had to return early the next morning, he knew that the hours away from college will be good for him.
In that solace, he could also meditate on the entry of God in his life. For once, he thought of organizing it. After all, there was another person who would be responsible (at least for the next two weeks) for his progress or downfall; this God that is in the Bible.
He thought of praying and following the Word for the following fourteen days. He thought that, it might not be that hard given that, he already experienced relief to have someone to cry to.
At that time he recalled Vicky’s afternoon statement. “Ask can Biblically mean pray. Pray to God before doing anything.”
So, he shut his eyes for some seconds and murmured. “Father who is in heaven, please forgive my sins. I am on my way to Boston to visit Sasha. Please help that, everything work alright. Thanks Jesus, Amen.” He concluded and opened his eyes. Now, if anything wrong happened he would just say; I told God so, if He wasn’t as big as the Bible or Vicky magnified Him to be then, Wayne would know.
He in turn arrived earlier than he expected. He took a taxi to the General Hospital and surprisingly, there wasn’t any traffic jam to his destination.
Wayne agreed that, he was amazed. He recalled the last time that he went there, the train had an engine failure and the rest of the journey was a total disaster. He could not get anything for Sasha and she could not even see him.
This time, he arrived the reception desk with a bag of fruit juice and some cakes. He asked the nurse to see the leukemia patient in the seventh floor of the hospital building.
“She’s under sedation.” The black reception nurse informed.
Wayne nodded. “Can I still see her?”
“Visiting hours are over sir. Unless you are,” she begun before checking a file on her desk. “Astrophe Harts.”
He nodded joyfully. “Yes that’s me.”
She raised an inquisitive eyebrow and then bent down to pick out a ‘Visitors’ ID which she passed to him. “Okay. I hope you know the room.”
“Fifty four, right?”
The nurse nodded.
He smiled. “Thanks. God bless you.” he found the words escaping his mouth and then left, without awaiting the nurse’s reaction.

He came to the floor and stopped outside the door where Sasha was being confined.
At the room threshold, he shut his eyes again and prayed for God’s intervention.
Then, he pushed the door open and walked in, revealing a large hospital room with the bed at the end of it. The bed was connected to a bunch of machines, one that monitored the heartbeat and the others that controlled various biologic processes from a drip that was connected to the lady lying on the bed.
Sasha was a half-caste of African-American with a narrow face and a slim body. She had a cap covering her head which Wayne also expected to have gone bald.
The last time he was there, and could see her, Sasha’s hair was falling off.
That was more than eight months past. It all would have already gone by now.
He sighed first and walked forward, into the room. He relinquished the bags on a metal table on an opposite end of the same room and approached Sasha on the bed.
She was fast asleep and very pale to look at. He pulled a metal seat from behind the table and sat next to where Sasha’s head was.
“I hate seeing you like this.” He begun, looking at her cheerless face. He sighed again and glanced at her palm that was connected to a drip that fed her body with the necessary nutrients and medicine.
He carefully drew the palm close to himself and clutch it. “If God you can really heal, please heal this girl who is more righteous than me.” He prayed loudly. “Can you heal her for me, please?” he asked.
There was silence and he sighed.
This is what faith is all about. He thought in his heart. And this faith is the one that heals. He continued to think. Am I supposed to be charmed with that thought? That asking from a God I cannot hear or see, can actually heal her? He wondered, in contrast to the first thought.
Open your Bible. A thought came to his mind.
He furrowed his eyebrows. Why?  He asked himself.
Open your Bible. The thought repeated itself. A thought, or at least that was what he thought but, it was more like a still small voice.
He shrugged and replaced Sasha’s hand, rising to fetch Vicky’s Bible gift from one of the bags he placed on the metal table.
He sat with it beside Sasha and opened the pages randomly, looking for John or any other familiar book of the Bible.
His efforts landed him to one big 11 below smaller words written;
HEBREWS
He glanced at the first verse and read silently; “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things yet unseen.”
He raised his eyebrows after that and reread the verse.
Faith is all about believing in all that you cannot see. The first thought came to him. Including God and the Word itself. The thought went on. Faith is having the attitude of seeing things which aren’t yet, as things which already are, including the healing of Sasha and that of your mother.
He gulped. Was he actually thinking that?
But, my mother is already dead. He told himself.
You haven’t confirmed that. The thought replied.
You don’t mean to tell me that, I should believe that my mother is still alive and that, Sasha is going to be healed? He asked himself.
Why don’t you pray for it? The thought asked instead.
He narrowed his eyes, considering the thought. Can I? How?
Begin and I will lead you through it. The thought offered.
He grunted. Now?
Yes.
He took a moment and shut his eyes. “Our father who is in heaven, please forgive my sins. Please heal my mother and Sasha.” He begun and sighed. “The Bible tells me that, you are a powerful being. I would like to see how great you are to these two people that mean a lot to me.” He paused. “I read somewhere that…. That, because of his stripes, we are healed. So, Jesus was hurt so that we may be healed. I know that you were wounded not only for me and Vicky or her fellowship members alone, you were also crucified for Sasha and my mother and… Chris and my father. You have the purpose of making me know you and come to you and maybe it involves the healing of my family and Sasha. Please God, I would like to know that you are God and declare about you to all my friends and other people.
“I want to believe more in you; will you please, make me believe in you more than this? Will you please heal my mother and Sasha?
“Seeing her like this, I feel bad. My heart is just, is just,” he sighed, releasing a couple of tears. “Don’t you want us to be happy? Please heal my mother. Please heal Sasha. Please Jesus, I am asking you in front of the Bible because, this book has got a lot about you; it testifies about your greatness. May I see that greatness in real life? I can’t see you but, I was told that, your works in our lives are evident when we give you the chance to do the miracles. I would like a miracle from you Lord. Please heal my mother and Sasha.” He prayed.
He continued praying thus, until half an hour later when he felt that, he had already poured his whole heart to God. Right then, he felt relieved and concluded his prayers, opening his eyes.
He was back in his room and Sasha was lying just a feet from him. But, he looked at her with a smile on his face. He was sure that, God was going to heal her.

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The next day, Wayne appeared in campus with a new decision in mind. He made it up after a peaceful sleep beside Sasha in Boston, Massachusetts.
He arrived Mr. Hurts’ office and knock at his door.
It immediately opened and Mr. Hurts appeared, carrying his bag and ready for his class with the 100.
Mr. Hurts immediately frowned. “Mr. Harts, if you are here to ask me for the leave, you ought to know that, your favor has expired.”
Wayne swallowed and nodded. “I am not here for that sir, at least not yet.”
Mr. Hurts narrowed his eyes at him. “What are you talking about?”
Wayne took in a deep breath, steeling himself to respond, “I am asking for a second chance to rewrite the assignment. I am asking on behalf of my group. Please?”
“Mr. Harts, it doesn’t work that way. What’s done is done. You just have to pull up your socks and lay in more effort to meet your expected GPA.”
“Mr. Hurts I am begging you.”
“No. Other students will do the same and my class will turn into an academic circus.”
“Mr. Hurts, you know that, our group is... well, the least in performance among all the groups of your class. And by being so, we have stained your prestigious reputation as the leading instructor in Ortegun. If you give us the chance; give me the chance, we are going to rectify that and raise the praise of class 100 back to the top.”
Mr. Hurts took some time, probably considering Wayne’s argument. “Why should I believe that you will make it and not waste my time?”
“Because, I want to do all my best so that, I can show my mom my good grades before,” he sighed, “before she dies.”
“Is this some kind of story to make me give you another leave?”
“If I don’t pass, Mr. Hurts, I’ll have no reason to see her.”
Mr. Hurts was silent for a few seconds. “Okay. Since, we both have to earn from this agreement,” he paused. “I will withdraw your marks from here," he said, tapping the bag in his hand.
He begun to turn back into the office.
Wayne followed him. “You were going to post them?” He asked.
Mr. Hurts took out a laptop from his bag. “Send them to the DFL actually. Now, I will have to write a letter of pardon for delaying my presentation.”
The DFL was the Dean Faculty of Law. Mr. Hurts' boss.
Wayne was silent.
Mr. Hurts opened the pc and glanced at Wayne. “If you don’t pass, Astrophe, I’ll not only make sure that you fail, I will personally make you pay for cheating me.”
Wayne gulped and weakly added, “I will do my best.”
“That is not all that is required.” Mr. Hurts replied, switching on his computer. He took out a flash drive from his bag. “You have to do the best, not just your best.”
Wayne nodded.
Mr. Hurts tapped on his keyboard in silence.
Wayne quietly prayed to God that he had made the right choice. Screwing up was not an option.
“Alright," Mr. Hurts said, breaking the silence. He closed his laptop. “You have this week to write a new report. Assessment will be next Friday and, you will have your results and probably leave on the Saturday that follows.”
Two weeks.
“Thank you sir.” Wayne said.
“Tell me that when I grant you the leave.” Mr. Hurts replied coldly and said, “Okay, get out of my office.”
Wayne turned around and left.

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