The Beginning...
"Life is tough and so are you." -Andria.
Here came the nurse as usual with my daily medications. She looked so pretty, her radiating skin and a catchy smile in between her perfect cute lips displaying her bright white set of teeth.
"Good morning Amanda, What a bright day, it seems the sun has a wide smile today", she said as she drew out the syringe.
"Good morning Miss Harriet", I replied. I often wondered while a young lady would bear the name Harriet, it sounded like a name for elderly people to me. She gave me my medications and left.
*******
It was almost 11 pm and everyone was gathered around the table with their pajamas and bottles of water, the evening breeze was cool while the trees swayed in harmony, the crickets could be heard in the background.
There was a long silence till Josh broke it, "Can't believe Rebecca has died". It seemed like his words brought more silence than breaking it.
Everyone was in a solemn state, more like we were terrified than shocked. It was incredible.
"Rebecca can't be gone, it must be some sort of prank", I said.
" She was so full of energy", Roger said.
"I'm sure she didn't expect it too", Rachael added.
Rebecca was one of us, she was our friend, she was so filled with energy, always in a happy mood, and brought laughter wherever she went.
Her beauty was astonishing with her kinky hard hair she never combed. She was a little above six feet and had a slender body not forgetting her ever flat stomach that never protruded no matter how enormous she ate.
She was a victim of deadly low blood pressure and had a lot of other illnesses she never mentioned to anyone.
Low blood pressure is surely one of the deadliest diseases that kills slowly but either way, Rebecca's death was a surprise to everyone.
Yeah, we are all patients in St.Ives hospital awaiting death. It may sound absurd but it is the truth.
We all suffer from incurable illnesses, the government has offered free medications and special treatment for all the patients in this hospital.
It was such a nice gesture from the government as our life span became longer than it should, but one thing remained that we will die soon.
Who wouldn't die? Everyone will!
The hospital was big with lots of rooms arranged opposite each other on each passage.
It was also a very tall building but unlike normal hospitals, it had a garden, swimming pool, and game compartments on the ground floor, there were no televisions, radios, and none of us had phones.
It was like a different world on its own adding to the fact that the hospital is located far away from the town.
The view around the hospital was so therapeutic, the sandy hills, the green trees, and blooming flowers during summer, and the snow-covered landscape in winter.
The colorful birds singing on the trees in the morning, the crickets at night.
The sunrise and sunset could be admired from the windows, the moon and stars at night weren't an exception.
The nurses exhibited an excellent show of kindness towards us, the doctors were friendly as well.
The patients were of different breeds; the grumpy ones who will never respond to your greeting or even look at your face, always murmuring and fighting with themselves, they always had wrinkles all over their faces and look like they would eat you up if you pester them.
Then, the depressed patients who never utter a word, these set of patients were always found in the garden both day and night, either looking at the flowers or the sky, watching the sunrise, sunset, or the stars with keen attention.
Everyone in the hospital was depressed in some way or I'll rather say, everyone, was struggling with their mental health.
However, there was another set who you'll never believe we're patients, they will always put a smile on their face wherever they went, greet you before you even see them, and will ask after you.
They will sing aloud every morning and their laughter will always echo the passages whenever they passed by. It seemed like they have adapted to life easily, they have accepted their fate and kept life living. Such lovely people!
Flashbacks to the 5th of March 2005, when I came into this hospital. I was diagnosed with abstetosis about a year ago, received lots of treatments from my doctor, spent most of my savings on my treatments.
My doctor suggested I came over to this place where I won't spend anymore and will get more advanced treatment from specialists.
It was on a Saturday, I left my house and boarded a taxi to the hospital. I had no family way before now. It's a long story.
Coming to the hospital should be one of the best choices I ever made. I still don't regret it. There were ups and downs along with lots of lessons learned.
The best part was the people I met in the hospital. I was admitted to the second floor of the hospital.
" 2nd floor, roomA5", the receptionist told me. I remember walking to my room, taking a tour around the hospital, it was very neat, simple, and yet classy.
It also smelt nice compared to other hospitals that had a pungent smell of drugs and antiseptics which was one of the reasons I hated going to hospitals.
There were pretty paintings on the wall as well as life motivational quotes, it was such a serene environment, met a few people at the stairs on my way.
I decided not to use the elevator because I enjoyed the view while walking through the passages.
As time went on, I got to know a few faces especially those on the same floor with me, they were lovely people.
We exchanged pleasantries whenever we met anywhere in the hospital. We got familiar with each other that we will keep each other company in the cafeteria, garden, and game room.
Somedays, we wake up to dead bodies being carried away from the hospital, or doctors and nurses running helter-skelter to save someone who went into a critical condition.
I remembered peeping into a room when I passed by because the door was opened and I noticed that the patient was in ICU, the nurse just finished checking up on him and was leaving the room.
"Excuse me, nurse, how long has he been in this condition?", I asked.
" Almost three years", she replied. That startled me.
"Hopefully he wakes up soon", she added and walked away.
With time I realized that lots of patients in the hospital had critical cases, I was just among the few that could walk, eat with ease irrespective that I struggle with breathing.
No wonder the hospital seemed so quiet but all the rooms were occupied.
The nurses will always come by at least thrice a day to administer medications and ask about our well-being, the doctors also came by regularly too.
Occasionally, we had ted talks by motivational speakers or musical concerts.
* * * * * * * *
My room is located on the left-wing of the second floor alongside nine other rooms.
Every floor had five wings and each wing had ten rooms.
My wingmates were; Rebecca Anderson, James Brentford, John Wilton, Rose Virginia, Roger Bentel, Rachael Ray, Stephen Colbert, Charissa Mobeto, and Cyril Alfred.
It was Charissa's birthday and we were all invited, she said she would love to celebrate her 20th birthday with people she was closest to in the hospital, which was her wingmates, us!
We all gathered at the common room of our wing at 7 pm. It was nothing special, no decorations, no music, not even a birthday cake.
It was just the 10 of us and cricket sounds in the background. The night was still young but was so quiet.
"Thank you all for coming, I'm grateful", she said.
The night ended with Charissa sharing her story with us, she has been admitted to the hospital when she was nineteen.
She shared how she has lived a lonely life for a year now, how she missed schooling and gave up all her dreams in this world.
"The truck came with speed and hit our car off the cliff", she said.
"I remember people gathering and helping us out of the car, we survived but we were in a critical condition, We all had paralysis, my mum, my dad, and I, it was horrible," Charissa said.
We watched her struggle in between the words, must have been a horrible experience for her.
"My mum was the first to give up on life, then my dad, my aunt took care of me for two years but my health seemed to worsen as the days go by, no school, no walking, no friends, just I and my wheelchair", she continued.
"My aunt tried all her best but it was all to no avail, the therapy was of no help, neither was the traditional massage", she added.
Charissa was so eloquent, she speaks so well, ordering attention with every word she spoke, her skin shone like the sun, alongside her head.
She was on skin cut, there was no hair on her head yet she was beautiful. It is always said that a lady's beauty lies in her hair but Charissa's case was different.
Everyone has their story which we all locked within our hearts, but what is a story when it can't be shared!
At the end of the day, we all decided that we'll always gather in that room every midnight, to share our stories and keep each other company.
This idea was accepted by everyone, we all wanted to know ourselves more and share our best and worst moments with everyone.
This was the beginning of the MIDNIGHT CLUB!.