Sister Deborah

EPISODE 9: IMPROMPTU DEPARTURE.

#SISTER_DEBORAH

Author: Samuel Frederick

EPISODE 9: IMPROMPTU DEPARTURE.

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My heart froze the moment Divine’s words struck my ears.

“She’s not breathing?” I repeated, beyond scared. Fear had completely enveloped me.

“I need water, half a bucket of warm water and a piece of cloth, quickly!” Divine instructed, still trying to revive Deborah by rubbing and pressing her chest rapidly.

Without delay, I rushed to our storeroom and returned with a bucket of water that’d been mixed with a little quantity of the hot water I’d boiled earlier to make tea for Deborah, coupled with a clean rag. I handed them to Divine and stood there, watching as she folded the rag into the water and used it to dab Deborah’s face and body carefully.

I placed my hands on my head, feeling beads of tears running down my face. Timi put his hand on my shoulder with a reassuring look in place. “She will be fine, calm down.”

“Timi I am finished! I am dead! What do I tell my parents? How do I explain myself? Where do I start from?” I rambled, weeping even more bitterly.

“I said she’ll be fine, relax!” He said again, reassuringly.

“I have killed someone’s daughter. I don die Timi!” I went on, despite Timi’s comforting words.

Just then, a loud cough escaped Deborah’s mouth and her legs moved. Instantly, silence engulfed the entire room. I moved closer to the bed, watching and observing her body movement, and I couldn’t express the joy I felt when her legs moved again, slightly, followed by the opening of her eyes.

“Debby!” Divine exclaimed, patting her gently by the arm. “Are you okay?”

Deborah nodded in response. She tried to say something but seemed to be too weak to do so, so she pointed at our fridge instead.

“Water. She needs water.” Divine interpreted to me. I scurried to the fridge and rushed back with a sachet of water, which I handed to Divine. She tore it open and gave Deborah. After sipping a little, Deborah’s breathing stabilized and I felt some relief, at last.

“She needs to rest as much as she can. I’ll need you guys to excuse us for a moment, if you don’t mind.” Divine said.

“Including me?” I asked.

“Including you, Neche.”

Without hesitation, me and my friends walked out of the room and sat at the balcony. The heavy downpour had now become a light, drizzling shower that coated the air with cold.

“Chinecherem!” Hakeem called my name.

“Yes, Hakeem?”

“I have three questions for you.” He said. “Just three.”

“Go ahead.”

“One, are you mad? Two, are you crazy? And three, are you normal at all?”

I was taken aback by his rhetorical questions. “Am I supposed to answer that?”

“Yes, because if she had died in your hands today, what would you have told her parents?” He opposed, starting to get on my nerves.

“Hakeem, please respect yourself. I am not in that mood now.” I simply said, trying to keep calm.

“Of all the girls in this campus, you chose to mingle with an epileptic one? Chineche wake up! Use your head!” Hakeem fired on, snapping his fingers near my ears for emphasis. I was about to raise my voice back at him when the door opened and Divine stormed out.