Romola rushed into the reception hall of the blood transfusion centre. In her hand, she held a mix of naira notes. Some of which she'd been able to borrow from those around her. Hadassah had sent over 13,500 and promised to send more if she could get some from her father. Lydia had given her 7,000 thousand, Edidiong borrowed her 10,000, and Ifeoma had given her nothing but a sneer.
There had been no time to rush to the bank so she'd borrowed the cash from the POS agent near the house. All in all, she'd raised 55,000 naira and it still wasn't enough but it was the best she could do after Iya Tobi had striped her of all her earthly belongings.
The reception hall of the centre was twice the size of the previous hospital and it held far less people. A giant bottle of sanitizer stood on the top of the high desk that was almost the same height as the chest of the three well-dressed nurses; a male and two females.
She hurried to the table and dropped the cash. "This is the money."
The nurses shared a sceptical look before one of them opened a side drawer and picked out transparent hand glove. He poked the money before turning to her. "Money for what?"
She pushed the money towards him as she transferred her weight from one foot to another. "For my sister's operation. Blood transfusion and sur...surgery."
"Who is your sister?"
"Don't you know? Don't you know? The girl. The girl with the cut neck. They asked us to bring her here. They asked us to bring money."
"Oh." Enlightenment caused the nurse's face to brighten as he poked the bundle of money further, causing it to fall open. "This money isn't enough."
"It's what we have. Start with this."
The nurse pushed the money back to her. "We can't do anything with this money I'm sorry."
"No. No. Help Sunbo. Please."
Her nose still throbbed and breathing took more effort now but it didn't matter at this point.
"Listen, there is nothing I would love to do more than help your sister but this money is not enough to get blood, screen it and transfuse it. We'll still have to sew her after the surgery and she will need to stay in the hospital for observation. The amount your sister needs—"
"Help Sunbo." Romola pushed the money back.
"You don't get it. Your sister needs at least two pints of blood. This barely covers the cost of one."
Romola turned over her arm and threw her elbow at the nurse, exposing the skin that covered her blood vessels, the point where she'd had blood drawn from her for many tests. Nkechi had required it to make sure that all the dancers were pure.
"I'm O negative. I have the blood. Take as much as you need. Kill me if you have to."
"Listen, even if we draw your blood, we can't do anything with it until we screen it and we can't screen it until we have the rest of the money."
"I'll get more money after the operation is finished. Use my blood."
The nurse sighed. "It is against hospital policy for us to begin any procedure before full payment. Besides, she needs more than half treatments—"
"What if the person is about to die?" Romola screamed.
The nurse shrugged. "It's hospital policy."
"Just use my blood."
"We don't even know if you're compatible—"
"I SAID I am O negative!" Romola leaned closer to the table, pressing her hand closer to the nurse's face.
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Scars (Romola 2)
العاطفية"Then maybe you should have stayed in schoool. Instead of trying to be an elevated secretary and teaching me my Job." - - - - - Beyond managing Iya Tobi's store and pursing a shadow of an education, Romola's plate is full. It's been two years since...
