BIMBO'S MISSION

II

"I'm sorry Sir. This will not repeat itself again. It was totally my fault" I apologized.
"Next time this happens, just forget that you work here and be going home"
"You may leave" he dismissed and I did the sign of the cross and left. I exhaled immediately I was out of his office.

•'•'•'•'•'•'•''•'•'•'•'•'•'•'
My co-workers and I rejoiced on seeing Barrister Bayo exit the building, that meant we could go home. I packed my  belongings off my desk as I hummed a song and left. I walked leisurely towards the park, my boots stumping the tarred road and making powerful sounds.
"Precious!"
"Precious!" Someone from a car yelled and I turned to my side as my brain registered the familiar voice. It was Collins. He parked his car by the side of the road.
"Who be Precious?" I asked mentally.

"Oh you're talking to me?" I asked stifling my laughter. "Yeah" he said.
"Hop in!" He urged.
"No need. Where I'm going is not where you want your car to be" I replied.
"Come on just hop in. I'm going to the mainland to see a friend"
"Fine. Who am I to form when he insists" I said and entered the car.
"So you work around here huh?" He asked.
"Yes"
"What do you do?"
"I have no idea bro" I replied being honest. To me, my boss did not treat me like a true lawyer
"Please" He pleaded.
"I guess I'm a lawyer"
"Wow. That's nice, Precious"
It still amazed me how my name had turned to precious within the space of a day. I wanted to correct him but decided not to.

"So how was work?" He asked
"It was okay. How about you?" I asked. I didn't know why he was making this uneccessary small talk but I went along with it.
"It was tiring" he said pulling his blue tie. He wore a white dress shirt and black suit. The suit jacket hanged behind him.
"The CICU was so full, I basically stood all day because of the amount of surgeries we had to do"
"What is CICU?" I quizzed,
"Cardiac intensive care unit"

"Oh so you're a cardiologist?" I asked amazed.
"Yes!" He replied and my mind zoned over to my father. He had had a heart condition a few years after he was paralyzed from the waist downwards and my hatred for A. Azubuike had increased.

"Bastard!" I muttered clenching teeth.
"Precious" Collins called out
"Hmmm" I answered
"Are you okay? I was telling you of some patients I encountered today. Were you listening?"
"Yes I'm fine and no I was not listening to you. I zoned out, sorry" I said.

"It's okay, it's normal. Maybe what I was talking about was boring you" he replied
"No! Not that. Please go on woth what you were telling me" I urged

"I was saying that that there was a patient who was admitted today DOA due to a heart attack"
"You and this your acronyms. What is DOA?" I quizzed
"Dead on arrival"
"Wow. So the patient is now in the motuary?"
"Yes, sadly. I learnt the woman had been having some health challenges but wouldn't go to the doctors to get checked out"

"Why? She dey craze ni?" I asked and he bursted into laughter. "What's funny?" I asked irritated.
"It's just that your street talk is funny"
"Street talk?"
"Yes. Like the other side of you, the agbaeroish side"
"God forbid bad thing!"
"I don't mean like that. What I meant is that you have a really posh side and a crazy side too and it's cute" He explained and I let out a little smile. It was actually a huge smile.
"What is happening? What am I doing?" I asked myself inwardly.

"So why did the woman refuse to go to the hospital?"
"She was a doctor herself and had been diagnosing and prescribing drugs for herself"
"Not bad. I do it all the time"
"That's actually very risky. Self medication can lead you to the hospital where you refused to go to in the first place"

"Oh come on! I'm not in the hospital, am I?" I asked and realized I shouldn't have asked when he spent about twenty minutes educating me on the dangers of self medication.
"Do you do heart transplants?" I quizzed.
"Yes. It's a really long surgery. Why do you ask?"
"How much is it in your hospital?"
"Off the top of my head, I would say like 9.4 million naira"
"Jesu Christi!" I exclaimed covering my mouth.
"What?"
"Nothing" I said with a straight face.