The Risk Game

Chapter 24

Three days after the horrible accident, Chimwemwe was still not waking up. The doctors had brought in a neurosurgeon to examine his brain and see what the problem might have been. They spent a full day rerunning tests they'd already taken, moving him to and fro as they did CT scans, MRIs, this and that.

Apart from leaving to take a bath and get a change of clothes, or making room for the others to see him, I hadn't left his side.

I'd talked his ear off for over seventy-two hours, crying as I begged him to come back to me, making stupid jokes, asking him questions he couldn't answer, telling him embarrassing things about myself I was grateful he'd actually never know. Talking was much better than sitting there and just staring as the oxygen mask on his face steamed up from his steady breathing. It gave me a distraction from the dire reality of the state of his well being and it made him feel more alive to me. Call me delusional, but a part of me wanted to believe he was listening, and that every word I said to him was strengthening him so he could eventually wake up.

After about an hour of running more tests on him, the neurosurgeon and a team of other residents wheeled Chimwemwe's bed back into his room and closed the door gently to talk to us in the waiting room.

Hasani's too-smart little sister lifted her head from her mom's chest and said, "Doctor? Where's 'Mwemwe?"

Good question, Furaha.

Her cute little face put some smiles on the other people's faces, but unfortunately not mine. I was exhausted, heartbroken and hopeless, the only thing I wanted more than to see Chi's eyes open was to sleep. At this point, I could see myself sleeping for two full months just to rid myself of the emotional, physical and spiritual exhaustion this whole ordeal had put me through.

"Well, family, Chimwemwe's case is very rare." the doctor said as Hasani's mom ran a supportive hand up and down Chi's mom's back. "His scans are displaying normal brain activity. From looking at the scans alone, one would swear he'd woken up, done what he would do throughout the day, and then gone back to sleep. There's nothing wrong with his spine, nothing wrong anywhere, really. His body is in a state of recovery, but he seems to be in a semi-coma. Usually, we encourage the loved ones of such patients to just sit by them and offer support and company. He could just be too tired to wake up."

"So all we have to do is talk to the boy?" Hasani's dad clarified as Furaha walked over to him, seemingly tired of trying to get her mom's attention which was fully on Chi's mother as she wiped tears off her face.

"Yes, sir. We've also noticed that his brain is more active in the time Miss Aisha here spends with him, so maybe you can go in more?"

"Me?" I said, completely dumbfounded even though he was looking directly at me.

"My dear, go in there now, please. Bring my boy back to me." Chi's mom said.

"Iyoh!" Rati exclaimed. "O kare ke bona movie."