Pat

a new leaf

The headaches became worse and regular painkillers could no longer work on them.

“If you don’t go to the hospital, I’ll drag you there myself,” Gabe said when I told him I couldn’t work that night because of the headache.

“Okay, I’ll go get checked tomorrow,”

I couldn’t stand the headache so I decided to go to the hospital. I didn't like trips to the hospital but who did? On my way out, I met Pat at the gate.

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted us to talk,”

“There’s nothing to talk about. If you are here to visit Chance you better go back. I already told him not to talk to you,”

“Are you for real Liz? If I were a man would you do the same? If I was Chance’s biological parent would you prevent me from seeing him? I am his parent whether you like it or not?” I started feeling dizzy. “Are you okay baby?”

“I’m fine, just leave me alone,” Just then my mom walked out of the gate.

“What’s going on here? What is she doing here? I thought you didn’t want anything to do with her,”

“She came to visit Chance not me. She’ll have to wait out here till he gets back from school,”

“Are you sure about this Elizabeth?” my mom asked.

“Mom, I know Liz and I aren’t in talking terms right now but it doesn’t mean you also push me away,”

“We aren’t pushing you away Mukami but my daughter has to be comfortable in her parents’ home before anything else. This is her sanctuary. She didn’t tell us what happened but she said you were the reason she lost the baby she was carrying, that in itself is reason enough to only welcome you when she’s not around,”

“Can we sit down and talk Liz? This isn’t the place to talk about this. It was a misunderstanding a stupid mistake on my part,” I looked at her but my vision was getting blurry. “Are you okay?”

“She was on her way to the hospital,”

“Why? What's wrong with her?”

“She’s been having headaches since the accident,”

“Let me drive you to the hospital,”

“I’d rather crawl,”

“This is not the time to be stubborn,” Everything went dark. I woke up in the hospital bed.

“Babe, are you okay?”

“Who are you?”

“What are you talking about? It’s me Pat?”

“Elizabeth, you are finally awake. You had us worried,” A woman said coming towards us.

“Who are you people? And how do you know me?”

“What is going on here? It’s me, I'm your mom,”

“She doesn’t remember us,” the younger lady said. “I’ll go get the doctor,” she came back with the doctor who asked me a few questions before he recommended that I get a CAT scan done.

“You can’t forget me. You can’t forget us, not now,” the lady that introduced herself as Pat said. The older lady that said she was my mom and two others that claimed to be my sisters had left earlier and promised to be back by the next visiting hour.

“Why should I remember you? Why shouldn’t I forget you?”

“Because…because you can’t, our love is too deep to be forgotten like that. Your family may not know about us but we are in love and I don’t want to lose that,”

“You are my lover?”

“We’ve been together for almost five years. We were in the middle of getting a child together but we lost her,”

“What happened?”

“You got into a car accident. It’s a miracle you are still alive,”

“Is that why I can't remember anything?”

“Yes it is,” she was so good to me I wondered what it was that got us in bad terms.

I tried hard to remember and some things came in bits and pieces but nothing solid. I started getting headaches from it and like a sudden electrical shock it all came to me. The pain felt real. It was as if I had just gone through it.

“Liz, why are you crying?” she asked putting down the things she was holding.

“You’re the reason I lost my baby,”

“You got your memory back?” my sister asked.

“I told you I never wanted to see you again,”

“It’s something we can talk about, please calm down,”

“Leave. I want you gone. Even if I was to die today, I’ll never forgive you for what you did to me,”

“You don’t mean that, you and me, we’re forever,”

“I said leave,” I felt pain at the back of my head. It was as if someone had hit me hard. Everything started spinning then it all went dark.

“Any changes yet?” I heard a male voice ask from a far.

“The doctor said that she was out of danger and she would wake up soon enough,” a female voice said.

“It’s been five days. I think we should get a second opinion,”

“Let’s give it more time, I’m sure she’ll come back to us,” I wanted to open my eyes but couldn’t. I couldn’t even open my mouth or move any part of my body. It was like one of those dreams where you’re conscious but some unknown force was pulling you back into another world. Was I dying?

“Why don’t you go stretch out for a while? I’ll be with her till you get back,” It finally came to me, that was Gabe and my mom.

“No, it’s okay. I’m okay.”

“Please Mama Liz. It’s not healthy to be in here for that long. You need to feel the sun and get some fresh air and a change of clothes,”

“I can’t trouble you that much,”

“Since when was it trouble taking care of a future wife?”

“What do you mean?”

“Liz is my girlfriend. I wanted to propose to her since before the accident but I never got the chance to do so,”

“But I thought her and that-

“What? No, they were just housemates. She never told me what happened but it must have been huge to destroy their friendship like that,”

“So my daughter was not…”

“You have a very active imagination,”

“You don’t know how happy I am to hear that. You should propose to her as soon as she wakes up.”

“I almost lost her. I don’t want it to happen again,”

“If that’s the case I’ll go get some rest. Her sister will be here at six but I might be back before then,”

“You should be back here tomorrow after adequate rest. We don’t want you getting sick before she recovers,”

‘Okay my son. I’ll ask her to get here earlier,”

“It’s no problem. I’ll be here as long as it takes,”

“I always wondered why you came everyday to check up on her. Now I have my answer,”

“She’s the love of my life,”

“I'm so happy to hear that...Okay. I’ll be back again tomorrow Elizabeth,” she said and I heard her bid him goodbye.