The Journey of a Lifetime [Part Five]
a short story...
Five
“Get her on the stretcher!”
“Have her husband sign the consent forms.”
“Mummy!!!”
“Where’s the anesthetic?”
She knew it was a new day but as much as she tried, she couldn’t open her eyes. She was becoming weaker and she felt like life was seeping away from her slowly. She could barely remember what happened after she fainted again the previous night. Fleeting images of a nurse coming for a routine inspection and finding her on the floor, distress calls, and a different doctor appearing before her, all hovered in her mind for a few seconds before disappearing.
She could not, however, ignore the voices of her little angels. They must come here to see her before the surgery. Chisom, the older twin, was trying her best to be calm and strong while her sister bawled loudly before nurses escorted them away from her room. As her family walked away, she shouted something at them. She was sure it was incorrigible because even she couldn’t hear, much less understand what she was saying. However, it was to assure them and also herself that she was going to be okay.
In fact, she was not supposed to be this worried. The surgery wasn’t a complex one, they were just going to extract some lymph nodes from around her arm to verify the grade of cancer she had. It would probably take no time to finish but she still had a bad feeling about the surgery. Her subconscious was giving her all kinds of signals but she couldn’t consciously decode them. Maybe she felt worried because of how sick she felt. She couldn’t eat or sleep properly, and she was vomiting all the time.
She stopped battling with her eyes and let them close on their own when she was taken into the operating room. She was given anesthesia and she could already feel herself losing control of her sensations. She didn’t try to fight it, she wouldn’t even have the strength to if she tried. She closed her eyes and imagined herself in a mythical land of all those fiction novels she used to read when she was younger.
She could hear them preparing to start before she blacked out.
A nurse checked her blood pressure and heart rate after surgery. She was back in her ward and she lay on the bed as the nurse examined her. It was successful and they only awaited the results to know the grade of cancer she had and the treatment to administer. The sphygmomanometer indicated that her blood pressure was low, so she had to take in fluids to increase it. The nurse retrieved a bottle of an energy drink from her bedside drawer and presented it to her.
She still felt sick and she was in a hazy state. She accepted the bottle and twisted the bottle cap. The liquid fizzed lightly and a sickly sweet smell rushed into her nostrils. She put her lips on the bottle and took a sip to taste the drink. However, her mouth was dry and it seemed like she had a sore throat. The nurse informed her that it was perfectly normal and was just the effect of the anesthesia wearing off. She forced herself to drink more of the drink and was in the process when the door to her room opened. It was her husband. The nurse immediately gathered her equipment and excused herself. She told her that if she felt any pain, she should ring and she would be provided with painkillers.
“How are you feeling?” he asked as he sat on the bed beside her. He ran the back of his hand along the side of her face and smiled.
“I’m okay for now, I feel queasy but they told me that it’s normal. How are Chisom and Chidera?”
He leaned back against the bed railing. “Jemima came to pick them up some minutes ago. They were reluctant to go but they were also tired from all the stress today, so I made them go back home.”
She was expecting to see the children but she was disappointed. “So how’s the house? Work? Everything okay?”
“A bit stressful, but I can’t really stop work even if I wanted to. Don’t worry about me too much, I’m fine.” They laughed. He always knew how to make her feel better when she was in one of her moods. It brought back memories of when they were still dating, days filled with lesser responsibility and expectations.
She was twenty-eight and she had long finished university. He was thirty and started out as a Supervisor in a small bank. Prior to that, she was working in a Non-Governmental Organization that was founded for the purpose of providing care and security for street children. Her job was quite tedious and she had to move about and make enquires about children living on the streets. She examined their background, situation, and several other factors before submitting a detailed exposition of the selected children to the organization. They screened her list and then selected as many children as their budget could offer. She also went around spreading awareness about how to alleviate poverty and she taught proper family planning. It was a very demanding job and she loved every minute of it.
As time went by, she passed her mid-twenties and started approaching thirty. The pressure to get married and secure her future grew. Her parents tried everything they could, her long-married younger sisters tried to persuade her, and friends around her and from church tried to make her see reason. They were afraid because she was not getting any younger and she hardly had any suitors left. It wasn’t that she was against marrying, or she didn’t want to get married, she just loved her voluntary occupation so much and knew that her family life would affect it.
The country began to experience a recession and the effects of the economy began to affect her. Her job was a non-profit type, so she couldn’t count on her salary to sustain her. He came into her life at this point.
She was on an assignment to receive a government grant to fund a project the organization was undertaking. At the bank, she met a tall and handsome man who made her laugh and helped her fill out the forms. She didn’t believe in it, but it was love at first sight and she couldn’t stop thinking about him. They started dating soon after and were married after six months to the surprise of everyone. As luck would have it, she had to resign from her job because it would be almost impossible to work and manage a family. She was content with the marriage and her family but still missed those days when she did what she loved.
“Are you sleeping?” He playfully nudged her arm and she returned back to the present.
“No, I was just lost in thought.” She smiled and coughed lightly. The urge to vomit was strong. He noticed and stood up to call her nurse but she held him as firmly as she could. She didn’t want to ruin their romantic moment. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. Besides, they’ll soon come to take you away.” He nodded and held her hand. She leaned into him, and they lay like that in still romantic bliss.