...that keeps giving

XXII

"Thank you, Naomi, your husband said you have been ill." Mrs Crown said to her immediately she walked into the waiting room hand-in-hand with her husband.

"Yes ma, but I feel much better now. I came here directly from the airport."

She walked up to Sanmi and held him in a hug, just like his brother, he looked tired and drawn.

"How are you?"

He shrugged and tried to mask the way he felt.

"What is the nature of the heart problem?" She asked no one in particular

"Arrhythmia." Mrs. Crown answered

"Oh! When was it discovered?"

"Not early enough according to the doctors." Mrs Crown responded.

"They should have had surgery then, did the doctors explain to you in detail about it and possible solutions"

"They did," she responded wearily, taking a seat to rest her feet "at least to the best of their knowledge. They suggested a pacemaker to send electrical pulses to help his heart beat at a normal rate and rhythm but my husband insisted that he'd rather take medications."

"You should have told us," Abisade insisted.

"I told you he was sick, just not the ailment. Moreover, he didn't want you to know. I think he was scared of the surgery because of what happened to one of his friends that we lost, although he didn't tell me this. We decided that he would go for surgery as a last resort if things did not get better which they did until recently. I made sure he had his medications, even when I was not with him."

"Maybe they should have suggested a short-term pacemaker to help him for a while and then try to convince him to have a permanent one. It wouldn't stop any major heart disease but it will help regulate the heartbeat."

"He didn't want to hear anything that had to do with surgery. He said he wanted to meet his maker the same way he came into the world." She shrugged.

"That doesn't even make sense," Sanmi said.

"I couldn't defy him, you know your father."

"What do you think?" Abisade turned to his wife.

"That is left for his doctors to decide. They will not tell me anything even if I ask because I don't work here. We all need to keep calm and pray for the best outcome.

Arrhythmia when discovered on time, is treatable and medications are usually suggested."

"What is the thing about and what do you think caused it?"

"It is a problem with the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat. The heart may beat too quickly, too slowly, or with an irregular rhythm. A frequent irregular rhythm may mean that the heart is not pumping enough blood to the body. If not treated, arrhythmias can damage the heart, brain, or other organs."

"Wow! What can..."

"Right now, I'd say, let us wait for the doctors to give us feedback. Speculating will not help"

Abisade heaved a deep sigh and he continued to pace the waiting room. He only saw scenes like this in movies and never imagined he would find himself in one. Even though he was not chummy with his parents, he respected the fact that everything he owned currently, the foundation was laid by them. During their travels while he was growing up they had ensured they had the best of care which was overseen by Sisi. Sisi had been with them for as long as he could remember but had to travel recently because one of her daughters had complications during birth and needed a trusted hand close by.

Oh! How he missed Sisi. She would have known what to say to him. They spoke recently because she moved to the inner part of the village with her daughter. She had told him they needed the obscurity. He had volunteered to have her flown to town and be treated but Sisi insisted on her old ways and said it worked best.

"Do you want me to get you anything?" Naomi interrupted his thoughts.

"I am good, at least for now."

"You need to take something, you guys have been here for hours, the driver said you left pretty early"

"Is this the doctor talking to me or the wife," Abisade teased

"Whichever gets the work done right now. I am taking your mom for a walk outside this place, she needs it."

"A cup of Coffee will do then, thank you."

"Sanmi, do you want to come with us?"

"I will wait with AB."

"I will get you coffee too and maybe order something for everybody."

He nodded and she walked out of the space with her mother-in-law in tow.

The stress of close to 8 hours was already telling on the older woman and she wasn't as regal as she used to be.

Her phone rang, she looked at it and switched it off.

"Do you want me to hold on to that for you?"

"Yeah," She sighed and handed to phone to Naomi as they entered the elevator.

"How was your trip?"

"It was okay ma."

"How long do you have to spend before you go back?"

"I was given a week. It is a Federal hospital and they want me to start work immediately."

"Are you sure you don't want to come back to Lagos?"

"I need the experience. They have a larger population they cater to and it means doing real work."

"Manslad does not allow you to work?"

"That's not what I mean ma, some clients in Manslad insist on being treated by the senior doctors so people like me get delegated to the same thing over and over again but my place of primary assignment needs the manpower."

"I get it now. But I still think you should consider redeployment. A woman's place is by her husband. Imagine if I was not at home when my husband fell this morning."

"I will consider it ma."

Naomi led her on the path to the garden by the side of the hospital building. She hadn't noticed it when she came in earlier. They took a turn around the garden and returned to the reception. She met both receptionists trying hard not to stare, either out of embarrassment or shame.

"You can go upstairs ma, I want to check if I can get coffee for Sanmi and Abisade in the hospital restaurant."

"It is that way ma'am" one of the receptionists responded before she approached them.

"Thank you," she said and changed directions.

Armed with two cups of coffee and a meal receipt which is to be sent up a few minutes later, she entered the waiting room. She would never forget the sorrowful scream that rented the air, it was from no other person than one of the most graceful women, she has ever had the opportunity to meet.

"We lost him" Sanmi mouthed to her