DEATH CAN WAIT.
EPISODE 4.
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(BRIGHT FUTURE ACADEMY)
Shola's classmates rushed to her side immediately after she collapsed on the classroom floor. The collapse was caused by a drüg ōvēr-dose and the inhaling of harmful substances that Nkechi and her friends had intentionally planted on her desk. Chaos ensued among them as everyone began running around frantically.
Israel, who had been noticing Shola's strange behavior lately, rushed to kneel beside her, calling her name and gently shaking her lifeless body.
As this was happening, the school medical staff arrived and began assessing the situation. They informed the school authorities of what had happened, and shortly after, the school ambulance arrived and rushed Shola to a nearby hospital in Lagos.
Upon arriving at the hospital, they met Doctor Collins and Emmanuel, a medical intern under Doctor Collins' supervision. Both of them quickly rushed to Shola's ward to assess her condition.
"Let's get to work immediately," Doctor Collins instructed Emmanuel. "We need to determine the cause of her collapse."
They began examining Shola, and Doctor Collins used his stethoscope to check her heart. After a brief moment, he turned to Emmanuel and said, "The patient is dead. Kindly get the paper works ready and notify the family once they arrive."
"Yes, sir," Emmanuel replied sadly, nodding his head.
"Also cover her body with a cloth," Doctor Collins instructed further. "Be sure to record the date and time of her death too."
"Okay, sir," Emmanuel responded, while reaching out for a cloth. Just as he was about to cover Shola, he was startled when he noticed her finger twitching, and he froze in place.
"Doc… Doctor Collins!" Emmanuel exclaimed while stammering. "The… the patient just moved her hand now!"
Doctor Collins, who was already on the verge of leaving the room, turned back around. "That's impossible, Emmanuel. We both checked the monitor, and she was flatlining."
But as Doctor Collins was still speaking, his eyes also caught sight of Shola's finger moving. He was shocked and rushed forward to re-examine her. "This is unbelievable," he muttered. "The patient's heartbeat has returned."
"How is this possible?" Emmanuel's eyes widened in shock.
"I have never seen anything like this in my professional career," Doctor Collins replied. "I need you to run some tests on the patient to determine why she collapsed," he instructed Emmanuel before walking out of the room in disbelief.
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(DOCTOR COLLINS' POV)
Doctor Collins returned to his office, still reflecting on Shola's miraculous recovery.
"How is this possible?" he wondered, pacing back and forth in his office. "I confirmed that she was dead myself, yet she regained her heartbeat and started breathing normally again.
"Could she be the one? Could she be the breakthrough I need to save my....?"
As Doctor Collins continued to ponder, he sat down in his chair and began to consider Shola as the perfect candidate he had been hoping for over the past few months.
He opened his desk drawer and brought out a syringe containing a serum. Doctor Collins stared at the liquid for a moment, contemplating the implications of the serum, when a knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.
Immediately, he closed his desk drawer and put the serum away. He adjusted his laptop on the table, smoothed out his lab coat before replying to the knock. "Who is at the door?" Doc. Collins called out.
The door opened, and a nurse poked her head inside. "Doctor Collins, Shola's mother is at the reception and would like to speak with you."
"Oh, please tell her to come in," Doctor Collins replied, and the nurse left to inform Shola's mother.
Mrs Anderson (Shola's mom) rushed into the doctor's office; she was clearly distressed after the call she received at her workplace concerning her daughter's collapse.
"Doctor, what's happening? What's wrong with my daughter?" Mrs Anderson asked, taking her seat across from the doctor.
"Please calm down, madam," Doctor Collins assured her. "The situation is under control. Even though it was terrifying at first, we thank God your daughter is now stable."
"But what could have happened to my daughter?" Mrs Anderson asked, looking concerned.
"Ah, I can't explain the medical details now, but we will discuss that later," Doctor Collins said. "Your daughter, Shola, is still being examined by Emmanuel as we speak; he will provide a detailed report shortly to help us determine what went wrong with Shola."
Just as they were still discussing, Emmanuel entered the doctor's office.
"Doctor Collins, I have examined Shola," Emmanuel said. "She's stable and will wake up any moment from now."
"That's great," Doctor Collins replied and nodded his head.
"I also found traces of Xenon-3, a highly toxic substance, in Shola's system," Emmanuel continued his report. "Though I have treated the toxicity, and she will recover very soon."
"Where could she have inhaled such a substance?" Shola's mother asked in concern.
"We can't really say," Emmanuel replied to Shola's mom. "But that's not all. I also discovered an ōvēr-dōse of drugs in your daughter system. She will need to be careful and follow the doctor's prescriptions regarding medication use."
But as it turned out, Emmanuel, who was still a mentee at the hospital, had missed one crucial piece of information, which was that Shola was pregnant. This detail could have altered the course of the entire event, capable of throwing Shola's mom into deep distress.
Mrs Anderson (Shola's mom) exhaled deeply. "Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for keeping my daughter alive," she showed gratitude shortly after Emmanuel completed his report.
"Can I see my daughter now?" Mrs Anderson asked.
"Please, calm down, ma'am," Doctor Collins replied. "Your daughter needs rest for now. However, you can prepare something nutritious for her at home. She's lost a lot of energy and needs to eat something when she wakes up. Hopefully, we will discharge her by evening."
"Okay, Doctor. Thank you for your care," Mrs Anderson said and hurried out of the office.
As soon as Shola's mom and Emmanuel exited the office, Doctor Collins stood up and began pacing his office again.
He moved closer to his drawer, took out the syringe containing the serum from earlier. He carefully placed it in his lab coat pocket, and headed out of his office.
Dr. Collins arrived at Shola's ward, intending to administer the serum to her. When he entered the ward, he found Shola sleeping deeply. So, he waited for the perfect moment to proceed with his plan.
As Doctor Collins approached Shola's bedside to inject her, Emmanuel walked into the ward at that moment.
Carefully and quickly, Dr. Collins hid the serum back in his pocket before turning to face Emmanuel.
"I have been looking for you everywhere in the hospital, Dr. Collins," Emmanuel said. "They brought in a new patient, and I thought you'd want to examine him."
"Oh, go and attend to them," Dr. Collins instructed. "I will join you shortly."
"Alright, doctor," Emmanuel said and shut the door behind him.
As soon as Emmanuel left the ward, Doctor Collins turned back to Shola again with the intention of injecting the serum into her. However, he was shocked to see Shola eyes wide open this time, fully awake, and staring at him.
Shola stares closely at Doctor Collins, who had quickly dropped the syringe back into his pocket. Although Shola had seen it, she didn't understand its significance; she might have thought it was one of the medications used to revive her back to life.
Shola Felt disappointed to be back on earth as she stared blankly at the hospital ceiling. She had expected to be gone, to be in heaven by now and free from her troubles and the mockery she anticipated.
"Welcome back, Shola," Doctor Collins said softly as he checked her vital signs.
Shola turned to look at the doctor, wondering how they had managed to revive her despite all the pi!ls she had taken. She was baffled by her survival, especially since she had wanted death so badly.
"You are going to be okay, Shola," Doctor Collins reassured her, though he felt heartbroken that he hadn't had the chance to try the serum on her. "You will be discharged this evening," the Dr. added.
Shola remained silent, feeling trapped in a world she no longer wanted to be part of. She watched as Doc. Collins checked her eyelids and monitored her pupils further.
"Your vitals are stabilizing, and you are recovering well. You need to rest, okay?" Doctor Collins said before walking out of the ward.
TO BE CONTINUED…..
CLIFFHANGER: First, it was Shola against her own body; then Nkechi and her friends plotted to elimi–nate her too.
Now, Doctor Collins in the picture again? Well, let's just say Doctor Collins' intention is for the good; doctors are meant to save lives.
@Berry Tyra