Laura's POV:
It was late in the night when I felt a sharp pain in my bone,it intensified in no time,I couldn't help it as I screamed out in pain,real pain. My Nanny woke up and gave me some Morphine to kill the pain but it was too severe and I still continued wailing then my Uncles rushed in to see what was happening and they carried me to the hospital.
On arrival i was rushed to the emergency room,after some test were carried out I was placed on Hydroxyurea (a drug that helped in relieving severe SCD crisis)the doctors and nurses kept monitoring me,after a few hours I fell asleep soundly as the drug relieved me of the pain I was feeling,I stayed for week in the hospital so they could keep an eye on me and change the dose from time to time to prevent any complications.
Being a sickle cell patient was so not a win win for me,my mom adamantly refused to accept her condition when she was told her children could be born with it since she had SCD,she wanted to have a child of her own notwithstanding which was quite understandable but why she never thought of the consequences was what marveled me,I knew she was told about the implications of her pregnancy.
I once had a life changing experience with my health complication that it led to multiple strokes which left me paralyzed from my shoulders down to my toes,and the doctors said I would spend the rest of my life on a wheelchair unless a miracle happens which was very unlikely going to happen,how did it get to this point I cried that very day I was barely eleven so why me?
I was supposed to begin junior secondary school by September but I wouldn't.
Two years down the line ,I was no stranger to pain and pity,I was stuck indoors all alone all day.I could write about all the pain it brought me but I couldn't lift a pen so I was stuck at a spot.
I've always dreamt of having a family of my own but I doubted the possibility of that ever happening because I didn't want what I was going through to pass down to my kids.
From my tender age,I learnt that most of my life would be spent inside the hospital facilities,I hated my mom for all she did to bring me to this world but there was nothing I could do about it,she was also brought into this world by her own parents,I spent all my birthdays with new crisis threatening to take me over.
Growing up I expected much from God,life,my parents,my grand parents and everyone around me,my childhood was a mixture of pain and more pains,it wasn't fun and rosy as a child's childhood should be,I felt different about myself from a tender age.
Several times I went to bed sound and peaceful only to wake up at midnight due to my crisis,the excruciating pains,weren't funny at all,it was one of the hardest thing a child could experience,the occasional trips to the hospital,the sores at morning,the wailing at night,I practically kept my family awake all night,I never wanted a childhood this horrible,I wanted a life every other child has,and not the one genetics chose for me.
My knees,my joints,spine,waist,chest were spots my crisis frequently occurred,I couldn't sleep once it started,my parents were my moral support,most especially my dad who was consistent in taking care of me because my mom just couldn't help me get better,she had her own crises to take care of and she brought me into it anyways,so I'm still trying to understand why?
I felt all hopes were really lost as I sat down on a wheelchair close to my mom's body,I didn't know why but I saw relief in the twitches in the eyes of my family members,I knew they had fought the battle with her and so had my dad from being her physician to being her husband that wasn't so easy a burden for a man to bare alone,she's fought her own battles and has lost it,so it's was my turn to fight mine and I was going to fight it alone I nodded in affirmation.
Just the thought of that brought shivers down my spine.I encouraged myself each time I saw her go into the theatre for one surgery or the other that I was going to be fine and that I wouldn't have to suffer like she did, I guess I was wrong cause I'm suffering more than she ever did.
We were allowed to say our goodbyes to her lifeless body as it would be leaving for the morgue later that day.
Some hours earlier:
I was home with my grandma,My maternal grandparents were visiting when my mom was rushed to the hospital and they decided to stay a little longer and it hasn't being the rosyiest for me nor anyone else,she was feeding me when she got a call from my dad telling her the bad news,I saw tears drop from her eyes,I smiled at her not knowing why she was crying my grandpa walked in and they began conversing,that was when I heard my mom was dead,I couldn't believe it so I signaled my Grandma to let me see her body for the last time since I might not attend her funeral.
I never got the chance to be with a mom like everyone else,My mom was a working class lady who doesn't believe in staying at home for any reason,she apparently was the patriarch of my home,my dad had limited power over her.
I saw the way she treated my paternal relations and I couldn't bring myself to forgive her,she was always ruthless to everyone who worked as her employee including my Nanny,my nurses,and my cousins, everyone including her husband my Dad.
I sat down looking at her body with so much disdain and disgust,she didn't deserve the kind of man she got married to,I mourned silently for her death,because there wasn't a need for a loud mourn.
I rolled the wheelchair to where my dad sat,looking into space,I've never seen a man look this confused in my entire life which wasn't much considering the fact that I'm just twelve,I touched his knee to bring back his attention to me and the situation we both found ourselves in.
He was crying,he was crying like a child that got a good spanking,he cried like his bag of candies got snatched by some bullies,I've got to confess I've never seen him look this unkempt since the last time I saw him.
His hair was all grown and his beards were so bushy and he looked really scraggy,Daddy you know you'ld be fine right? I wanted to hug him so tight and whisper some soothing words to his ears,but decided on just smiling for him instead.
I knew one of his burdens have been lifted,but I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth exactly how it was.
The nurses walked in and told us we needed to leave since they had to take her body to the morgue,I stared at my mom one last time as I felt relieved of all the burdens She had to bear while I was growing up,I knew she was at a better place so I was happy for her,one thing she forgot to do was make peace with all she had wronged,I looked at her one more time as I realized that she was really beautiful and had become a shadow of herself,I smiled at the nurses as they rolled the bed along and into the long hallway.
I turned to my dad and smiled at him cheering him up to know he still had me,and I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.
