Dirty

08 | Slipped out

‭‭James 1:2
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.

"SO WHAT ARE you saying?" Naomi asked worriedly, tapping her feet on the ground as she felt an uncomfortable churning in her gut.

"Look," Doctor Ahmed removed his spectacles. "The hospital can't keep treating him without payment being made. He came in with no name, no document on him and with bullet wounds. For all we know that man could be a criminal. This is Nigeria. His bills must be paid."

"But doctor! That man has amnesia. He can't remember anything from like twenty years ago. That's the most serious case of amnesia I've seen in all my life and you want to let him go? He'll die. He has no one to call on."

"Exactly. Please calm down, Nurse Naomi. It disheartens me but there are protocols to these things. He can't remember his name, he doesn't know who he is or who his family is and he keeps blurting out nonsense -"

"-it's not nonsense."

"And so these are valid reasons why we can't continue his treatment. The hospital will have to get the police involved as well." Doctor Ahmed reclined on the chair in his office. "Now Miss Naomi I know you care for the patient because you brought him in when he could've died and that's a great thing you did but don't form too much of an emotional attachment. We have to handle this situation as professionals."

Naomi sighed. There was no way to convince him or even the board of directors to keep treating an unknown man, wasting their resources on someone they suspect could be a criminal. But what if he was attacked? What if he was just an innocent man caught in a crossfire and is now bearing the consequences? She thought doctors were supposed to save lives. She thought hospitals were a place to give people a chance to heal but here they were tossing out a man in dire need of treatment because of money.

She was at her wits end about the situation but couldn't challenge any decisions being made because of the chance that there could also be an inkling of truth in the points they made. So she nodded meekly and exited his office.

Naomi ignored the greetings of her fellow workers, heading straight for the clinic washroom where she could hide inside the stalls and bawl her eyes out.

And she did exactly that. The moment she got there she slammed the door shut, hunched over her back and wept in her palm. Her shoulders shook as she let out all her frustrations. How could they leave that man to die? The worst part is that she really wanted to help but felt too pathetic to do anything. "God what should I do?" She raised her head back to stare at the cracked ceiling. Tears dropped at the side of her eyes. Each time she pictured his unmoving body covered with blood in front of that building a fresh wave of sadness came over her and she wailed even louder.

She didn't even care that some people were knocking on her stall inquiring about why she was crying. Nothing mattered other than the fact that things weren't going the way they should. Her phone rang showing an image of her sister. The picture was one she took without her being aware. She looked so silly that it made her chuckle.

She let the phone ring without answering. She couldn't handle any more bad news.

"Are you okay?" A woman asked when she finally stepped out. It was only her. The others who were worried probably left thinking that it was out of their hands. "Here, have this." The woman gave her a tissue to wipe her makeup and snort with.