My Messiah :Love in Damascus - Episode 29

When we got to the hospital, I saw her younger brother playing in the veranda.

"Where is mum?" I asked

"She have gone to get what we would eat" one of them answered.

My dad and I entered her ward. He couldn't stand the sight of her, she was very lean and surviving on a life support. I wasn't after her present physical state for I know that after the surgery, she would go back to her old self, the perfect shape. She smiled when she saw us, smiling in distress that is on like her.

"This is my dad" I introduced and she nodded her head in agreement. After a long minute of silence, my dad patted my back and signalled me. I already know what he meant. He was already feeling pity for her, a young girl in that state, it was very pitiful. We went to see the doctor about the payment. I knew where to pay but I want my dad to oversee everything himself and possibly pay the money himself. As we stood up to go and pay the money, I whispered into his ear.

"I want to see Sasha in her ward" I said and tiptoed out of his sight and went into her ward. I had wanted him to pay the money himself.

"Alright, I will join you when i'm done with the payment" he said but I didn't even wait to listen to it for I was already gone.

So as I entered, a nurse just finish attending to her. I drew a chair closer to myself and sat down beside her.

"Everything would soon be over" I assured her

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. She looked at me and I discovered that her eyes were already deep. That same big eye I had fallen for had become sunken. "My dad has gone to pay the balance of the surgical fee" I continued and she shifted her body in a way I didn't understand "and the doctor said the operation will be done latest by next week. He said he would contact the expert and book a date but not to worry, it is going to happen very soon than even expected. Just keep fighting it"

Tears began to roll down her face. I didn't bother to ask her why she was crying for I know it was tears of joy.

"Joseph, your dad came to pay my bills" she said between sob

"There is nothing I can't do for you. I just want you to know my feelings for you are so real" I said and suddenly felt awkward. The mood wasn't a love one but I had turned it into one.

"Joseph" she began silently "I have a confession to make" she said and my ears were wide open "everything you told me about your feelings, I understand. I just want you to know that I feel the same way" she continued and my eyes lit brightly "I kept pushing you away and holding my feelings to myself because of my ailment. I had kept it to myself for a very long time thinking it was just a mere thing. I didn't want to add to my parent issues because I know how they struggled to make a daily living"

I sat still looking at her. I don't know whether to call her a fool or an idiot. She knew she was suffering from something and she kept it to herself for so long. Well, that is not the main issue. Her survival is what matters.

"That is a very stupid thing to do" I said

"I know" she agreed "but there is nothing to do. Where would my parent have gotten the money for the operation? I have always tried not to have ties with people not until I met the brainies. I began to change my orientation gradually and when you came around, a lot of things changed about me. I wish I wasn't sick, I wish I didn't possess such a deadly thing in me. I wish I could tell you I loved you those times you confessed your love"

She looked at me with tears in her eyes and I held her hand.

"Help me sit upright, Joe" she said mockingly. That was the first time she called me 'Joe'.

So I put my hand under her head and use my other hand to stand the pillow.

"I love you Joe" she said. I began to wonder why it was Joe this time and not Joseph.

"I love you too"

"I love you Joseph.... I love you.... I love...." She began to confess her love for me, at the same time coughing loudly and constantly "I love you"

"That is enough!" I said "take it easy" I began to pat her back. Her coughing became louder and consistent. Suddenly she began to grasp for air. I held her hand with my hand. When I didn't know what to do anymore, it seems to me that patting her back wasn't working. So I shouted and screamed to alert the doctor.

Her siblings ran inside to check what was going on.

"Call the doctor or nurse. Anyone!" I shouted

She held my hand firmly and smiled "We will meet again someday, Joe"

I wasn't sure about what she meant by 'someday', but I was not ready to let go.

After some few minutes, the doctor ran inside along with some nurses. I saw my father standing by the door, her mother was also there. I gave the doctor some space to examine her. She was still coughing. Suddenly, she stopped coughing and the doctor brought out his stethoscope and placed it on her chest. He then clutched his hand together and started applying pressure to her chest. 

I stood there watching him for I know what he was doing, guess those are the influence of too much movies. He did it for some minutes but there was still no response from her. I kept staring at the HRM, her electrocardiogram was a straight line. I began to pray silently but there was still no changes in her heart rate. After minutes of applying pressure to her chest, the doctor then checked his wristwatch turned to the nurse beside him.

"Time of death, 15:05, 16th of December, 2009" the doctor pronounced. I didn't first understood what the doctor meant.

Read " LEX " by the same author ( olasupo isaac )

. I stood like a fool, dumbfounded. "Pack her body" he added.

I then discovered this wasn't a joke. The doctor tried to leave the ward but I blocked him. Her mother screamed and pushed the nurses away.

"Don't touch my daughter" she shouted

The devil entered my heart and I gripped the doctor collar, I shook him roughly and I was ready to tear him apart. My dad grabbed me from behind, I freed myself from his grip- my bones were getting stronger.

"Use a defibrillator!" I screamed but the doctor just shook his head

"She is gone" he said merely without even sign of pity and that even got me more crazy

 The whole ward had become noisy, her mother was at the top of her voice and her younger ones were also crying.

'Do people die just like that?' I thought

I wept bitterly, I just couldn't believe it. I just spoke to her some minutes ago and now she is dead, just like that!. So I won't be able to see her again, so she had varnished from my world, how can I cope without her?. I just kept having different thought with no answer. When my dad couldn't stand it no more, he led me out of the ward. 

Sasha was already dead, she had left me to wallow in darkness. That day became the beginning of my darkness. My Messiah had left me, this time she was gone forever!