Brenda shivered as she entered the hospital and walked to the reception. She mentioned her name as the nurse checked the computer to confirm the appointment with the doctor. Yes. The doctor had agreed to see her. She asked Brenda to have a seat while she checked if the doctor was ready to see her.
She returned barely a minute later to tell her to give the doctor fifteen minutes.
The assurance that the doctor was going to see her soon couldn't comfort her.
She smiled nervously at the nurse while she glanced through some magazines. She didn't want to be there. It was Dee who insisted that she saw that particular doctor. The hospital was unusually quiet and empty. She was the only patient present. She was itching to ask the nurse if their business was this slow, however, she didn't. She was ashamed to admit that she was about to terminate a pregnancy for a married man and was hoping there would be many ladies wanting to do same.
She and Dee (Derrick ) were childhood friends who grew up in the same neighbourhood and attended the same school. The friendship grew into love as they matured but their parents would not hear of it simply because of tribal differences. They got separated when Derrick ' s parents took him out of the country for his university education. He returned to Ghana a married man, with a pregnant wife. Brenda hadn't been successful in any relationship and was determined to focus entirely on acquiring a law degree.
The old friendship was soon rekindled as Derrick didn't have any friends to reconnect with. They started by chatting over the phone. Soon they were meeting for lunch and having dinner regularly. They attended a school reunion party together one evening and they both ended up drunk and in bed; an act neither regretted. Brenda hesitated at first but without realising, they started sleeping together regularly.
There were times Brenda felt bad for her actions but the love she felt for Derrick out weighed all morals. His wife delivered and Derrick was elated. He didn't have much time for Brenda. His son became his priority. She got terribly jealous whenever he had to return to his wife and son so much that, she decided to have a baby for him as well.
She planned it all so well and got him drunk one evening when he came to visit. She conceived that night as the test reveled days later and was so excited.
Unfortunately, Derrick didn't share her joy. He was angry,upset and furious as hell. Brenda had never ever seen him like that. He insisted she aborted the pregnancy, saying it would interrupt her education and ruin his marraige. No assurance she gave him helped. If she wanted to keep him, she had to abort her baby.
A tear dropped from her eye as she thought of how she was sacrificing her baby for the man she loved.
Was he even worthy of her love? Was he worth the risk she was taking? What if this is the only child that she would have? Was his wife's baby more important than hers? Who was going to cry the most if she didn't survive the procedure? She realised her mistake a little late..but wait. Why should she kill her baby to make a man happy? An innocent baby shouldn't die because of her selfishness.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the nurse informed her that the doctor was ready to see her. She looked at the time and realised she had been waiting for only ten minutes. It had seemed so long. She took her bag and walked to the nurse just to tell her she had changed her mind. She wasn't going to go through with the procedure. The nurse told her the advance payment was not refundable. Brenda placed the receipt on the counter and walked out of the abortion clinic,never to return.
Spending only ten minutes there led her to take a life changing decision.