Episode 5
TWISTED IDENTITY
“My baby girl is no more”. Mercy sobbed.
“Yes, she died 3 days after delivery”. I added.
The old woman shook her head.
“Your baby did not die”. She said.
Mercy stopped crying and looked up to face her.
“What?”. We both chorused.
“Yes, the baby didn’t die”. The woman repeated, calmly.
There was commotion in the room, as Mrs Bassey started murmuring with her sisters.
I was still trying to understand what that woman was saying, because she wasn’t making any sense to me, then.
“Mummy, please, we need a clarification, we’re confused here. Our daughter had complications which made us stayed back in the hospital after delivery. She died the very day we took her home and we buried her ourselves”. I explained.
‘Yes”. My wife agreed.
The old woman hummed and shook her head.
” Everyone, listen, please”.
The atmosphere was quiet once again.
“This kind of a thing has never happened in the history of St Theresa’s. I….”
“Yes!, yes!, now l know who you’re. The matron at St Theresa’s!. I remember you now”. Mercy cried, interrupting the woman.
“Yes, I was. I retired two years ago. The woman answered.
…..So yesterday morning, it came to my notice that there was a at the maternity ward six years ago. Two women were in labor at the same time. One was delivered of a set of twin boys while another, a baby girl. But one of the nurses on duty that night, quickly exchange one of the boys with the baby girl, before anyone could notice”. The old woman said.
“Wait, let me understand you. Are saying…”. Mercy was going to ask but was interrupted by Mrs Bassey.
“Aunty, what are you saying?, whose baby girl was exchanged with a boy?”.
“There was a switch the night you both delivered your babies”. The woman concluded, pointing at the two women(Mercy and Bassey).
There was silence in the room as everyone tried to digest what the woman had said.
“This is nonsense. Nothing can ever justify the fact that your niece here is an..an…a cheat…an adulterer!”. Mr Bassey sighed, speaking for the first time ever since I walked into the room.
“Yes, why would anyone want to exchange my baby with another?. It doesn’t make sense at all”. Mercy added.
“You can do better than that, madam Bridget”. Mr Bassey mocked.
“This is not a ploy, it is the fact. Justina confessed everything to me yesterday morning. She did the swapping without anyone’s knowledge, and before the mothers could recover from labour pains. That was the reason I ran all the way to the hospital yesterday to inform you all”.
“Justina?, my own Justina?”. Mrs Bassey cried.
“Yes, your sister, Justina”. The woman replied.
Mercy stood up and ran to hold the woman.
“Where is the Justina!?, where is she!?”. She was screaming at the face of the old woman.
Rita stood up and went to drag her off the woman.
“Fidelis, why are you not saying anything?” She asked, holding my hand, and sitting close to me.
“You need to see how excited I was when she placed a baby boy on my palms, some minutes after delivery….I was expecting my fifth girl, according to the scan?. How could Justina do a thing like that to me?”. Mrs Bassey lamented.
“According to her, she was only helping you keep your home”. The woman replied.
“And now?, has she not broken the home? and why did she not tell me this all these while?
“She was scared. That was why she begged me to do it on her behalf”. The woman replied.
It was only then did my mind flash back to an incident that occurred at the hospital, the night my wife was in labour.
I was with her in that ward when she dropped the first baby but the head nurse demanded for her ID card.
“What do you need her ID card for?.. someone that is in labor?”. I had asked.
“We need it to confirm something very important in the doctor’s office. You have to get it fast before something goes wrong”. She had pressured.
Without thinking, I had ran out of the ward. I didn’t want anything to go wrong… I want my wife and babies in sound health.
I had rushed back to the house to get the ID card.
But when I came back to the hospital and took the card to the doctor’s office, he denied ever requesting for it.
“what do I need an ID card for?”. He had asked.
By the time I went back to the maternity ward, my babies were already placed on the cot while their mother slept.
I didn’t set my eyes on that nurse again until we left that hospital and I didn’t see the need to discuss it with my wife…
I have almost forgotten all about it..
It was only then that everything started making sense to me… the resemblance, the DNA test and all
“I’m not accepting this cheap lie”. Mr Bassey argued.
“We need to take a maternity test too. I suggested, and everyone turned to look at me.
… yes, we need to test the mothers”.
A test was conducted again between the two mothers, before we went home that night.
At home, Mercy was restless. She kept pacing up and down the living room.
“Fidelis, what do you think about the test results, will it be negative or positive?. She had asked, but I had refused to talk to her. I was still very angry with her.
We didn’t sleep, we just lied back on the bed, counting the ceilings.
Two days later, the results were read and just as expected…Mercy really birthed the child.
Immediately the results were read, Mrs Bassey left the doctor’s office.
“We’re taking our son home today”. Mercy was saying to Mr Bassey, who couldn’t lift his head up again after the doctor read the results.
I was sure, he would had rejected that results if not that he was allowed to choose his preferred hospital for the test.
I didn’t get the chance to confront him before he entered he snuck into his car and drove away.
When we couldn’t find Mrs Bassey anywhere around the hospital, we drove down to the old woman’s house(that was where she stays after her husband kicked her out with Edet) only to discover that she absconded with the child.
My wife threw herself on the ground and wailed.
“Fidelis, please, don’t let them take my son away!”….
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ยฉ Joy Ifunanya
