Fainted

Fainted

The waiting room was bustling with activities when Helen arrived. The gloomy faces of families with their sick one's filled the room. You could feel the alarm, fear, and hope within the hospital.

"Help my baby." Helen cried out as she walked into the hospital, her hair was disheveled and tears streamed down her eyes. She was barefooted and didn't notice it and probably didn't care too, her whole attention was on her child.

A nurse on duty moved toward them "Calm down ma'am, this is a hospital and other patients are here too."

"My daughter, please help my daughter," Helen replied, trying not to shout again.

The nurse took Sarah from Mazi's arms and asked them to wait in the hall while she carried Sarah into the ward and placed her on the hospital bed before a doctor came over to examine her.

Helen paced the hospital waiting room in fear and when she saw a doctor coming towards her, fear gripped her. "Doctor, how is she." she looked at him desperate for a positive reply.

"Let's talk in my office." The doctor said and Led her towards his office.

"I will wait here for you. " Mazi tried to encourage Helen as she walked with the doctor into his office.

The doctor shut the door when they both entered and asked Helen to sit down then went to take his own sit on the other side of the table.

Helen fidgeted, her eyes red and swollen from crying and her heart throbbed from panicking.

"Your daughter's appendix busted inside her stomach and we need to perform surgery immediately if not she would die. Her situation is a medical emergency."

"Oh my goodness." She cupped her mouth with her hand and cried.

"What would the surgery cost doctor," Helen asked, she didn't have any money on her but she would go to the moon and back to ensure her daughter gets the medical attention she needed.

"The total estimate is around #83,000 and you have to deposit #50000 before we commence treatment"

"Please doctor, can you start treatment? I would make a payment later."

"Sorry, rules are rules and our experience with some of our patients has been distasteful." The doctor said nodding his head in no.

Helen tried her possible best to plead with the doctor but he was adamant.

"Please doctor." She wept "I'm a single mum and Sarah is all I've got in this world. Start the surgery and I promise to pay all the bills."

"Ma'am, many of our patient's families have pleaded just the way you are doing now and once we agree and start treatment they only pay part of the money and run away later without paying the rest. Get the money now and stop delaying, so we can start treatment as soon as possible. I have already stabilized her but she needs to be operated on before tomorrow morning." The doctor really wished he could help but his hands were tied, it was the new rule in the hospital because of the disappointments and financial loss they had been facing in the hospital.

"Okay doctor," Helen said and stood to leave, it felt as if the weight of the whole world was on her shoulders. Life kept on giving her heavy blows and she sometimes wondered if she would survive it.

As she left the doctor's office and walked towards the hall she saw Mazi leaning on the wall of the hospital pressing his phone. When he saw her he stopped and faced her.

"What did the doctor say?" He asked concerned

Helen started crying again, lost for a word, #100,000 (One hundred thousand Nigerian Naira) was a lot of money and she didn't have the means to generate such an amount, especially on short notice.

"Talk to me Helen, I might be able to help you." He said looking at her intently.

"I need to get #100,000 before dawn tomorrow so that Sarah would be operated on, her appendix burst in her stomach if not she will die." Helen stammered trying hard to compose herself but failed miserably at it.

"Is that all Helen."

"Yes, but how can I raise such money in a short time. I don't have a job yet and can barely feed." 

Mazi held her hands and together they walked out of the hospital towards his car. As they both sat in his car, he opened his compartment and brought out a #100,000 bundles of money and showed it to Helen.

"I wanted to use this money tomorrow to make a repair in my car, however, I can give it to you," He said to Helen

"Thank you so much Mazi, I promise to pay you back."

"And who said I wanted you to repay me, I would give it to you and not collect a dime later."

Helen gazed at him in amazement, shocked at his kindness. "Thank you so much." Her eyes were moist with unshed tears.

"You are a very beautiful woman Helen, I've always loved and wanted you." His eyes wandered all over her body before resting on her lips.

Helen's heart sank, this was it, This might be the point of no return for her.

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

Helens pov

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

I felt helpless as I watched my only child die in front of me. Sarah's doctor had given me until dawn to deposit some amount of money before surgery could be performed on her. Her appendix had ruptured some hours ago and here I was without any fund to pay for her surgery.

Mazi had been kind enough to take us to the hospital and also stay behind for a while. He had even offered to give me money to pay for Sarah's hospital bill but at a cost. 

"You are a very beautiful woman." Mazi had said to me again. 

I was sad because I knew where his compliment was leading to.

"I've always admired you since the first day I saw you." He continued, smirking his lips. I felt disgusted but didn't show it, he was my last hope now.

He touched my hands seductively and I cringed inward. I tried to force a smile but my chin refused to move.

"I'm driving us to a hotel nearby, I really like you, Helen. And I promise to take good care of you." 

I felt nauseous and unsettled. I was about to sell my body for money, I was broken and defeated. When we reached the hotel he smiled at me and trailed his hands on my cheeks.

"Let's go inside the hotel, my love." He said looking happy as if he just won a lottery. 

I wanted to scream at him and tell him to go home to his love that I could never be his love, but I swallowed all the words and remained silent. We walked in together and I clasped my hands around my waist, I did not want him to hold them.

The hotel was bare with few people hanging out at the lounge, the room Mazi paid for had a small bed and nothing else in it. I watched him remove his cloth and within seconds he was naked facing me, there was nothing about him that excited me instead I wanted to throw up and maybe give him a piece of my mind and a hot slap across his face. I didn't do all that instead I removed my clothes, I had only my panties on and a knee-length dress which I removed sluggishly.

Mazi was already lying on the bed and asked me to join him. He pounced on me immediately as I  laid down beside him on the bed, he ravenously sucked my breast and then entered me, thrusting me like an overhead cow and within a minute it was over. I picked my dress and panties from the floor and ran into the bathroom to wash, I felt dirty. 

When I came back to the room Mazi was snoring away and I gently tapped his shoulders.

"Mazi, I want to go now," I said when he turned towards me. 

"Let's make love again, I will give you double the money." He grinned at me and tried pulling me into the bed again.

"Stop please, I need to go to the hospital now." I was angry now and he reluctantly rose from the bed and wore his clothes back.

"Let's go then." He led the way out of the hotel to his car and drove us back to the hospital. Mazi brought out a hundred thousand Naira from his compartment and gave it to me.

"Thank you," I said without looking at him.

He gave me his business card that had his phone number on it and asked me to call him whenever I needed help. I knew his help came at a cost to me and prayed I would not need it however I took the card and alighted from his car.

It was almost 10:00 p.m when I went back to the hospital. I walked straight to the doctor's office and saw him writing on his workbook.

"Ms. Helen, you are back." He said once he saw me. "Take a seat."

"I want to pay for the surgery now, doctor," I said, still standing.

He looked at me for some seconds then gave me a note "Take this to the accountant, the office towards the entrance door, give him this note and he will guide you on how to make payments."

"Would the surgery be done today?" I asked.

"I will schedule it for around 3:00 a.m, don't worry your daughter is stable and would be okay." His words felt comforting and I walked out of his office to make payments and for the first time since Sarah fainted, I felt hopeful.