Against All Odds

Chapter Twenty five : You can never be too sure

"You need to revise everything you've been taught from S. S. 1 till now, from simple fractions down to Surds,circle Theorem. Basically everything that you've been taught. Senior waec is not like school examination, when you fail you'd have to wait till another year for you to pay and rewrite. You need to be serious, study hard so that you won't fail "

Mr Uchenna had been giving his usual speech to Obiukwu and her classmates about their forthcoming examination. Her mind had wandered off to Obiefune's bed, how he was, if the operation was successful?.

Mr Uchenna their math teacher had been in class for over an hour because his period lasted for two hours but the only  word Obi had grabbed was surds. She had zoned out when the name Obiefune popped into her head. Chioma on the other hand didn't seem so affected, appendicitis was not a major operation.

" Obiefune would be in and out of there before madam Ngozi climbs the staircase to the first floor of the school " Chioma had jokingly said.

Madam Ngozi was a fat woman who handled them in food and nutrition,the students often made fun of her because she was too slow especially when climbing the stairs. Obi smiled at her statement but the uneasiness didn't go away.
When the bell for dismissal rang, Obi was the first to pack her things. Chioma kept telling her that she was worrying for nothing but Obi needed to see Obiefune with her eyes to be sure.

"I think you're in love with my brother and that's why you're behaving like his wife or something" Chioma rolled her eyes

I am not! I am.. I like your brother, I.. we.. I am not in love with him" Obi paused then thought of the possibility and added "yet"

Chioma couldn't hold her laughter, deep down she was a bit scared but she was quite optimistic, things were going to turn out well. "I Don hear you"

The two girls bought moi-moi(bean cake) from a vendor,sat on stones they had managed to heap together while they unwrapped the etere used in preparing the cake. Chioma's fear for her brother's life did nothing to her appetite but Obi barely ate. When the driver finally arrived to school Obi was anxious to leave.

When they got to the hospital it took a lot of self control to keep Obi from running into Emergency ward. Chioma dragged her feet behind Obi and when they got to Obiefune's room he had already been prepped for surgery. Chioma and Obi asked questions and were directed to where the surgery would be taking place. Chioma's father wasn't anywhere close to the room which was surprising. They knew her father wouldn't operate but he should have stuck around for his son.

Obi and Chioma sat outside the theater, Obi kept praying and Chioma grew anxious as minutes went by. She had been told that Obiefune wouldn't spend time in the theater, that appendectomy was one of the simplest surgery procedures ever but Obiefune was not out.

At first Obi thought she had imagined Obiefune's screams but when her eyes snapped open and she jerked up, she realized that Chioma had also heard the same thing. Another muffled cry broke out and soon Obiefune was yelling and screaming. Obi stood up, her heart pounding furiously, Chioma was also on her feet. They walked to the door of the room where Obiefune's scream came from and peeped curiously.
Anxiety washed over Obi's face and her hands began to shake. Another piercing scream came again and Obi saw that the doctors were struggling to keep Obiefune in place.
How come? Were they operating on him while he was conscious?
Another scream shook her, Obiefune had been tossing his head from side to side, screaming. Chioma began to sob beside Obi and Obi's stream of tears flowed. With every scream Obi felt a slice to her heart.

Why didn't they administer an anaesthetic? Another scream pierced Obi's ears and she held her ears. The screaming didn't stop it continued and with each pained cry Obi and Chioma shook with tears. They didn't know their hands had been enter twined as they sat outside the door of the room. The cries kept coming and Obi wished there was a way she could assuage Obiefune's pain.

When Obi felt as if the torturous screams wouldn't end, Obiefune's voice went down. He didn't cry or scream, he only groaned weakly from time to time.
Obi realized that he must have been exhausted from all the  screaming. After some minutes a doctor emerged from the room. Obi and Chioma scrambled to their feet with an expectant look.

"Are you relatives of the patient?" The doctor asked

The two girls nodded in unison, with their puffy eyes and tear smeared faces. "H. how is he?" Chioma managed to speak

"Your brother is fine now, we had a little complication. His body seemed to reject the anaesthetic we injected him with, so we had to carry out the procedure while he was conscious. He's lost a lot of blood, but he will be fine now."

Obi and Chioma exhaled relieved to hear that Obiefune was out of harm's way. The doctor looked around before returning his gaze on the girls
" Where is his father? "

" We've not seen him" Obi replied promptly

"Okay , they're still stitching him up, once they're done with other necessary things he'll be moved to his room. Don't worry your brother is a strong young man"

The doctor patted their shoulders before walking away. Chioma laughed and hugged Obi. "You were right to be worried after all Obi"

Obi nodded still trying to grasp control of her body that had been shivering with fear. "Nne in this life you can never be too sure what to expect"

It took a while before Obiefune was wheeled into his room. The nurses set his room and one was assigned to monitor his progress. Obiefune's face was pale and his palm had turned white.

Obi shuddered at the thought of what he must have gone through. Obiefune's lips also seemed to have cuts, Obi noticed that they were self inflicted. Chioma sat at the edge of his beg and squeezed his hand. "Bibi you'll be fine ịnụ".

Whether Obiefune heard or not, he didn't show it. His eyes were shut and the soft snores he let out proved that he was too exhausted. Obi was hesitant to touch Obiefune in the presence of the nurse, she didn't feel it was proper to openly display her affections. It could send a bad message not that she was sure that the nurse knew her relationship with Obiefune.

When the nurse finally left, Chioma followed. She told Obiefune that she was going to look for her father.
With just Obi and Obiefune in the room Obi felt relaxed. She moved closer to his bed and sat softly on it. Afraid that any form of movement would cause Obiefune pain. She gently took his hand and linked it with hers. Slowly her hands rose to his face and she caressed him. The tears came to her eyes again and she tried to blink it away afraid that it'll fall on Obiefune's face. Her hand left his face and went to his lips running her thumb over his cuts. Obiefune inhaled deeply and she felt his breath on her hand. Obi drew her hand to her face to wipe her tears and when she did she chuckled.

"I know what you want to say, I'm not a cry baby. In fact you are the cry baby who was disturbing the whole hospital today. You nearly gave me a heart attack and I'm too young to have one. Thank you for staying alive" Obi sniffed "I don't know what I would have done if I lost you too and Chioma maybe right after all" she gave him a smile "I think I do love you".

The words barely left Obi's lips before Chioma arrived with her father, the man clearly could not handle his son being in such state earlier that he left. The three of them stayed with Obiefune watching him as he slept and thanking God for keeping him.
Chioma leaned closer to Obi and whispered into Obi's ears

"Biko tell him you love him again when he wakes up and make sure you remove that think then"

Obi felt disconcerted by the words Chioma spoke into her ears and she feared that not just Chioma but her father also had heard her declaration of love.
Chioma had a smug smile on her face and Obi grew redder out of embarrassment. Obi left the hospital late and when got home she was too exhausted to eat. She managed to feed her siblings before drifting off to sleep.That night she dreamt Obiefune had said the words to her on their usual spot.

Author's notes

Warning! Don't take too long to forgive your lover, he might just have appendicitis!

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