DOKITA

EPISODE 12

The sun filtered through the window panes, the trees justled to and fro in sweet harmony even as male and female folks clustered in pairs around the pool. Some families had come to the resort with their kids and you could hear the innocent laughter emanationg from these young folks, miles away.

This was no ‘pool morning’ for Bunmi, as she lay in bed, enjoying whatever little serenity she had left. She rolled over, again and again. Her phones had been switched off since yesterday and she hoped all the patients in her unit were stable. With guilty hands, she finally switched on the phones.

An immediate buzz the moment she switched it on. A message from her mother about wedding plans. ‘Abeg’ she said to herself. No message from anyone in the hospital. ‘Good.’

Finally, her feet were on the cold floor. She opened her bag to look for her pair of glasses, only for a ruffled paper to fall out from her glasses case.

‘Which one is this again?’ she soliloquized

She smoothed the little sheet against her nightgown and after straining her eyes for a while, she saw a faint memory etched in paper.

1Cor 13:5; written stylishly- in Fola’s writing.

1Cor 13:5b- Love does not count up wrongs that have been done

She smiled faintly. Their scriptural pact.

At a point when they seemed to have been quarreling a lot, they had taken this scripture verse and agreed that once someone brought it up during a quarrel, it was over. Oh! How many issues they had resolved using this. Even when either of them had been clearly wrong, the other grudgingly acceded victory.

A thought was buzzing relentlessly in her head. It seemed impossibly stupid.

Fola  couldn’t possibly forgive her now, could he? Or could he, really?

She paced the floor, making ‘thump’, ‘thump’, ‘thump’ sounds with her phone against her left hand.

Finally, she stood on a spot in the middle of the maroon painted room. She was really at the end of her road. No decision really laid in her laps now.

She would send a message to Fola. She unlocked her phone and typed a message; with Fola the sole recipient. As soon as she sent it, she got a notification that it had been delivered to Fola.

Now, all she could do; was wait…till Sunday evening. If nothing had happened by then, she would marry Kenny. A sneak peek at her sent messages; whose content was really short: 1Cor 13:5

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Fola’s week had been relatively good, so he thought. He had been strangely at peace throughout and this was quite strange, considering that the woman whose love was etched into his brain with red ink was getting married in 4 weeks- or was it in 3 weeks?

 That dull aching pain in his head reared its curious head again. He recognized it immediately. Hell yeah, he could even clerk it! Its onset coincided with the night Bunmi had broken up their relationship. It was aggravated by the mention of her name and relieved whenever he could bring himself to not think about her- and it definitely involved all parts of his cranium.

But this past week, he surprisingly hadn’t felt it,- that is, up until now. He decided to take an inventory of his week- starting from Sunday. Yes…what had happened on Sunday? He hadn’t been on call, so he was able to go to church. Pastor had preached on love and forgiveness, and he’d preached using 1Cor 13:5

Fola shook his head and smiled. That was their ‘go-to’ scripture verse. It had always worked, and in reality- he’d been the one with the most petty offences.

He had prayed intensely, forgiving Bunmi, releasing her from the deep recesses of his heart. This was the turning point and the obvious source of the peace he’d enjoyed all week. There had still been moments of breakthrough pain, but he’d been able to navigate through them- with God, of course. God would help him, this he was doubly sure of.

His phone vibrated. He prayed silently that it wasn’t from the hospital.

‘Bums?’ Fola’s lips were quivering

He had a message from Bunmi!

He chided himself. ‘She is pregnant and getting married in less than a month. Get a hold on yourself.’

He dropped the phone and tried to calm himself down.

This time, when he retrieved it, he went straight to his message inbox.

The message that greeted him struck a chord and as he didn’t know if crying or laughing was appropriate, he decided to do both. He laughed till the tears rolled down his cheeks.

It was their scriptural pact:

1Cor 13:5

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The moments during which Linda had to wait for the doctor felt like half of a century. Way too long! But she liked him, so she would wait.  And wait, she did.

‘Hello dear’

 She was startled out of her thoughts to see the human whom she mentally assured herself was ‘Papa’s savior’. The likable doctor was standing before her.

Linda scurried to her feet to greet him

‘I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting for so long, I had to see other patients…’

‘I understand Sir…I’m a medical student.’ Linda said, a glint of belaboured understanding in her eyes.

‘Oh, really?’ he said, looking at her with admiration.

‘That’s fascinating.’

So we’re colleagues, right?’ He was beaming.

Linda dropped her guard and laughed

‘Ah, No sir, you are my boss raised to the power of 100. Like they say, there is hierarchy in Medicine!’

They both chuckled until they noticed that the air surrounding them had become poignant with the obvious tension. The gravity of the moment was gradually settling upon them.

‘I see you’re quite disturbed about your Father’s health right?’

She sighed. ‘Yes sir’

She hesitated and then continued:

‘And worse still,  I can’t stay for long because I have Pathology End of Posting exams in 2 weeks and the professional exams 2 weeks after that.’

‘Mama isn’t very strong either, she is being managed for depression and has been admitted a couple of times, so…I don’t know…I don’t know.’ The likable doctor looked at her with understanding.

‘What’s your name?’

‘Linda’

‘Ok, Linda I need you to focus. We’d take good care of your Father, but you need to go back to school very soon. We both know you have this seemingly huge hurdle before you.’

‘But sir, my Father…’

‘I said we’d take care of him.’

‘Hmmmn, ok sir’

‘When do you plan to return?’

‘Tomorrow or the day after’

‘Please, I think you should leave tomorrow.’

She wanted to argue but decided against it. ‘Ok, thank you very much.’

‘You’re welcome, Linda’

She turned to leave but then turned to face the doctor once again.

‘I didn’t get your name…Sir?’

He smiled.

‘I’m Charles; Dr. Charles’

Dr. Charles.

She knew the exact prayers she ought to make for her Father. And now, she had one more. That God would direct Dr. Charles in the management of her Father’s health.