Tarasha 2 Chapter 6 Part 1 – Oyin Oluwatosin Emmanuel
NEWS AT 8PM
‘Samantha Osman kills her loyalist, Aisha Bello after a clash between them’ ~~~ GTV
‘Aisha Bello and Ex boyfriend, Don Daniel killed by Samantha Osman.’ ~~ Channels
‘Wanted criminals Aisha Bello and Daniel finally executed by Samantha Osman after being used and dumped,’ ~~AIT
‘Finally! Aisha Bello and Daniel Ogbighe, notorious criminals and leaders of the Nanl Gang have met their Waterloo.’ ~~ Desert Reporters
Details of the news by Desert Reporters
Mid afternoon today, activities in Victoria Island and it’s environs came to a halt as sounds of gunshot exchange rent the air. The gun battle was found to issue from a property that has been previously confiscated by the authorities. Our source gathered from the police that the clash of Samantha Osman’s gang with the Nanl Gang seems not to have come to an end with the death of the policemen and gun battle around Rael University area yesterday. The hoodlums have moved their battle from Rael University area to Victoria Island. Thought not confirmed yet, it is believed that Aisha Bello and Daniel Ogbighe popularly known as Don tried to seek refuge in the confiscated property but as fate would have it got located by Samantha Osman and were brutally murdered by her. Their bodies have been recovered from the building alongside with two other male dead bodies, one of which has been identified as the body of Tena, a student of Rael University who is also a suspected cultist.
Efforts are being made by the authorities to trace Samantha Osman and the authorities are more certain about her near end. This incident, for example is a result of the efforts of the authorities, a mole planted by the authorities in Samantha Osman’s camp is the cause of the misunderstanding between her and her colleagues.
More details to come soon. I’m Florence Victor representing Desert Reporters.’
Dave minimized the television app on his tablet and turned it upright. He clicked on the menu icon and began to scroll down, then he selected the NSCC app and dragged it to the homepage. He then clicked it open and stared patiently as it loaded.
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‘Oh my God! This is a bullet wound,’ Jumoke exclaimed as she put down the nylon bag she was holding and knelt beside the injured lady. She used her torch light to scan the body from the head to the toe, she concluded at once that the lady must have sustained the injury from a crime scene and that she was a criminal or a victim. The injured lady had on a black jacket and just bum shorts underneath.
She thought of calling the attention of neighbours and passers-by but that might waste time and the injured lady might die in the process of the crowd deliberating on what to do. Then she got another idea, she could take her in and apply first aid to her and then call the police before she recovers enough to hurt anyone or even escape.
She rose to her feet and put the torchlight in her mouth. She then bent to drag up the girl with her arms but she couldn’t sustain the weight.
‘Aunty nurse, wetin be that?’ a voice called onto her in pidgin English.
‘Ehen, Uche, please come and help me carry this girl into my room.’ she pleaded with the bare chested man.
‘Wetin do am?’ Uche asked, slowly approaching her.
‘She is badly injured, I want to give her first aid before taking her to the hospital.’ Jumoke replied.
‘Which kind wound she get?’ Uche asked again, now staring in front of the motionless body. Tarasha’s back had been turned to the ground when Jumoke tried to carry her.
‘I think she was coming from a party and got stabbed,’ Jumoke quickly lied.
‘Hmm…’ Uche developed pity for the injured girl, totally believing the lie. It was easier for him to lift her to his shoulder, he dusted Tarasha’s thighs which had leaves and dust already on it because of where she laid. He turned into the compound after the fence with her body on his shoulders and his hands holding her thigh to his chest. Jumoke followed behind with her polythene bag and the school bag that was on the floor.
Jumoke opened the door for Uche and allowed him in before entering.
Uche stood before the three seater sofa wondering if he should put the body there.
‘No please, drop her here,’ Jumoke said pointing to the floor as she dragged her centre table away from its position.
‘Aunty nurse, shey you know this girl?’ Uche questioned.
‘Yes, I know her.’ she lied.
‘But you still suppose dey careful with this girl o, make she no go put you for trouble.’ Uche warned as he dropped the injured girl carefully on the ground.
‘Don’t worry Uche, nothing go do am.’ she said, taking out her phone. ‘Thank you.’
‘Okay na’. Uche dusted his hands and made his way out of the nurse’s house.
Jumoke was still searching for the emergency number on her contact list to call the police when she got an incoming call.
‘Hello Sweetheart,’ the caller immediately the call was answered.
‘Hi Dave,’ she recognized his voice.
‘I just left the hospital now but I’ll be returning a little bit late, I still have to do some other things in town.’ Dave replied.
‘Okay,’ she let out a breath and shook her head. Dave had not changed, this had been his way of life when she knew him, he always had another important thing to do in town.
‘Okay, take care.’ Dave said conclusively.
‘Ermm… Dave,’ she called as her eyes met with the lady on the floor again. She wanted to tell Dave about her but he didn’t wait to listen, she decided he would get to meet her when he returns.
She quickly threw her phone to the sofa on realizing she was already taking too much of time. She knelt beside Tarasha and took off the blood stained jacket. Then she turned Tarasha and made her lay face flat, she pointed her light to observe the wound carefully so as to determine the kind of immediate treatment required. After about five minutes, she rose up and turned to lock her door before going into the bedroom. She still had some of the tools she had stolen from the hospital to treat Dave at home when he used to come to her with wounds.
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**Maitama, Abuja**
‘Omotara, are you safe?’ Henry typed into the message box and sent. He had tried to reach her through voice call on several attempts but she wasn’t answering the calls.
He had listened to the news and was wondering what was happening. He refused to believe all that was being said about how Samantha had killed Aisha and Daniel, he even refused to believe at all that Aisha was dead until her dead body was shown briefly during the news hour. He was scared and confused at the same time. Just two days of Tarasha being in Lagos and so many people had died already. He wondered what kind of life she had chosen to live and why she wouldn’t leave it.
He made a flashback to the day Cole and Aisha came to get him during his recovery. He remembered that several innocent people and policemen were also killed that day on Tarasha’s order. He also recalled when she came to rescue him from the prison yard, so many innocent policemen lost their lives and part of the facility was destroyed. It was now weeks after, things were not getting any better, Tarasha was not getting more merciful, instead the killing and destruction had continued and increased.
He thought of walking away before her return, leaving for somewhere else he’ll never be seen again but the thought of leaving her scared him the more. What if she was in danger and needed him? He decided not to give up too soon but tarry a little longer and see if there’ll be any difference. Besides, he wasn’t supposed to expect her to just stop something she had been trained all her life to do. He only could wished she’ll stop very soon.
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Just within few minutes, Jumoke had gotten her sterile instruments from her mini autoclave which Dave had brought for her over a year ago. She had a clean white towel and sterile hand gloves newly unsealed for the purpose. Her tourniquet and combat gaze were also by her side.
She removed the seal from a syringe and drew in anaesthetic liquid from an ampoule. She sighed as she took the needle out of the ampoule, she needed more medicine for sedation but it would take her more time to get that from a pharmacy. She injected the liquid into Tarasha’s vein and dropped the syringe into a white polythene bag.
She briefly scrubbed her hands and nails in a bowl of water treated with disinfectant before she donned the gloves. She then picked a scissors from the a metal case and cut out some cotton wool which she put in between the blades of the scissors. She soaked the piece of cotton wool briefly in the hydrogen peroxide bottle and began to use it to scrub around the surface of the wound on Tarasha’s bare back, making sure the liquid did not get into the wound itself.
She stared at the wound for while without any action, trying to locate the position of the bullet and how deep it was. She needed extra light to see. Her torchlight was on the centre table but she hesitated for a while before going to pick it, she didn’t want to use her hand gloves on non sterile instruments but she had no choice at that moment. She switched on the torchlight and pointed it straight to the wound, using the fingers of the free hand to spread the surface of the wound. Soon she located the position of the bullet and heaved a sigh of relief. She considered Tarasha lucky as the bullet had not entered too deep inside. But then there was still a challenge, there was no way she could remove the bullet with just one hand, she needed the other hand which she was using to hold the torch. But the light was also as important as the use of both hands because there was no way she would see what she was doing properly without it.
‘Please use the headlamp in my bag,’ a very weak voice startled Jumoke and she shifted back, dropping the torch to the floor.. She looked around to see if there was anyone else with them but found nobody. It meant the voice must have come from her patient which she wasn’t expecting. She stared at the patient in shock. Even though she knew the anesthetic she administered was only to reduce the pain and not strong enough to induce temporary unconsciousness, she had thought Tarasha had fainted before being carried into her house by Uche.
‘Please, hurry up.’ the voice came again weakly, mentioning each word slowly and with great efforts.
Jumoke turned towards the centre table where she had also kept the bag and moved closer to it. She unzipped the first section of the bag to search, still wondering how Tarasha was still awake. It only meant she was holding in the pain of the wound all the while before the anaesthetic was given.
A laptop and computer accessories like USB cables, drives and software mini disks were the contents of the first section of the bag. She opened the second and saw some tools and metals in different shapes of keys as she searched. Then she saw something which arouse her inquisitiveness, a small paper pack contained several debit cards and identity cards numbering more than forty in total. She placed her gaze on Tarasha for some few seconds as she observed the cards. She was now sure she was dealing with a criminal, a notorious one. She dropped them back slowly and reached deep down the second section where she found the headlamp. She quickly wore it on her head and closed the second section. But instead of going to continue the treatment, she reached for the third section of the bag and began to unzip it. But then she heard a soft groan behind which reminded her she needed to remove the bullet fast to prevent more damage. She zipped it back and hurried towards her criminal patient.
She knelt beside her and took off the hand gloves which had caught some dirt already. She contemplated on whether to continue the treatment knowing that she was treating someone who the police were probably after or stop at that point and just call the police. But then she thought of what would happen if the patient dies before the police shows up, that could implicate her. But how could she be implicated now that Dave was back, Dave would always find a way to get them out of the mess. She wanted to stand up and suspend the treatment for the meantime but another thought struck her mind. What if Dave was planning to abscond like he did before? Then she would be left alone to solve the problem.
She quickly returned to her kneeling position and took out another set of sterile gloves. She turned on the headlamp before she donned them.
She focused the headlamp light to the wound but couldn’t see the location of the bullet again. Then she applied pressure with her hand, spreading the both sides of the wound with her and located the bullet again. She took off her right hand and picked up the forceps. She rose up and changed her kneeling position to a squat, now she needed her knee to keep open the surface properly.
She put in the forceps and heard Tarasha made a weak groan, the groan continued as she grasped the bullet with the forceps and pulled it out slowly and carefully. She could hear Tarasha gasp and let out a deep breath as she dropped the bullet on the white tissue already placed on the floor.
The bullet was out already, all that remained was to treat the wound.
