BLOOD LEGACY

CHAPTER SEVEN

At Chingwere Level 1 hospital, a patient in a ward kept shouting and screaming at the nurses. It had been three days now ever since he was brought in. The people who brought him in rushed back to where they had come from. The only thing the nurses knew was that he was a prince from a certain village which apparently, the Chief’s house had caught fire. They felt pity for him because the sole survivor of the fire. His whole family had died.

Two nurses heard the loud screams. “When will he shut up?” The first nurse asked.

“He’s in pain and you could see he’s a village boy, he’s probably scared,” the second nurse added.

“Huh, it’s now becoming irritating and he doesn’t want anyone to wash his wounds. How will he get well?”

“He got burnt so bad. His whole leg is red eish. These jobs we dream of. Sometimes i wish i was a teacher mweh.”

“Just go and settle him down. Give him a sedative before washing the wound.”

The nurses parted ways while the other one walked to where the screams were coming from. She reached the ward and found everyone complaining about the noise.

“Give him something,” one patient shouted upon seeing the nurse.

The nurse walked to a stall, flipped open the curtain and found the boy crying obviously in pain. She felt pity for him looking at the wound.

“Time to wash the wound,” she said regretfully.

He screamed, “No, it hurts,” sending the whole ward into a frenzy.

She quickly got a syringe and assured him it minimises the pain he was feeling. She rolled him over to the other side and injected him. She stayed by his side waiting for him to feel numb in his legs.

“So what’s your name?” She asked.

“Walutanga,” he answered drowsily.

“Okay Walu,” she paused. “Can i call you Walu?” She stood up.

“Yes.”

“Lets have this wound clean up.”

“Where is my family?” He asked before closing his eyes.

****

Limping into the woods, Hunter had escaped the village clinic. He could hear the nurses shouting behind him but he wasn’t going back. From the time he had been awake in the clinic, he had strategized how to take off. It wasn’t difficult to do because the staff at the clinic weren’t as many. Another thing he couldn’t stop thinking of was the fire that killed Walu’s family. That was no ordinary fire, he thought to himself.

He reached the small hut he had spent the night in the night of the fire. He changed his clothes. He threw the clothes he had wore and packed a few things. He walked to the site they were building the school. There was no one. He walked round the unfinished building and knelt down where there was an anthill. He looked around one more time. He dug deep into the ground and removed a black plastic bag from it. He opened it and checked. There were a ton of kwacha bills in it.

He was torn between going to the city or going to the next village to meet up with Walutanga’s sister. He first decided to go to the Chief’s place and see what was happening. Upon reaching there, he found people gathered crying and some people were searching for some things on the burnt down house. He stayed off sight until one woman recognised him.

“You’re supposed to be in the hospital,” she said feeling sorry for him.

He only looked at her.