HEAL

Chapter Nine

(unedited)

"Please go away." That was the only comprehensible words that came out of Baba's mouth since they found him in his shack. He went silent again with his mouth open as excessive saliva dripped from his mouth, to his thin neck and down to the brown shirt that already had white patches of the dried liquid.

When Aaisha asked him to come with her, he thought they were on a chase for a coward who ran away with the hospital bills or in most cases; a sick person dragged to the hospital by his family and who still believes he could only get a cure with amulets and charms.

But instead they went after a poor hunter who went to the hospital when he had partial paralysis three days after he was bitten by a wild dog while he was on a hunting spree.

They told him he contracted rabies from the dog bite and he was getting medical care even though the disease keeps spreading in his body and his condition was worsening. Almost all the staffs in the hospital took personal care of him because they all felt pathetic for him and would sometimes go where he stays; a makeshift Padded Cell to give him food even when the disease took control of his brain and he throws the food back at them. Every day, Hassan would hear him from his office making noises, and every day he ignores that the noise sounded like a dog bark.

He looked at Baba who was lying down on a mat, his hand tied to a small pole by a dirty rag and wondered how he got the energy and sense to get back to the small house he lives with his only daughter.

He felt a strange sense of Déjà vu looking at his eyes and seeing him taking long breaths, each breath longer and louder than the previous one. The only thing that was separating him from the dead world was the weak random call for his daughter who knelt down beside him.

His daughter face held no emotion, there was nothing there, it was all blank. She seemed oblivious to everything, to her father who was slowly losing it and even to Aaisha who sat down beside her. Aaisha too was visibly shaken but she was trying to keep her emotions at bay and was patting Baba's teenage daughter lap as a way to soothe the girl.

Sisi Lamba was the only person in the room crying. She might be the youngest person in the room but she was the only one who knows when a situation requires tears, laughter, or something between the two. Her silent tears were a reflection of a soul that had suffered more than it needs to, broken into so many pieces that there was nothing else to be broken.

And Hassan; he was getting more breathless and unwanted with every growing second, so he left Baba's almost lifeless body with his three sympathizers to go outside for some fresh air.

"We should be going back, it's almost dusk". He heard Aaisha say as she bent over to walk out through the low door of Baba's shack.

He had an impulsive will to reach out to her and he almost stretched his hand out to hold her as she walked to him all worn out and tired. Her eyes were red from sleep deprivation and her veil was falling out of her hair, he could almost see the edges of her black hair.

"Sisi Lamba?" He fisted his palms, the desire to hold her going as soon as it came.

"She is staying with them, Baba's daughter and her are pretty close." She ends her sentence with a yawn.

He knew he was supposed to ask about Baba too and why he was not coming back with them since they had come all this way to fetch him back to the hospital but he didn't. Snubbing the realities of things has what he had been doing all his life and that had working pretty well for him.

So instead he strolled thoughtlessly down the dusty path with Aaisha, watching some kids play games with cashew seeds and broken earthenware's.

"At least he is spending his last hours with someone he loves." He voiced out.

Aaisha did not seem to hear him because she squinted her eyes and said, "Hun?"

"I'm talking about Baba, not everyone is lucky to have someone close to them when taking their last breadth, my father wasn't."

"What happened to your father." Aaisha raised her head up to him lazily.

She wasn't having the same curious vibe and energy she used to have in the general outpatient's room when they are having a session but she was ready to listen and he was ready talk.

"I don't know much about him, I was about seven years old when he died but I remembered he died alone unattended to for weeks because he had a disease that was notoriously spreading fast among people and killing its victims." He paused and said, "One thing I fear about being sick and all is that one day, I would eventually become so much helpless and start over-burdening those around me."

Aaisha did not share this sentiment with him, she had spent almost seven years of her life being around sick people and their family, she realized that even when a patient isn't responding to treatment, their families still sticks with them hoping they only get better and not minding how much of their money and time they spent.

She wasn't interested in explaining this to him neither do she have the strength to do that. So she said instead, "what happened after your father died?"

"Mama and I moved out of our community to the Western side of Nigeria because she felt the community had nothing to offer me, I went to school there and here I am"

"Hmm", Aaisha felt a bit guilty for not being that interested in the conversation as much as Hassan would want her to.

"You know my mother always keeps this..."

A sharp twitch of his knees made him stop mid-sentence, it was so painful and intense that he lost his balance and was on his way down when Aaisha caught him.

"Hassan?". Immediately she sat sat him down on the bare ground, fright evident on her face.

He closed his eyes because of the searing pain, it wasn't as sharp as it was ten seconds ago but it still hurts.

"Hassan, Hassan can you hear me" She was trying to check if he was conscious.

"Yes I can hear you," He held his head with his hand. "I'm alright. It's just a little headache". How much he wished his words were true.

Aaisha looked at him with unbelieving eyes and took his wrist to check his pulse. Despite himself, he couldn't stop feeling a little bit ticklish to her touch.

She stood up, dusted her purple gown and said, "Matron's house isn't far from here, we can go there, rest a bit and pray Maghrib before going back."

"I don't pray, so go on without me, I will be going to my apartment."

He stood up clumsily and limped down the street without sparing her as little as a glance.

A/N
I fought every sprit of laziness in me for me to Update this chapter💔😩😅. So, show me some love by dropping comments! comments!!comments!!! and yes vote too

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