Cold At Dusk

Fifty Three

"Joe, please come to the hospital. " Mark said into the phone. Anytime soon, those tears he had been fighting would fall.

"Which hospital? " Joseph asked quickly without enquiring why.

" Saving grace. Okechuku's hospital "

After the call, he sat with his hands inbetween his clapping laps. Documents and work were instantly forgotten.

He was in Okechuku's office. The doctor had been telling him so many things but for some reason, he could not truly understand. He needed someone with a clearer head that's why he called Joseph.

It did not take so much time for Joseph to arrive. It was when he entered the office that he asked,

"Did she go into labor? "

Okechukwu shook his head and directed him to seat. He obeyed throwing a glance at Mark who was sitting on the cushion with his head bowed into his hands.

"Kamsi fell down." The doctor started without preamble. "She could have fainted, she could have slipped but the impact with the floor was much. There was no immediate attention so she lost alot of blood. We are resuscitating her now. Blood transfusion is on the house "

Joseph turned to his brother, "Did you sleep in the house last night? "

Mark did not look up or move and Joseph fired again, "Where were you when your wife lost blood enough to render her unconscious ?"

"Joseph " Okechukwu called, "Now is not the time. That's not the issue at hand "

Joseph turned back to him, folding his arms.

"Kamsi has been stressed lately. She has not been feeding well and she could have been under physical stress or emotional stress. Her sugar level was very low. That is why I would say, she could have fainted. " Okechukwu said then paused interlocking his fingers on the table.

" There has been a Placental abruption"

"Say it how I would understand. It's engineering I studied " Joseph said quickly.

Okechukwu sighed with a small smile, " The  placenta shifted from the wall of the Uterus. This condition makes it difficult for the baby to receive oxygen and nutrients "

"Way forward? " Joseph asked still with his arms folded.

"We would have given her drugs to induce Labor but she's very very weak. She lost too much blood. She's thirty two weeks gone so we could perform an operation to save the baby after her blood transfusion "

"Nobody is performing any operation on my wife. We wait. We wait till she recovers " Mark spoke for the first time since Joseph entered.

Joseph rubbed a hand on his face   looking at the doctor as he mouthed, "We have till the blood transfusion is done "

"I'll leave you two to discuss " Okechukwu said standing up, "Joseph, you can call her mother or sister. Anyone that is more enlightened than the husband and who can take responsibility to fill the consent form "

Mark threw him a very angry glare but he was out of the door once he was done talking.

"I'm calling her mother if you are not signing the form. It is like you don't understand " Joseph said bringing out his phone from his pocket.

Mark said nothing and did not make a move so Joseph called Genevieve. There was no way he could have spoken to her without informing her of the urgency of the situation. She immediately approved the surgery.

Mark was still in the same position when Joseph returned. Joseph settled on the cushion beside him without saying anything at first. He still wanted to hound him with questions but he just sighed.

" Blood transfusion is on the hospital. They're prepping her for surgery now" He said instead.

Mark nodded and said, "Thank you "

"Pull yourself together. She's alive. You can go home and shower. I'll be here"

"Thank you " Mark said again, rising to his feet.

That was all before Michelle arrived, before Genevieve and the Reverend arrived, before Maka arrived like an army but walking the length of the hall way and also the reception with a face roughened by apprehension.

"Why is the husband not here? " Maka asked suddenly.

Joseph only looked at her, understanding that she was searching for something to transfer her worry to. Michelle walked to where Maka was standing and hugged her shoulders pulling Maka's body to her own.

"She'll be fine, Maka" She said, "She'll be fine"

It was almost noon as Joseph looked at his phone. There was no sign of Okechukwu and they did not terrorize the staff in the hospital asking for updates. Joseph stood waiting patiently since he knew that Okechukwu would definitely come out to brief them when it was over.

He crossed his feet at the ankle looking at Kamsi's step mother and her husband where they were still kneeling, hands held together and praying at a corner of the reception. It was shocking, how fast they had arrived after that call.

When Mark came in, Joseph dimmed his eyes taking in his choice of clothes, a black joggers and a white shirt with neatly polished brown shoes. He looked like someone that had a difficult time deciding if he was to be formal or casual.

"How is she? " He asked stopping infront of his elder brother.

"We are waiting. " Joseph replied. "How are you doing? " His eyes ran down Mark, an indication of the meaning of his question.

Mark shrugged then leaned on the wall beside Joseph as he noted Maka and Michelle now sitted on a bench. His eyes traveled till he saw Genevieve where she was praying with her husband. He face palmed then looked at his brother.

"Joe, I lost my job"

Joseph did not even as much turn a head to look at him. He folded his arms on his chest as he stared at nothing before him and asked,

"What happened? "

"Misplaced some documents"

Joseph was silent. It was as if he did not just break the news of loosing his job of close to five years, his house, his biggest source of income. It was as if he said nothing more than how he poured oil away .

"Now, I'm paying. I'm paying. Because they are dragging us to court next week and I'm handling the expenses."

Joseph spared him a look this time and said, "Oga adicha mma" - "It would be fine"

Mark scoffed and nodded. He was trying so hard to keep his sanity intact. Everything seemed to be happening all at once. He had no clue on how to shoulder it all.

The Reverend walked towards him and he  met him half way with a bowing of the head and a greeting then a wave to the wife who was now seated on a bench where they formerly knelt.

"God is in charge" He said, patting the two sides of Mark's arm like he wanted to slap the belief into him in that moment.