Bounce back

The Strange Experience

CHAPTER SIX
The whole hospital ward seemed to suddenly be concentrated with vertigo. Muna felt her legs shake and would have sprained her ankle, but for the flat shoes she wore at the moment. Her mouth hung ajar for what seemed like an hour, and she could swear that the whole ward fell into silence. How could life be this wicked and a trickster at the same time? Muna thought to herself. Here before her was the very person who had made her an object of ridicule and gotten away with it. Now she had a chance to help him. A thought at the corner of her mind kept telling her that this was her opportunity to pay him back in his own coins. For the first time in a long time, she found herself at a loss as to what to do. Like a flash, her oath-taking ceremony came rushing through her mind; she was meant to preserve life and not to take it.
"You'll be fine." she said and turned to face the orderly who was already carrying out the instructions she had given him earlier "and make it quick." With that, Muna left the ward.
"Could you please help me attend to the patient on bed 72?" she asked Kingsley, who was just stepping into the ward as she was leaving.
"Sure, you do look like someone who has seen a ghost," Kingsley said, trying to strike up a conversation. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes, I just need some rest badly."
"You sure as hell do, please run along now," Kingsley replied with a smile and zoomed into the ward. Muna didn't even get the chance to thank him for the favor he just rendered. Deep down, she felt relieved that he didn't wait to hear her out. She didn't trust her voice to completely mask what she was feeling at the moment. She traced her steps to the on-call room. She was about to turn the handle of the door to go in, she heard Gloria's happy chatter in the far end of the walkway leading from the children's emergency ward. "Not now," she muttered to herself, which was more of a grumble which evidently distorted her calm appearance as even her brows were creased. She needed time alone to process what was happening. As fast as she could, she entered the room, and to her great relief, it was empty. She pulled off her ward coat. She lay down on the small bed in a reclined position hugging her legs tightly trying to find solace in her short time of solitude in the room and in no time drifted off to sleep.
                   
Ike Is Troubled
"You will be better, just get as much rest as you can. Your condition is stable now." Dr. Kingsley said and removed his stethoscope from his patient's chest.
"Thank you, doctor, I really do feel better now," Ike said, trying to sit up.
"Not so fast, remember I said you need rest." Dr. Kingsley calmly reproved his patient; "now, go to sleep, it's night already, and it is way past your bedtime."
Ike did not protest, he just lowered his trunk back on the bed. How he hated feeling weak and incapacitated. He closed his eyes to get some sleep, but it seemed like sleep was also making a fool out of him. Since he saw the female doctor, his mind had not been settled. He just couldn't explain why. Something about her looked strangely familiar. Though he wasn't exactly able to see her face at the moment, but her voice seemed to drag him to his younger days. Ike battled with these thoughts of unease until sleep came knocking.
His sleep offered him no escape from what he had been battling with throughout the day. He had a dream about his village, the first time he went to his village after he went to the city. It was like he was reliving all his experiences and suddenly he saw Muna pointing at him and weeping. The look on her face spelled anger and hurt. It was like the whole village was inside Muna and all the villagers were now angrily pointing at him.
The sound of a cry in the ward of someone in pains jolted Ike out of his sleep and he barely managed to stop himself from screaming. Beads of perspiration had gathered on his face. It was just a dream. He heaved a sigh of relief and gently sat up.
One of the nurses came around to check up on him and see how he was doing.
"Good morning nurse, please do you by any means know the name of the female Doctor who was on ward duty yesterday morning?" Ike asked. He couldn't hold it any longer. He had to be sure of what was happening.
"I'm not sure of whom you're talking about sir, I wasn't on duty yesterday morning," the nurse answered and brought out his case file from the base end of his bed and studied it. She looked at him, gave the nod, dropped the file back where she saw it and moved to the next person.
The clock on the wall showed that the time was about 6 a.m., and many patients were still asleep. Sleep was not what he wanted at the moment because of the fear of having another bad dream.
"Someone is awake already," a manly voice which was familiar made Ike turn to his left, the direction from which the sound came. It was the male Doctor who had treated him before he went to sleep last night.
"Good morning, doctor," Ike replied.
"How are you this morning?" the doctor asked observing Ike's pulse and raising one of the eyelids to see his pupil dilation.
"Much better than yesterday, doc," Ike smiled.
"That's good, as I can see. You'll be out of this place in no time. Just keep resting and take your drugs as prescribed." the doctor said and turned to move to another patient before Ike stopped him.
"Excuse me, doc!"
"Yes. Is anything the matter?"
"Nothing really, I just wanted to know the name of the female doctor who treated me yesterday before you came along."
"Oh, that would be Dr. Muna." the doctor smiled, "anything about her?"
              "No. Not at all, I just wanted to know her name so that I can like, you know, appreciate her when I get the opportunity to do so." Ike said, trying to hide his surprise. He was so sure that it was the same Muna, Vivian's daughter from his village. Though he had no proof, the complexion of the lady was just like that of Muna, though now with a healthier shine than he knew it to be. Memories of the past came rushing back like tidal waves of a tsunami. He had taken undue advantage of her and in the process humiliated her. After the incident, he went back to the city, and he never heard of her anymore. How come she just suddenly showed up at this point in his life, this he could not understand.
"Is that so? No problem then, she is Dr. Muna, the patients' favorite.
"Ehn? Did you just say that her name is Muna?" Ike swallowed hard. He could not conceal the surprise written all over his face. "What is her surname, please?"
"I think it's. Uhmm, Uche if I am correct." the doctor said clearly observing Ike's body language as he asked his questions.
"Uche? It's OK doctor. Thanks for the info. I am grateful."
It was evident to the doctor that there was more than what he could understand at the moment playing in the background. "Alright, I'll leave you now to take some rest. If you need anything, just inform one of the nurses."
"Thank you, doctor."
                     
At Ike's Residence
"Easy now, honey," Ngozi steadied her husband as he entered the house. He had been on admission in the hospital and just got discharged. She and Ike had been married for about seven years.
Ike seemed to be sullen and withdrawn, something that was very unlike him. She, however, decided not to ask but to allow him to get as much rest as he needed for a speedy recuperation. "I'll get you something to eat now, you must be starving."
"OK dear, that would be nice," Ike replied and lay down on the couch.
The house was a two-bedroom apartment, with a large portion carved out as the living room. The living room had two windows that were adjacent to each other to allow for a reasonable amount of ventilation. Five large sofas made up the furniture in the place and an exquisite carved wooden table about five feet in height in the middle of the room sat on a red rectangular rug embroidered with the head of an eagle.
At the end of the room, adjacent to the entrance door was the television set on a wooden stand. From all indications, Ike was living a comfortable life, with a flourishing business; dealing in bulk sales of cement.
Looking at the white ceiling, Ike pondered on his stay at the hospital. Was this fate's cruel judgment on him? Since the incidence of his raping Muna years ago in the village, he had never admitted that he was guilty to anyone, not even his wife. That alone had been eating away at the edges of his mind in recent years. He had been married for about seven years now, and he was still yet to be called a father. Being the only child of his parents didn't make the matter any easier for him as they were continually asking questions concerning the childless situation of him and his wife. Medically, they both were certified healthy and able to make babies, but on a practical basis, Ngozi had never taken in. Seeing Muna again brought back the mistakes of his past to him like an unwanted parcel that was delivered to him even though he didn't ask for it.
"Is fate paying me back in my own coin? I can't have a child with my own wife after having denied raping and impregnating a girl in my youth?" Ike asked himself. The questions kept churning over in his mind like water pumping out pressure from a pipe. Yeah, he had led a real rough and delinquent life as a youth, but he had since left those ways behind. Life should not be so unfair to rub the sins of his past on his face in this manner.
"Food is ready honey!" Ngozi called as she entered the living room with a tray containing Ike's food.