Kechi
appeared to be much more aware, opening her left eye, obviously trying to
focus, and mouthing something that, knowing Kechi, looked like “Mummy”.
I
responded at once, telling her I was there. Then
it occurred to me that if Kechi was coming out of sedation,
she would be very confused, and would be wondering where she was, and what was
going on with her body. I began to explain to her where she was, why she was
not able to talk and how she had been in an accident. This was the start of
something I continued until Kechi came off the coma. Besides, Kechi was always
the kind of person who needed to know exactly what was going on.
Later
that evening, Brother Dotun and his family came and took me to their fellowship
at Hillbrow. I had not heard good things about that area of Johannesburg, but
it was nice to fellowship among the brethren once again.
I
was fifteen minutes late for the evening visit, but Kechi appeared to be fine
and was still moving her legs and eyes. I asked the matron on duty if that
would cause her any harm and she said no, it was actually a good sign. It meant
that she would find it easier to move at the end of her stay in ICU, or when
she had to be weaned off the heavy-duty drugs she was on at that time.
Mom
called that night and she had Chizitara with her for the Christmas holidays.
We
had all agreed not to tell her anything about Kechi so she believed that Kechi
and I had to travel to Lagos together for Kechi to take an exam. But people
talked around her and she was beginning to piece things together. Mom decided
it was time to tell her the truth, especially since neither Kechi nor I were in
Lagos when she got there. Mom
said she told her that Kechi had an accident and was badly hurt and so I had to
take her to a big hospital in South Africa. Tara then wanted to speak with
Kechi and Mom told her Kechi was still too weak but she could speak to her
later.
I
spoke to Tara then and she thanked me for the things I bought for her. I
reassured her that her sister was going to be fine. Mom told me not to worry
about Tara. But
something that could only be of God had been happening. It was as if God wiped
Tara out from my mind. If I ever dwelt on her for a single moment, the pain of
leaving her behind would have be too much. So it was as if God was saying to
me, concentrate all your energies on Kechi, I am taking care of Tara. I
did not for one moment worry about Tara...
To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment