π π¬ ππ¨πππ¬’π¦ π¦π¨πππ₯ π π¨π π π¬
π
Ώπ
°ππ ππ
·π
Έπππ π
΅π
Έπ
π
΄
For three days, Dolapo sat at her mother’s bedside, intently gazing into her face, holding her limp hand and praying endlessly for her survival. There seem to be no improvement in her condition, and the medical people were almost giving up. The director had tactically told Dolapo that they might eventually lose deaconess except there’s a great turnaround like if a miracle happens.
Everyone rallied around them; Reverend Alhassan and his wife, Kola and Jumoke. Kelvin and Tosin and a good number of other church members, neigbours and other significant others. It was like they realized that no matter what deaconess did, she would always remain part of them. They trooped to the hospital in their numbers; the genuine visitors and the amebos that only wanted to have a story to tell. Apart from the medical personnel caring for deaconess, Only Dolapo and Jerry were given access to her since the ICU is not a place for every D**k and Harry.
Talking about Jerry, he had refused to return to his base after the Cesarean section. He said he wanted to be around to see Deaconess regain consciousness. Despite her deteriorating condition, he believed that a last minute miracle could happen though his medical mind told him something contrary. Despite hoping, he knew that deaconess might not come out of the coma.
On the third day, Dolapo sat and intermittently dozed by her mother’s bedside. As Jerry entered into the ward, she opened her eyes and yawned. ” Dr. Jerry welcome. You are here again to check momsie. Thanks for your support.”
Jerry shook his head. ” You look tired. I am here to check on her as well as take you out. You’ve been practically glued to the hospital for the past 3 days. You need a break.”
” Break? What if something happens when I’m not around?”
” Can you stop anything from happening even if you are around? While hoping for the best, we should always be prepared for the worst, so that we don’t get too disappointed when the best doesn’t happen. And in life, we can’t always get all our wishes on platters of gold.” He stretched his hand to her. ” Come let’s go out so that you can stretch your limbs. The nurses will keep watch for us while away.”
They walked hand in hand out of the hospital building.
” Let’s look for a place to sit,” Jerry said.
Moving to the back of the hospital, they sat under a tree. They were silent for a while, before Dolapo broke the silence.
” I will not forgive myself if momsie doesn’t survive this.”
” You don’t have to beat yourself. You tried your best.”
“My best isn’t enough. Looking at it, I and my brothers were not here when she needed us most. At the time that she demanded that we come together and see how we could manage our late father’s business, we all objected that we didn’t want anything that would bring us back to live in Nigeria. We practically neglected her despite the love and affection that she had for us. I am sure that loneliness was part of what led her into what happened. Momsie is someone that always want people around her.”
” I know that for sure.” Jerry said.
” You seem to know a lot about her.”
” I wish I had known her earlier than now. I also wish that things work out well so that I will get to know her more. She’s such a sweet soul. In the short time that I became acquainted with her, I had learnt so many things from her.”
Dolapo closely watched Jerry as he spoke. ” Dr. Jerry, can I ask you a question?”
He opened his arms wide. ” Feel free.”
” Please don’t be offended. The kind of dedication you show to my mum can only be from someone that loves another dearly. And the way you spoke about her just now…” She hesitated and looked down. ” Are you in love with my mum?”
Jerry sighed deeply and took her hand. He smiled. “Can I ask you a question before I answer the question?”
” You are a typical Nigerian man. Answering question with question.”
Jerry smiled. ” Do you love your mum?”
” Of course, I love her. I can do anything for her.”
” Is it bad if I decide to express same kind of love to her? I grew up not knowing my mother, though I have always craved for motherly love. Then suddenly, God brought your mum my way and I just started feeling like she’s the mum I didn’t know. She influenced my thinking in ways that she herself didn’t know. She made me want to be a better person by her humbleness and submission to spiritual authority. Furthermore, she’s such a selfless woman. She did all she could to cover Kola so that his family wouldn’t break. Your mum has a good heart and I won’t mind adopting her as my mother.”
Dolapo couldn’t hold back her tears at the sweet words about her mother. Jerry offered her a handkerchief. Their gazes held and Dolapo dropped her eyes. She stood up. ” I think we should get back.”
” Sure.”
They walked back to the hospital, each lost in his thought.
Dolapo knew that something had gone wrong the moment she saw the medical director at the door to the ICU. She rushed at him and asked. ” How’s my mum? What is it sir? Is anything the matter?”
The director placed a hand on her shoulder. ” Calm down Dolapo. I was hurriedly called to your mother’s bedside because she was having another seizure.” He shook his head. ” With every episode, the chance of regaining consciousness gets slimmer. She has been stabilized but…”
” But what doctor?”
” Try to spend as much time as possible with her. The end is nearer than we think.”
Dolapo nodded. ” It is well.” She turned to Jerry. ” Can I be alone with her?”
” Sure. I will be at the reception.”
Dolapo matched into the ward and to her mum’s bedside. She took her place on the chair beside the bed and took her mother’s right hand. She began to speak.
Momsie!
Momsie!
Momsie!
” Iya Lanre. That’s the name I grew up knowing you by. Sweet mum, I know you are in there, trapped in your body and indecisive about breaking out or letting go. You won’t be at fault if you decide to let go of this world; a world that has been cruel to you. A world that chooses to judge you instead of accepting and helping you when you fell.
Unfortunately, I and my brothers also judged you at the beginning. We have realised our mistakes. Mum we love you. I’m seated at your bedside now, telling you that I love you. Lanre and Kunle also love you. They are sorry about treating you badly and are already on their way back to Nigeria to come and see you.
Mum, you are surrounded with Love. Please don’t go. Why would you choose to go now when you still have a lot to offer to the world? I had a brief stop at the house yesterday, went into your room to pick something and I saw your plan for the NGO. You have such a beautiful plan. Who will carry out the plan if you leave now? You have to fulfill your dream.
Do you even know that you now have an additional daughter; a beautiful One at that? You have always wanted another baby girl; in your words, a partner for Dolapo. It’s funny but I’m beginning to love it that I now have an infant as a baby sister at close to 30. That baby is cute. She needs you. Kola’s wife is presently taking care of her. That woman? I love her gentle spirit and I see myself becoming friends with her. She has a clean heart.
Remember what you told me about breastfeeding each of us for two years. Remember your lectures about the benefits of b****t milk. Are you saying you don’t want to wait to breastfeed my baby sister as well?
Mum, this past 3 days has made me have a rethink about my life. I have been praying and meditating a lot and I know that I’m coming out of this experience as a better person. I promise to be a better daughter to you.
Finally mum, You have a new son. Jerry has been so supportive. He confessed to me today that he wants you to be his mother. I kind of like him and I think he likes me too. He looks like the kind of man…”
Dolapo felt a firm grip on her hand, the one that held her mother. She looked down. Her mum gripped her hand again.
” Momsie.” Dolapo called and stood up. She noticed that tears were slowly streaming down her mother’s face. She shouted for the nurse.
—-
(8 months after)
Deaconess is fully recovered. One day, she sat in her living room and called out to Wura.
” Please come and carry Mercy. I want to have a nap.”
Wura bounced into the room. She was always eager to play with Mercy; her madams baby. Who wouldn’t? Mercy was such an adorable baby.
” Have you seen Dolapo today?” Deaconess asked. ” She left the house before I woke up.”
The door opened and Dolapo breezed in, grinning from ear to ear.”
” What’s this about smiling like SMA? Did you win a lottery?”
” Mum! I’m from the hospital.”
” Hospital?”
” Sis Jumoke has put to birth.”
” Thank you Jesus.”
” She got two boys.”
” Hallelujah.”
—-
Later in the night, mother and daughter lay side by side on the bed. Mercy was sleeping peacefully in her cot.
Deaconess looked squarely at Dolapo and said. ” You are still not answering me. When do you plan to go back to Canada?”
” Mum. I have been thinking and praying a lot. I am not going back.”
” You are kidding me right?”
” I have never been too sure of a decision like this one that I’m taking. I want to stay back, establish myself here and raise a family. I also don’t want to be too far from you.”
“I had long wished for something like this but I didn’t know how to present it to you. Are you sure that it is what you want?”
” Too sure mum.”
Deaconess sat up
” Come.”
Dolapo moved into her warm embrace. She looked up at her mother and said.
” Jerry was in town yesterday.”
Deaconess smiled mischievously.
” I finally gave a yes to his proposal. I have realized that I love him to want to live the rest of my life with him.”
” Wow” Deaconess looked up. ” Thank you Jesus.”
THE END
I like this story alot I’ve learnt from it, thanks to the auther
I love everything the story portray and it has helped me to understand that the fact that a Christian falls is not the end of it all for him or her ,if they give the wheel of their life to Jesus totally.
But above all I love this story @ author weldone π and God bless you.
What a lovely story i wish i could come across such story everytime.Learn alot from it.the lessons leant from this story is priceless and a timeless one
More grace to the author
This story taught me to always put a cost to every plan and action I want to take. If we can quantify our actions and see how much it will cost us if it happens, it will help us not to make some decisions that would be too consequential to our lives. Thanks for writing this