THE PATH

It's never too late to turn around and take the better path - Anonymous

The Olakunle's Residence
“Jane! Jane! Can you hear me?” Jessica called out to her sister who was lying on the bed. “She must have fainted,” Jessica thought as she hurriedly ran to the other room to call her parents.
“Mummy, come with me now please. I think Jane has fainted. She is not responding…”

They all ran to the other room and met Jane still in the same position.
"Jane, why this? At this time of the night? It’s almost 11pm,” her mother wailed. “Oh Jesus! We need to take her to the hospital now. Darling, please get the car.” Her mother continued turning to her husband. In the next few minutes, they were on their way to the hospital.

Jane was taken into one of the wards by the nurses of Macedonia Specialist Hospital, Ajah, Lagos while Jessica and her parents stayed at the reception awaiting the doctor.
“This hospital looks nice. It’s a good one. I heard that they are patient-oriented,” Jessica said.

Before anyone could comment further, the doctor appeared, “Who are the parents of Jane Olakunle?” he inquired.
“We are, doctor.” Jessica’s father said as he stood up, holding his wife’s hand. They both followed the doctor to his office.

“Mr and Mrs Olakunle…” the doctor began when they had all taken their seats. “The tests we carried out on your daughter confirmed our suspicions. Your daughter Jane has an irregular heartbeat. This is caused by chronic lack of sleep. In other words, your daughter has not been sleeping well."
“Haah!” Mrs Olakunle exclaimed.
“Calm down.” Her husband urged.
“The symptoms of this illness are shortness of breath, dizziness, chest pain, fainting and forgetfulness. We are doing our best to take good care of her but the doctor who is a specialist in her case is currently out of town,” the doctor continued. “However, I will give you a reference letter to a reputable hospital closeby. For tonight, we will give her the necessary aid then you can take her to the other hospital for adequate treatment.”
“Thank you doctor”, Mr Olakunle said.
The doctor stood up to get the letter. He then signed and stamped it before handling it over to them.” Don’t worry, she will be fine.” He assured them. They thanked him and left for the ward.

The next morning was the week before resumption for students at the Centre. Jessica could not read or study due to the unrest at home as a result of Jane’s admission to the hospital. She felt pity for her sister, Jane, and prayed for her quick recovery. "Jane is just too much“, she mused in her room alone. "Everytime she’s online, reading about models and the latest collection of clothes and shoes. She won’t eat and sleep properly. See what her obsession has gotten her into.”

As Jessica was still complaining sadly, her phone beeped. She picked it up and saw it was a text message from Phillip.
“I saw it on the group page that our results for the contact’s exam are out. I checked mine and it was fine. I had 53, if I add that to my test score of 25, it sums up to 78. That’s an A. Kate also texted me. She passed too with a total of 65. She said she has been trying to reach you but your number was unavailable.”

Jessica read through twice and jumped up in jubilation. She was very happy for her friends, especially Kate, who had a low test score. She was happy for Phillip too, despite being a new student in the GLR combination, he was still able to get an A. She jubilated for a while before recalling that she had not checked hers.
“God please, let it be good. I don’t want additional problems for my parents, not with Jane’s hospital admission. Please Lord,” she prayed as she logged into the Centre’s e-portal to check her score.

“Aaahhh!” Jessica screamed happily. “Thank you Lord! Thank you so much. I’m so grateful.” She burst into worship. She dialled Phillip’s number and when he picked, she screamed happily, “Phillip!”
“Phillip, I just checked mine” she laughed. “I passed too. I had a total of 76. I am so happy. At least, my parents will have a reason to be happy even in this situation. I can’t believe my eyes. Such a high score in spite of my new combination? I’m so happy. Even if this doesn’t really matter in my admission because of the change of institution, I’m still happy. At least, I know I can do this.”
They kept on talking for a while before Jessica ended the call and prepared to leave for the hospital.

Southern Shore Hospital, Ajah, Lagos State.

The journey from the house to the hospital was a bit long and quite tedious. Jessica got there two hours after she set out. When she got there, she met a crowd of people. It seemed as though they were waiting to see someone important.
“Who could these people be waiting so eagerly for?” she asked no one in particular. As if in answer to her question, someone walked out and stood in the lobby, looking about her. The person seemed familiar but Jessica still couldn’t figure out who she was because of the crowd of people.
“Jael Dalley!” someone shouted as the person stepped out.
“Oh my God!” Jessica thought. “It’s Jael Dalley. What’s she doing here? How did those people discover she was here?” Jessica asked inwardly. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She was finally seeing the world renowned model live.

Jessica heard some ladies whispering and listened closely.
“I heard she came to give gifts to the patients, especially teenagers and little children,” one lady whispered.
“Yes, I heard she usually does that anytime she visits her parents in Nigeria.” Another lady added. “You know, I didn’t like this area when we moved here at first. But now, I like it especially because Jael comes here. I’m so lucky”, the lady laughed.

Jessica struggled amidst the crowd and finally got to the entrance of the hospital. She saw a lot of people waiting to get autographs from Jael Dalley. She made her way to Jane’s room as she recalled her discussion with her sister Jane a few days ago. Jane had mentioned Jael Dalley’s love for teenagers. “Jane must have seen her too if she came to the teenagers” Jessica concluded. “Jane is just unbelievable. It was her obsession with Jael that brought her here in the first place and now, she gets to meet her in person”, Jessica thought as she walked into Jane’s room.

‘The drama queen is finally awake,” Jessica teased as she saw Jane awake and smiling. She knew instinctively that Jane had been eagerly waiting for her to come so she could tell her about Jael’s visit.
As if she was reading her mind, Jane beckoned to her sister to come nearer and began to narrate everything that happened when Jael entered her room. “Mum told her all about my condition and also told her that it was because of my obsession that I ended up here.” Jane laughed. “When she heard that, she gave me her card, she said I can visit her anytime in her parent’s house. I’m so happy, Jess. If not because I got everyone worried about me, I would have said I am even happy to be admitted here.” Jane said with so much joy.

“This girl is unbelievable.” Jessica laughed. “She’s actually saying she is happy to be here. Even after all the worry she caused.” Jane’s condition improved miraculously and at the end of the day, she was discharged with strict instructions to eat and rest well. The Olakunle’s were back home rejoicing at Jane’s healing and Jessica’s great result.

...the path is the way...