" Why Her "
2184 Words
At , Lagos University Teaching Hospital LUTH , where he works, Sean was in a ward attending to a patient.
As a neurosurgeon, his mornings were not so stressful, and he loved using that opportunity to have a one-on-one interaction with his patients.
" How do we do today? Jenny " Sean asked the young female patient he was attending to, she looked nine or ten .
"Fine , Dr. Sean , and you? " young Jenny replied, quite exuberantly
"Oh fine , you seem really excited today" Sean replied smiling.
"Yes , doc , mum told me , we'll finally be allowed to go home today isn't that right? Nurse Sarah " Jenny, said turning to face the nurse beside Sean.
"Absolutely, Jenny " Nurse Sarah replied, smiling very affectionately at Jenny.
" oh! wow ! , how come I'm not aware of that " Sean said teasing little Jenny .
"You are , Dr Sean , mum said you told her , yourself " Jenny giggled
" Oh , I see , sorry I must have forgotten. You're one , little strong girl , to successfully, go through your neurectomy" Sean said patting her on the head fondly.
"why , Dr. Sean , you're only confusing her " Nurse Sarah said to Sean .
" I'm sure Jenny understands what I said , isn't that right Jenny? " Sean winked at poor Jenny
"Yes , I'm sure I understand" Jenny said , but not quite bold about that.
" Dr. Sean , I'm going to be a brain doctor, just like you when I grow up " Jenny said proudly.
" That's interesting, I'm sure you'll be better than me though" Sean said giving her a high five.
"Dr. Sean , we need to go get ready for your first surgery" Nurse Sarah reminded him.
"Oh my , how time flies " He said looking at his watch , " we sure will miss you here Jenny, but I'm glad you're finally going home , goodbye " Sean said to her then stood up from the chair he was sitting.
"Goodbye Dr. Sean , thanks a lot " Jenny said waving happily as he left with Sarah.
~~~~ ~~~~
Sean's office was painted blue and white, with different shades of yellow splattered decoratively on it.
Sean was deep in thought , that he didn't hear , the knock on the door. Dylan decided to come inside after he didn't get any response.
"Hey , Sean to earth " Dylan said snapping his fingers at Sean.
"Hey , sorry, did not hear you coming in " Sean said , jerked back to reality.
"What's bothering you, you look so lost in thought " Dylan said , as he sat down on one of the chairs in front of Sean's table.
"Nothing, nothing really" Sean replied.
"I'm not taking that , come on Sean , I'm your best friend for crying out loud , and I just happen to know that it's not 'nothing' " Dylan said raising an eyebrow
"Oh brother , I know you wouldn't let me be " Sean said taking a deep breath, then continued .
"So here's the deal, I was going back home last night, and I just happened to cone by , this young gal sitting under the shade of a tree , really now talking about it makes me wonder how I spotted her , I mean she was well hidden and camouflaged with the night . Okay I think , it's her orange dress and her silent sobs that were a bit loud than the more silent night" Sean stopped then took another breath.
"Hmmmmm , bro , chillax, you're rapping now , you've got me wondering if you still listen to rap songs" Dylan said smirking at his best friend who was seated opposite him.
He then continued, " anyways , did you leave her there , and if you tell me you did , I might be the one to finish you , before your worries and anxiety do "
"Go ahead, don't waste anymore time , that's exactly what , I did ! I left a strange young and lonely girl vulnerable to all forms of danger , without even a backward glance in her direction" Sean said very matter-of-factly and slightly irritated
"Whoosh! you're really worked up about this, okay I'll stop kidding
with you " Dylan paused still grinning at Sean however " now I promise am serious, did you take her home ? "
"Yeah , am sure crossing the Pacific ocean with a white board , would have been a much easier task , guy ! " Sean said then let out a very deep sigh showing how frustrated he was at the moment then continued "this girl was telling me to be fast about killing her off " He concluded exasperated.
"Hmm , so you obviously took her to your own home , cause , she wasn't being reasonable enough , let alone to tell you her home address Dylan said.
"Exactly, now you're clearinghouse my every doubt, about you being able to handle a scapel. You know , there was something she said that troubled my spirit, even up until this moment " Sean said very deep in thought.
"Which is ? " Dylan prodded , when he realized Sean didn't want to say anything more .
"Nobody will pace a call across to me , if I thought k********g her was a better idea than killing her , because I literally had to carry her to my car " Sean said grudgingly.
"So you thinking, she is not staying with her family or her family, just happens to hate her enough to not search for her if she turned up missing? " Dylan asked him
"That's a very plausible theory, but I can't quite place my finger on what is , and " Sean paused for a while tapping his fingers to a rhythm only he could understand, before he continued "the look I saw in her eyes , was one of sorrow and terror, she was scared to death, am surprised she didn't get herself killed due to high B.P! " Sean said with a hint if worry in his expression, still tapping his fingers in that anxious rhythm , as he usually does when contemplating matters a s grave as this.
Just then , the knock at the door , interrupted their discussion. The young nurse came inside, after obtaining Sean's permission to do so. She came to relay information to both surgeons, concerning the surgery, they had scheduled in exactly 30 minutes from now.
"Thank yiu , Nurse Cynthia, we'll be there in a jiffy" Dylan said on behalf of Sean.
Sean was not quite clear headed at the moment, his thoughts were still centered on the strange young girl he stumbled upon last night.
"Dr.Sean , you need to get a hold of yourself now, you have a major surgery to handle, so please for the sake of your patient , try to stay clear headed " Dylan said persuasively, as he stood up from the seat, ready to take his leave , so as to get dressed for the surgery.
"Don't forget , you're the doc in probation here , so mind your words, am thinking, doesn't mean I'll forget how to get to the brain , after opening up my patient" Sean said , as they both burst into fits if laughter, because Sean was referring to an actual incident that almost caused his colleagues his job & career as a whole, and the patient her life, if not for Sean that became the unsung hero.
~~~~~~
"Do you think you could come along with me to the cinema , shel ? " Carnelian asked Shirley
They were both seated on the couch in the living room, that afternoon. They just finished playing the twentieth round of chess , as they couldn't find anything interesting, either in T.V or t****k , so they settled for the board game , when they were realized they were both addicts to the game
"No , I don't think so , I mean , I would have loved to go to a cinema , I've only been there once, but I don't want to be anymore of a burden to you guys than I've been lately. " Shirley said carefully choosing her words.
"Oh no ! you shouldn't think of yourself as a burden to me or Sean. And besides if you're worried about the exorbitant price of late movie ticket procurement..."Carnelian was not allowed to conclude her statement as Shirley cut her off.
"Exactly, even though I haven't been to cinemas often, I happen to know how they operate. " Shirley said , Carnelian's burst of laughter surprised her.
"Sorry, buh I had to laugh, that was kind of amusing you know ? Anyways, you don't need to bother about that , I already bought two tickets , for myself and Sean , but as usual he is not free to to come along , so this time instead of letting it go to waste, I felt it was a nice idea to offer it to you " Carnelian said with so much enthusiasm one would expect from an eight year ild that had just received icecream .
"Oh-kay , then , I can't refuse, I hate seeing things go to waste , especially when they're so expensive to get."
"And who wants to let anything expensive go to waste ? " Sean asked standing by the entrance, both ladies have been too busy discussing to have heard him opening the door
"Oh , you're back, I was just talking to my new bestie c*m sister about how you made me waste all those expensive movie tickets, when you turned your back on me because of your work " Carnelian said but then contradicted herself by going into his embrace.
"I'm sorry Cee , you know it's not my fault you have a very busy neurosurgeon for a brother , oya , what can I do to make up once again? " Sean said when his baby sister ran to hug him.
"Hmm , maybe , you could buy me the other half of the moon , Elon musk forgot to purchase " Carnelian replied quite dreamily.
"No problem, are you not forgetting the Sun , that one you don't have to struggle property with anybody oh " Sean said as they both began laughing.
Watching the obvious love and bond between brother and sister made Shirley melancholic. She suddenly became covetous , one of the greatest sin , she tried so much to avoid.
"Hey "Sean said to Shirley when he was through laughing "wow you must have the strength of ten Greek gods put together, to prevent 'miss' here from committing suicide, I must confess I'm proud if you " He addressed his sister.
"Oh , it was nothing really, only had to drag her off the main road a couple if times and reach her in the nick of time when she was about to plunge a butcher knife into her heart some other time " Carnelian said winking secretly at Shirley , then quickly made amends after seeing the horrified expression on her brother's face.
"Hey, it was a joke , besides you're a doctor, you literally rip out people's brain" Carnelian said contritely but with a bit of humor still noticeable in her voice.
"Stop that , you need to watch the way you speak, young lady , and mind you, I don't rip out people's brain" Sean said glaring at Carnelian as relief flooded through him.
He finally walked into the living room , then sat down on one if the single chairs adjacent to Shirley's couch , he notiuthat same look in her eyes, but the only difference this time , anger was replaced by anguish. But he thought, not to say anything about the tears that were struggling not to pour down her face.
"Are you alright, sis ? " Sean asked in the usual manner he referred to the feminine folks .
"I'm not your sister, she's over there 'Sin' or whatever's your name " Shirley said a bit more harshly than she had intended.
~
Sean was still reeling from Shirley defensive remark , meanwhile Carnelian had come back to sit beside her new found friend.
"Oh my , Shel , are you alright, you're looking very pale " Carnelian said , placing her hands on her forehead, as was the norm among Nigerians to confirm a fever.
Shirley just sat there staring at nothing in particular. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut through with a knife. Carnelian looked from Shirley to Sean and back to Shirley again.
"I think the stew's done , I'll be back soon guys " Carnelian said then escaped into the kitchen.
Sean took the first step as usual, by initiating discussion.
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- Writer
