Cold hands of Death

Some days start well and suddenly everything changes. Things start happening quickly and you are left shocked. July 18 is one of such. I woke up ready to face the day’s challenge and did my usual early morning routine. The next big thing on my list was to write an article which I did and published. I was satisfied and was ready to go about my physical obligations before a call came in.

I got a call that a woman (a family friend} fainted and has been admitted to a hospital close by. To hasten the treatment, I was asked to go and meet the doctor and ask her to add her bill to the family tab. We have a card there so it makes things easy when one is admitted there. The doctor and nurses were running to and fro and hardly gave me in the audience. In between the chaos I spoke with the Doctor and she said the case is severe and the woman needs to be transferred to a Government hospital which we call a General hospital here.

Getting an ambulance was another issue and my Dad’s car is at the car doctor’s shop so I couldn’t take it. We saw an ambulance but the driver wasn’t around, so I went across the street and started stopping cars, begging them to help me transport her to the general hospital.

After several failed attempts at getting a car, I decided to go to the bus terminal and hire a bus. While all this was going on I noticed the countenance of the Doctors and Nurses and knew they weren’t telling me something. I called my Dad and he left where he was and headed to the hospital while I went in search of a bus. Getting a bus was another issue, since they knew how desperate I was, they all started calling high prices. I pleaded with them but they refused. After so much back and forth I got a driver and together we headed back to the hospital.

However, on getting to the hospital, my Dad called me to a corner and said he has something to say. Apparently, the Doctor was deceiving me. The ambulance/bus she asked me to get wasn’t to transport her to the general hospital but to the mortuary, because according to her, the woman died immediately after she got to the hospital, so the chaos I witness when I came was just a charade.

My temperature rose immediately, it was like a dream. Is that how people die? According to her a few hours before she fainted and she hasn’t been showing any sign of sickness at all. In fact, her husband said she was hail and healthy, her neighbours testify to this and mentioned how happy and jovial she was the last time they saw her which was the same day of her demise.

This got me thinking of how unpredictable life is. Someone you see now can be gone the next minute. We plan for tomorrow and fail to live today, meanwhile tomorrow isn’t assured. Death has no respect for any race, age, status or gender. People die every day, so if you are among the lucky few alive, you need to make good use of it. Don’t live your life hating others. Look at those around you, if they die today will you be happy with the way things are between you two before they died? Settle all old beef, always seek peace because we don’t know who’s next.

The day continues…

I renegotiated with the driver and he took the corpse away. I couldn’t stand it any longer. The tears flowed and the noise was too much and I could feel that I’m having a fever already. I went home and took some drugs to calm my nerves. I tried to sleep but I couldn’t, I went online and searched for things one can do in cases like this and I saw “do things that make you happy”.

Luckily a football match was on. The super falcons (Nigeria’s female team) were having a semi-final match against Morocco. I watched the match. A mistake because it only increase my heartbeat and the fever intensified. We lost on penalties despite playing with 9 men for over 60 minutes.

The match ended and everyone went to bed but for me, it was a long night of recklessness…

Thanks for Reading! 🕊💚🕊