The Affair

26. Agony and Lies

There are moments in our lives that the pain feels so deep that it's as though our heart is literally being squeezed of all it's joy and happiness by an invisible hand. Even then, we must move forward.

Doctor Audu led Kosi a little way off from Eva's hospital room and into his office. He motioned for Kosi to have a seat before taking his.

'Mr Ogbonna, I understand how you must feel about...'

Kosi raised up his hand, cutting him off mid sentence. His face and eyes were focused on the Doctor, a pained expression in them.

'Excuse me but if I may ask, are you married?'

'Yes.'

'Was your wife in an accident?'

'Mr Ogbonna...'

'Is your wife lying on a hospital bed after just waking up from a coma with no recollection of who you are?!'

'I apologise Mr Ogbonna. That was insensitive of me.'

'Damn right!'

Kosi stood up from the chair and began to pace Doctor Audu's office. His hands shakily comb through his hair.

'Damn right!' He repeated. 'You can't possibly understand how I feel or what I'm going through! She has no recollection of me! Me! Her husband of almost 3 years but she remembers that... that... shit!'

There's a light knock on the door before a nurse walks in. She has a smallish frame with alert eyes.

'I heard loud noises.' She began casually giving a sign to the Doctor to know if everything is alright.

'Everything is fine, Miss Adesimi. I'm attending to a patient's family member. Thank you for checking.' He replied, throwing in a nod to assure her that all is well.

Satisfied all was indeed well and after throwing a glance at Kosi, Miss Adesimi walked out of the Doctors office, giving them both privacy.

'Mr Ogbonna, you're right.' Doctor Audu began getting up from his chair. 'I have no idea the emotions you're battling with but I do know that pushing your wife right now, in her current condition, forcing her to see and remember you, may have the opposite effect.'

Kosi stopped pacing and walked up to the Doctor.

'Then what the hell am I supposed to do?! Huh? Stand by and watch as my wife is seduced by her classmate?!'

Kosi's pain was evident in his eyes. As clear as day. Doctor Audu saw and recognised it. After practicing as a doctor for 15 years, you get accustomed to the sight of pain. The way it tries to hide and in some cases blares like the horn of a truck.

It was these moments that he dreaded. These questions he detested. He didn't mind cutting open bodies and operating on multiple people. It was second nature to him and had become mechanical. Maybe too mechanical.

What am I supposed to tell him? This is beyond me. I'm a Doctor, specially trained to cure the sick and save lives. What do I know about relationships? Or love triangles for that matter. I haven't dated in over 20 years! I wonder who this Ebuka fellow is that Mr Ogbonna is worried about him. He sighed.

'Mr O... Kosi. I hope you don't mind me calling you by your first name?'

When Kosi didn't object he continued, 'I'll say this, ease your wife into the life you both shared. It's not that those memories no longer exist, they're just locked away somewhere in a part of her brain. Once you find the key she'll remember. It might be all at once, it may come gradually but that's my advice.'