Very early the
next morning, Amed’s parents visited and gave him the news about a young girl
by the name Mariam that came for a casual visitation. They explained to him
about how sad she felt when they told her about Amed’s pitiable condition. That
she left the house with tears in her eyes. Miriam? Amed wondered, she was the
last girl on earth he could ever have imagined that still cared about his
existence, not even after her engagement to another man some months back. Even though
there was no much disclosure about her real purpose of visitation, Amed was a
little bit delighted that someone still deemed it fit to check on an old friend
after all the abandonment after graduation. How sad, he thought, she now belongs
to another man - a lucky one in fact. Miriam was now in the list. Yes, he said
to himself, she definitely is one of the people that would grieve as soon as the
news goes around that he had given up the ghost!
He lay on the bed with his
backside and starred intently at the POP white ceiling. Not that he took any
notice of the patterns carefully crafted on them but he began to mumble to
himself the names of all those he was sure to cry. He even began to imagine
their various reactions to excite himself. Aisha was the first on the list;
Amed wanted his demise to hunt her for the rest of her miserable life. How can
she be so callous after all what they have gone through together! Death was the
only way he could regain his lost glory and a way to make Aisha regret what she
had done. He imagined the tears that will roll down people’s eye as he was
being conveyed into mother earth, the anguish, the pain, and the melancholic
blues by the undertakers all for his sake, he grinned. That would make him more
like a star, the real star that he was all his years while on campus. And as he
continued to relish the thought, the stupid idea became more and more appealing
to him. It was better to leave when the ovation is the loudest, he concluded
within.
Suddenly he looked up and saw the clock on the wall; it was 8:20pm. He
stretched his left arm underneath the bed and felt the briefcase of money just to
be sure if it was still there. It was, and he took a deep breath. Soon,
everything will suddenly be over in a matter of minutes. Doctor Hassan had just
left some minutes earlier. Gradually he began to feel dizzy; the sedative Nurse
Awa gave to him before the night doctor’s arrival had begun to work. If he
should sleep, then he knew what that would mean, the Nurse must look for a way
to exterminate him before the next day. For the first time he feared, what if
I’m really being stupid like the Nurse said, he thought. Then another of his
wicked mind got a hold of him. “A man has got to do, what a man has to do. R.I.P
Amed. B. Garuba!” he said to himself slowly and then snored off.
* * * * *
Amed’s disappointment could not be curtailed when he discovered that he
had woken up the next morning. As he gradually gained consciousness of his
environment, he slightly pinched himself to be sure he was still alive. Moments
later he could faintly overhear the approaching footsteps and conversations amongst
his mother, one of the nurses, probably Awa and a young lady with a familiar
voice he couldn’t vividly recollect. The door opened and when he looked up he discovered
that the young lady with the familiar voice was Mariam, her ex-girlfriend. Mariam
clung closely behind Amed’s mother unsure of what to expect. The female nurse
wasn’t even Awa as he had earlier thought; she was Nurse Balkis, one of the
morning nurses. He had wanted to quickly rise from the bed as soon as he saw Mariam,
but he realized that he had a leg missing. He gradually rolled sideways and
then stretched his arm under the bed to feel the briefcase once again, but this
time it was gone. They all watched as he rolled back on the bed without
muttering a word. Then slowly tears began to roll down his cheeks.
“There is no
need to be sad son,” began his Mother. “You know we all truly love you. Please
take heart and let’s go home. The doctors say it’s time.”
“Amed,” said Mariam,
in a sorrowful tone, “do you still remember me?”
He looked in
her direction, but shamefully avoided direct eye contacts. He wasn’t happy to
know that Mariam had finally seen him in his pitiable conditio. He said
nothing.
“Amed,”
continued the now restless Mariam, “I am Mariam, your school ex-girlfriend!
Remember me?” She smiled, but Amed’s face was expressionless.
“There’s no
need to cry son,” continued his mum, “everything will be alright.”
“Where is
Nurse Awa?” Amed finally asked in a coarse voice, “She must pay for this pain
that she had inflicted on me!” He felt he had been short-changed
“How do you
mean?” inquired the nurse, “she couldn’t be the cause of all your pains at all.
It must have been a bad dream. You see, nurse Awa didn’t resume for work last
night. In fact, she surprisingly tendered her resignation letter a day before
yesterday, without a prior notice. The hospital management is still upset with
her abrupt decision. She only came yesterday to pack up some of her personal
belongings that are still left at the hospital!”
And she stole my money!, Amed wanted to say, but was interrupted by his
mother.
“But you have
no more problem with them here anymore Amed,” she said. “Leave the hospital
management to handle its affairs. Now let’s go home. Mariam is here to make you
happy once again.”
“But for how long mum?” replied Amed.
He pointed his right forefinger at Mariam, “the lady behind you was the girl that
I told you first dumped me barely under a month when I was in year two. And as
if that wasn’t enough, Aishat did the same at the most crucial time. Mum, the
lady behind you was engaged to another man some months ago and I am sure that
by now she is a married woman.”
“No Amed,” interrupted Mariam, “I
broke-up the engagement with the man. I later discovered that he was twice
married and divorced with seven different children from both marriages, not to
talk of the ones out of wedlock. I was told that that was his usual style, and
as soon as he was tired of any young girls he will look for a way out of the
marriage no matter how hard the girl tried. I had never been this confused in
my life. I just wanted to get married to anybody to get your thought out of my mind,
but honestly, I couldn’t. I find it really very difficult to love the man or
any other all because of you. I must confess I was always jealous anytime I see
you with Aisha. My rejection of you was just a front. I became even more worried
when I discovered that she wasn’t ready to let go, rather she became
excessively possessive of you day by day; eventually she succeeded in driving
away all other girls.
“That was when I discovered that I
have lost the battle. At first I was hoping that you would have a turn around,
get more matured and settle for only me, but I was wrong. I silently watched as
Aisha gradually turned you around and made you hers. That was when I learnt the
bitter lesson about what I should have done but didn’t even give a try, until
someone else came by and almost succeeded in doing that. There was no need
hoping anymore, so I got engaged to this stranger out of frustration. He looked
very innocent, but he wasn’t much better. I had almost given up, but when the
news of Aisha’s wedding to another man got to me, I knew that this was my last
chance to really tell you how much I still love you, Amed, even in this condition!
Even if you are going to hate me, I just think it better to let you know my
true feelings so that I too can have a peace of mind.”
Tears kept rolling down his face. He
didn’t even know what to say any more. But definitely that was the sweetest
words he had ever heard after the accident. He could have died without hearing
those sweet words if nurse Awa had decided to really finish-up the job. So someone
other than his mother still cared, his father was not a big fan of his. What a big
fool he was, he thought, there was no way he would have known that Mariam hadn’t
got married to the other man in the first place; and he would have been six feet
under the ground. More tears rolled down his cheeks as he thought of those
sweet words he would have missed some few hours ago replayed in his head.
Quietly, he began to thank the retired poor nurse with some portions of his heart.
Mariam moved closer and gradually stretched her hand and wiped away the tears on
Amed’s cheek with the back of her palms.
His heart melted
and more tears rolled. “I am a FOOOL…” He cried.
* * * * *
He had learnt his lessons the hard way and had grown
more matured. The job market was tough; but he was already Manager in one of
his father’s company. He allowed no much blood sucking friends to get too close
to him. For some of his friends that had abandoned him that tried to get intimate
with him once again, it wasn’t business as usual, and for those that he could assist
he did. That was all, the relationship was no longer as cordial as it used to
be, Mariam was the only friend he had.
“People only flock around you when they discover
you have something to offer.” Amed told Mariam one day. “I think I have learnt my
lessons.”
He got the best prosthetic leg that no one without
a prior knowledge of his condition could really distinguish between his walking
patterns. It was state of the Art.
Six months later Amed got wedded to Mariam in the Islamic
way. And to add fun to the occasion, Amed made sure that nurse Awa was invited
on that day, he nicknamed her “MY RESCUER.”
Aisha traveled abroad together with her new founded
love, a young millionaire. And after nine months he abandoned her there for a
white woman. She was devastated!
THE END.
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