Saturday, 19 April 2014

ECHOES - Part 6 (Final Episode)


Emeka's journey back home has a dazzling convoy of flashy cars to its credit and to the young man who has missed home for more than three years following a mortal combat with death; a journey of about two hours seems to be taking a lifetime. Thoughts about his mother's total blackout on him throughout his stay in hospital  continues to build up mountains of fear in him  and his persistent dispelling of those  avalanche of fears advances with the journey.

Now, live in his mother's compound, the impatient Chukwuemeka would not wait for the car to roll to a final stop at the parking lot. He storms out. Mrs Fred-Donalds follows him immediately. Everything in him has braced up for all possibilities now.  A split-second scan of the compound convinces him that prolonged neglect has stripped the premises of huge chunk of beauty. But that is of no priority to him right now. He storms into the sitting room, the whole building loud with silence.  He bursts out from the door leading to the living room, eyes darting on all corners,   straight, he heads to his mother's bedroom. Then, behold the shock!

News of her only child’s involvement in a terrorist attack on a church had struck Emeka's Mum like bomb that fateful Sunday morning. She stormed out of the house on receiving the news, overpowering attempts by the news bearer to hold her down. Trotting along the busy road to no particular destination, she was heard screaming in sheer anguish.

It was in the process that she slumped and plunged into what a revered medical Doctor described as a strange form of Coma which starves the brain of adequate blood and oxygen which could leave the patient unresponsive to stimuli for years without degenerating to a vegetative state.

To all appearances, Emeka's mother could be judged dead. The only thing that has kept her on the surface of the earth is the guilt of burying someone who has not pronounced medically dead and that slim expression of hope from the Doctor.

Chief Fred-Donalds got wind of the health condition of Emeka's Mum upon accepting Agbomma's unswerving request to shoulder Emeka’s medical bills and well-being three years ago. Quickly he employed the expertise of Doctor Ken. While taking care of the son in hospital, the Fred-Donalds were also taking extensive care of the ailing Mum back home.

Doctor Ken had issued stern instructions to the young nurse employed to be taking care of Emeka's Mum, to be very watchful for what he described as Cerebral Neurozogic Showdown, in which a patient could suddenly show signs of forceful comeback from Coma and the sequence of medical intervention within the period of Showdown was well noted.

There in the room, surrounded by a few visitors who could stand the heart-stopping scene at the Moment, the very sorrowful Chukwuemeka continues pouring his mind at his mother's feet and sultry streams of tears paid visit on the faces of all present.

The sudden emergence of Ken the Doctor in that room was most timely. Right in his presence, the long awaited Cerebral Neurozogic Showdown kicked off. Emeka's Mum could be seen stretching out the hands that have laid unresponsive  to stimuli for years towards Emeka in a manner that appeared she was  all out to console a son baked by sorrow.

Emeka quickly latched himself on those hands and instantly Doctor Ken's expertise took charge. Sequence of meticulous medical intervention overruled all emotions. In less than an hour, the great woman of valour was beginning to show steady signs of life once again. Everyone was trapped in amazement.  Ken's dedication to ensuring full recovery was superb and in about three hours, mother and son were united once again after epic comeback against all odds. The joy of the very ecstatic Chukwuemeka knew no bounds. There, he had made solemn promise his Mum and the Fred-Donalds family, to spend the rest of his life making them proud and in three years’ time, Emeka's Mum, in the company of the Fred-Donalds family, Cajethan and Peter, will be storming Europe for the remarkable graduation of a young African with such a wonderful result unprecedented since the university inception.  Two years  after that, the world would be witnessing the conjugal vows of world-renowned personalities,  Destiny Chukwuemeka Echezona and Clarion Agbomma Fred-Donalds who would devote their lifetime to  providing help to the afflicted, the forgotten and the downtrodden all over the world.

 

The end.

 
©Ray Eke

 
 
Disclaimer: All characters and terms appearing in this work are fictitious . Any resemblance to real persons or situations, living or dead, is purely coincidental.  

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