A Daytime Nightmare
Written by Sonia Okehie
Episode 5
Have you ever received a bad news that deprived you of the essence of living? That moment where everything means absolutely nothing to you and you just stand there thinking of ways to take your pains away by ending your life? That moment where you could give up the world just to turn back the hands of time and undo some wrongs? That was the exact way Tony felt the very moment the doctor broke the news to him that he was HIV Positive. Life instantly made no sense to the young promising married man. I know everyone deserves a second chance to start over on a clean slate, but it was quite unfortunate that it wasn’t going to be the case for Tony.
Once a person contacts HIV, they can only be maintained and not cured from it because the virus still doesn’t have an approved cure. Despite taking prescribed medications and not skipping it for even a day, a person who has HIV will still experience deteriorating health conditions. At this junction, it’s impossible not to feel bad for Tony, regardless of whatever he had done in the past. Quite sad!
After the shocking revelation by the doctor, there was dead drop silence. At that moment, Tony couldn’t utter a word and just sat there in shock. That new development was a lot for the young man to take in so he needed as much time as possible to digest the unfortunate news that he was now a HIV patient. Words alone would fail me to properly describe the pain, fear and heart ache Tony was feeling at that moment. He wished that the world should just come to an instant end so he wouldn’t have to figure out how to forge ahead with his life and also how he would face his wife and family.
On seeing that Tony was still in shock and wasn’t ready to talk anytime soon, the doctor stood up and gave him a pat on the back. “It’s OK, don’t eat yourself up because it isn’t the end of the world. Thank God we found out early so we can start the treatment process on time, which will put you on the right path to living a healthy life. Take as much time as you want to keep the news to yourself but after you are done, tell your family and loved ones so they can support you through it because you will definitely need them in this new journey” the doctor said and excused himself to attend to other patients.
With the doctor away, Tony broke down in tears and bent his head downwards. He sobbed bitterly as he thought of what to do and how to continue with life from there. It felt as though his whole world was crushing and eventually crashed beyond repair. Tony’s inner man was murdered that he didn’t even have the will power to walk away from the hospital. His current situation was pitiable and quite sad. After about an hour later, he managed to summon courage and leave the hospital.
It was a long ride back to the hotel that night and all through the journey, Tony had suicidal thoughts of involving his car in an accident so he could die and end the pain he was feeling within. It was such a relief that he didn’t end his life that night; as he drove safely till he arrived at the hotel. Without wasting time, he jumped on the bed and shut his eyes. He didn’t even bother to remove his clothes, neither did he bother to take his bath; all he wanted to do was sleep and forgot everything he was feeling within.
As Tony closed his eyes and laid on the bed, Becca’s memories popped up and almost brought him to tears. While he tried to dwell on her memory, Jasmine popped up in his thoughts as well and it made him furious.
Unable to hold back the anger, Tony stood up and began to vent it out. “I will deal with Jasmine till she regrets the day she met me. I must make her pay for ruining my once happy life. How can someone be so wicked and selfish? I curse the day I met her, just see what I have brought upon myself” he angrily said. It was such an emotionally draining day for the young man but he finally tried to catch some sleep after a long time of being awake.
The next day, the first thing Tony did was to call a friend of his who had a high rank in the military. He confided in his friend and told him the truth about his health status and everything that happened so far with Jasmine. Before he was done with his narration, his friend was already boiling with anger.
“Who is she? Who is she? I must make sure she pays dearly to God who made me. Do you know where she lives or have any vital information about her which we can use to track her down?” Tony’s friend furiously asked, “I don’t know where she stays because we have only met and hanged out thrice. However, I have her picture and number but the number hasn’t been going through since morning” Tony revealed. Without wasting much time, the officer asked for her picture and number so they could use it to track her down. Tony had the money to finance any investigative work so he quickly gave out every information his friend needed and also dropped some money for the work to proceed immediately.
Turns out that Jasmine already sensed that there was fire on the mountain, so she changed her line and also left town. Despite the fact that she was smart to do all that, in order to avoid being caught, she wasn’t too smart because it was only a matter of time before the officers tracked her with her old line and got her full name which she used in registering her old sim chip.
With Jasmine’s name revealed, it was easy for the officers to identify her on social media with her picture that they already had. They got to know her current whereabouts by posing to be a rich person that wanted to meet up with her.
It was easy for the officers to find and detain Jasmine. She was faced with numerous allegations and it didn’t seem like she was going to be let off the hook anytime soon. Matter of fact, her pictures were taken and an article was published on social media as the HIV positive lady that goes around spreading the virus to clean men. In no time, Jasmine’s little secret was a major topic in almost every media and news firm. Her news became a topic of discussion and also an eye opener so no one can fall prey to her evil schemes again.
The sad thing about all this was that there was no second chance for Tony, even though Jasmine had been brought to book. Tony’s personal information and identity wasn’t disclosed during Jasmine’s news outburst. Due to that, no one knew that he was HIV positive; apart from his military friend whom he confided in.
It’s been over a month since Tony left for the emergency business trip and hadn’t returned back home. Becca began to get worried but he usually assured her that he was OK and was still held back due to unfinished businesses. At first she was cool with his excuses, but started having doubts when it lingered for over a month.
Most nights, Becca had nightmares about her husband being in some sort of trouble. The constant dreams began to get on her nerves and also got her worried too. After over a month of being away, Tony finally summoned the courage to come back home and reveal to his wife the secret he had been hiding from her and everyone else.
On the fateful day Tony returned home, he didn’t inform Becca and just showed up to the house unannounced. Unfortunately, Becca wasn’t home when he returned so he had to sit outside till she got back from her office.
Night drew nearer and the clouds began to get dark. There was a horn on the gate and the gateman opened it up. Tony knew for sure that it was Becca, so he prepared himself ahead for anything that was going to happen that night.
As Becca drove in, she was shocked to see her husband fully dressed in his suit sitting outside. “Is he just coming in now?” she wondered as she parked the car. When she alighted, she confusingly walked towards Tony, who was looking like one that was depressed.
“What are you doing here? Did you just get in? Why didn’t you at least tell me that you were coming back today?” Becca curiously asked. The questions were numerous that Tony didn’t know where to start replying from. Immediately he lifted up his face and looked into her eyes, her heart skipped several beats as she saw the tears that clouded his eyes. Shocked and confused the more, she calmed down and held his shoulders. “What’s the problem? You are getting me scared now, what’s going on?” she curiously inquired as her heart raced.
The moment of truth finally came and Tony was ready to let the cat out of the bag once and for all. He figured that once he tells his wife, then he would be able to tell his family and close friends about his health. He raised his head and looked into her eyes. “I messed up babe, I really did” he soberly revealed, “What did you do? Tell me and I promise to understand” she calmly responded. Unable to hold back any longer, he took a deep breath and said; “I cheated on you babe and now I have HIV”.
That confession hit Becca so hard that she almost collapsed. Her body instantly became numb and cold at the same time. She held her chest and inquired; “Is this a prank?”.
Tony soberly looked at her and replied; “I wish it was”.
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