goose pimples on me, and I had the
feeling Judas had after he betrayed Jesus. I was
destabilized, and almost fainted too. So
what the maid said was true after all” I
thought. Then I broke down in tears like a
baby in the hospital. I cried out loud that
the people’s attention was on me. I rolled
on the floor and tore my shirt. Words of
lament freely flowed from my mouth.
Feelings or misery and regret almost
crushed me. SHE DIDN’T DESERVE TO DIE!
No, she didn’t. I wept till it became a thing
of concern to the doctors and nurses, and
they gathered to hold me up and put me to
order.
“Don’t lose hope young man. She still has a
chance” the doctor said.
“Doc, this is not two thousand years ago,
and she definitely isn’t the Messiah. So
stop insinuating the impossible, except you
have one of the Apostles of Christ here to
lay hands on her and bring her back to life.
Besides that, let’s talk Cemetery.” I
retorted and continued with my tears and
laments. But then, the doctor said;
“Cemetery? Why would I talk about
cemetery? She’s not dead!”
“She’s not what?” I asked.
“She’s not dead”
“Then what’s all these act of yours about?”
“She’s in a coma”
That truth brought quite some relief to me
and the maids who I had freaked out by my
over exaggerated emotional display. I
thought the doctor was going to tell me
Cynthia was dead because of the action that
preceded the news. I had noticed that
doctors act that way in Nigerian home
videos when about to break the news of
someone’s death, so I concluded that was
the case here. It was a good thing Cynthia
was still alive, or should I say 50% alive.
Oh’, look what I caused a girl who showed
me nothing but kindness. What if she
doesn’t make it back alive? What excuse
would I vindicate myself with? How would I
live with my conscience? There was no way
I would keep living if Cynthia didn’t come
out of that coma alive.
I called Ogechi and told her the situation of
things with Cynthia. She was so shocked on
hearing it that her phone fell off her hand.
She managed to pick it up after about three
minutes to inform me that she was coming
to Regina to join me. I was so glad because
I really needed someone with me at that
moment. I didn’t consider Cynthia’s maids
worthy characters to play such a role,
because their reason for not wanting to lose
Cynthia was fear of returning to a village in
Imo state where they were brought from to
serve as maids in America. By evening the
next day, Ogechi arrived with no one else
but herself alone.
I have heard of people who had been in
coma for three years and some others who
never returned, but I was not leaving that
hospital until Cynthia either returned or
passed away. I sent the maids home while I
and Ogechi remained at the hospital with
Cynthia. Three days passed and Cynthia
was still not awake. Ogechi hadn’t told
anyone where she was going when she left
Oklahoma. It was as though she was
embarking on a journey she wasn’t sure to
return. We refused to leave Cynthia alone in
the room she was confined to as the
doctors advised. We remained there with
her, and after those three days, Ogechi
suggested we pray and intercede for
Cynthia’s life. We vowed not to eat
anything food until Cynthia awakes from
that coma. I agreed. I had always agreed
with Ogechi anytime she suggested
anything about prayer, and she always
suggested it. She hadn’t changed after all.
It had been two years now, and she was
still doing the things she did on the very
night I met her. Once an angel, always an
angel.
We had our last meal that day and began
fasting and praying the next day. The first
day passed, same as the second, third,
fourth and fifth day, yet, there was no sign
of Cynthia returning to us. I and Ogechi
were weak already and very hungry, but we
had vowed not to eat until Cynthia awoke.
We had hoped that our prayers will be
answered before we became too weak to
even speak words anymore, but after five
days it began to dawn on us that we could
as well be on our way to a destination far
worse than where Cynthia was at the
moment. It was a vow, and dared not be
broken for any reason in the world. After
all, we were not coaxed to enter into it. We
did it willingly with knowledge of the
possible outcome; be it positive or
negative.
In the morning on the seventh day, we were
completely weak and felt like our spirit
would leave our bodies anytime soon. I and
Ogechi drew near to each other and held
onto each other in preparation to die in the
arms of each other if it came to that. The
guilt was too much on us that we couldn’t
go about our own businesses normally with
a clear conscience. If anyone was to blame
for Cynthia’s condition, it would be me. But
Ogechi had also taken the blame upon
herself as part of the reason why Cynthia
was where she was. We had prayed
earnestly those past six days for Cynthia’s
recovery but didn’t notice any development.
Perhaps we had to pay with our lives for
what we had done to Cynthia. We only
hoped Cynthia wakes up to appreciate our
sacrifice for her, and also know that there
is a love that surpasses the love of a
woman for a man, and vice versa.
I and Ogechi engaged in what we supposed
would be our last conversation in case we
never had the chance to do so again in this
world. Indeed, I had heard her story when
she shared it at the VIP during her house
party, and I had also told her my story
when she found me in the same VIP on the
same night. But there were deeper details
of our lives which we hadn’t shared with
each other yet. Those were what we talked
about. And even though those details hurt
like the scratch of a cat’s claws, we felt no
pain, for that was no time to count flaws.
Then we went further back to our days in
Enugu which this story has skipped and
chooses to remain silent about, and we
prayed again; but this time for ourselves.
After we prayed, we felt as pure as we were
on the day of our birth and were convinced
of a better future away from the earth. I
hadn’t fulfilled my dreams of being a star
singer, writer and actor. But that didn’t
mean a thing to me anymore. Ogechi didn’t
bother about the volume of wealth she was
leaving behind. All we were concerned about
was us, as we could not live without each
other in this world; neither could we live
together in this world at the expense of
Cynthia’s life. But we didn’t mind giving our
lives for Cynthia to wake up and also have
the opportunity to love and be loved, as
was the case of I and Ogechi. So we sat on
the floor, leaned back on the wall and held
onto each other firmly.
“What do you think heaven will look like?”
Ogechi asked.
“The bible talks about the streets being
made of gold, and about the glory of God
being the only source of light. Every day
and night, the saints and the angels won’t
stop singing Hallelujah to the Lord. And
they’ll be twelve angels at the twelve gates
of the twelve tribes of Israel.”
“Yeah, that’s true. We’ll also get to see
and commune with famous bible characters
like the great King David and his son, King
Solomon. And also New Testament heroes
like the Apostle Paul.”
“Exactly. And not to forget the King of
kings and the Lord of lords Himself. He
shall welcome us to a life without end. It
was such a great time living in this world.
And the best of my experiences in this
world remains the once I have you in it.”
I turned to my Ogechi for the last time and
said; I LOVE YOU, to which she replied; I
LOVE YOU TOO. Then we both closed our
eyes in anticipation for what was to come.
Soon enough, I heard Ogechi release a deep
breath, as her all her weight rested on me.
That made me weaker than I was, and I
gradually heard the sound of loud silence
approaching until everything came to a
standstill.
I had expected to see angels come for me,
or bright light shining on me. But all I could
see was black darkness in a place that
seemed as spacious as a wilderness. There
was nothing to hold on to. I could only take
an endless walk to nowhere. Then I asked
myself; WHERE THE HELL AM I?”
To be continued.
