HEART OF GOLD.
EPISODE 16
Declan was rushed to the hospital by the staff on duty and his wife was contacted. Stacey was on her way back from the market when she received an anonymous call informing her that her attention was needed in the hospital. She was surprised when she saw the condition her husband was in when she got to the hospital. Declan was looking disfigured like one who had been ill for days; his mouth was twisted to the sides and could not talk.
He remained in the hospital for weeks after which he was referred to another hospital. His wife took him to different hospitals all to no avail. Instead of his condition to improve it kept on deteriorating with him losing his speech. The doctor called her to his office to speak with her on the day he was discharged.
Doctor: “I know it is against the ethics of our profession to say this but I just have to say it never the less because you see, even as a doctor, I still know that God is the greatest of all doctors. I advise that you seek help from a man of God because his ailment is defying medical science”
Stacey: “hmmn…help from a man of God?”
Doctor: “yes. The reports that you brought from different hospitals and all that we have done here have shown that medically, there is nothing wrong with your husband. What he is experiencing may be spiritual and only God can help in that situation” he said.
Stacey: “doctor, I have been thinking of reaching out to his family so that they can help me with funds to take him abroad. I want us to take him to the hospital in India where his kidney was harvested. I am sure that they will be able to treat him since the hospitals here cannot ascertain what is wrong with him”
Doctor: “I will not deceive you madam, his ailment is not kidney related. Even if you take him to all the hospitals in the world, they will still tell you the same thing that I am telling you now”
Stacey: “okay, doctor, thank you very much” she said wiping the tears from her eyes.
The following months were the worst for Stacey who had to empty her husband’s account and sell off some of his properties in other to raise money to take him abroad for treatment despite the doctor’s advice.
The trip to India was futile as the doctors could not diagnose Declan’s ailment. At the end, after they had expended all the money they had, they returned to the country, with his condition worse than it was before they travelled out.
Stacey went with her husband from one hospital to another, from one solution center to the other and she even went as far as taking him to spiritual homes where they left worst and poorer than they had been before they went there.
Having exhausted all that they had, she decided to go back to his family for assistance.
Mrs Ogar: “yes, what are you doing here? Haven’t I warned you never to set your foot in this house again?”
Stacey: “I am sorry to disobey your orders ma, but I came here for something very important” she said.
Mrs Ogar: “and what is it?” she asked casually, indicating lack of interest.
Stacey: “it is about my husband Declan, we have spent all that we have on hospital bills and medication. Even after we came back from India, his condition has continued to worsen. Please help me” she said with tears in her eyes.
Mrs Ogar: “I don’t know how your husband’s ailment is any of my business”
“Please ma, we have spent all that we have and right now, my children are hungry with nothing to eat. We cannot even afford to pay their school fees”
Mrs Ogar: “I warned you, didn’t I? I warned you not to waste money to fly him abroad for treatment but you wouldn’t listen. You even went ahead to sell some of my late husband’s properties just to treat your husband and now you are here shedding crocodile tears”
Stacey: “Ma, please forgive us. I thought they would be able to help him there. I couldn’t bear to see him in so much pain when there is something that I could have done, that is why I decided to try out that option. He is your son and you should please for his sake help us”
Mrs Ogar: “I have only two children and trust me none of them bears the name Declan. Now pick your miserable self and get out of my house before I set the dogs after you” she threatened.
Stacey: “ma?”
Mrs Ogar: “you heard me right. Go and tell your husband that he had better confessed his sins so that he can live. If he thinks he can kill my husband and then live to inherit his properties then he is not only sick, he is mad as well”
Stacey: “but ma, my husband is not a murderer. He cannot even hurt a fly” she said.
Mrs Ogar: “I have had enough of you in my house. Get out!” she barked and Stacey ran out.
Stacey: “my husband, I know that you can hear me even though you cannot talk. I have gone to your immediate and extended family and they have all refused to help me. As a matter of fact, your step mother chased me out of your family house as if I am a dog. As it is, we have nobody to run to and so I have decided to do what the doctors advised, that is prayer. I want to start attending a Bible believing Church and I will pray and cry to God until he restores your health. Don’t worry ehn, even though everyone has abandoned you, I will never abandon you. We signed for better and worse and I will stick with you through the thick and thin and together we shall come out of this stronger” she assured him after she had finished cleaning the sores on his body with towel socked in warm water mixed with antiseptic.
Declan nodded after trying to speak to no avail. In his heart, he blessed his wife and prayed for death to take him away so that she could be free from all the sufferings that she was going through for his sake.
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Frank, afraid of what would happen to him if he didn’t do what the dibia said decided to play on his wife’s intelligence so that he could see her reaction. After they had retired to bed after dinner that day, he held her hands in his own.
Frank: “baby, you know I love you very much right?” he said staring into her eyes.
Liz: “I know that even though sometimes, your attitude speaks otherwise” she said and touched his nose fondly.
Frank: “I am so sorry sweetie, don’t mind me okay. I love you even more than you can imagine. So tell me, have you forgiven the person who r@ped you? What if the person walks up to you and confesses and asks for your forgiveness, will you let it go?”
Liz: “ah, forgive? How can you even say a thing like that? Somebody r@ped me and took away my v!rginity that I had been preserving for you and you are here talking about forgiveness? No, I will not. If the r@pist comes to me and asks for forgiveness, I will have him arrested and persecuted accordingly, he can never go free, not while I am alive, never! Even if the person is my blood, he will pay with his blood” she sparked.
Frank: “hmmm…” he sighed at a loss on what to say.
Liz: “baby what is it? Do you have an idea who the person is or did the person get in touch with you to help talk to me on his behalf?”
Frank: “trust me love, if I know who the person is, I will strangle him to death with my bare hands” he lied.
“I trust you my husband” she said and planted a k!ss on his forehead.
Frank: “she said over her dead body will she ever forgive the person. Hmmmn, over her dead body…” Frank kept on repeating until he fell asleep.
The next day, Frank returned to the herbalist and told him he was ready to kill his wife if that was what it would take for him to escape the impending doom. The herbalist gave him a white substance and told him to use it in cooking for her.
“Once she eats the food that you cook with this substance, she will die peacefully in her sleep and nobody will ever suspect you. That way, you will be free forever but you have to make sure that you use it today” the herbalist said while handling him the substance.
From the shrine, he returned to Abuja and branched to the market where he got ingredients for the rice and chicken curry sauce that he wanted to prepare for her. He had opted for chicken and curry sauce because it was one of her favourite meals and he knew that the substance would blend well with the curry sauce.
Liz was surprised when she saw her husband with ingredients after he got back home.
Liz: “what’s up, sweetheart. You didn’t tell me that you were going to the market when you left the house this morning” she said to him.
Frank: “well, I decided to surprise my wife. Guess what, I am making dinner tonight” he said.
Liz: “you, make dinner? When did that one start? Anyway, you can’t do that today, I already made dinner and I have served it on the dining table. I was waiting for you to return so that we can eat” she said to him.
Frank: “you already made dinner? Why?” he asked getting worked up.
Liz: “why what? I mean its past six and usually dinner ought to be served by now. This is not the first time I am doing it” she said to him.
Frank: “but you should have called to ask if I wanted you to make dinner for me”
Liz: “is that a new rule? I never call to ask if I should make dinner for you. It is my responsibility and until today, you didn’t have a problem with me doing so. You are the one who ought to have called to notify me against making dinner since you want to cook today”
Frank: “yeah, you are right. I actually forgot. Anyway, you have to clear your table o, I am going to the kitchen to cook for you and you have to eat mine. Guess what I will be cooking for you, white rice and chicken with curry sauce”
Liz smiled. “We think so much alike. That is the same thing I made. So, no need cooking yours tonight. Just preserve the perishable ingredients in the refrigerator, then go shower and let us eat. You can cook for me any other day”
Frank was confused and agreed to what she said but then he recalled the warning by the herbalist that the substance must be used that same day.
Frank: “baby, I have to cook for you today. I have decided to do it, please don’t discourage me, who knows if today will be my last day on earth and that is why I am in the mood to cook for you” he said.
Liz: “God forbid. Today cannot be your last day on earth o. if you insist on cooking for me, fine even though I don’t see what difference it will make since you will be preparing the same dish I made”
Frank: “it will make a lot of difference. Remember how you used to enjoy my cooking back then in school” he said and made his way into the kitchen.
Liz: “I will join you in the kitchen so that I can help out” she said but her husband declined and told her to sit and relax while he gets everything done.
After what seemed like eternity, Frank came out of the kitchen with a bowl of steaming hot white rice and chicken sauce.
Liz: “why, the aroma is killing me” she said getting up to join him on the dining table.
Frank: “yah, you married a great cook, you know” he said setting the dish before her.
Liz: “why is it this small? Where is yours?”
Frank: “I actually cooked a little just for you and you alone. You know what they say that if you stay in the kitchen and cook, you won’t be able to eat the food. That is happening to me. I feel so full right now”
Liz: “ah no, we have to eat together, we have always done it like that” she said.
Frank: “don’t worry, you just go ahead, I may join you before you finish eating. Right now I need to watch a Champions league match” he said and left the dining area for fear that she may force him to eat out of her dish.
Liz got up from the dining table without tasting the food and decided to join her husband on the settee so that she could watch television while eating. Few steps away from her husband and she slipped and fell, pouring all the food on the floor. Her husband screamed and jumped up.
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