David's father, as hard as he tried, could not come to terms with what the doctor was saying. He just could not fathom the gravity of the doctor's alleged 'exposé'. He walked out of the doctor's office in a confused state of mind. The doctor run after him knowing full well of the implications of what his allegation could bring in its wake. He called out after David's father and said, "Sir, I don't want the girl's mother to suspect that we are up to something because a patient has sued us for the same reason so if there is a way you could get her to give you samples of blood or anything we would need for a test, my lab will run the tests for you". "I don't want to further drag this hospital into another conspiracy theory with this finding because it is none of my business in the first place", he added. "I hope you get my point". David's father nodded in agreement but never uttered a word. "Sir, do you understand the words that I am speaking to you?", the doctor asked, fearing that he had put his job on the line by revealing the results of the test that the intern had done. David's father went into the ward where David had spent almost a month fighting for his life and packed up the rest of David's belongings and they went straight home. Erica was seated closest to David with Fred seated in the driver's seat and David's father seated next to him. David's father kept looking at Erica through the rear-view mirror of their SUV. "Is it possible that this young lady has been pretending all this while?", David's father thought to himself. "She has been so amazing these past few weeks devoting all her time to take care of David and she virtually nursed him out of death looking at the way she was so gentle and graceful", he thought to himself. Meanwhile, Fred engaged David in a conversation to get him to feel comfortable after his near-death experience. "Dave, I have thought up this amazing business proposal and I believe with your managerial prowess, we can make it happen", Fred said, trying to manoeuver a curve on the busy street. "I want us to venture into transportation business", Fred said, taking a quick look at David and Erica who were seated behind him before fixing his gaze back unto the road. "That is a good idea but I think the transport business isn't a money-making venture if you asked me". "I would rather we focused our attention elsewhere", David responded. The two best friends engaged in their usual friendly banter over who was right and who was wrong and it was just like old times. Fred took a wrong turn and was quickly prompted by David's father that he was going the wrong way. "Sir, I am aware", Fred said, with a smile on his face. "I want to give my friend and his family a treat before we head back home". "When we were growing up as children, David and I always had this dream of eating from a particular Chinese restaurant around the central district". "I know it has been years but I have done my research and I found out that they relocated some years ago". "I want us to eat out today so our dear Erica can rest". "I am actually doing this because of her", Fred added, turning to give Erica a big smile". "You will all agree with me that she has been an amazing nurse to David". "So this is to Erica!", Fred added. After years of rewriting her papers, Erica had finally garnered up enough grades to gain admission into a private nursing school and passed out years ago as a qualified Health Assistant. She harboured dreams of furthering her education so she went on ahead to attend a private university and passed out as a fully fledged nurse and was now working in one of the major hospitals. Her good looks and gentle touch made people, especially men, always want to fall sick just to be given a treat by Erica. She had several private patients that she cared for out of the hospital's space and they paid well. One of her patients, a seventy-four year old man had been pestering her to marry him and he promised that he would never fall sick again if she accepted his proposal. Erica, on the other hand, was always professional about her job and never mixed business with pleasure. She always told her male patients, no matter how tempting their offers could be that she was married and had a daughter even though there was no ring on her finger to buttress her point with. When Fred proposed having lunch, David lauded the idea but David's father was a bit skeptical. He was already having doubts in his mind as to who Erica's daughter belonged to. He was getting confused. His wife had travelled many years ago and was working abroad as a matron in a hospital in Canada. He had always been alone with David. Ever since his wife and daughters travelled. "The doctor said that Ellen was not my granddaughter so there is no way she could possibly be my daughter too", David's father thought to himself. He cast his mind back to the time Erica started visiting David, months before she got pregnant. On one of those visits, Erica met David's absence but David's father forced her to wait for him. During the time of waiting, David's father lamented how he had missed his wife and as they spoke, he drew closer to Erica. From the beginning, Erica was confused and knew full well that what David's father wanted to do was going to be very wrong. She struggled to break free but she was overpowered by David's father who was relatively younger then. "Sir please we can't do this", Erica pleaded, fighting off the advances made by David's father. "What if David walks in to see us?" "What would you tell him?", Erica asked. David's father just did not care. His incessant advances caused Erica to give in, they got close, fondled each other passionately and ended up making love. They both vowed to keep it a secret from David and now, this bombshell was likely to shatter the father and son relationship between David and his father forever should further tests prove that David's father was the biological father of Ellen making Ellen David's sister and not daughter like he had always known. Erica had vowed to stay away from David forever after that incident but David would not have that so Erica had to play along but from then on, she lived with the scars and regret of having slept with both father and son. When they finally got to the restaurant, David's father seemed lost in thought when a toast was proposed in honour of Erica. He raised his glass after being prompted by David, "Dad, what is wrong with you?" David asked in a low tone. "I am fine, son". "I was just thinking about how life would have been like for me if I had lost you that night", David's father said. David's father vowed to keep the exposé between himself, the doctor and the intern lab assistant till the truth of the matter came out and cleared him of all his fears. "Even if it turns out that I am the real father of Ellen, I would let the status quo remain and leave David to believe that Ellen is his daughter but I might have to eliminate certain threats to make this stay the way I want it to stay" David's father thought to himself. David's father, upon returning from the restaurant went into his room and into his washroom and called the doctor. "Doctor, you know that my son is just recovering from a serious accident", he started. "I want us to keep this finding between us for now till I think it is appropriate for him to know all this", David's father pleaded. "Alright sir", the doctor answered. "Something else has come up", the doctor said. "I am looking at an extensive result slip of the blood tests carried out and I believe it is in my capacity as your family's doctor to be the first to inform you". "We found traces of cancer in your blood, sir", the doctor revealed. "Please don't worry, we will get you started on a special medication". The doctor added. "In effect, it rendered the blood you donated invalid so we needed another donor". At the time, there was only one person available so we contacted him and he agreed to help". The confusing part is that, we run diagnosis on his blood sample and it is likely that he is the father of your granddaughter". David's father got alarmed and enquired, "Who is this young man?" "Do we know him?". "I think you do, sir", the doctor said. "The name I have here is Fred"... THIS IS GETTING HOTTER. More soon... MY NAME IS EDWIN OKO LAMPTEY AND THIS IS BEFORE THE WORLD ENDS (C)'. MORE AT randomafricanthoughts.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment