Time-Bound

Chapter 5

June 17th, 2019

Five years later...

Brenda Johnson is 21 years old and has graduated from the university. Her sister, Mercy is 15 years old and still in the secondary school while their parents, still remained divorced. Unlike before, Anthony and Victoria had learned to understand eachother and settle their differences in order to keep the children happy.

Brenda had been undergoing treatment and has been using steroids as prescribed by the doctors. She had seen so many doctors and just last year, her seizures had ceased and she stopped undergoing treatments without consulting her doctors.

It was 3 a.m. Brenda was asleep alone in her room when she had a sudden seizure. This was different from the ones she used to have in the past. It lasted for 7 minutes and since there was no one in her room with her and she couldn't call for help, there was nothing she could do than let her body shake vigorously before she passed out.

"Ahhh! Mummy! Daddy!! Come and see." Mercy exclaimed when she walked into Brenda's room at 5 a.m.

"No, no, no, no. This can't be happening." Victoria cried.

"She's unconscious. Victoria go and start the car. Mercy call the doctor to make sure he is at the hospital." Anthony said, scooping Brenda up in his arms.

They all rushed her to the hospital and she was quickly attended to.

Two doctors approached Anthony and Victoria.

"These are her parents." Dr. Adeola, the neurologist said.

"Hi. I'm Dr. Phillip. The oncologist Adeola told you about." The doctor stretched out his hand.

"Oh. Nice to meet you." Anthony shook his hand.

"My pleasure." Dr. Phillip sighed. "Come with me."

They walked into an office and they all sat down.
In few minutes, Dr. Tobi joined them too.

"She hasn't been undergoing treatment for a while now, is that correct?" Dr. Adeola asked.

"Yes. How did you know that?" Anthony asked.

"Well. We carried out a series of tests on her." Dr. Tobi said.

"I don't think you know how deadly this is. Didn't anyone enlighten you?" Dr. Phillip asked.

"They did. We just felt she was okay and..." Victoria said.

"Why didn't you inform us before taking such a drastic step?" Dr. Adeola asked.

"I...We..." Anthony tried to say.

"I'm sorry to tell you this Mr. and Mrs. Johnson." Dr. Phillip said.

"We are divorced." Victoria snapped.

"What does it matter? Your daughter's life is at stake." Dr. Tobi said.

Anthony and Victoria exchanged glances. "At stake?"

"Yes. She doesn't have much time to live." Dr. Adeola said.

"You've got to be kidding right? You're not God to tell when one would die." Victoria was obviously scared.

"I wish we were kidding but the tumors, as you know grows aggressively and multiplies in 2-3 months." Dr. Phillip said.

"Yes, we know that." Anthony held his breath.

"So after carrying out the tests, we found out that the tumor has grown this big." Dr. Adeola demonstrated with her hands wide apart.

"Ahh God!" Anthony let go of the air he was holding in. "What's going to happen now?"

"I'm sorry but once the tumor gets to this stage, the patient won't live for very long." Dr. Tobi said.

"So how much time do I have to spend with my daughter?" Victoria asked.

"About 12 months." Dr. Adeola sighed. "We are sorry."

"You see this is your fault! If you didn't support every decision of hers and allowed her to continue her treatment, she'd live long enough to give us grandchildren and probably have grandchildren of her own." Victoria yelled.

"So you're blaming me now. We are equally responsible for this." Anthony said.

"You're always with her while I'm at work." Victoria said.

"I'm..." Anthony started to say.

"Right now, I think the best thing is to be with your daughter and not start all these arguments. She doesn't have much time left and you have to help her utilize the time she has." Dr. Adeola said.

Dr. Tobi chuckled. "Old habits truly die hard.

"Dr. Tobi! Is that what you are meant to say right now?" Dr. Phillip asked.

"S-Sorry. Please take good care of your daughter." Dr. Tobi got up and left.

"Thank you doctors. We really are sorry for behaving that way." Anthony apologized and left the office as Victoria trailed behind him.