April 18th 1999
Bolaji held Kevwe’s hand, it had been 15 days since the call came about the accident; His Baby was still in a coma. “Please bring her through this”, He whispered. Dr. Boms had said she was in a stable condition, had got a fractured tibia in her right leg, a few bruises from the pieces of glass that had sprayed her body on her left side from her face down.
He had not yet found courage to bring in Laolu to see her in this state. She looked as peaceful as she lay on the bed. Bolaji felt her fingers move. ‘Baby mi’, he said, ‘I miss you’. Softly her eyes flicked open; they scanned the room and rested on his face, ‘Ololufemi’ she murmured, ‘e bin pa mi’.
After a few days of observation at the hospital, Dr. Boms had her discharged and allowed her to continue recuperating at home. Everyone who had come around to visit had told her how lucky she was to have made it though. Some other passengers didn’t live to tell the story. Kevwe sure didn’t count a cast leg as lucky, or the dotted scars on her face, as she made her way to the parking lot with her husband and mum helping her.
The road to recovery looked long and painful for Kevwe. Though a simple fracture, Dr. Boms had said it would take three months to heal. That was three months from her life, which she sure was not ready to throw away. It is ‘amazing’ how in a fraction of a minute, one’s whole life can be changed: from the independent strong Mum & Wife to a dependent handicapped Mum & Wife.
Each limp round the house fed the desire within her. I want me back, she pleaded’ ‘not in bits, but complete like I was before all this’. Every glance at a mirror filled her with fearful thoughts: will the scars be permanent? Would I have to go into public places wearing a face cap or something? The thoughts of what lay ahead did not placate her fears. “This is not the way it’s supposed to happen at least certainly not to me, Kevwe said, as her eyes brimmed. Bolaji had been a real source of comfort, but he didn’t totally understand; He wasn’t the one with the fractured leg in a cast. He wasn’t the one limping around.
To be continued….
