THE STORY 2 EP. 14

 EPISODE THIRTEEN

THE STORY 2

BY PRAISE UMORU

Two days after Tim’s outburst at the Centre, Tony and Eli had other things to add to their worry list. Within the past two days, Quinn and Tim have been out of sight. With the school on a short break, Eli and Tony found it hard to come in contact with them, especially on calls.

 

With the way the days went by, the crew seemed to not just be decreasing but also dividing. Jeremy who seemed to be wrongly accused for the death of Frank is still behind bars, with no forth coming trials nor sentence. Alex, still has not been reached nor visited as he is left to face his own nightmare of having divorced parents. Tim, who lashed out on every soul that was present at the Centre, has also separated himself from the Centre affairs and Quinn, who couldn’t seem to bare the words Tim darted at her at the Centre, is hurt and therefore secludes herself from her teammates. 

With all the drama emanating from each member of the Centre, Eli and Tony doesn’t seem excluded as both are coincidentally seated in different hospitals because of their mum’s

Both decides to keep each other company, informing themselves on the present state of individual moms through their chat

“How is your mum doing? Does she feel a bit better?”-Tony

“She seems stable now. Although she’s still asleep”-Eli

“Has she eaten?”-Tony

“No. she was in so much pain when we arrived. The doctors had to sedate her”-Eli

Eli gazed at her mum, who laid on her right hand, with her whole body turned towards her as she was fast asleep”

“I just hope she gets better…she is really going through a lot”-Eli

“She is gonna get better. Just trust God. Everything is gonna be fine”-Tony

Eli sighed on seeing his reply. She stared at her mum briefly and hung her head low in exhaustion

“How is your mum?-Eli

“She is obviously fine she’s stuffing my home made Jollof rice into her mouth right now (sly emoji)”-Tony

Eli made a faint side smile on seeing his reply. Although she wasn’t in the mood for a banter, but she felt Tony’s effort trying to cheer her up, so she decided to play along a bit

“Don’t give yourself much hope about your cooking, she might just be eating your food just to crown your salty effort (who knows)”-Eli

Tony chuckled at her reply but decided to behave like he was hurt with his chat “ouch…”-Tony

“You are just jealous cause you know I cook way better than you (chef emoji)”-Tony

“You wish”-Eli 

She didn’t feel the mood to continue with the banter so she stopped texting after her last sent

Tony sense she wasn’t typing anymore, so he thought of another way to cheer her up

“She is gonna be fine… like always. We will figure out something”-Tony

Eli read his text with a deep sigh. She attempted sending a smiley emoji but then he sent another text

“Do you want me to sing for you?”-Tony

A sad smile curled up her face. She knew he was really doing his best to cheer her up but she really wasn’t in the mood

“That’s sweet of you, but I’m not sure I can handle you crowing voice right now (smiley emoji)”-Eli

“Wao… you are really on a roll on breaking my tender heart (heart break emoji)”-Tony

“But a crowing voice…seriously. Is it that bad (sad emoji, crying emoji and then lots of heart break)”-Tony

Eli’s face could contain nothing but a faint smile no matter how she tried. She decided to change the topic

“Any diagnosis yet for your mum’s illness?”-Eli

“No, not yet. They are still working on the test. We are just waiting”-Tony

“But I guess the dizziness is caused by stress. She has been working a lot lately and these days, she really has been focused on her piano lessons none stop. I don’t even get why she is so intrigued in learning the instrument”-Tony

“Tell her to be gentle and to take things easy. She ain’t that strong like the time of her youth you know. It’s your job to keep her safe and make sure she doesn’t over stress herself”-Eli

“You might have to tell her that yourself when you see her, cause she doesn’t listen to me”-Tony

The doctor walked in 

“Sorry Lil, but I have to go. The doctor just walked in. I’ll call you later for updates”-Tony

“Alright dear. Take care”-Eli

“You too. I love you”-Tony

Eli gave a soft smile on seeing his last sent

“I love you too”- Eli

“How are you feeling Mrs. Amare?” the doctor asked looking at Tony’s mother

“I feel much better” she replied

“Hi doctor” Tony stretched his arm for a shake while standing up as the doctor reciprocated “I’m Tony Amare, her son.”

“Okay” He said with a professional smile towards Tony before turning back to his mother “is your husband coming?”

Tony quickly decided to answer the question for his mum “mm…. no he isn’t. My… dad died a few years back. It’s just I and my mum”

The doctor looked flabbergasted as his eyes lit up “oh… really” after a bit of hesitation. He recuperated himself as he gazed at the two intently

“Mm…well Mrs. Amare” he tried not to meet her gaze instead, he fixed it on the file he held, scrolling his eyes through each line like he didn’t know the content before him “this is your result after the test.” He peeped through his glasses to see Tony who had a fixated gaze on both the doctor and the file in his hands. Tony seemed concern

“What does it say Doctor?” Tony asked anxiously

The doctor gazed at Tony’s mother. He attempted calling her as Mrs. Amare but then he retorted his words and just spoke up “well after the test, your results proves that you are eight weeks pregnant”

The doctor didn’t want to get tensed along with the atmosphere, so he dropped the file result on the small sized table close to the bed and took a professional leave, leaving behind a tensed atmosphere hovering back and forth between tony and his Mother…

*****

After Eli ended her chat with Tony, she played a game on her phone to sway the time a little more. When she noticed she had spent 2hours in the hospital already, she gazed at her mom who she felt would be hungry after the drugs wares off. She decided to go get some food for both of them, as she assumed her mum would be awake by the time she returned.

An hour later, Eli returned with food for two but surprisingly she found her mum sleeping deeply with the same posture. She decided to fix her more comfortably on the bed so that her blood could flow through her right hand which she had laid on for hours.

She dropped the food and went closer to adjust her mom well enough. Her mum was always known for her plumpness and fairness but since her sequestration crisis started occurring consistently, even after the exchange transfusion; (although the transfusion aided her for a long period of time, but it didn’t last like they had prayed for). Eli guessed her mum was not one of the few the exchange transfusion aided permanently. Her mum had not just turned pale but also emaciated so much, that it wouldn’t take her (Eli) so much strength to turn her to lie comfortably.

Eli took her mother’s arm lightly but she felt a rush of adrenaline go through her system. She gazed at her mother’s face well enough and it looked pale, more than she imagined. She wanted to make her next check but she felt scared for some reasons. Instead she pushed the red button on the bed, alerting the doctor and nurses to come over to her mother’s ward. Few seconds after, a physician and two nurses had rushed in. Eli shifted back with her heart beating loudly. She couldn’t utter a word but her heart was doing the job for her. The doctor silently whispered something to one of the nurses who had now turned to Eli with a melancholic face.

“My…my…mom…” Eli muttered her words as the nurse came closer

“Miss, could you please just calm down, and take it easy. Just try to breathe and come with me please”

Questions of all kind began to run through Eli’s mind “why is she telling me to breathe or calm down? Why are they hovering round my mum that way? What are they doing to her? Why isn’t mum waking up? Why does she look so pale? Is she going through another stage of being a sickle cell patient? Is she worse than before?”

“MOM!!!”

Eli couldn’t help her scream as she saw nurses cover her mum’s face with a sheet. She struggled for liberty from the hands of the nurse that tried escorting her out of the ward. She ran towards her mother, calling her with the loudest tone that could wake her up.

Her tears flowed down profusely as she couldn’t understand why her mum wasn’t responding to her scream or telling her to reduce her voice. Eli yarned to see her mother’s beautiful brown pupil, she yawned for her voice, her smile anything…she just wanted to see an evidence of life in her but she was getting none and it only meant one unbelievable thing to her which she detested as she screamed on top of her lungs. She could picture just one thing as she felt lousy, her mum’s smiling and joyful face that was life itself.

How was she expected to see those lively joyful smiles when a sheet was covering her face?

Tears of a river size were restricted from pouring out as she blacked out.

Her mom was dead…

To be continued…

You can also follow this series on Facebook @ Umoru Praise

On Instagram @ P.E.E.B.E.E 

On my blog @ PEEBEEHEART.BLOGSPOT.COM

Feel free to comment, like, follow and share this series, but with no act of plagiarism