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Pregnant Imaginations

The pregnant lady sitting in the swivel chair at the salon section shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

The manicurist attending to my nails looked at her. “Aunty, you want water?”

“No, thank you.” The lady replied.

“Are you okay?” The manicurist asked; concern written on her face.

The pregnant lady smiled and shifted again; probably trying to find a comfortable position. “Yes, I am fine. Thank you.”

I looked at the pregnant lady and weird ideas for a story just flew into my head. I grinned as my imagination went on overdrive.

I imagined the lady drove to the salon herself.

I imagined this being her first pregnancy and being a little anxious and naive.

I imagined her water breaking while she sat there and going into panic mode immediately.

I imagined me telling her to calm down while I asked for her car keys.

I imagined the whole salon suddenly going abuzz with the salon attendants running helter-skelter wondering what to do and how to help.

I imagined the lady puffing and panting as tears streamed down her cheeks.

I imagined myself driving with crazy speed to the hospital where she was registered (after getting the information from her).

I imagined one of the salon attendants calling her husband through her phone and explaining the situation to him.

I imagined us (myself and one of the salon attendants) waiting patiently in the hospital (after she had been taken into the labour ward) till the arrival of her husband.

I imagined her husband arriving at the hospital with worry lines deeply etched on his forehead.

I imagined her husband calling me hours later that his wife had been delivered of a baby.

I smiled and shook my head as my mind ran different thoughts.

I guess this is one of the reasons I call my mind a creative machine ?

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Photo Credit: http://www.pinterest.com

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Never Forgotten

The white Volkswagen beetle moved steadily in front of the Peugeot 504 on the expansive tarred road. A couple sat in the front seats of the Peugeot; the husband behind the wheel while their kids sat behind. It was a bright day and everything seemed to go smoothly until the still morning was shattered by tragedy.

Three little girls stood on the right hand side of the road; the eldest holding the hands of the other two on each side. The Volkswagen beetle swerved of the road and in an instant, the oldest girl was rolling on the bonnet of the car, her head hitting the windscreen. The occupants of the Peugeot 504 watched in horror and wondered if the scene was actually happening. The piercing scream of their mother made them realize this was no dream.

The beetle moved forward a few metres before halting and a man eased out of the driver’s side in confusion. He put his two hands on his head in shock and regret looking at the ground as the girls lay there unmoving. Screams and shouts rent the air breaking the serenity of the once still atmosphere.

Meanwhile, a woman was sleeping in the backseat of the beetle. Maybe it was the screams that rent the air, maybe it was instinct; but she woke up and looked around her. She pushed the passenger seat forward and opened the door. She assessed the situation around her, removed her head scarf and started crying. She looked at the girls and ran helter-skelter. Onlookers realized she was in shock and held her; before she decided to run into oncoming vehicles.

Never forgotten

The mother in the Peugeot car was frantically telling her husband to park the car. She ran out of the vehicle immediately it stopped and rushed to the scene. The three girls lay on the ground. Rescuers carried two of the girls while the mother in the Peugeot carried another girl. A hospital was just across the road from the scene of the accident and people flagged down cars so the three girls could be rushed into the hospital.

The children seated in the back seat of the Peugeot were shaken from witnessing the accident first-hand. They waited for their mum who was still in the hospital across the road. She came back some minutes later and told her husband that the victims were twin girls and the eldest girl presumably a maid. The car brushed one of the twin girls to the side, hit the eldest girl making her somersault on the car and rode over the second twin with its tyres twice.

She confirmed from her position as a medical personnel that the eldest girl and one of the twins would survive the accident. Chances of the other twin surviving was very slim. The accident scene and the resulting tragedy will leave an indelible impression on the hearts of not just the unknown parents of the girls but also the kids in the Peugeot car who had witnessed it.

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Photo Credit: http://www.shutterstock.com

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If Only

She looked into the doctor’s eyes and saw the answer to her question. He did not need to say a word.

Her eyes pooled with tears. Regret and pain was all she could feel. Her husband tried to console her but she slapped his hand away.

“No touch me, wicked man”. She shouted.

“Ah ah, why you come dey do like this? You tink say e no pain me too?”

She ignored him and bit her fore finger. There were numerous “If onlys” running through her mind. She cast her mind back to the events of the previous day.

If Only

“If only she had taken time off work to go pick up her son from school”. “If only she hadn’t called her husband and passed the responsibility to him”. “If only she hadn’t decided to stay back to braid the hair of just one customer so she could make extra cash in addition to her husband’s meagre income”. “If only she had refused to listen to her husband who told her that their son’s high temperature was just because he was tired”. “If only she had brought him early enough to the hospital even though it was already midnight”. Her son wouldn’t be lying cold in the mortuary.

She was too busy to leave her salon. Her husband, the electrical handyman had more time to spare and could pick up their son; she had thought.

By 6p.m, when none of them had picked up the boy, the proprietor of the school got her home address and took him home. He was handed over to her neighbour. He developed a temperature over the night which defied the paracetamol she administered to him.

He was rushed to the hospital 5a.m the next morning. In an hour, he was gone. She sat on the floor with her hands on her head. “If only, if only”. But it was too late to regret.

Will they stay together after just a year in marriage or will this be the end? Only time will tell.

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Are courteous doctors in short supply?

As I sit patiently in the hospital hall with my daughter, I decide to ring the specialist. “Good morning Doctor, this is Mrs. A. I just wanted to inform you that we are already here”. I get only an “okay” as a response.

We are an hour earlier than the scheduled time but knowing how our government hospitals can be, it is a decision taken intentionally. My daughter and I decide to keep ourselves busy with our novels.

One hour later, the specialist arrives and we are summoned into the consulting room shortly after. Then, I get the shocker. “Madam, I don’t think I have met your daughter before and I do not have her case note. She wasn’t transferred to me”.

I look at her like she has suddenly grown two heads. “Her last appointment was in November with the previous specialist. She was brought in by her dad. She told me you gave her your number and informed her that you were her specialist going forward”.

“Well, I don’t know about that. What I know is that I do not have her case note. Besides, you would have to purchase the items I would use in attending to her today”. She continues.

“I paid for all the items when we started this procedure with the previous specialist. Are you saying it is exhausted?” I ask in confusion. “I don’t know if it is exhausted. It is possible it is and also possible it is not. But since I cannot find her case note and her items, you need to purchase the items again. I cannot use another patients’ items to attend to her”. She says.

“I am just surprised that you do not have her case note. She was transferred to you by the previous specialist”. I say. “Madam, it is either you get the items so I can attend to her or you see another doctor. She is not even my patient yet. She was not transferred to me. No doctor will take over another doctor’s patient. I just decided to attend to her because you called me to book an appointment for today”.

Now, I flip. “Excuse me, I do not know your policies or procedures here…..”That is what I am trying to explain to you. Do you understand? She interrupts. “You have explained nothing and no, I do not understand. My daughter is sitting right in front of you. It is strange to hear you say, you have never met her, meanwhile she got your mobile number from you. It still beats my imagination.

I then decide to give our specialist some education which unfortunately is done in the presence of her junior colleagues. “I also work in an organization and currently on days off. I have a colleague who I have handed over my duties, to relieve me for the time being. If for any reason, I have missed out something in my hand over, it is her duty to place a call to me so that she gets the job done seamlessly. I assume a consultant will decide who my daughter is transferred to”. She responds in the affirmative.

Another staff is called to get me the item while a junior doctor calls me aside to apologize and also explain the situation. This time, the explanation is devoid of all form of nastiness.

I get the item and in this era of cashless economy, they do not possess a POS. I walk another 400metres to get cash from an ATM.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the consultant transfers our file to the same specialist. We proceed on another long wait as Doctor Specialist takes her time to attend to her own patients before any transfer patient. It is no longer “first come, first served”.

My daughter is called in after I ask our all powerful specialist a straight faced question “When are you going to attend to us? And I get a “Very soon” as an answer.

5 hours after, my daughter and I walk out of the hospital premises. I give special kudos to our previous specialist. She was such a darling with no airs around her.