TARASHA Episode 17 Pt 1 – Oyin Oluwatosin Emmanuel

TARASHA Episode 17 Pt 1 – Oyin Oluwatosin Emmanuel

The door suddenly flung open and a nurse barged in looking troubled.

‘Sir, the accident victim on ward 12B is nowhere to be found.’

‘What?’ The Doctor gave the nurse an angry look. Firstly, he was angry at how she barged into his office without knocking and he was also angry that she announced the news in the presence of visitors, worse still the people who brought in the patient. ‘What do you mean by that?’ The Doctor barked, trying to avoid the gaze from the officers.

‘We don’t know, we couldn’t just find him there anym…’ The nurse tried to explain.

‘Doctor,’ Dakolo cut in. ‘Are you saying there is no remedy for his case?’

‘Ermm… Please nurse, you may leave.’ The Doctor turned back to his guests, surprised that they were less moved about the disappearance of the second patient. ‘No known remedy for now. His brain cells are degenerating so fast.’

Dakolo heaved a sigh of frustration, Sylvester’s face was also covered with grief as he folded his arms with his chest up.

‘Please Gentlemen, you may have to excuse me now’ the Doctor said as he got up from his seat.

‘Wait Doc,’ Ken stopped him, blocking the way. ‘The lost patient in ward 12B, isn’t that the man we brought in the same day with Henry?’ Ken asked.

‘Oh!’ Dakolo exclaimed, his attention finally brought to what the nurse said.

‘No, I’m sure it’s a mix up. That’s what I need to go and clarify, I’m sure he’s somewhere around the premises.’ The Doctor replied and walked past as Ken allowed him. Ken stared at Dakolo who was still seated and was not ready to stand yet.

‘You can follow him,’ Dakolo permitted with a nod.

Ken turned immediately and followed after the Doctor. He joined the man on the stairs and they both marched down quietly and speedily.

Soon, they got to ward 12B and they met two nurses there, one was already cleaning up the ward while the other stood like she was monitoring.

‘What’s happening here? Where’s the patient?’ The Doctor asked.

A nurse turned back to the Doctor confidently. The uniform she wore indicated that she was one of the head nurses. ‘Doctor, Good evening.’ She greeted calmly.

‘Matron, Good evening.’ The Doctor replied calmly in respect for the matron who was also an elderly person.

‘I don’t think there’s any cause for alarm, he left willingly.’ The matron said.

‘What do you mean matron?’ The Doctor squinted.

‘I saw him and a lady drive out when I was returning from Jumat service. I was surprised and I stopped the car to ask why he was leaving when he was supposed to be discharged next week.

He said his sister wanted him to leave the Hospital to continue treatment somewhere else. I tried to convince him to stay but he didn’t agree.’ The woman ended her explanation with a shrug.

‘Are you sure it was his sister?’

‘Yes, he said she was his sister. Although she didn’t say anything, he doesn’t look forced to leave, his face was kind of filled with joy. I’m only surprised when I came upstairs and the nurses declared the patient missing, I thought his sister took him away with the hospital’s approval.’ The matron replied.

‘Matron, you should know we won’t approve such a patient’s departure, he was brought in by the police.’ The Doctor countered.

‘I wasn’t here when he was brought in, I only knew about his admission.’ She argued.

The Doctor heaved a sigh. He took a brief glance at Ken who was watching in silence, trying to communicate something with his eyes.

‘Doctor, you didn’t tell us he had a visitor.’ Ken spoke.

‘I was going to tell you, I wanted to tell you that a family member had come to identify him and also that the person who hit him has settled the bill but I had to first break the news which concerned the NSCC chairman, he has been waiting all day for your arrival.’ The Doctor explained.

‘But did the patient patient confirm that she was a member of her family?’ Ken questioned sternly.

‘Yes, he was surprised at first but was very happy to see her. He confirmed that she was his younger sister.’

‘Okay,’ Ken paused a bit and licked his lips. ‘But the security in your hospital must be so bad to have enabled them leave without your approval, does that mean the other victim is not safe here also.’

‘C’mon officer Ken, you know us too well, this has never happened here before. I’m sure there’s more to it and I’ll make sure I report to the authorities.’

‘Or was it because there was no officer attached to the accident victim?’

‘There was no reason for attaching an officer to the patient, he wasn’t a criminal or someone who needed protection from danger, he only had an accident.’

‘I’m just thinking,’ Ken licked his lips again. ‘I’m thinking we should add more officers to watch over the other patient?’

‘Why? The three officers watching over him are enough, even too much. He doesn’t even need someone to watch over him since it’s a case of self poisoning. He’s paralyzed and not mentally stable, he can’t even try to leave here.’ The Doctor retorted.

Ken gave a chuckle which later turned to a faint smile, he stared at the man like he just heard a kid chatter about a very important topic. ‘That guy needs protection, serious one.’ He said.

The Doctor paused and placed his hands on his waist, staring at Ken to give more explanation to why the protection was needed but Ken disappointed him and turned away, exiting through the door without saying any other thing.

~~~

**flashback; four hours ago**

‘Thanks,’ Tarasha waved at the cabman as he drove off. She turned to face the black old gate, she took a look at the neighboring houses, it was a perfect picture of the description she had been given. She proceeded further and pushed the smaller door, it opened and she stepped inside.

She stared at the house in the compound, it was a bungalow. She could see the entrance to a flat at the front view and another at the side view, she began to proceed towards the first entrance, confused as she had never seen the type of house setting.

A pregnant lady who had seen her approaching through the window came out of the front apartment before Tarasha got to the balcony. ‘Hello, what can I do for you?’ She asked with an unwelcoming face.

‘Good morning,’ Tarasha paused and greeted with a smile. ‘I came to check for someone here, he’s called Mallam Jefa.’

‘Mallam Jefa?’ She called out with a surprise note in her voice. ‘No one ever asks of that man!’ She exclaimed as she placed a hand on her waist tiredly and thrusted out her belly. ‘I don’t know if he’s around because I’ve not seen him for a long time now but you can check,’ she closed her door and began to walk down the balcony. Tarasha stepped away for her to pass. ‘He stays at the two room apartment at the back,’ she described the way for Tarasha with her hands.

‘Thank you,’ Tarasha appreciated and continued in the direction where she was pointed. In less than a minute, she got to the apartment described to her. She took a glance around the area before taking out her tool from the bag to open the door.

**Fast forward~~~~Inside the house**

She took out her torchlight from the bag and turned it on to brighten up the dark room, leaving the curtains closed so as not to arouse suspicion. She began to search round the walls, pointing the light to every corner to check if there were pictures. Only cobwebs were seen on the wall, no pictures, calendars or photograph. She proceeded to the centre table and bent down to check some books under. The first she picked out was an old one which looked familiar.

She got up with the torch stuck in her mouth and wiped the cover of the book with her hand. A picture fell off from it as she opened. She bent to pick the picture, it was an old photograph of a family. 

Tears formed in her eyes as she focused the torchlight on the picture and saw the faces of her parents and siblings once again.

**Fast Forward ~~~Two hours later **

Dressed in an Hausa native wear, Tarasha approached the reception at the hospital. The scarf on her head was neatly tied and the powder on her face moderate. A liittle tribal tattoo on her left hand and a big female bag to match the colour of her clothes.

‘Good afternoon nurses,’ she greeted pleasantly.

‘Good afternoon, how may we help you?’ A very slim nurse answered her.

‘I came to see my brother who had an accident on Wednesday, ‘ Tarasha replied.

‘What’s his name?’ The nurse asked, opening up a register.

‘Jeffery but he’s known as Mallam Jefa,’ Tarasha answered.

The nurse stared at another nurse who was also listening and they made faces at each other before she turned back to Tarasha. ‘What’s your name please?’

‘I’m Omotara’

‘Omotara?’ The nurses asked surprised that the name was a Yoruba name.

‘Yes,’ Tarasha smiled faintly, noticing the surprise in their faces. ‘I’m Yoruba, I was only born and bred in an Hausa land like Mallam Jefa.’

‘Okay,’ the slim nurse muttered, still unconvinced. She took out a file under the desk and stepped out from behind the reception. ‘You have to wait first, you may have your seat.’ She said pointing Tarasha to the empty seats behind.

‘Thanks,’ Tarasha replied and complied.

The nurse left and returned in five minutes time without the file, she stood by the walkway and signaled for Tarasha to come. Tarasha quickly got up and followed as the nurse led the way. She leveled up with the nurse on the stairs.

‘Sorry for the reception, but we had to be sure you were really his sister. He actually told us that he has no one who was going to come and ask of him.’ The nurse apologized.

‘No problem, I understand.’ Tarasha smiled.

‘Thanks and one more thing,’ the nurse glanced at her with a serious look on her face. ‘Are you guys in good terms?’

‘Of course, why do you ask?’

‘It was a shock to him when I said that you are here to see him,’ the nurse said.

Tarasha chuckled. ‘It’s been a long time we saw and we didn’t separate on a good note also,’ she replied with a smile.

‘Okay, he needs a lot of strength and more importantly rest now. We also found out that he’s been worrying a lot recently, so it would be better not to do something that’ll complicate his situation.’ The nurse advised.

‘Thanks, I’ll do everything possible to ensure he gets the care that he needs.’

The both of them remained in silence for the rest of the walk. Tarasha was taken away by her own thoughts.

Even with all the proofs she got from Mallam Jefa’s house, she had still not accepted that he was her brother. It could just be a trap for her. During her training, she had been taught how to recognize such traps. It was all wrapped around one thing, Emotions.

People tend to always give special care and attention to their families, especially in her own case where they had been separated by bad circumstances. The enemy is always aware of this and may try to come in through it. So she was prepared, she had her weapons all under her clothes, in the pockets of the underwears, she even had a small improvised explosive device in her car that’ll distract and disrupt the whole process in the hospital if this was a trap for her.

They got to ward 12B after walking for two minutes. The nurse opened the door for Tarasha to walk in first. Jefa was seated with his bare back turned to the door, a bandage was around his head and his right hand.

The nurse waited for some seconds to see if Jefa would react to their presence but he didn’t turn back or move. Tarasha also stood still in the middle of the way without saying any word. She realized there was tension between the two and decided it was best to leave them alone. She opened the door and quietly walked out.

After the nurse had gone, Tarasha began to take slow steps forward. Her body trembled and she paused as she heard her name.

‘Omotara,’ Jefa called in a soft voice. The voice did not sound familiar to Tarasha, she wasn’t even expecting to recognize his voice since the last time she heard it was when she was eight.

‘Who are you?’ Omotara replied, in a low but strict voice.

Jefa looked back, taken a bit aback by the question. He thought she had accepted that he was her brother and that was why she came to him but then he also knew she was intelligent and wouldn’t accept like a gullible person.

He stepped down from the bed slowly and turned his face to her. His eyes were full of tears.

Omotara was unmoved. There was no resemblance on his face to Jeffery, her elder brother. She took out the diary and picture from her bag and displayed it to him. ‘Where did you find…?’ She stopped abruptly, the look on his face was familiar.

He gave a brief smile with his weepy face as she twitched hers. ‘Omotara,’ he called again, he turned to the other side of the bed and sat in it. ‘You still have your childhood face and I believe you still have some of the behaviors,’ he began, with his smile broadening.

Omotara folded her arms and stared at him, waiting for him to flop so as to take the next step. She also ensured that she remained conscious of her environment.

‘The top you wore on Wednesday was like the cat woman’s and I also saw your black gloves,’ he paused and laughed briefly. ‘No one wears gloves during hot weathers except they’re obsessed with cat woman.’

His remembrance of her love for cat woman sent down some electric currents down her body, that secret was only known to her family members as it was only at home she did practice the dressing and moves of the character.

But another thought struck her mind and she felt like killing him that moment. He must have gotten the information from her mother’s diary which was found in his possession. He was definitely intelligent and wanted to play on her emotions. With her clenched fists and gritted teeth, she stared at him angrily like a lion waiting to pounce on it’s prey.

Jefa unaware of what was going through her mind, began to proceed towards her slowly, in pains as his whole body ached at every step he took.

…to be continued

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