Olifina: Love And Trouble

28. Ashes

Mum recovered from her shock and looked at me. "I always felt another person was in the building with us," she explained, "why didn't I check? Now he's dead."

I sniffed and cleaned my face as the tears rolled down my cheek.

My attention went back to the rescue team as they sent another splash of water to another side of the building which was still burning.

When they had put off the fire, some men went inside. A few minutes later one called out to the rest that he had found a body. Others rushed to him with a stretcher. Mum stood up and Rodas supported me to stand. Oliver had also turned to look too. I tried my best to see what was happening but my efforts were in vain.

We stood there for a couple of minutes before the men came out with a body covered on a stretcher. My heart dropped when I saw the hand of the person on the stretcher. That same hand used to join me in making breakfast. No! It couldn't be, I told myself.

Mum did not go to identify the body this time. She just stood there sobbing. I did not want to believe that it was him. I did not want to believe that Dad was dead. Not this way, no. I came down to Tepoztlan to save him, not to cause his death. He did not deserve any of this.

I limped closer to Mum and hugged her. She gave in to my embrace and I could feel the weakness in her as we both fell to the ground sobbing. She gathered a fistful of sand in her both hands not minding the coarseness.

Then she screamed out in sorrow as I clung to her, sobbing. Oliver walked in our direction as he looked down at us with pity. He was also in pain but he was trying to mask it. Besides, the person in question wasn't his biological family. But from the little time they spent together, they got a kind of bond. Even a stranger would feel the pain. Any person with human feelings would.

I turned back to Mum and shielded my face in the crook of her neck.

After a couple of minutes of crying, we tried to comport ourselves. The day had started to brighten up little by little and the firefighters had finally put off the fire completely.

The lady who had administered our first aid earlier came back with an officer and asked us to follow her back to the ambulance.

I felt the presence of someone looming over me. Looking up, I saw Oliver standing there with his hand outstretched to me. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up to stand. He supported me as we walked through the woods. It seemed the fire had chased away the animals in the area. The place was rid of their noise. I was grateful for the silence though.

We got to the area where the ambulance was parked and Oliver helped me get into the van. I glanced at him as the van started to drive away down the road. He had been quiet ever since the officer had first met us. He turned in my direction and then looked away expressionless.

I felt messy. My body was sticky with sweat and it itched. I looked down at my hands which were black from dust and soot. I was too weak to even organise my thoughts, more so, express the huge grief I was feeling.

I suddenly felt dizzy and saw myself reeling in my chair. I jolted back to an upright position. Oliver had turned to ask me what the problem was. I just shook my head to tell him that nothing was wrong. I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. There was a pounding in my head which made me raise my hands to hold it in place. The pounding stopped slowly as I began to feel light-headed. I opened my eyes and closed them repeatedly as I tilted from side to side in my chair. My bad leg touched the floor, sending a sharp pain that ran through my bone. In an attempt to get myself together, I slipped out of my chair and landed on the floor. Everything went blank.

***
Opening my eyes, I was first confused as to where I was until I saw the bags of Drip connected to my hand. I tried to sit up in my bed but was driven back by a strong headache. I reached up to my head as the aching continued.

Someone was slouched in the chair at the corner. The chair faced the wall so I couldn't see who the person was or any other part of the person except the top of their face cap.

"Hello?" I called but the person did not hear.
"Hello?" I called again and again until the person jolted awake and turned around.

It was Rodas. He stood up and came to me.

"You're awake."

"I'm in the hospital," I replied.

Rodas had a look of relief on his face as he drew a chair to my bedside. He sat on it and helped me sit up.

"What happened? Where's mum and Oliver?"

"They're at home now."

"Now? Where were they before?"

"They were discharged from the hospital this morning."

I continued to look at him in confusion so he explained further.

"Oliver had a bad arm and your mum had serious bruises, especially on her leg. Except for that, they needed a general checkup. Your mum's glucose level was low so they had to administer a drip for her."

I nodded my head as Rodas spoke. When he finished speaking, he shifted in his seat so he could be closer to me.

"How are you feeling? Should I call the doctor yet?"

I shook my head. "No. Thank God you didn't call him initially."

"Okay. I'll just get you some water. Let me inform your mum and Oliver about your waking."

I nodded and watched as he left to get water. He came back and handed me the cup of water which I drank while he got on the phone with Oliver. He walked to a corner of the room to make the call.

"I've informed Oliver. He would notify your mum," Rodas said when he was done with the call.

"How long have I been here?"

"Less than a day," replied Rodas. "We arrived here this morning and It's already evening."

I looked up at the clock on the wall. The long hand was in-between nine and ten while the short hand was on six.

"Almost seven," Rodas said and I nodded in agreement.

"Is Oliver coming?"

"I don't know, he did not say."

I nodded and looked beside me at the bag of drips hanging from a metallic skeletal pole. "What's this for?"

"The drips?" Rodas asked and I nodded.

"Your glucose level was low. You hadn't eaten throughout yesterday and you fell sick the day before that."

My gaze lowered to the foot of the bed as I remembered what Rodas and I passed through on Wednesday.

"He's gone. It's over," I said as I looked over at Rodas.

He nodded his head. "It is."

Rodas sat on the chair beside me and we became silent for a while. Neither of us spoke but there was a question I longed to ask. I did not know if I was ready for the answer to that question. I wasn't ready for a mental breakdown but either way, I was already having one so I decided to ask, to hell with all my fears.

"Where is my dad?"

Rodas suddenly became uneasy. His demeanour changed in a flash. His expression became foul.