He heard something, a constant buzz, one whose
source he could not make out. So he struggled, his eyelids were heavy but he
did not relent. As his eyelids finally gave up a slight slit of opening, the
bright white light forced them shut even tighter. He immediately knew the
source of the buzz, it was from the one meter long fluorescent tube lighting up
the room. He swallowed, and felt a sharp pain in his throat. Where was he? All
of a sudden he was now aware of the physical pain throughout his body. He could
not feel his left hand, his jaw and throat were sore. The throbbing pain in his
left knee was excruciating. He did not seem to recall any event that might have
led to his current predicament. He gently slipped back to unconsciousness.
Still, where was he?
The next time he was awoken by a warm wet cloth
swiping at his eyelids. He tried and successfully was able to open his eyes,
but the white light was piercing, forcing him to shut them again and open them
slowly adjusting to the light. A lady dressed in white was attending to him.
Immediately Tom realised that he was in hospital. However, as hard as he tried,
he could not seem to remember what had happened to him. He could not tell what
time it was and even worse what day. He struggled to lift his head from the bed
but the pain was too much. Giving up on rising, he thought he could ask the
lady in white what happened and why he was in hospital. As he tried to speak
the pain in his throat got worse and all he could manage was more of a croak.
“You are a very lucky man, just relax and the pain will all go away, it’s
nothing serious.” He could not believe what this lady was saying. Nothing
serious yet he could not feel his left hand nor differentiate where from his
body the sharp stubs of pain came from? He let go from the struggle and almost
simultaneously slipped back into unconsciousness.
She walked into the hospital infuriated. She did not
know the exact ward, she paced around looking very uncertain. Since there
seemed to be no nurse around she figured she would have to find the room on her
own. From the lift she knocked lightly on the first door on her right. Waiting
for no response she twisted the door knob and opened the door just enough to
peep inside. An elderly man with the legs suspended mid air, a fracture
patient, wrong room. She turned to the opposite door, room 219. This time she
went straight for the door knob and opened the door, an elderly lady sat up in
bed and called out, “Maggie?” Jackie apologised and left the room. She was now
feeling frustrated but still went ahead with the search.
In his hospital room, Tom had awoken and was studying
the room in silence. He was only able to slightly turn his head to the left.
From there he was able to see most of the room, which was actually almost empty
except for the small side-drawer by his bed side. The walls he realised were
quite untidy. There was no television or anything of the kind. He tried to turn
his head to the right as he took note of the worrying lack of equipment in the
room but a sharp pain in his neck could not allow him. A little too much pain
for ‘it’s nothing serious’ he thought. However, he could somehow feel that the
bed was against the wall on that side. He realised that there was no way
he could even call for help incase he needed to. He was now getting worried as to
what kind of low-life hospital he was in. Suddenly as if to make his fear come
true his torturous left leg started shaking. It spread to the whole body. He
could not breathe with ease. Trying to ignore the pain in his throat he
struggled to shout and managed only a croak. He was now not breathing, his
whole body shaking violently. The world seemed to stop spinning as he continued
to try and call out for help. He was breathless and giving up when he saw a
lady peep into the room and rush back outside. The lights deemed in his eyes as
he noticed the lady run back into the room. He tried as if to reach out for his
last hope, maybe his saviour. He blacked out.
She moved aside as doctors rushed into the ward room
lead by some nurses. The man was still shaking violently as the nurses
struggled to pin him down. “Get something into his mouth, he shouldn’t bite his
tongue, it’s a seizure.” Instructed an elderly doctor. The team of medics
managed to successfully pin Tom down. Jackie was ushered out of the room by a
nurse as the medical attention on Tom seemed to go a notch higher. As she stood
outside the door, she was still in shock quite unable to take in what she had
just witnessed. Her heart was racing, she was not sure of what she had just
witnessed. She felt nauseated, she had just witnessed a man almost die, or will he? She turned around, stared blankly at
the door for a moment and walked away not really sure where she was headed.
Finally she was able to locate the room she had
intended to visit in the first place. When she saw Mercy and the look on her
face all the fury that had somehow been subdued by what she had witnessed
earlier arose. “Ooh Mercy! Mikey did this? Look at you.” Mercy was too
distraught to talk. Even if she wanted to, it was doubtful the wounds on her
face and the cracked lip would allow her. It was sad, the only thing close to
normal about her face was the tears that rolled down her cheeks. The nurse
explained to Jackie Mercy’s condition and that it was not necessary she stays
at the hospital any further. With the money her colleagues at the salon and herself
had contributed she cleared the bills and acquired the prescribed painkillers
and ointment. On their way downstairs she remembered the incidents from earlier
on and thought it wise to just check on the poor man.
She was trying to give Mercy a rendition of what she
could remember from the ordeal as they walked towards the man’s room. Almost
two hours had passed and on entering the room the man was laying there
peacefully, it was as if nothing had happened to him. He was unconscious, Mercy
not knowing the man and quite taken by her own pain remained by the door.
Jackie walked to the man’s bedside and looked at him in his peaceful slumber.
It was unbelievable the calm that he was in now, earlier his face was distorted
by pain and fear, maybe the fear of death. Now his fine features were well
visible, a smooth face, maybe a little too smooth for a man Jackie thought.
Whatever he had been through, the man did not have even a single scratch on his
face. A nurse walked in and recognised Jackie straight away from earlier. “He
sure is a lucky man, very lucky to have had you around to raise the alarm. A
minute later and it would have been a miracle to have him here. It was a
serious case of a panic attack, all his systems were shutting down, he had our
doctors surprised.” The nurse insisted that Jackie leave her number, “If
someone saved your life the same way you would want to thank them in person, I
would name my child after you if I were the one.” Jackie noticed the small bump
in the nurse’s stomach.
Mercy and Jackie left the hospital and headed to the
bus stop to catch a matatu to town so that they connect with another to Huruma
where Mercy resided. Jackie had already decided they were going to collect some
things and go back to her place in Mathare. Mercy was her friend and colleague
and she was not going to let her wait for death by the hands of an
inconsiderate and ungrateful sponge that Mike was. She loathed men even more.
To be continued…
