HEARTBREAKER PART II

It was roughly four years after I saw her off to the convent, or rather since we entrusted her to mother superior to guide her through the tough vacation that she had voluntarily chosen. These were difficult years for me as highlighted in heartbreaker I.

Those years may seem short, but for me it was a lifetime. I had met some very lovely ladies who intended to shower me with unabated love, but my cardia was trapped by the love of this young lady who had vowed to keep off men and serve the almighty faithfully for the rest of her life. I spent many of those nights ravishing with dreams where she was the star. Her love could not let me sleep. Almost every night I imagined wonderful things for us, though I was sad at most dawns for the love of my life was far from my reach.

On this particular day I felt sad. I was just about to graduate from medical school with a whole life ahead of me. My mind swayed to December 8^th, the day when she took her first vows, the first indication of her commitment to serve God. I felt guilty for not having made it to her on that day. I really wanted to, but sometimes once in a lifetime opportunity comes ones way. As my grandfather would have said, a wise man grabs such a chance with zeal. As Jenga once rightfully put it, I was having a time of my life in a foreign country with beautiful, wonderful and kind people like Lynnae. I was with her in spirit on the very day.

I missed her a lot. I kept on praying that God would give me the chance to be with her again, even if it was just for a day. I kept on hoping for a miracle that would rekindle my love life.

Not long later the miracle happened. What I was praying for came without any effort from my side.

I was alone in my room contemplating on the most feasible thing to do when my phone vibrated. It was a number I knew by heart, a number belonging to the person I was almost giving up on ever seeing again. It was Mwari, the most beautiful girl in the world. I took a deep breath before answering.

“Hallo.” I said calmly.

“It is me, Mwari. I need to talk to you in person urgently.” She said.

“Anytime my dear. Where are you? Where do I have the pleasure of meeting you?” I asked as my heart skipped a beat.

“I am in town. How soon can you get here?” She queried.

“In the next twenty minutes.” I answered, trying to remain calm and collected.

“Alright. Kindly give me a call when you get to the city centre.” She said as she swiftly hung up.

I could not believe my ears. Her voice was music to my soul, and the way she sounded on phone was just out of this world. I wished the conversation had gone on for a longer time. Then it hit me that I was finally going to set my eyes on my angel again. The thought excited me. I grabbed my towel and hurried to the bathroom for a ‘passport shower’ as we used to call them in high school. A moment later I brushed my teeth before picking up my brown leather jacket. I jetted out of the room loaded with a few notes, enough to cater for a three course meal for two in a five star hotel.

I got to town ten minutes later. I numbly dialed her number as adrenaline shot into action. My heart was beating rather fast, even with the bare ear one could clearly appreciate the non-pathologic gallop rhythm. I had palpitations. A cold stream of sweat ran down my armpit as I envisioned the next few minutes.

She was looking magnificent. Not even the beauty queen I described earlier in the story titled Bob’s half chance came close to what I saw. For a moment I was dumbfounded. I thought my eyes would melt at the stare of the most beautiful creature created.  I looked for a suitable word to describe her. Awesome, gorgeous, delightful, lovely and angelic were the words that came to mind, but I felt they were an understatement.

The lurching movement of her feminine thighs and the sway of her gluteus maximus caught my attention. It was an amazing scene. I ran towards her and stopped a few steps from her. I stared straight at her eyes. They were natural and very attractive. Everything about her was amazing. Her lips, cheeks, nose, hair, ears, eyebrows…. All was perfect.

Then I took a step closer. I gave her a warm tight hug after which I planted my lips on hers for what I thought was a very deep kiss. Almost everyone on the busy Moi Avenue street stopped at the rare occurrence. I ignored all the eyes that were watching and hugged her again and again. I wanted to let the whole world know that my love had finally returned. I wanted the world to witness the best moment of my life. For some reason she did not resist, she eased herself into my arms. I carried her across the street in my arms.

I took her to one of the most serene restaurants in the city. As we got in I remembered Joy. She would always bring me here whenever she needed to talk to me.

We sat at a secluded corner. The place was beautiful. The pink finish blended very well with her smart dress. The paintings that hung on the wall must have been done by a special painter. The dim lights provided a great romantic environment. The serenades completed the picture. We held hands at one moment. They were very soft. Mother superior had done a great job, at least in keeping her physical outlook on point.

She ordered for us. The meal was scrumptious. We talked as we ate; sometimes pausing to steal glances at each other. She took time to tell me how life was like within the confines of the walls of the convent. I asked a lot of questions. After all was said and done I mustered the courage to ask her why she had requested to talk to me.

“Nditiks, I have never forgotten you for the four years I have been away from you. I prayed for you every day. I felt your love for me from miles away. I don’t want you to suffer any more. I want to be beside you for the rest of my life.”

Those were the sweetest words I had ever heard. I cajoled her to whisper the lovely words to my ear. I felt so happy to an extent of feeling the elation flowing in my veins. I did not know what to say. I just looked at her plainly. From nowhere I got the words.

“Mwari, I want to wake up beside you every day. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you. I want you to be the mother of my children.”She smiled timidly.

After we had eaten I took her hand and kissed it softly. Hand in hand we walked away. For once I did something I really hated my immoral classmates for. I admitted her to my room in block B. The night was lovely. I skived discussion (Nelima kindly understood that the issues of the heart were more important than the discussion). It was one of my best nights in campus.

Over the subsequent weeks I kind of quit school. I dedicated a lot of hours to make my queen happy. She quickly adapted to life outside the convent. We made random trips to various places in the country. We visited the beaches in Mombasa, the great canyon and gorge in Hell’s gate, the vast wildlife in Nairobi national park, the beasts in Maasai Mara and of course the flamingoes in lake Nakuru, just to mention a few.

Life was blissful. Never in my life had I felt so complete and happy. I was glad to rise every morning to see her beautiful smile. Life was at its best. I was living my dream.

She loved climbing hills. We conquered Lukenya hills, Ngong and Mt Longonot with ease.

One day I decided to surprise her. I asked her to pack her warmest clothing and to prepare her climbing gear. We drove all the way to the foot of Mt Kenya. It was a very memorable moment for me. Once in a while she would hug me as we climbed up while claiming that she needed some of my warmth. Occasionally we would pause to publicly show affection. We captured the moments on camera, perhaps to show to our children if they asked about our youthful days.  I could not wait to get to the top. It was cold, but at the peak of Kenya’s largest mountain, the Nelion peak, I breathed a sigh of relief. We posed for a few photos. It was an ecstatic moment to be there.

I reached for my small bag and took out a beautiful golden ring. I raised it up for her to see. I then got to my knees, the cold snow eating right into my knee. I was just about to ask her to marry me when something very strange happened: I heard a cock crow!

Shortly afterwards I heard a rusty creak of a door. In my half asleep state I heard someone walk in.

“Wake up sleepyhead.  We don’t want you to be late for your graduation.” A soft voice said.

I recognized the voice: It was my mother. She had just ruined my best dream, just as I was about to get to the climax!

“Mum, I don’t want to wake up. I want to lie on this bed and dream about love.” I answered her.

“Son, what do you know about love?” She quizzed.

Only then did it occur to me that I knew nothing about love. It all felt so real. I wondered whether  I was in love.

THE CLOBBERING IN CASUALTY

Stanley left St Paul’s a happy man. The Sunday family day had been a great success. After all he had eaten the delicious food to his brim. He thought of the task ahead of him: going to casualty for admission. He had an urge not to show up, but then he remembered that Prof Obel would be on his neck the next day during the post admission ward round.

He trotted from his room headed towards the hospital oblivious of what was going to transpire in the next few minutes. He eventually reached the admission room or room six as it is commonly called.

Ann Kimama was delighted to see him.

“So here comes Stanley the narrator. The only man in medical school who is capable of making the crowd wild with his narrative. Man, you stole the show during CU’s elders’ night!” She exclaimed.

The man of the Nomanda fame smiled at himself, glad that he had finally hit the limelight with his artistic or rather theatric skills.

“The second part is coming up during the medical school catholic community elders night on 2^nd September. It is titled Kalistati Wakaimati. Kosa uchekwe!” Stanley answered with a high voice so as to attract the attention of Nancy, the pretty pre-intern from Ukraine.

He scanned the room. There were four girls in the tiny room and one man. There was no doctor or a nurse. Wanini was busy clerking a patient with Kimama at her side. Nancy and Faith were sitted around the doctor’s table discussing Framingham’s criteria for heart failure. There were five patients. He went through each one of them. Only one was a medical case and Wanini was busy taking history. The others were surgical.

One particular patient struck his attention. He was a young man on oxygen and with a drip running through his veins. A relative was sitted at his side.

Stanley joined Nancy and Faith. The discussion was sweet as it was all about stuff I had taught him the previous day. He was quick to discharge the street knowledge. Nancy stared in amazement. She wondered how he was able to retain so much.

Their discussion was interrupted by the relative. He approached Anne and Wanini, who referred them to the other students.

“Madaktari nisaidieni. My patient seems not be breathing.” He said hysterically.

With swag Stanley rose from his seat, his double barreled guessing tube (stethoscope) ready to swing into action. He attempted to look for a carotid pulse which he could not feel. He asked Nancy to confirm what he thought as he propped up the patient’s bed and checked the drip to make sure it was still running. The oxygen was alright.

Nancy concurred: there was no pulse and breathing was caput. The heart was silent with no audible heart sounds.

Stanley rushed to the neighbouring treatment room. He informed the nurse about the condition of the patient. He tagged along, examined the guy. He then disconnected all the apparatus and pronounced the patient dead.

A few minutes later an elderly man with a thinned out scalp arrived. He was in his mid sixties. He was well built. His musculature was evident. He was boiling with anger. It was then that the drama started.

Before the male nurse knew it two outrageous men were on him. They showed no mercy. They clobbered him with their rough fists till he fell to the ground. Next on line was Stanley who received a few blows though he was able to avoid most of them. Unfortunately those he avoided landed squarely on Nancy the pre-intern.

Faith realized that hell had broken loose. She quickly hid under the patient’s bed. Wanini and Kimama watched in awe as their colleagues were being battered, unaware that they were also going to be victims. The two men headed for them.

Wanini tried to explain that she was only a fifth year medical student but her explanation fell on dead ears. She found herself being tossed off the ground. Her fragile feminine body hit the wall a few times as they manhandled her. Anne Kimama was not lucky either. A significant number of blows landed on her pretty face, temporarily disfiguring her well manicured face. At the earliest opportunity she sneaked out and ran all the way to her room in block D traumatized.

The male nurse had barely recovered from the beating when they reinforced their power on him. Stanley was in shock. How could relatives assault medical students because their patient had died? He was still pondering this when he realized they were not yet done. He quickly grabbed Nancy, pulled her behind him and protected her from the blows of the angry men.

After they were satisfied that they had avenged the death of their loved one they went out shouting on the corridors clearly stating that doctors in that hospital were negligent. They claimed that the doctors watch the patients die without doing anything about it.

It was only then that security guards appeared.

Nobody noticed Faith as she jumped from underneath the bed and made for the exit.

Wanini attempted to finish her physical examination, but the patient refused. She clearly stated that she did not want to be admitted in a hospital where such events happen.

You should have seen Stanley as he came for Bible study later that evening. He had the look of an old man. Everyone in there could tell there was something amiss. His life was in turmoil. When the sweet Lydia asked him what was wrong he shrugged his shoulders and answered. “I have spent five hours in casualty without admitting any patient. Obel will be on my neck tomorrow morning!”