OYINADE

~17~

~OYINADE~

The doctor walked towards us.
After a few hours of waiting, they were done with the tests they needed to run on Ayobami.
My mum got up hurriedly and approached the doctor.

"Doctor, how is he?", she asked, breathing heavily.
She had been pacing since she walked into the hospital.
"How is my son, ehn doctor? Please answer me!", she quizzed.
She was devastated and anxious.
"Calm down, madam. Everything is fine.", the doctor said with a smile.

"Thank God you brought him on time. The tests showed that he has typhoid fever", the doctor said.
"Oh...my God! My baby! Where did he contract that one from again? Will he be fine? ", she said, groaning.
"He'll be fine, don't worry madam. You've brought him to the best hands", the doctor said.

"All you have to do is make a deposit for the treatment. I'll prepare the bills for you and send it in a minute", he said.
My mum nodded and sighed. The money with us was barely enough for our feeding. Just yesterday, my dad had gone for another contract-based work.

It was annoying that he went for it despite the fact that he wasn't paid for the previous contract, yet. I hated the fact that these "managers" and "entrepreneurs" were still being selfish but I couldn't do anything about it.
It was a three-day job and he promised to come back later that Friday.

I was certain that my mum definitely had no extra money with her.
Ade's Mum who initially walked into the closest ward to the lounge, to attend to an older ill patient, walked out of the ward. She walked towards the washing hand basin in the lounge and washed her hands.

She then walked close to my Mum and whispered something into her ear. I guess it was about the bills because my mum's face lit up immediately.
"Doctor!" My mum called after him, he was leaving the lounge already. He stopped and looked back at my mum. Then, he started walking back casually towards her.
"Is my son awake? Can I check on him?", she asked.

"Yes, you can. But be careful not to wake him. He needs to sleep for the medications to work", he said.
"Thank you doctor", my mum said.
She hurried to Ayobami's ward. I and Ade walked closely behind her.

It was really late already. I and Ade were exhausted. It was written boldly on our faces.

My mum opened the door. Ayobami's eyes were still closed. It was closed when we got to the hospital. I longed to see his eyes, his facial expression. I was mortified by how frail he was already.
I felt guilty for not paying enough attention to him. I should have noticed early. It was all my fault.

My mum walked towards the bed and sat on the chair in front of it. She picked up his hand and stared at him affectionately.
"Mummy, he'll be fine. Don't worry", I said, placing my hand on her shoulder.

She glanced at me, then at Ade.
"Ah! You are still in your uniform.", she said. She had rushed in with so much panic that she didn't even notice that we didn't change our uniform.
"It's late. You both need to go home so you can prepare for school tomorrow.", she said.

"Mummy!", Ayobami said weakly.
He was awake. We had gone against the doctor's instructions.
"My son! Ayo mi", my mum said.

"Pele oko mi", she said in yoruba.
"Sorry my dear", she said in translation to her previous statement.

He was smiling at us but his eyes looked tired. I walked close to him and tugged at his cheeks. I ruffled his hair and he smiled even more till his dimple was obvious.