Don't Let Me Go (A Kenyan Story)

Road to Recovery

It was the fifth day since he woke up in hospital, with no memory of his past. He got regular visits from his parents. At least he had begun remembering bits from before the accident. Like the lovely woman he was with in the car. He wondered what had happened to her. He focused hard and tried remembering her face but he couldn’t see it. He ended up with a scowl on his face. He was so immersed in this futile exercise that he didn’t hear the person come in.

“That scowl makes you way uglier than you’ve always been. Hey slugger,” a tall darkish man standing by the door said, the mirth evident in his tone.

He looked long and hard at the new face though he had a feeling he had seen him somewhere before. That’s it. He had seen him some few days ago in between his moments of being asleep and awake. He was there with his family.

“I have seen you here with Val and my parents, haven’t I?”

“Yes, and we knew each other pretty well before the accident. We were and still are best friends. I am Mark.”

He came into the room and sat on the seat opposite his bed.

“I’m sorry but I can’t remember you before the accident.” He said when it was clear that he couldn’t remember him too.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to try hard. The doctors say that your memories will come back eventually.”

“It’s just so fucking frustrating!” he sighed and lay there sulking.

“I see no accident can rob you off your wicked tongue.” A low laugh escaped his mouth.

“I curse out loud often?” he inquired. He found it easy to talk to this stranger.

“Trust me, you’ve only scratched the surface of your potential.”

“If we were best friends, you’d know if I was dating, right?” he asked and felt embarrassed for asking about that. He had not gotten the guts to ask his immediate family about that particular subject.

Mark seemed to sense this and chuckled. “You had just met a girl who you were seeing. Her name is Wendy.”

“She is the one who I was in the car with during the accident, isn’t she?”

“Yes.”

“Why hasn’t she been to see me yet? I heard she was discharged some while back.”

Mark was amused by this. “And pray do tell, where did you hear that?”

“Some nurse.”

“I’m sure she will come visit you. Last I heard, her parents came for her upon being discharged.” He cringed inwardly at the lie. But it had to be done.

If only you knew the entire truth. You wouldn’t waste your time and energy thinking about that whore.  Mark thought to himself.

They had grabbed her a few blocks from her apartment. It had helped that the elderly couple were just actors for hire. They had been dropped off a few miles from the hospital by the cab they had requested. Wendy rode on and had the cab drop her a few blocks from her apartment where she had called Calvin to confirm if the money had been wired. She too was a hired actress. She got the confirmation and had been too caught up in her celebration that she hadn’t noticed the van pull up next to her. She was a loose end that had to be dealt with. And he had just the guy for that. Unknown to her, ‘Calvin’ worked for Mark. He would tie that loose end.

                  **********************************************

Later that afternoon:

His parents came visiting, their faces beaming with joy.

“You’re being discharged today. You get to come home with us." His mother said. “Your discharge papers are being signed by the doctor as we speak." She added.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about all this. Sure he would finally get to go back home and away from this godforsaken hospital. But then again he was going to a somewhat  new and foreign environment. At least that is what he felt. He looked at his mother’s face and noted that her smile had faded.

“Let me get dressed and then we can all leave." He joked and his mother managed a chuckle.

“Your sisters are at home preparing the guest house for you." His father spoke for the first time.

“Okay.” He said, feigning another smile.
Just then, the doctor came in.

“Good afternoon Jayson. I take it you have heard the good news.”

He came to his bed and did some random tests on him.

“You’re good to go. Just take things easy. A nurse will be coming to help you with your physiotherapy starting the day after tomorrow. I wish you a speedy recovery." He said, smiling and left him with his parents.

“So, what do you think? Are you ready to come back home?” asked his mother.

“Yes.”

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I'm sorry I have taken so long to update the book but here we are finally.
Does Mark have a dark side? Tune in to the next chapter to find out.
Happy reading😊
Stay safe, stay sane.