DEATH CAN WAIT.
EPISODE 10.
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(AT THE HOSPITAL)
After being abandoned and angrily walked out on at the hospital, Shola tried to run after her mother. However, she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen and collapsed onto the floor. She clutched her stomach in an attempt to suppress the pain, and her eyes became blurry as she heard her mom's angry footsteps fading down the stairs.
In a desperate attempt to stop her mother from leaving, Shola cried out. "Mom, please don't abandon me," and tried crawling after her. At that moment, Doctor Collins arrived in the ward and knelt beside her, gently guiding her back to the hospital bed.
"You can't be moving around like this in your condition, Shola," Doctor Collins said. "You need to calm down; your body is not able to handle this right now."
"I just can't stay here doing nothing—" Shola cried, trying to free herself from Doctor Collins' grip. "I need to talk to my mother, She needs to forgive me."
"You have just undergone a serious procedure, Shola," Doctor Collins said firmly and held her down. "The toxicity we found in your system, combined with the blood loss, will only make things worse. You need to stay calm, and we will discharge you when you have regained enough strength."
"My mom just disowned me," Shola sobbed and gripped the hospital bed sheet tightly. "She no longer wants me as a daughter. I have brought shame to my family."
"I understand that you feel overwhelmed," Doctor Collins said, trying to comfort her. "But you need to realize that your mom is in shock and hurt right now. She didn't mean her words; they were said in the heat of the moment, and I'm sure she will come around soon."
"You don't know my family; that's why you can say that," Shola replied. "I just hope they don't turn their backs on me. My mom meant what she said. She already warned us about actions like this in case they happened."
"Your health comes first right now, Shola," Doctor Collins replied, readjusting the IV drip on Shola's hand. "You are not in a position to see anyone right now, let alone get involved in family drama. When you are stronger, I promise to address this issue with your mother. But for now, you need to focus on recovering."
Shola paused her tears momentarily at the doctor's words. "You promised to talk to my mother for me?" she asked, wanting to be sure she understood correctly.
"I promise," Doctor Collins said with a reassuring nod. "We'll take this one step at a time. But for now, you need to focus on recovery."
"Thank you, doctor," Shola said and exhaled deeply as she relaxed on her bed. Doctor Collins also assisted in lifting her legs to make sure she was lying down properly.
A nurse had walked in during Doctor Collins' conversation with Shola. So the doctor turned to the nurse and said, "Help me recheck Shola quickly and make sure her pain relief medication is also administered on schedule."
"Alright, Doctor," the nurse replied and immediately got to work. Shortly after she finished her routine check-up on Shola, the nurse exited the ward alongside Doctor Collins, leaving Shola alone to rest properly.
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(HOSPITAL CORRIDOR)
Just outside Shola's ward by the door, Doctor Collins instructed the nurse to keep a close watch on Shola for at least two days as they walked down the hospital corridor.
"Two days?" the nurse exclaimed in surprise. "I think Shola is already getting better and should be discharged this evening."
"Really? So you're the one who decides how long a patient should stay now?" Doctor Collins replied, almost angrily. "I know what I'm doing."
"I'm so sorry, Doctor Collins," the nurse immediately apologized.
"Bills are piling up, who do you think will pay for them when she has been abandoned?" Doctor Collins continued.
"I'm sorry, Doctor," the nurse apologized once again. "I will keep an eye on Shola until she's discharged," she said and walked away swiftly.
Doctor Collins watched the nurse as she left his presence. He knew the nurse was right; and Shola should be discharged that evening. But he had a different plan in mind. He had managed to convince the nurse that he was delaying Shola's discharge due to unpaid bills. Meanwhile, Doctor Collins had a much darker agenda, one he couldn't share with anyone.
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(SHOLA'S WARD)
Back in Shola's ward, she lay on her back on the hospital bed, staring blankly at the ceiling above her. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks and onto the hospital bed sheets. Lost in thought, she wondered if her mother would ever forgive her. She reflected on the shame and regret her actions had caused, and what her schoolmates might say.
Shola had believed she had everything under control, even vowing to keep the pregnancy no matter what. But things had unraveled before she could execute her plans of running away. The pregnancy she thought she would keep was now gone, and she was left bewildered, unsure how it had happened or what had caused her to lose the pregnancy.
Shola was lost in thought. She didn't notice when 'Doctor Victor and the remaining medical ghost team' entered her ward. The ghosts slipped into the room silently, and it wasn't until Shola turned to look that she saw them standing in the center of her ward.
The 'four medical ghosts' appeared human to Shola, and her deep thinking had blinded her to the fact that they had entered her ward unnoticed.
Doctor Victor's ghost was a man in his late fifties, dressed in a doctor's lab coat. The other three ghosts wore casual dress, likely the same attire they had been wearing when they died.
Shola saw the 'four medical ghosts' standing close to her bed. She assumed they were human medical staff, particularly since Doctor Victor wore a doctor's lab coat and appeared remarkably human.
"Somebody check Shola's vitals immediately," Doctor Victor's ghost ordered, and one of his fellow ghosts quickly obeyed. Just as the compliant ghost reached out to examine Shola's vitals, she suddenly shouted, venting her anger at them.
"How many times are you doctors going to check my vitals today?" Shola shouted at the ghost team. "Doctor Collins and a nurse just left a few moments ago, and here you are doing the same thing again! I've had enough! Leave me alone!"
The ghost who wanted to examine Shola's vitals froze, and she glanced back at the others, realizing that they were as shocked as she was. "Did she just—" the ghost asked the rest of the team, surprised.
"No, don't even think of it," another ghost in the team said. "Shola can't see us. What she's experiencing is enough to drive her to hallucinations. Please, proceed to check her vitals again."
The ghost believes her team's words and tries reaching out for Shola's wrist once more, but Shola yells again at them.
"I told you to leave me alone!" Shola cried. "I don't want any of these check-ups anymore.m, I don't want to be alive anymore."
After Shola's second yelling outburst at her, the ghost took a few steps back to join the rest of the team. "I think Shola can see us now. We should leave immediately," she said.
"Who are you? And why are you here?" Shola asked the ghostly team. "What made you think I couldn't see you?"
The ghosts were even more shocked. "This isn't possible," one of them said. "How can she see us now?"
"I asked who you people are!" Shola yelled again, losing her patience. The younger ghost among them, about Shola's age, could no longer withstand the tension. It was her first time being seen by a human, so she quickly disappeared.
The moment the younger ghost vanished, Shola gasped and froze in shock and disbelief. She had never seen anything disappear like that in her life before, and it dawned on her that the people in her ward were not ordinary.
"What are you people? What kind of joke is this?" Shola exclaimed and began trembling. She frantically reached for the hospital room's call button, but her shaking hands knocked the phone off the bedside table instead.
"Calm down, Shola," Doctor Victor Ghost replied. "We are not here to hurt you; we only want to help."
"Stay away from me, you ghost!" Shola shouted at them, leaning against the hospital wall in fear. "Doctor! Nurse!" she screamed, hoping someone would hear and come to her rescue.
"But how come she is able to see us now?" Doctor Victor Ghost asked, turning to look at the rest of the ghost team.
"I can't say," one ghost replied. "Maybe it's because of the near-death experience she had. You know, the poison nearly took her life."
"Listen, Shola, you have to trust us," Doctor Victor Ghost said, turning his attention back to her. "We have been the ones keeping you alive all this time. You cannot trust Doctor Collins; you need to leave this hospital as soon as you can."
"Shut up!" Shola screamed at the ghost doctor. "You all are not real! Leave me alone!"
"Shola, listen," another ghost pleaded. "I don't know how you are able to see us now, but you should leave as soon as possible. Doctor Collins cannot be trusted; he is not as good as you think he is."
"If anyone should leave, it's all of you, ghostly creatures!" Shola screamed frantically. "Leave me alone and go back to the grave!"
"Okay, we will go," Doctor Victor Ghost said and signaled the rest of his crew. "Shola is freaking out, and it's not good for someone recovering. Let's go for now." he told his team.
"Yes, go!" Shola said, still trembling in fear. The ghost team then disappeared in front of her, which only increased her panic and made her scream even louder.
Suddenly, the ward door burst open, and Emmanuel, the intern doctor, walked in to find Shola screaming.
"What is it, Shola?" Emmanuel asked, gently shaking her to bring her out of her terrified state. "Are you okay? Why are you screaming?"
"I saw ghosts," Shola said, pointing toward the spot where the ghosts had stood before disappearing.
Emmanuel followed her gaze but saw nothing. He stared for a moment longer before concluding that something deeper might be troubling Shola. Maybe there was a possible disorder that he needed to discuss with Doctor Collins immediately.
TO BE CONTINUED….
@Berry Tyra