Chapter 3. The Medicine

After Helen stepped out from Professor Ruben's office, another of her lecturers spotted her and called to her attention. "Helen Robert."

Helen stilled as the lecturer, Professor Andrew Morris, asked, "Are you keeping a boyfriend that caused you to fail my practical exam? This has not happened before. What happened to you?"

Professor Andrew was a middle-aged man, and he looked at Helen with disappointment in his voice and face.

Helen couldn't meet Professor Andrew's gaze. Seeing all her lecturers angry at her, she knew that she had allowed her father's illness to weigh her down. She could have accepted to marry instead of furthering her education, like her father had suggested.

"Helen?…" Professor Andrew shook his head and said, "Stay away from boys so that you don't destroy your future."

The man walked away, and for the rest of the day, Helen went from one lecturer's office to another until the chancellor invited her to her office.

"Helen Robert, what is going on with you? You came into this university and did well, and now that you have only one year left to graduate as one of the best pharmacy students in this university, you are beginning to relent. What happened?" Chancellor Katherine Collins asked, her voice calm but her eyes fixated on Helen coldly.

Helen couldn't meet Chancellor Katherine's gaze on her. As she stood in the office, her head lowered.

"Are you keeping a boyfriend? Did he break up with you and it affected your studies too?" Chancellor Katherine asked, her voice filled with concern as she looked at Helen.

"No, ma. It's my father. He had a stroke, and he's unwell," Helen said, her voice choked with sobs, and Chancellor Katherine's cold gaze dropped. Her eyes softened as she peered at Helen with concern.

"I am sorry about that. I didn't know that it was home issues. Would you like to go home and take a break? You can come back to complete your exam?" Chancellor Katherine offered as she was a middle-aged woman.

Helen shook her head. "No, Ma. I will finish with the exam first," she said, while Chancellor Katherine felt bad that she had judged Helen wrongly. They had all assumed that she was keeping a boyfriend.

"It's fine. When you are ready to leave the university grounds, you should let me know so I can give you some presents to give to your father. It is one of the finest cure medicines that one of our pharmacy students produced, and I think it will help with your father's stroke recovery. But the medicine is still under testing and not yet in the market," Chancellor Katherine said, but Helen felt uneasy about it.

"Will it help my father's stroke? My mother said that he cannot even talk or know that she is around."

"Mm. It might help him. Wait here; let me meet with Professor Ruben to ask for it."

Helen sat in Chancellor Katherine's office as she waited for Mrs. Katherine to return.

Meanwhile, Tasha called Helen's phone multiple times, but Helen refused to answer.

"Where is she?" Samuel asked. They were done with their practical exams, and he had noticed that Helen looked downcast during the practical exams. But he couldn't reach out to her as he was busy. And also, he was in the men's hostel. He couldn't go to the women's hostel to ask Helen out or chase after her.

Besides, Samuel had spent time working on a project at hand, and he had to test the new product on the laboratory rat to see its improvement and how effective the medicine was.

After wrapping up his final project and getting a good result, Samuel had discarded his lab coat and chased after Helen, but before he could exit the lab, Helen had disappeared, and he didn't know where she was or if she was a ghost to have evaded him. Samuel spotted Tasha and decided to ask her to call Helen. Besides, he didn't have Helen's number, but she wasn't answering her phone.

"I am trying to call Helen, but she is not picking up. Why do you want my friend, Samuel? You have me here. Why not date me instead of Helen? We are from the same well-off families. But Helen, she is from a poor home. And besides, she is a chubby woman. Why will you chase after her?"

Tasha wore a green dress and black shoes, as she was in the same class as Helen and Samuel.

Samuel's brows furrowed. He pushed Tasha's hand off from touching his chest as he spat, "I don't like a woman chasing after me. So if you are not interested in the deal, you should let me know, and I will find another person to help me out."

Samuel walked away, going to look for Helen on his own.

"Ugh. He will come back to meet me again," Tasha grimaced as she went away to have her lunch. It was past 4 p.m., and they had spent so much time on the practical at hand.

It was Friday evening. Tasha tried calling Helen again before Helen answered the call.

"Where are you, Helen? I have been trying to call you since morning, and all to no avail? Where did you go?" Tasha asked, her voice filled with anger.

"I am sorry, Tasha. I went to Chancellor Katherine's office. She called me because she noticed that I looked unwell, and also, she said I didn't do well in the practical exams, which had not happened before," Helen explained calmly, but Tasha rolled her eyes in jealousy.

"So what do you want to do now?" Tasha asked as she noticed that Helen had been down, but since Helen refused to share her problem with her, she didn't bother to ask.

"I will meet you later," Helen said, and Tasha sighed.

"Alright."

Helen waited in Chancellor Katherine's office. After a while, the middle-aged woman returned with the medicine in a dark bottle and handed it over to Helen.

"This is the medicine. One of our students here did this medicine, and it's worked magic on the laboratory rat and cured it from suffering seizures and stroke. So you can try it on your father and get back to me with the result," Chancellor Katherine said with a smile.

"Which of the students is that? Can I know the person's name?" Helen asked, her voice laced with curiosity as her large blue eyes met Chancellor Katherine's eyes.

The middle-aged woman hesitated to divulge the student's information to Helen, but after thinking for a while, she said, "Samuel Kingston. I am sure you must be aware of him. He has a reputation as a bad boy, but he is a genius like you, and the one who made the medicine. His father owns a pharmaceutical company, so it's no surprise Samuel is good academically even when he appears unserious."

"What?" Helen's eyes widened in shock. She hadn't expected the bad boy who was chasing after her to be a secret genius.

"Why do you look surprised? Do you think Samuel is a dullard?" Chancellor Katherine inquired.

"Well, I do not know, ma. I just thought Samuel plays too much, and he's popular among the students because of his father's wealth," Helen mumbled, her cheeks flushed.

"Well, I understand. You can try the medicine on your father and get back to me, alright? I expect good results before Monday. So you can go home, and remember the medicine is stored in a refrigerator so that it doesn't get spoilt," Chancellor Katherine concluded with a smile as she looked forward to hearing good news from Helen by Monday.

"Okay, ma. Thank you." Helen rose to her feet, and she got a permission letter to leave for her home. So she dashed out from the office, went back to her room to pack a few of her things, and she set to leave for her home.