THE COLD WAR

ONE LAST CHANCE

Derenle walked dejectedly with the doctor towards the ward where his wife was admitted. He halted just before entering the room, heaved a deep sigh, and proceeded.
"I'm so sorry about the loss." The doctor consoled her.
"We should be grateful that your body expelled all the pregnancy tissues; no complications and no infections. C'mon, cheer up Lola." He used the tip of his collar to wipe her tears.
"I've discussed this with Derenle also. please be careful next time, don't try to interfere with other people's affairs especially when it's resulting into a fight.
Lola looked sternly at Derenle who had lied to his doctor friend about the cause of the miscarriage.
"You guys should also make things snappy. I've told Derenle to plant another seed in you before the end of next month. Don't worry, God will give a set of twins to compensate you." He giggled, trying to cheer her up.
"I will check back on you Lola, I have other patients to attend to." He said, and left the couple.
Derenle sat on the bed, next to Lola, and held her hand.
"I'm so sorry Lola, I didn't mean to."
"Don't you dare lay your filthy hands on me." she blurted out.
"Each time you mess up, you keep singing 'I'm sorry' like it would repair the damage your frivolous act does to me. You're so quick to say you're sorry, I wish you put that same energy to work on your anger."
"Lola, I've tried." He sniffed.
"The more I try, the deeper I go in this mess. I have undergone lots of therapies, you know that. A whole lot of psychological test that keeps failing. Lola, I can't help myself." He buried in face in his palms.
"Rele, I'm really scared for you." She burst into tears.
"But we will both fight and conquer this stigma your background has left on you." She looked straight into his puzzled eyes and assured him.
"My baby...." she wept, placing her hands on her tummy.
"Lola, you're too perfect for me. It's a pity you ended up with a miserable person like me. I don't deserve you, neither do I deserve all you have done for me. I'm thinking of...."
"Of what?" she cut him off.
"That's a no-go area, I will stand by you till the end of time. Like I've always said, everything about us is divinely orchestrated, it's not a coincidence. All things work together for the good of God's children, and so, I agree that my baby is gone for my good too even if it doesn't look it now." She wiped away her tears and that of her husband.
"Denrele." She sat upright on the bed, held his two hands and gave a bleak smile.
"We sure will win this battle."
He nodded, still giving an inexpressible look.
"I will be back shortly, I need to see Daniel. Please, be fine." He said, kissing her forehead.

He walked clumsily towards Daniel's office, gasping as a dry breeze swept across his pale face. His steps bored the deteriorating flooring to death. Thankfully, he bumped into Daniel before murdering the starving tiles.
"I'm heading to your office, are you free?"
"I think I am. Why do you look this pale, guy? I've told you to cheer up. You're a man for crying out loud, you're meant to be the one consoling Lola."
"See Dan, I have a lot of problems. I need you to just recommend another therapist to me."
"Because you lost a baby?" Dan looked at him, bewildered.
"It's beyond that." Denrele, not leaving behind any part of the story explained all his struggles to Dan.
"You truly can't help yourself Denrele." He sighed.
"Likewise those therapist. It's beyond a therapeutical condition. This is a weakness that needs to be thoroughly dealt with. See, everyone lives or once lived with a weakness, the difference between the former and latter is that the latter didn't conceal his weaknesses, he opened it up. See, you can't cover up a wound for a long time else it will grow worse, right? You have to open it up for proper treatments and all of that. There's this case of a child I'm treating, his parent warned him not to go out to play, but he disobeyed, and unfortunately, he sustained a slight injury around his ankle. It was aching him so bad, but he didn't open it up because he was scared of getting lashed. He kept wearing socks just to make sure his parent didn't notice it. Of course, they asked about his new fashion sense, you should trust those kids to always prove that they are wise when they are actually not. It was when he started limping his parent suspected that something was wrong and by then, pus was coming out of the supposed-to-be minor wound already. Do you get what I'm saying?"
Derenle stared at him more confused.
"I'm talking about something serious, you're telling me about wound. What's my business?" He grumbled.
"I was once in your shoes."
"Now you're talking". Derenle sat up, pulling his chair closer.
"Mine wasn't anger, I was a big flirt but it was low key. It wasn't so obvious and so, parents kept using me as a standard for their children to follow. Like apostle Paul did in Romans 7, I cried out too because I couldn't do the good I wanted to do, I was automatically finding myself dwelling in the evil I was running away from. I then realized that It's a war with my sinful nature I must fight and win. I took a bold step like apostle Paul. You know what I did? I cried out.
'What a wretched man I am! who will rescue me from this body of death? Well, my question wasn't rhetorical as I got an answer in Romans 8. I soon realized that I couldn't fight the war alone, those things I was contending with (that you also are at the moment) were stronger than I was, and that was why I always got trampled on even when I fought so hard. I knew I needed an ally to assist me in the fighting. I stopped hiding my sore, and opened it wide for Jesus to see. He did see it, and rescued me from the law of sin. He put me under the law of the spirit of life which gave me freedom from the flesh."
He paused, and then, tapped Denrele.
"It's an easy battle when you go to the war front with the backing of the spirit of God, but a devouring one when you go alone. You have another great chance to choose either triumph or defeat, dear friend."

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Which do you think Adenrele will choose; triumph or defeat?
Of course, a normal person will choose triumph."
Well, I agree with you. Let's see if Denrele is wise enough to choose the right path.
What a crossroad for him! I wish him well.