CHAPTER FOUR
Present Day
It was dawn, Olajide was fast asleep and had slept for over eight hours, while Tunde and his wife, Mr. and Mrs Adebayo, took turns in keeping awake. Tolani sat next to Olajide all through the night waiting for him to wake, while Tunde stood by the bed side also watching. He had been moving around getting the necessary drugs and injection that the Doctor prescribed for their son, and for him and his wife.
Soon Olajide's hands moved, then he slowly opened his eyes again and beheld Tolani's eyes gazing at him. Tolani beamed with a cute smile, but her face was strange to the young boy staring at her.
"Where am I? where is my wife, and where is my daughter?" he said.
He stuttered startlingly, till his jaw dropped. Simultaneously, Tolani's jaw also dropped, in astonishment. Her eyes as well as the eyes of the boy were filled with thousands of questions as they stared at each other.
"Doctor!" Tunde thundered.
Tunde ran to call the doctor immediately. Tolani was greatly confused and worried. She could not understand why her son was acting strange, however, she felt that the accident had affected him badly. Obviously, that was the case, but not the way she thought.
"Olajide, mommy is with you. Please don't be scared," Tolani said.
Tolani looked intently into his face, trying to figure out what was happening, and to help him remember; her but he was unyielding.
"My name is not Olajide, my name is Jideofor," the boy said in confusion.
There was silence in the room, as Tolani and the 'boy' stared at each other in confusion.
"Who are you…? What happened to me…? Why am I like this…, what made me to become little…, what made me to be like this?" he asked curiously.
Tolani saw the terror in his face and became very upset. She left him, him, stood up from the bed and shifted backwards a little and observed him. Just then the Doctor and Tunde came in, with two nurses following them behind.
"Doctor, he is acting strange. He called a different name, asked who I am, why he has become little," Tolani said, still staring at him. "He sounds like he is someone else, Doctor, what is wrong with my son?"
Tolani's eyes tossed between the doctor and the boy, and the Doctor came closer to the 'boy.' The boy managed to sit up.
"Doctor what is wrong with me? He asked. I know that I was shot, but why have I become little?" The 'boy' asked.
He looked utterly confused and threw a puzzle gaze at the Doctor, the doctor also was thrown off by his question but, as a professional, he comported himself. He then came closer to the 'boy' and observed him.
"You were not shot Jide, you and your parents had an accident, but you all are fine now," the doctor said.
The doctor was smiling, but it was a fake smile, he was confused. Then he took Tolani and Tunde to a side of the room, for a quiet talk.
"Your son is suffering from a traumatic Amnesia," the doctor said speculatively. "He would not be able to remember some things now, if that be the case, I have seen cases like this countless times. But this one appears quite strange." The doctor paused as if he was brainstorming. "He will be fine; I have checked him time and again. Every other thing seems to be alright with him, said the doctor."
"Are you sure doctor?" Tolani interjected. She could not hide her fears as she heard to what the doctor said. She could not supress a shudder.
"Yes, he will," the doctor assured her. "All he needs now is love and affection. He should be showed loving and assuring pictures, and have good music played to him. He should be surrounded with everything that will help him regain his memory. I assure you, he will gradually get his memory back," the doctor said to Tunde and Tolani.
The 'boy' sobbed. He lay still on the bed as he watched them, and then he realised that he was in a body that was not his own. Perhaps, their child's body. He became totally confused as to how he found himself in the body of a small boy. It was a puzzle to him, a big mystery. All he could remember was that he was shot; and then he opened his eyes to this new reality. He concluded within himself that he needed to corporate for the couple and even the doctor, meanwhile, till he finds a way forward. He then threw a glance at Tolani and pretended to have just remembered her; that being the only way for them to be comfortable with him.
"Mom!" He exclaimed, interrupting the doctor's conversation with her and her husband. Tolani was startled. She became excited at hearing him call her, and she ran to him and hugged him. The doctor was also surprised but he tried to be professional.
"My son, I am here for you? I will make sure that no harm comes to you again," she said, weeping. She was excited that he was able to recognize her again. The doctor then continued with Tunde and assured him that the boy will be fine.
"Can we go home now?" Tunde asked the doctor.
"Not yet…, not yet;" the doctor replied. "We will monitor him for at least one day, to ensure that he is alright. We also need to make sure that you are able to take care of him at home before we can let you go home with him," the doctor said.
"I can't stay here; I will feel better at home please, sir;" the 'boy' pleaded and Tolani couldn't help but to be a mom.
Jideofor did not like the idea of staying in the hospital. He wanted to leave that environment as soon as possible, to figure out what had become of him.
"Doctor, I'll look after him at home. I'll make sure that he takes his drugs, and I will not hesitate to call if I notice anything unusual," Tolani persuaded and the doctor. The doctor was left with no choice, and he agreed.
"Okay, if you insist, but please make sure that he doesn't miss his medication," the Doctor said. He then wrote something down on his folder.
Jideofor thought about his wife and his daughter. He imagined the kind of pain that his wife will be going through, but he could not do anything now. Tears tricked down his cheeks, but he tried not to cry, but it did not escape the sharp eyes of Tolani.
"What is wrong?" She asked curiously.
"Not… Nothing mom, I just don't like this place," he managed to stutter.
Jideofor did not want to do anything here that would expose him. Tunde then approached him and hugged him.
"We are going home now, son; you'll be fine.
***
Jideofor's House
Laura laid miserably on the couch in the living room, not being herself since the news of her husband's death. She had been weeping helplessly while some family friends came to console her.
Adel came to meet her. She had asked her severally about her dad, having not seen him for days. She had missing him so much, but Laura was too heartbroken to say anything to her.
"Mom where is daddy?" She asked again. The girl was obviously worried about her dad's disappearance and her mother's continuous weeping. In the past few days, she had been seeing many familiar as well as strange faces coming to their house to console her mother. Some wrote on a book by her father's picture on a table in front of her house, and that kept her wondering. She was quite observant, but she did not understand what was going on, being a just child.
"Your dad has travelled to a very beautiful place," Laura said to the small girl. "The place is very beautiful, and…" Laura was interrupted by a visitor.
One of Jideofor's friends came in with his wife and could hear the discussion between mother and daughter as the man tarried in front of the house, writing on the condolence register.
"Your mom is right, your dad has gone to the most beautiful place…," he said to the little girl.
"Why didn't he take mom and I with him?" Adel asked, and her eyebrow drew together.
"God forbids!" The man replied spontaneously, and then he called himself to order and said, "Sorry my dear, the place is far, and you dad can't take you and mom with him now. But one day we all will see him again," he said to her.
Adel was not satisfied with that answer. She was a toddler, but very intelligent. The explanation could not persuade her to see why her loving father could abandon her and his wife that he loved so much. Even at her tender age, Adel could feel the love between her parents.
"Why then is mommy crying," the girl asked, "does she not like where daddy went to?" She asked. The man was speechless. He looked at Laura in defeat and shrugged. His wife was sitting beside Laura. She noticed that her husband did not have an answer for the little girl, and she tried to help him out.
"Adel dear," the lady said, "Your mom is crying because she is missing your dad. But she will be fine okay…," the lady said and robbed Laura's back, trying to make her stop crying.
Adel walked up to her mother and used the tip of her gown to wipe her eyes.
"Mommy, stop crying, please; uncle said that we'll all go and see daddy soon," she said, innocently.
Laura hugged her tightly and threw her eyes at the man; and he just shrugged speechlessly.