Chapter 38

Osagiede

I took in the scene before me and I vowed that my heart skipped some precious beats. It left me holding unto the door post for aid.

Eyare had a knife to Eseosa's neck and was mumbling unintelligible words. His hands were a tight clamp round her neck.

Something seemed off.

His eyes were open, but blank - unseeing, like he wasn't there at all mentally. His face had taken on a slack look, as if his muscles were no longer functioning. He didn't look like the man I knew, like the man I married.

Spittle dribbled down his lips and his head lolled to one side.
I was distinctly reminded of a zombie -- a mindless zombie. He shifted backwards and forwards on his feet, as if unsure of which direction to take.

Eseosa was crying pathetically and I just stood helplessly, unsure of what to do. She looked anguished and confused. She sighted me and lifted a hand up, calling me for aid to help her.

The life of my daughter flashed before me. Her birth, the news of the debilitating sickness that plagued her, all the times we spent in the hospital, the pain on her face after the transplant, her recuperation, her first walk and her first words.

Something fell unto my cheeks and I touched my face. I noticed they were tears dribbling down my cheeks.

I walked into the room hesitantly, with my heart in my mouth. One wrong move and it could all be over. I would loose my precious daughter forever.

I only hoped to God I hadn't lost my husband.

Geoffrey's words flashed unbidden in my mind.

You have to walk naked, to the shrine of the goddess of the charms, to appease her. Eyare only has a few more days.

I stopped a foot away from them and looked at Eyare. His eyes were vacant. A white film seemed to have covered them. It was a horrific sight to behold and I gasped in shock.

I saw that the hand around Eseosa's neck had begun to slacken and the knife had dropped from his hand. His head began to droop unto his chest. I was still fearful and wondering at this change when he lost all coordination and began to fall.

I screamed and lunged towards him, but it was too late. He fell to the ground with a sickening crunch to his head.

I knelt down beside him, my heart pounding with fear as I took in the sight before me. Blood oozed from the side of his head and I heard screaming, but quickly came to realise I was the one doing the screaming.

The anguish inside me was like a burning inferno. I clutched his head and put it unto my laps, getting blood stains everywhere on my clothes and hands.

When I realised I was still screaming, I clamped my mouth shut. Suddenly, I began gasping for air and my heart seemed to constrict in my chest. I tryed my best to take in gulps of air, but white spots began to dance in my peripheral vision.

Just as I gave into the white light, I heard Eseosa crying and clutching me, but it was too late and I succumbed to nothingness.

At last I would have peace.

* * *

"How is she, doctor?"

"She seems better, soon to come around. It was just a concussion. And don't worry, her baby is still in perfect condition."

Are they talking about me?

I heard voices as I swirled in and out of consciousness. Someone opened my eyes and flashed a beam of light into my eyelid.

I heard him talking to someone as he checked my other lid. I couldn't quite make out what they were saying. I struggled to come around, but sleep was not having any of it. I continued struggled against the languid feeling but eventually succumbed.

When next I came around, my whole body felt heavy, like I had been thrown under a bus. There were aches and pains in my joints and my head - my poor head felt like it was going to split into two any moment.

'"Uhh!" I gingerly put a hand to my throbbing head. It was bandaged.

What happened here?

I opened my eyes and saw I was in a hospital room, wearing a hospital gown. The smell of antiseptic mixed with medicine filtered into my nostrils and I groaned again.

I heard some ruffling and a face peaked above me.

It was Imade.

"Thank God you are awake." Her eyes were red - rimmed, with were bags under them. She sounded flustered and anxious.

Then it all came flooding back.

Eyare holding a knife looking like a zombie, Eseosa crying and beckoning on me for help, Eyare loosing his hold and falling. Blood everywhere. My screams, and then nothing.

I immediately struggled to get up but Imade gently pinned me down.

"Where am I?" My throat was raw and parched. I could hardly hear myself. I sounded like an ant. I must have screamed my vocals away.

"Relax! Eyare and Eseosa are with my mum now. I brought you to the hospital. You'll be fine and your baby too, but . . ." She hesitated.

I sensed a foreboding news and I steeled my heart as she continued talking.

"Eyare isn't doing well, Osagiede. He doesn't have much time left, unless. . . " She didn't say anymore, but I filled in the dotted lines.

I will do it. I have to do it. I've got no other option but to do it.

"I'm ready!" I announced, sitting up. The headache was playing a tambourine in my head. This time she didn't stop me.

"I'm so sorry, my dear." Tears filled her eyes as she looked at me sadly.

"Nothing to be sorry about Imade." I whispered, shaking my head. "You have been nothing short of wonderful to me and my family." My throat hurt as I talked, so I fell silent.

She nodded and helped me off the bed. Some minutes later I was discharged and Imade drove us towards the outskirts of Ozala town.

I was terribly nervous. As a result, my insides were in knots.

I didn't know what to expect.

My mother in law wass missing and my husband was at death's door, yet all I could think of was the visionary.

I was scared of her, scared I would be rebuked, scared she would give an ominous prediction.

I sighed and Imade turned her head towards me.

"It will be fine. Don't worry. Everything will be fine." She patted my knee and I relaxed, but only by a fraction.

I must have drifted off at some point of the journey, because the car jerked and I was startled into wakefulness. I opened my eyes, confused at first, but then remembered where we were headed and the anxiety creeped back into me.

We entered a bad patch of untarred road and the tyres spun, making a whirring noise as Imade tried to move us forward. The small car jerked again and we began moving once more, but slowly.

"Are you okay?" She turned to me.

I nodded, realising I had been gripping tightly to the dash board unknowingly. I slowly let go of it.

My aches and pains had reduced, almost disappeared. I had taken the pain killers given to me awhile ago, so physically I was fine, at least for now.

"We are close!" Imade announced quietly, glancing at me before looking ahead again.

I began to sweat. The air conditioner was doing absolutely nothing for me. The headache was threatening to come back again. I touched my head tentatively, feeling the small bump on my temple.

If I feel this way, how would poor Eyare feel. All that blood.

I instinctively turned to Imade. "Please tell me, how is my husband? There was blood everywhere and I heard a crunch as if his neck got broken or something."

Imade glanced at me once more with sad eyes. "That has been contained. Both of you were brought to the hospital. It was just a small gash. He had a few stitches and after that, he was immediately taken to my mum's place. You will get to see him soon." I sensed the hesitation in her voice, the unspoken words.

I clutched the dash board again. I was practically perched on the edge of my seat.

"Please calm down, please. I believe things will be just fine." She glanced at me worriedly before looking back at the road.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

After some navigation of the rough road, she drove into a compound I recognised, and my heart picked up it's sporadic beating.

She turned to me, yet again. "Just breathe. Everything will be fine. Breath!"

I took two large gulps of air through my mouth. I was almost on the verge of hyperventilating, I had to get myself under control.

She got out of the car and came around to my side to help me out. I got out reluctantly, hesitantly. My legs felt wobbly and I held unto the door for aid.

I lifted my head and took a look around. It looked eerily quiet, but I knew the visionary was lurking around somewhere.

I heard someone squeal and looked up to see Eseosa running towards me on her tiny legs. Just like that, my anxiety evaporated.

She flung herself into my arms --- my legs actually. I scooped her up and breathed in her baby smell, and she clung to me for dear life.

"Mama, dada, here." She pointed towards the out-house at the far corner.

We began walking towards it and she chattered away in her baby language. Only she could understand what she was saying, but I pretended to listen with great interest. She displayed wildly with her hands and talked non stop into my ears. This tickled me and I began giggling.

We walked into the out-house through which Imade had already disappeared into. I recognised the long bench that was here last time I came, so I sat on it, perching Eseosa on my laps.

My head was in the crook of her neck and her tiny fingers tugged at my hair strands. It was painful, but strangely relaxing. My initial anxiety had all but disappeared.

I heard some movement but didn't look up. Someone sat down beside me and I heard the creaking of the bench. Still, I didn't bother looking up. I hadn't felt this relaxed since I arrived in Ozala town. I meant to take whatever little peace I could get.

I heard my name being called, but I figured it was Imade so I didn't bother looking up.

I only mumbled.

I'm enjoying one on one time with my daughter. Take the cue and leave us alone for now. The real world is too painful to go back to.

She touched my shoulder gently and I sighed and lifted up my head. "Please, I just want --- " but the words died in my throat as I stared at the person before me.

She smiled and opened her arms, but I kept staring in shock.

Eseosa noticed my silence and stopped her machinations on my hair. "Gyandma!" She squealed, and launched herself into the arms of the woman before me.

My mouth became unhinged and I gaped like a fool.

Before me, in the flesh, was Eyare's mother, looking hale and hearty.

Imade came in and smiled. "I see you've met each other again."

I wad still in shock and utterly speechless. I felt the other side of the bench top as Imade sat down beside me.

"I'm very sorry Osagiede, the queen has actually been with my mother all this while." She looked guilty and launched into a story.

"Why?" I whispered. I was still gaping at my mother in law, unable to take it all in.

My mother-in-law piped up then. "It's a long story my dear, but I had to go into hiding here because my life was at stake. I will definitely fill you in on the why's later. For now, something more urgent is at stake --- Eyare my son." Her eyes filled with tears as she looked away sadly.

As if on cue, the old visionary hobbled in, holding tightly to her cane. It made a tap - tap noise on the stone floor as she slowly moved forward. Rita followed her, smiling at me.

As soon as she was seated on her stool, Rita came to me and genuflected. I smiled tremulously at her in response. I was still in shock.

"Come forward, my child." The old visionary croaked, in a voice that had smoked too many pipes.

"She's talking to you." Imade whispered into my ears.

I shook my head.

Last time I did, I didn't like the prediction. I was not going down that road again. Instead, I stood up. "Where's my husband, where's Eyare?" My voice was shaky and I was suddenly scared. All former anxiety was back and I felt like running out of there. "I'm ready to do it, I'm ready to do it tonight. I must save my husband by any means necessary." I rambled on, until the visionary croaked out.

"Peace, child! Have some peace in you. I bring only good tidings. Your husband will be well again. Find the love within you for him, let it spill to the forefront. You are the only one that can make him better again." And she got up immediately and hobbled away.

Rita followed her inside and shut the door behind her.

Huh?! How am I supposed to do that?

I was still ruminating on her words when two men come in carrying a stretcher.

On it, Eyare lay inert.

I immediately jumped up, so did my mother-in-law and Imade.

The bench was pulled to a corner to create more space, and they put Eyare in the middle of the tiny room. The men bowed and left the same way they came in.

I walked on trembling feet towards Eyare and knelt down beside him. There was a plaster on one side of his head, making me realise the place his head was stitched.

I traced my hands over his features as memories of how we first met sprung to my mind.

I remembered how he had walked up to me asking if he could sit down with us giggly girls. How I hadn't given him the time of day, but how time and time again, he showed me his undying love and made me fall helplessly in love with him.

I reminisced on it all and I knew I couldn't live without him.

I suddenly began crying my heart out and holding unto him. I lay down beside him, murmuring assuring words of love to him, telling him over and over again how much I couldn't live without him.

I told him if he didn't get better, I would die with him here and now on this floor. I would refuse to get up. They would have to bury us three --- me, our unborn child and him, together.

I didn't know how long I lay beside him, neither did I know how long I cried, but I had no more tears to shed after awhile.

I was an empty husk, an empty shell. My hands draped around him and my upper body was practically lying on him.

I held unto him for dear life.

Suddenly I felt movement beneath me, but I didn't budge. I didn't move from him. I clasped him tighter.

He began sneezing repeatedly and I sat up suddenly.

I was scared at his constant sneezing, but as suddenly as it started, it stopped. His eyes opened slowly and he blinked. He looked around with a confused look on his face, then his eyes settled on me and a slow smile graced his lips.

I noticed the white film that initially covered his pupils had disappeared, leaving a smiling, animated - looking man in it's wake.

Was it even possible to look handsome after all this?

He smiled at me and spoke in an unused, croaky voice.

"Hmm. . . this is how I'd love to always wake up -- beside you."

I lunged at him, joy swelling in my heart and the tears I thought had dried up, began to flow once more.

We clung to each other tightly. I held his head in my hands as I stared at him, drinking him in.

I placed feathery kisses on his nose, his eyes, his lips, on every part of his face. After a few seconds of fawning over him, I became sombre, one last thought niggling on my mind.

"I have something to tell you." I couldn't look at him. I looked around, but noticed we were alone.

Not for much longer, I was sure.

Soon, my mother in law would definitely want to see her son.

I began to fret, unknowingly wringing my hands together. His eyes followed my movements.

I was suddenly not able to look him in the eyes.

How do you tell your husband who just came out of a spiritually induced coma that you had an affair with his best friend.

"Stop!" He all but squeaked. "I already know what you want to say. You don't have to, not now please. Matter of fact, we have a lot to talk about. All I want to do is go home and continue looking for my missing mother."

"I'm right here, my son."

She must have crept up without me even knowing.

Eyare turned to me with a baffled look on his face. I knew the look of shock he was wearing. I understood it, because I wore it awhile ago. I smiled and nodded.

My mother in law made a grand entry, coming into view. I must say, she looked even better than before, if that were even possible. There was a glow on her face that I'd never seen before. The sadness that tinged her face earlier, had all but disappeared.

"Mum, is this really you?" Eyare piped up from beside me.

He gave me his hand to help him up. He got up slowly and I noticed him wincing.

This was to be expected. He must be all stiff from inactivity for almost a week, and that horrible fall as well.

I shook my head to clear it of the terrible memories that I wanted to forget forever as I watched mother and son clinging to each other for what seemed like an eternity.

I saw Imade and Rita in the shadows, smiling, and I beckoned on them to join the happy re - union. Rita held onto Eseosa's hand, but then I noticed something sad. Eseosa began to tug at Rita's hand, slowing their movement, her gaze taking on a fearful one as she set her eyes on Eyare.

My mind flashed back to the scene of Eyare holding a knife against her throat and I immediately understood.

I quietly walked towards them, as mother and son conversed quietly. I stooped to Eseosa's level, but she didn't even acknowledge my presence. Her gaze was still trained fearfully on her father.

This saddened me more, for Eyare especially, because I didn't want him to realise our daughter was scared of him. Neither could anything be held against him for what he did unknowingly.

"Hey, sweetie!" I cupped her chin and gently pried her face towards mine. She still looked fearful so I smiled sweetly at her. "Remember that time you had a boo boo (code word for injury), and dada took care of you?" She frowned, but bobbed her head up and down. "Okay, do you also remember the time when dada took you to pre - school and you were scared to stay alone, so he stayed with you the whole day in class?" Again, she bobbed her head up and down, a smile slowly taking over the frown on her face. "Do you also remember your last birthday when dada bought you many presents?" This time, her nod was frantic as she bobbed her head up and down. I was scared it might fall off from all the nodding.

"Sweetie, dada loves you this much," and I opened my arms wide to show her. She looked at me and nodded again, this time a bit unsure.

"Hey you." Eyare came to us, and stopped beside me. There were tears in his eyes as he gazed at Eseosa.

Our daughter's gaze had turned fearful again so I gave her a little nudge in her dad's direction and he scooped her up in his arms and hugged her tightly. Suddenly, she began to speak to him in the language only she understood.

I stood up, ignoring the pains in my joints that were slowly coming back. I rubbed my stomach and spoke to my unborn child. "See this, little one. Eseosa doesn't know she has a baby brother on the way to look after."

I smiled to myself. Fear and doubt suddenly trickled into my thoughts.

I still hadn't told Eyare about my confession, yet.

Would he still love me the way he did?

I never wanted to loose the love and respect he had for me.

I knew for a fact that love and hate were two opposite sides, but they resided on the same coin.

I sighed as we all group hugged.

I sent a silent plea to the most high God for aid.

Please God, help me get through this