Tarasha - Chapter 82

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.

Chapter end