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MY PREGNANT WIFE (EPISODE 6)
I hurriedly came down from the Commissioner’s Office and without even saying a word to Bella, I made it outside the compound.
I saw a Keke man and flanked him
“Where”, he asked
“242A Oron Road”, I responded while sited already
“Oga a drop na ₦200”
“Go. Go. Go. Go. Go. Go.”, I ordered
I got to the house and discovered the doors were not locked
I rushed to the bedroom but could not find my wife
I called out but no one answered
Her phone was on the bed, so I picked it
I ran to the kitchen and found my phone and my ring at where I left them
I called out over and over and over again
Yet, no response
I remembered I sent Inem to the house
So I rushed out to proceed to her house
I did not pay the Keke man, so he was still waiting
On sighting him, I ran back inside to get some money
I came out and asked him to carry me to Inem’s house, just a few blocks away
On getting there I met Inem’s mother
“Good morning madam. Please is Inem in the house?”
“Morning my son. I have not seen her since last night. She said you sent her to go and check on your wife and she has not returned since then. Is everything alright? Where is my daughter?”
I brought out my phone and dialed her number immediately
Her number was still off
I returned to the Keke and paid him off
I trekked down my house while thinking of the next line of action
Where could my wife have been?
Where is Inem?
How do I face all these?
Why would my wife leave her phone in the house?
That was strange
Deep in those thoughts, my phone rang
Behold, it was Inem
“Inem where is my wife? Where are you?”
“We are at the Hospital. My phone was off. I called that number you called me with yesterday and the lady told me you had gone. Where are you?”
“I am just returning from your place now. What is my wife doing at the hospital? What happened? Which hospital are you? Is she alright? Let me talk to her please”
“You’ll have to come over please. Bring her under wears as you’re coming”
She dropped the call after giving me the address of the hospital
At that point I was already at my compound
So I ran inside and got some clothes and under wears
I made it to the hospital and placed a call
Inem came out and directed me to the ward
There I met my wife on bed. She was on drip
Unconscious but stable
“Baby”, I called her but there was no response
I turned to Inem and asked in fright: “What happened? What is wrong with her?”
As she was about to explain, the doctor came in
“Doctor what is wrong with my wife”, I asked as I was running out of patience
“Are you the husband?”, he asked
“Yes”
The doctor on seeing how fragile I was, placed his hand on my shoulder and said: “Let’s have a word in my office”
He led the way as I followed, while Inem stayed back
When we got to the office, the doctor offered me a seat
“Please sit down”
I was already on the seat before he finished offering me the seat
“Doctor what is wrong with my wife?”
“I want you to remain calm”, he said
“I am calm sir. What is wrong with her?”
“Your wife had emotional trauma. Examination conducted on her showed that she became too weak. Thanks to your sister in-law whose prompt action helped to save her life. According to her, she saw her sister – your wife- on the floor of the bathroom unconscious. She had a fall, which we believe was fatal. She hit her head on something, which resulted in a fracture. The fall affected her tummy seriously. But the good news is that she’s stable and in good condition. She’ll need a couple of days to recuperate. And the bad news is…she had a moderately preterm birth…”
“Doctor what is a moderately preterm birth?” I interrupted
“A moderately preterm birth occurs when a woman, a pregnant woman has a premature delivery at around 32 and 34 weeks of pregnancy.”
“Doctor you mean my wife delivered?”
“Prematurely, yes. But we lost the baby few minutes after”
At that point, my whole world came crashing
I didn’t know what next to do than cry
I cried
“Why are bad things happening to good people?”, I asked the doctor
“Oh! Your sister in-law is here”, he said
I turned and saw Inem standing behind me. For how long she had been there, I didn’t know
She had been crying too
She held me as the doctor stood up and excused himself
I cried profusely
We cried
I tried to stand up, but I could not
Inem gave me a hand
I became dizzy
We made our ways back to the ward
I moved closer to the bed, held my wife’s hand and continued weeping as I said: “Baby I am sorry I failed you. This is all my fault. I saw a pregnant woman who had an accident and was abandoned. I thought I could help her. I later got detained by the Police. You always taught me to be kind to people. Baby please wake up. We have a lot to talk. You know I love you and always will. Please…”
I said everything that day to my wife.
I wished she was hearing me
I kept holding on to her hands
The thoughts of losing my baby was killing me slowly
We waited for four years to have that baby
But I lost every thing
She woke up the following day and narrated all that happened
I told her it was her sister in-law who rushed her to the hospital
She was surprised because she had no sister
That sister in-law was Inem
She told the doctor she was my sister in-law
I wouldn’t blame her though
Officer Bella came to visit us at the hospital everyday
She was there when my wife was discharged
Finally, we left the hospital after 2 weeks.
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Sometimes our acts of kindness can put us in serious problems. We can be labeled various names for giving a helping hand to someone. If you have faced something similar to this, take heart, you are not alone.
My wife and I decided not to sue the Police.
THE END
© Ezekiel Umoren
God bless you for not sueing the police