As long as the sky is blue

Chapter Sixteen

“Come on, you're my son in-law now, go put on your trousers.” Bisola said, rising to her feet. I joined her, still carrying my son but then he whispered he wasn't a baby anymore so I put him on his feet to walk with us.

As I predicted, the audience at the lobby stared at me a little beyond normal. Slightly embarrassed, I bowed my head as we exited the hospital. When we finally got out, I breathed in fresh air and however, noted that I still got weird stares outside the hospital as well. I couldn't wait to get to the staff quarters as soon as possible and get my pants.

Instead, I channeled my thoughts back to yesterday when my wife and I walked down this same road, hand in hand, gazing at each other and grining wildly. The way she looked at me had indeed made me feel like the luckiest and happiest man alive. It baffled me how a lot could change in twenty four hours. Who knew what the next would bring. The thought of that sent scary shrills up my spine. Getting to the the quarters, we found a woman leaving the room, she was no doubt in her fifties. She was stout and fair in complexion. A streak of grey hair ornamented her features. She wore a friendly smile when she sensed our presence. I noticed she held a familiar bag. Oh Tomiwa's lingerie bag.

“Good morning sir, ma'am. I just finished cleaning the room as instructed by the hospital. I packed your belongings and those of your wife.” she handed over the bag to me and I took a peek at it. My tux and tie were intact and so were Tomiwa's lingerie. When I sighted the red one she had worn last night, images of the night infiltrated my mind. How sexy and confident she had looked, how shy she had been when I took it off her. She had attempted covering her body of which I had stopped her and recounted how beautiful and alluring she was, then I proceeded to show her just what I meant.

It was the best night of my entire life!

“Um, I'd like to go in to put on my pants if you don't mind.” I explained, breaking off my thoughts. She nodded and gave me the key card. I gave Minho back to his new grandmother. When I got into the room, everything screamed my wife, the very air seemed to surround me with my wife's sweet fragrance. I closed my eyes, imagining her standing right in front of me, smiling, with her love for me exuding out of her, her arms giving me the comfort that I longed for, her lips offering her body and soul to me.

But then I remembered it was just my imagination and every thought was far from reality, so I sighed and took out my pants and belt from the bag. Done with that, I unbuttoned the top two buttons of my shirt and folded the sleeves which were quite rumpled. Satisfied with my appearance, I searched for my shoes once realizing they weren't in the bag. I found them at the edge of the bed where I had kicked them off before I took my shower yesterday. I found those of my wife's and put them into the bag. Auspiciously, I found my phone which I had left to charge but had fallen off the bedside drawer. Maybe that was why the cleaning lady didn't see it. I thrutched the on-off button by the side, turning it on so I could see if I had any messages or notifications. There was only a message from my parents wishing us a marriage of bliss. For a moment I sank into the bed and wondered what next. I had a wife who was at the hospital, unconscious and I was so helpless.

A pool of tears welled up in my eyes, I wiped them off, not wanting my kid and mother-in-law to know that I was crying. It could lead to them getting discouraged further. By just inhaling and exhaling, I was able to control the tears fighting to gush out. Seeing as there was nothing left to do in here, I left the room, glancing back once more to study it, knowing it had given me sweet memories to last forever.

I found Bisola and the lady talking in hushed tones, both appearing to be at grief. I wasn't Einstein but I knew Bisola had told her about Tomiwa, no doubt. I chose not to question her on why she had revealed her daughter's illness to a total stranger. Rather, I waited until they were done before handing back the key card to her and appreciating her help. We then went our separate ways; three of us, back to the hospital while the lady back to wherever she was supposed to go.

“I'm guessing you didn't bring some extra clothes, did you?” I shrugged, the answer was as plain as day. I held onto Minho's right hand while she held his other.

“You know, Becky said her son mysteriously got cured of sickle cell anemia.” I looked at her in disbelief. Obviously the cleaning lady was the one she referred to and the statement got me baffled.

“How's that possible?” I chuckled.

“A miracle! Apparently, he had suffered terribly from the illness as a teenager. They even thought he would die at the age of 21 but something happened.” Her words called my attention so I listened enthusiastically.

“What happended?” I demanded when she still hadn't gone further in her explanation.

“She said he began to go to church and would spend hours in his room praying. After three months of him not going to the hospital for his regular check up and medication, they rushed him to the hospital to be tested. She said they couldn't believe it when his genotype read AA. They all didn't believe until it was confirmed at the next three hospitals they went to.”

“Wow, that is strange. Really strange. Where is he now?” I questioned, craving more of the story.

“Becky said he's thirty- seven years old now. He's married and has four children. She also said he hadn't been hospitalized ever since. She said they never took God for granted ever since.” she ended her explanation. It was too good to be true but deep down, it felt so real. So genuine.

Just then, we passed by the chapel, the place we had used for our wedding. The decorations had been removed but the church still looked beautiful. I reflected on the last time I had been to church. Apart from my wedding, I hadn't attended church since I stepped into Africa. I had always been busy that it never once crossed my mind. In Korea, my family was known to be devout Christians and I went with them to church. I was never a frequent church-attendee. I had always claimed to be extra busy. Thinking about it now, I knew I had been wrong.

But now, the opportunity presented itself to go into church, this time, not for any celebration but to probably have a conversation with God. The instant pull was so sudden yet compelling that had me telling them both to go back to the hospital and that I'd join them soon. Bisola seemed surprised but agreed. I watched them go far and ensured they had successfully entered the hospital before I went into the chapel.

Maybe I could have a conversation with God after all.