Hushed Echoes

Jamal began to feel very uneasy in his mind, particularly about the Faye of his best friend, if there was a way he could have appeared instantly at the mortuary through supernatural means, he would have readily some so, but that was not to be.

The general hospital was still about twelve kilometers away and as such, he had to follow the normal process, ignite the car, revert it and hurry down there was the only way.

And so he had to brace himself against the situation, quickly he went back to Marco’s mother who was still sitting on the floor with her forehead bent beneath her lap, still sobbing profusely.

“We have to go to the mortuary immediately Maria, in other to confirm the true state of the situation” said Jamal.

“Mortuary?” Maria exclaimed, does that mean my husband is dead?”

“No, we cannot conclude that way until we verify his body Is actually there or not, please stand up and let us go, there is no time to waste”

Hardly he had finished the statement when Maria picked up her scarf from the floor and feebly entered the front seat of the car and off they went.

As they approached the gate leading to the general hospital, they did not need anybody go tell that this was indeed their final bustop, it was at this place their fate was going to be determined, it was this same time they will discover wether Maria’s husband, who is Marco’s father and Jamal’s best friend was either dead or alive.

Nevertheless they could not help but be astounded upon discovery that there were people gathered round every nook and cranny of the hospital.

They being there was just to catch a glimpse of the detached structure of the hospital, but a great number of people amassed there because of the sorrow and misfortune that had befallen them.

Come to think of it, what is life after all? When a person so close and dear to you suddenly dies mysteriously, someone you eat with, play and share a lot in common with all of a sudden drops dead.

Such was the stream of consciousness that pervaded Jamal’s mind when he was craving to get a better view of the large crowd of people roaming round the hospital with a heavy heart.

In any case, he really had no time to stand and stare as he asked Maria to seat outside and wait while he went inside to verify whether her husband was among those lying in the morgue, it was not up to Fifteen minutes, he came out of the hospital looking terrified.

Though he had received the information with equanimity, the greatest task was how to relay the news to Marco’s mother who was impatiently waiting for him, so when he emerged from the hospital morgue, Jamal stood apart for a while trying to figure out the best way to convey the message to the bereaved wife.

The feeling of horror as well as the disbelief was overwhelming, his feet began to tremble with fright and phobia, he looked around and discovered that Maria was lying on the bare ground, adjacent to the gate, still weeping furiously, as a matter of fact he got more tensed as his gaze lingered on her.

Yet he was still undecided on what to do next, as he stared at her again and again, standing there did not provide him the much needed courage he wanted, at a point Jamal became suffocated by his thoughts as. He felt a lump in his throat which he could not swallow, for not only would he announced the death of her husband, he equally have to adjust his absorber to contend with her shock.

‘what if she collapse immediately on hearing the news? How is he sure that she would not run back inside the mortuary to search for her husband herself?” These and itdf thoughts threatened his mental faculty enormously, within a second he began to feel headache and his oblong face contorted with pains.

Inspite of these mind boggling, heartbreaking circumstance, he was still clinging to the face that something practical needs to be done and there was no other forerunner than himself, wether good or bad, the story has to be told.

He was about to step down the frontage of the hospital after he had made up his mind when Maria turned round and saw him approaching, she ran briskly towards him and held him by the collar and shouted on top of her voice.

“What has happened to him? Have you seen Sylvester? Jamal please tell me, is he dead or alive?” She pestered with exaggerated emphasis.

Jamal throat was so constricted that his word can out slowly, ” calm down Maria” he said.

“Please tell me, tell me Jamal” she groaned, holding tightly onto his shirt, ” I want to know what is happening to my husband”.

“I will tell you Maria, just stop screaming and pull yourself together, this is not the end of the world, you have to be strong and courageous, after all such thing as this has happened to so many people, though it’s painful and sorrowful but there is hardly anything anybody can do, what has happened has happened, the only thing now is to pray to God to grant you the fortitude to bear the kiss because he has a reason for everything”.

Jamal’s voice had soften, almost imperceptibly when he mentioned those words and the whole of his far was throbbing, his eyes were bloodshot, it seemed as if he were about to lose his balance, he felt his jaw tightened as he looked at her wondering how to say the next thing.

“Well…” He continued, ” Iam sorry Maria, we have to go back home, the unexpected has happened, there is a need for us to start making preparations for the funeral, your husband body is in the mortuary and has been certified dead”

Jamal’s statement fell on Maria like a thunder, and just as he had rightly thought earlier she almost stripped herself naked trying to push her way into the entrance of the hospital.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Leave me alone let me go and see him” she kept screaming loudly, ” let me just die here” she kept on screaming, hot tears rushed down her face, she made an attempt to disentangle herself from Jamal’s strong grip.

He had exerted all his energy to keep her in control, her skirt almost fell off her waist and her wet straggly hair was so scattered that it almost shielded her face, some people around the mortuary came to give him a helping hand, they finally succeeded at last after several attempt to calm her down.