Doctor Stephanie had barely entered the hospital when she noticed Shola's awkward stare.
"What could be the problem?", She taught to herself.
"Why the stare?", she contemplated and feelings of fear and guilt ravaged her. As she made her way to her office, she wandered if her little secret was really a secret. Sitting on her office chair she took a deep breath, closing her eyes in an attempt to pull herself together. As she took in the warm air, she could hear panting in her head. The sound of a man gasping for breath, flashes of his bloody face appeared and disappeared. She jerked off her chair as she looked around.
" it's all in my head....it's all in my head", she whispered as she leaned on her desk. She could remember the desperation in his eyes as he lay in a pool of his own blood. She could almost feel the warmness of his blood tricking down the stretcher, his mouth agape as he struggled to stay alive. She could see his yearning looks turn to an accusing stare as he gave up the ghost.....
"What have I done?", she groaned as a deep feeling of guilt consumed her. She had watched a patient die the previous day. A seemingly middle aged man, who was brought by officers of the prisons service. The man who had been on death row was shot in a prison riot. She could remember the man had lost much blood, but she could still save his life. She had a deep hatred for criminals.
" they are all devils ", she always said. A notion she had imbibed a long time ago, back in the university when she was gang-raped by a group of robbers. The abhorrence had grown ever since and had culminated in what became a recurrent nightmare.
"What have I done?", she continued to whisper as she vividly remembered the previous day; as she escorted the now diseased patient into the emergency ward only to watch him die.
" Go and get doctor Ayo", she said to the nurse. "I can handle it in the mean time"
She couldn't believe she had done such a terrible thing; letting a man die, a blatant breach of the oat she so willingly and joyfully took on the day of her induction. The implications of her action was becoming clearer to her as she wondered....
"Did Shola see all these?"
She was scared because Shola who was in charge of transferring corpses to the mortuary had exhibited a sudden change in behavior after the incident. Lost in her thought, she continued to ponder....
Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door....... "come in", she said impulsively.
As the door opened, it was doctor Ayo. His countenance was disturbing as he looked worried.
" have a seat", she said, afraid of what might be going on in his mind. Sitting on the edge of the chair, he leaned forward as he maintained his worried look.
"Stephanie, we need to talk"..... (to be continued....)