Mother’s Love – Episode 14

MOTHER’S LOVE – Episode 14
A story by Jochrine Kunda

 

I was seated by the pool admiring it’s beauty as I thought of the incident that happened, it was a month but I still felt like it had just happened and I had a lot of questions concerning the disease the doctor said I had. We once went to visit the doctor and he said that I needed a heart transplant because my condition wasn’t stable but I was against it coz I had never thoughts getting the best out of me. I asked myself if I was going to die like mom did, if Monica also had the disease since it ran in the family and what would remain of Monica and dad at the hands of that wicked woman.
“I’m going to die”
It came out as a whisper and a tear escaped my eyes but I had to make sure that Florence was no longer a part of our lives and the thought itself was a bitter pill to swallow.
I never had the dream again which I was grateful for and the bond dad, Monica and I had reminded me of how it used to be in the days Florence wasn’t part of our lives. Austin who was of great help approached me and I snapped out of it
Austin: you look old when you’re in that state and would scare a kid away
I laughed
Me: are you serious?
Austin: yes and it’s not helping you in any way
Me: I’m only thinking if what will be left of dad and Monica when I’m gone
Austin: what did the doctor say when you went to the hospital?
Me: he said I need a heart transplant very soon because I can’t rely on the drugs he gives me
Austin: what have you decided?
Me: at first I thought of how only a few survive a heart transplant so I thought I wasn’t going to survive and decided to live with my disease but dad talked to me about it and I accepted the surgery so I’ve been put on a waiting list and I’m trying to keep away from stress thanks to you
Austin: we just have to thank God here
Me: yeah for sending that……..
I was interrupted by a voice from behind me
Dad: how’s my baby doing?
Me: I’m great daddy
He took a seat and joined our conversation until Monica came and said that she wanted to eat at some restaurant so dad chose his favourite and told us to get changed, I wore ripped jeans, a yellow knitted jersey and black ankle boots, I applied light make up and took my clutch bag.
We got to the restaurant and sat in the patio, we ordered and talked about random stuff. It brought me so much joy to be around the people I loved, the waitress who couldn’t stop starring at dad finally brought in our order and she smiled widely while cat walking while I gave her a disgusted look which I also didn’t notice. She stood next to dad while serving us and her eyes landed on me who still maintained the same look, I had just gotten rid of one problem and wasn’t ready for the next just yet
“Get back to what you were doing, I’ll take it from here”
I told her and she looked at me not so pleased and looked at dad who paid no attention to her
“I’m only doing my job”
She replied looking annoyed
“Do you have a hearing problem? I said I’ll serve my family, is that so difficult?”
I told her raising my voice a little and didn’t notice that I’d got people’s attention, the girl looked at dad probably hoping that he’d say something different which was in support of her but he just kept quiet looking at me and I stood up then served everyone. We ate while holding a light conversation and I watched the sun set which brought me memories of life back when we were a complete family, everything I’d been through and what Austin and I shared if a heart was not found and I died.
I had to wait for a donor heart abs our blood group had to match, I was found to be blood group A and my donor either had to be blood group A or O and I looked at the slim chances of one being available since there were thousands of people on the waiting list. I felt a hand on my shoulder and it was dad, I didn’t even realize that I was crying then I quickly wiped my tears off
Dad: baby, what’s wrong?
Me: what if there’s no heart available for me and what happened to mom also happens to me?
It came out as a whisper and dad held both of my hands
Dad: they will, let’s just be positive about the whole issue, okay?
I slowly nodded with a lot of doubt in my mind
Austin: besides you’re stressing yourself and it may rise your blood pressure
I always knew that I was a healthy child only to find out that I had a deadly disease at the age of 18 and I knew that everyone was being good to me because they knew that I only had a minimum time remaining, they all had pity for me which made me break down
Me: take me home
All I needed was my bed to cry my tears out because I’d gotten used to sleeping with a wet pillow and tried to be strong in front of everyone, I ran to the car and everyone was behind me….

******************
I wore a white work out outfit and black Nike hoodie then tied my hair in a ponytail, I took my phone and headphones then went out and found Austin in the kitchen grey sweatpants and a black T-shirt and I couldn’t help but admire him until dad who hadn’t gone to work walked in
Dad: you two look good
Me: thanks for the compliment daddy dearest and you’re all dressed up, going somewhere?
Dad: remember what we talked about?
Me: ohh no, not that
Dad was going to get Florence back since she had been away for 3 months, he said it showed no respect to her and her family for them to live separately besides she said she was only giving me time to heal and I guess it was working because I had started being optimistic about the surgery. I wasn’t in so much objection regarding his idea of bringing her back to the house not because I’d undergone counselling and dad always talked to me about my actions but because I knew I was taking a risk at life and had to make sure she was completely gone, I strongly believed in the saying “keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer ” so she had to be closer
Dad: how did your last session go?
He interrupted me from my thoughts
Me: great
He was driving me to the cardiac rehabilitation centre since I was told to join a cardiac rehabilitation, a program of exercise and education which was designed to improve health before and after the heart transplant. Austin supported me by always going with me and he’d drag me if I didn’t want to go, he dropped us and went to fetch his wife. He had offered to come and fetch us but I declined his offer saying we’d walk home when we were done and he drove off. Austin and I had made friends there who we mingled with until the session began and they were great company maybe because we all would undergo the same thing, the session was and we walked home afterwards talking about silly stuff with Austin until we arrived. I opened the door and was welcomed by a loud laughter from Florence who was in the kitchen speaking on the phone and we looked at her
Me: she has lost weight because she wasn’t feeding properly
I whispered to Austin
Austin: Lucy
He smacked my mouth and tried holding his laughter but failed dismally as he was in stitches and he ran away, she turned and saw me then a smile immediately crept on her face
Me: hey Florence, so good to see you
I smiled and I could see that I got her confused
Florence: hey Lucy, I missed you
She opened her arms as she approached me and I froze, she hugged me and there was something strange about her, the hug was warm, I wanted to stay in that state forever because what I felt was something I only felt when I was in mom’s arms. We stayed like that for a long time and she brushed my back, we were both in tears by the time I pulled out and I quickly ran to my bedroom where I locked the door and sank on the floor
“Is that mom?”
I asked myself
“No, no, no Lucy you can’t love that woman, you shouldn’t love that woman, you mustn’t, she’s not real, get back to your right senses”
Something inside of me told me and I shook my head countless times and I started having a headache……

To be continued…