Road To Hegemony

PROLOGUE, CH4: TOUGH DECISION

 "What do you mean by 'lose the pregnancy'." asked Senior Detective Balogun, clearly agitated.

“Due to her condition, Shade’s womb had become very fragile after giving birth to Kola thereby making it hard for fertilized eggs to survive in her womb. This is the reason why she had not gotten pregnant ever since then. To prevent this baby from dying, her body is diverting a lot of resources to her womb to protect it thereby harming her vitality. This will only increase over time. In my professional opinion, to guarantee your wife's life, I wouldn't advise that she keeps the pregnancy. " said Dr. Maja

She placed her arms on the table, "But as her friend, I know how much she wants this. I want both of you to discuss this seriously and come to a decision so that we can take the necessary steps. Remember, for her sake, the earlier the better."

Senior Detective Balogun silently digested what he had been told. After a while, he asked,” Ayoola, be honest with me. What are her chances of survival?”

Dr. Maja took her hands from the table and answer curtly, “Very slim.” But she immediately added, “Don’t be quick to decide though. Know this. If you decide to terminate this pregnancy, Shade will never be pregnant again. On the other hand, if she delivers the baby, it will strengthen her womb and increase the possibility of her having another and, most importantly, improve her overall health.”

Senior Detective Balogun fell into thought.

 ‘1. Giving up on the baby means her health will worsen and she will never give birth again but her life is guaranteed.

2. Risking it, means if she survives, her health will improve.

If I force her to choose option 1, given her desire for another child, she will be forever depressed and might never forgive me. Option2 means I can lose her. What do I choose? '

Dr. Maja looked at Senior Detective Balogun with pity as she could understand his dilemma. Even she could not say which the correct decision was. Thus, she offered a piece of advice,

“Why don’t you speak to your wife first and seek her opinion. After all, she is the concerned party.”

Senior Detective Balogun came back to reality when he heard this. He took a deep breath. Finally, he said gratefully,

"Thanks, Ayoola. Seems that's what I should do."

He stood up to take his leave.

He headed back to his wife’s ward only to find her still asleep. He looked at his watch,

“Kola should be done with his exam by now. I should tell him about his mother.”

He brought out his phone and dialled his son’s number. After a while, Kola picked his phone

 “Hello sir”

“Your mother and I will be out late tonight, I had to take her to the hospital. So, take care of the house. You can also prepare a small dinner for us.” Said Senior Detective Balogun

“Hope no problem sir?” asked Kola

At this moment, Senior Detective Balogun saw his wife stirred. Afraid to wake her, he decided to quickly end the call.

"It's been taken care of. She fainted early this morning just after you left. I took her to the hospital and the test shows that she is pregnant. Anyway, take care of the house. I have to be with your mother. We will discuss this when I get home. Bye.”  Senior Detective Balogun said as he cut the call.

He sat in a seat close to the bed and watch Shade sleep while deep in thought.

Except for leaving to get something to eat for himself and his wife, Senior Detective Balogun remained in the ward with Shade through the day. Shade was woken to eat a meal before she was put back to sleep to conserve her energy.

As night came, Dr. Ayoola Maja came to the ward to check-up on Shade. After her check-up, she said to Senior Detective Balogun

“You should go home. You shouldn’t leave Kola alone at home without letting him know what’s happening. I will stay with her tonight. Don’t worry, she will be discharged tomorrow.”

Recalling his wife saying the same thing, he finally accepted to go home.

Detective Balogun Residence

On getting home, Senior Detective Balogun found Kola had just finished the preparation of their dinner. He had made semo with ewedu and beef soup.

“Welcome back sir. Where is mum?” said Kola, when he saw his father.

Senior Detective Balogun removed his suit jacket and threw it on the sofa as he sat down.

“Sit! We need to talk.” He waited for his son to sit down before continuing. He went straight to the point.

“Like I said when I called, your mother is pregnant. Unfortunately, due to her previous health condition, there is an issue. Her womb is fragile and there is a strong chance she may lose the child with her life also at risk. So, we have two options. Either we give up on the pregnancy or take the risk. You are not a kid anymore; let me hear your opinion.”

 Kola was once again stunned by what he is hearing today but, perhaps due to experience gained earlier in the day, he quickly recovered. He thought back to the man in the suit he met in the day and stroked the ring on his right finger. The ring was almost unnoticeable on his finger, only w1hen he stroked it did he feel its existence. For reasons unknown, he trusted the man in the suit. Organising his thought, he decided to convince his dad that keeping the pregnancy was the right choice but since he couldn't exactly say why he was so confident, he still had to come up with a sound reasoning. After a period of silent contemplation, he said

“I say we risk it. First, by tradition, I know the family frowns on having a single offspring and I’m sure mum and yourself are under pressure from them to have another child. Not to mention I also want a sibling.” While he intended for the last statement to be a joke to lighten the mood, unfortunately, his dad’s face darkened instead. So, he quickly continued, “But the most important reason is that mum herself has made it clear numerous times that she wants another child. So, asking her to give it up when it finally came will break her. Even if she lives, it will be as if she isn’t. Who knows what she would do if she consumes herself with the guilt of having to live by giving up her child. Besides, I have faith that she became pregnant now, after all this time, because this is the time she and my brother would survive.”

Senior Detective Balogun thought through what his son said but then noticed something weird, "What do you mean by 'brother'? The baby is just four weeks old, how do you know it's a boy?"

's**t!' thought Kola. "It's just a guess." he said while laughing weirdly to cover up his poor excuse. "Anyways, that's not the point dad" he continued, trying to change the topic.

Senior Detective Balogun stared at his son for some seconds and decided to let it go. Before he could say anything though, the doorbell rang.