As Bosco Masaba continued scrolling through his social media feed on the smartphone. He saw a message from his supervisor Doctor Opus Richard, it was delivered a few minutes ago. He quickly tapped on it to view the message in its entirety.
"Bosco, report to the hospital ASAP!!! We are short-staffed." The message was brief and authoritative, without any further explanation.
This message messed up all his earlier plans for the day. He was planning to attend a late afternoon lecture on Microbiology I-Bacteriology before linking up with his girlfriend for a date in the evening at a posh Ethiopian restaurant. Bosco had saved up some good money on his digital wallet for this occasion and even made a reservation for a table next to the window overlooking the city's skyline. Dodoma city's skyline at night glittered like a diamond reflecting light from a headlamp. It was a mesmerizing sight, one which was best enjoyed with a lover.
He did not want to miss out on the Microbiology I-Bacteriology lecture, he had a retake from his first year. It was to his disadvantage to be marked absent in this lecture which occurred once a week. Moreso the Professor who taught this unit was strict on attendance. The Professor awarded fifteen percent of the total examination mark to those who promptly attended his lectures, while course works and tests were out of thirty-five percent. Final exams in this paper contributed to only fifty percent.
'I need to know what has happened at the hospital for him to call me in this urgently. I hope there has not been an accident or something tragic. But what will I also do about this date?' It had not been easy for him to schedule a date with her, like him she was ever busy, and if it was not for interaction over social media. Their relationship would have broken apart several months back.
To get to the root cause of everything, he decided to call someone at the hospital to tell him what had happened. He looked up the contact of Nurse Martha Kate, she was on duty this week. He dialed the number and waited for it to connect.
"Hello Bosco," he heard her sweet and lively voice. Martha Kate was a young nurse with a sweet personality and it was made even better by her sweet and calming voice, even in the most stressful times when she spoke; she had a way of putting patients and colleagues at ease.
Unfortunately, her sweet voice was not equal to her outer beauty. The first time Bosco heard her voice on the phone before he met her physically, he drew up vivid and detailed pictures of what she looked like in the flesh. He thought she was super sexy, but he was disappointed to find out that she was of plain beauty. It reminded him of the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Now he knew enough to not apportion looks to someone just by how they sounded on the phone or portrayed themselves online.
He answered back, "Hello Kate. I have been called in by Doctor Opus, is there an emergency at the hospital?" He knew she was busy and went straight to the reason for calling.
"Yes, there was an explosion at some oxygen plant in the Industrial Area. The place is teeming with patients in …" she paused mid-sentence overcome by the gravity of what had happened. "Bosco… its' bad… I mean really bad. I have never seen people burnt to this extent…" she sighed with grief. "You just hurry up; we need every hand and brain in the Causality ward." She added.
"Bosco. You owe me one, to repay the debt, bring me a big vanilla ice cream on your way here. No excuses this time." Her talk of ice cream reminded him that he had not eaten lunch. Yes, he had finished cooking the meal of ugali but the sauce had not been prepared. He may have started on it when his mood stabilized, however, he now had to rush to the hospital.
"Alright, I promise I will not forget this time. When you see me, know your big vanilla ice cream has dropped in. Is that all you want?" He asked her, he knew she must have also not eaten lunch so only ice cream was not enough to quench her hunger.
"Since you have asked, also bring a medium-sized hamburger or some French fries." Nurse Martha spoke in her sweet voice which he could not resist.
"Noted, let me get going. See you." He told her as he ended the call.
After ending the call, he replied to Doctor Opus Richard that he was on his way to the hospital. Now he was left with breaking the bad news to his girlfriend that he might be late for their date. He knew she was not going to like it, she must have bought new clothes and shoes for this date, set aside all other activities, and now here he was bringing it all to naught.
Now the question was, to call or text her with the bad news.
Personally, he could love to text as it was brief and precise while calling her could eat up his time as she voiced her emotional outbursts at being turned down. Bosco Masaba and Agnes Nzanzu had spent so far seven months in a romantic relationship, and in this period, he had come to learn that she was very vocal and emotional when things did not go her way. In this situation, he knew she could love to hear him begging for forgiveness and understanding.
In the end, he chose to text her. "Baby, I am sorry I have to call off our date for tonight," he stopped midway and deleted the last word. He rephrased it, "Baby, I am sorry I have to postpone our date for tonight. Been called to the hospital due to an emergency, and may not leave on time. We shall agree on the day when we talk. Love you, mwah!" He sent the text accompanied by an emoji of a flying kiss and rushed to leave his hostel room.
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