Chapter Twelve

After a few minutes, a footstep was heard on the staircase, then an image appeared. It was Dr. Kenneth, who was holding a sheet of paper in his left hand. When he sighted Lucky, he covered his mouth with his right hand, stunned by Lucky's appearance. He got closer to Lucky, who was fixed to a point, probably because of the headache he had.

"Why is this bandage on your head? Who would have cost it?" the Doctor commenced, seeming to be oblivious of the scenario that occurred the previous day.

"It seems you have a short-term memory," said Lucky with annoyance, "Where is Bianca? I want to see her."

Dr. Kenneth wasn't surprised at Lucky's statement. He knew he deserved it, because he knew what had transpired a day before. It probably skipped his mind.

"You can't see her now. I mean she is under the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) machine."

Machine? Lucky said, shocked at the severity of her health status. This is unbelievable! Bianca on a machine. What had Esther done to this poor soul that she had to be in an ICU machine? At least she is alive. If not, I would strategize killing Esther. Wicked soul. This was what went through Lucky's mind within a fraction of a second.

He continued his enquiry.

"How serious is her case?" Lucky enquired.

"Complicated," replied Dr. Kenneth at a very fast pace, almost as if he read Lucky's mind.

"How? Explain," Lucky queried, with a lot of anxiety running through his body.

"After some series of tests, we noticed that she survived a cardiogenic shock which is very dangerous to the body system. This occurs when the oxygen-rich blood reaching the brain stops automatically and the pulse begins to slow down gradually. Then the sign that follows is loss of consciousness, which I think she was into when I came yesterday. Not only that, she had some underlying ailments such as High Blood Pressure, which read 129 to 130. And anyone with such a high blood pressure had hypertension. Her heartbeat raced 150 per minute. Apart from this, we noticed that she had been suffering from an overdose of an antidepressant drug she had taken in. Her respiratory rate was 35 breaths per minute. Because of how deadly her case was, she had to commence physiotherapy early on. To cut it short, it remained a little for her to leave this earth if not for our machine. But thank God she is alive and responding to treatment."

Lucky took a long deep breath in before breathing out. Tears flowed down his cheek. He didn't care if he was a man or gradually turning into a child. He could not just imagine all the statements echoed by the doctor.

"Doctor, do you mean that this was all caused by Bianca or was there a third party involved in this complication?" Lucky asked with a husky tone.

"Maybe," the doctor said enigmatically, "I think so. Probably factors led to all this. Because after our diagnosis we came to know that the drug she took was antidepressant drug which was catastrophic to her body and system."

"What you said is ninety-nine percent true," Lucky replied, cleaning his tears with his bare hands.

"Certainly," the doctor said.

His pocket vibrated, then a light sprung up through the skin of the trousers. He thrust his hand into his pocket and took out the phone, picking up the call. He tried talking at first but was overcome by the person on the line and all that Dr. Kenneth had to say was, "alright."

"My attention is needed right now" the Doctor said, putting his phone back into his pocket, "But before I leave here, what transpired after my departure that you had this bandage wrapped around your forehead?"

"A lot." Lucky said, "That is all I can say. Avoid details."

"Alright, I will call a nurse to take care of you right away, I hope you don't have a fracture," he said, not waiting for a response from Lucky, and walked out of the door and closed it from behind.

The more Lucky was compelled to sit down on the chair due to headache pain, the more tears began to flow once more. He attempted to think, but his mind was distorted. Lucky was only able to stare at the reception area while tears streamed from his eyes. The door made a small creaking noise before opening. She was a female nurse dressed in white, with blonde hair, a mature face, and a good height to go along with her maturity—she would be at least forty years old. Her left hand was holding a book. She then approached the distraught Lucky, putting her hands on his neck to take his temperature. She immediately removed her hand due to how hot it was. She quickly placed the paper she was holding in her hands on the receptionist's desk and then walked back to Lucky's position after squatting to open the front drawer and retrieve an electronic thermometer.

"Hello, dear," she called, facing in the direction of Lucky. Lucky tried to talk, but it seemed that his mouth was too heavy for him to open, so he had to look at her as a way of answering, which the nurse understood. "Your temperature is very high."

Lucky continued staring at her without showing any signs of verbal response. "You will have to be admitted because it seems that the injury to your forehead has made you lose a pool of blood. It shows in your body." She stopped talking as she went over to the desk and scribbled something on a piece of paper.

"Can you stand up," she asked, looking up at Lucky for a response. Lucky tried standing up, but he could not. Then she took her phone and called someone to bring in the stretcher. In less than thirty seconds, a young man brought in the stretcher, and they lifted Lucky and placed him on the stretcher. Lucky was admitted to the hospital for a period of a week after the nurse got a knowledge that the wound on his forehead involved a little bit of a fracture. They took him to Ward 159, where the wound had been opened for a proper outlook and screening. Before they could offer any drugs to him, he was ordered to eat something; not anything, but a heavy food that would be able to sustain the drugs he was taking. "I don't have a dime in my pocket, only my transport fee is left with me," Lucky responded, finally finding his tongue after a long period of dumbness. "Wow, so you could talk," the nurse amazingly said.

Lucky smiled.

"Don't worry, dear, we will provide everything available for your welfare as long as you are a messenger of JK. You are well treated. Just relax your nerves, everything will be alright," the nurse said with a cloud of assurance.

"But it hurts," Lucky voiced out, pointing to his forehead.

"For the meantime, Dear."

"Alright."

As they were talking, the door creaked a little, and then a chef came in holding a tray of food. "Drop it beside the table near the patient," the nurse summoned.

The chef dropped it and left.

"Sit down and eat. Or should I help with feeding you?" said the nurse.

"No." Lucky rejected it sharply.

"Alright. Eat, or should I leave?" said the nurse.

"Stay around."

The nurse didn't quite interpret what he meant by "stay around." Was it to leave or stay back? She was confused.

"Do you mean I should stay here?" the nurse asked.

"That's what I mean," Lucky answered.

Lucky attempted to stand up but was unsuccessful. Because of his excruciating headache, every time he tried, he failed. He was helped by the nurse to sit down on the bed, but it was to no avail. This time, it was obvious that he needed someone to feed him, so he reluctantly complied with her request after the second time she made it. Despite the assistance being given, the food was brought closer to his mouth so he could eat it. He lacked the appetite of eating. The nurse continued her best in forcing him to eat, yet he refused. He wouldn't eat, which infuriated her. She became frustrated about with his refusal to eat to the point that she was about leaving. Due to her patience, she made the decision to try again for the nth time, and this time, she was successful. Lucky took a bite and continued until he finished everything and drank some water. After he had eaten for thirty minutes, his medications were given to him, which he took.

After two weeks, Lucky was completely well. The wound began to heal a little, and the excruciating headache went away. His lifeless body regained vitality and strength. He was completely discharge from the hospital. He got to his feet and went to give the nurse a hug for doing her absolute best to help him recover. He then gave her his phone number and vowed to never again forget her. The two left the room and made their way downstairs to the lobby. As soon as Lucky saw the woman he had first encountered upon entering the hospital, a flashback occurred in his mind, and he recalled Bianca and Dr. Kenneth. He abruptly stopped moving, startling the nurse who was standing next to him.

"Is there any issue?" she asked.

"I remember a patient," Lucky said.

"Who?" she uttered.

"Bianca by name. Do you know her?"

"Of course, I do."

"Where is she?"

"She is in a state of coma."

"Can I see her now?"

"Hmm …. Not on my authority... unless our boss grants you permission," said the nurse.

"Dr. Kenneth, right?" asked Lucky.

"Sure."

"Call him right away to help me."

The nurse replied, "Unless you meet the receptionist over there, I'm sorry, I can't."

After giving her a quick nod, Lucky approached the girl he had first met at the reception. They greeted one another.

"Please assist me in inviting Dr. Kenneth over. I urgently need to see him."

"Dr. Kenneth recently left the hospital to buy some snacks. He promised to return soon. Please take a seat, sir."

"I'm fine here," Lucky said.

Lucky watched the ongoing football game on the TV that was placed next to the front desk clerk. Unfortunately, another club was performing better than his fan club. For impartial viewers, the El-classico was entertaining to watch. While Real Madrid stayed back to absorb the pressure and play looping balls that troubled Barca's defence in their six and seven, Barcelona was playing their usual possession-based brand of football. Unfortunately, Real Madrid was unable to capitalise on Barca's flimsy defence as they continued to miss golden scoring opportunities. Every opportunity Real Madrid missed; Lucky demonstrated his displeasure by placing his two hands on his head. He was so absorbed in the game that he was completely unaware when Dr. Kenneth entered the room and laughed as he observed him.

"Sir," the receptionist called to his attention.

"Alright," said Lucky, jolting back to reality.

The receptionist smiled at his response and then told him that the person he was waiting for had arrived.

"Oh," said Lucky, removing his face from the TV. Just then he noticed Dr. Kenneth

He quickly walked to Dr. Kenneth, and asked for a hug but the latter ignored him, by stretching out his hand simply for a handshake. As they both shook hands together.

"You look more amazing than the day you came here. I hope everything is alright now."

"Sure," Lucky responded with a beaming smile.

"Happy to hear that you feel okay." said Dr. Kenneth.

"Thanks," said Lucky, "How is Bianca? Hope she is getting better?"

"Very much more than we predicted," said Dr. Kenneth with a smile.

"Can I see her?" Lucky enquired.

He was about replying Lucky when he got to notice that the reception was like a grave yard that even though he whispers it would be as if he was at his peak of his voice. As they got to the office he sat down on his chair with a desk at his front and then summoned Lucky to seat down opposite to him. There was a bed set up to Lucky's left. Except for the painting that was painted on the wall and his name, which was written clearly on the wall, nothing was positioned on the four corners of the wall. There was a cabinet placed at the right hand of Lucky's chair, near to him, perhaps that may be the place where his emergency tools were being kept.

"Please close the door," said Dr. Kenneth.

Lucky stood up, closed the door, and sat down on his chair, as they began their conversation.

"You said something; please remind me," said Dr. Kenneth.

"I said that—"

"Alright about if you can see her, right?" he interrupted.

"Of course."

"Hmm… I don't think so."

"Why?" Lucky warily asked

"Because she is on oxygen and an infusion pump."

Lucky seemed to be confused by what the doctor had just said.

"But I thought she was in a coma," said Lucky.

The doctor was shocked at the mention of a "coma."

"How do you know? Who told you?" Dr. Kenneth asked, surprised.

"Don't bother about that. Let's move on."

"Tell me."

"No."

"This makes me pissed off because the person is not a trustworthy person. The person can also put the secrets of the hospital into the hands of an enemy." He said, almost flaming up.

"Hey, so you mean that it is a fault to tell the patient's relatives about the condition of the patient."

"In matters relating to this, it is very wrong if it is not from the right person."

"Oh, so you are the right person. Is that what you mean?" said Lucky.

"Of course."

Lucky almost said what was on his mind, but kept quiet when he remembered that this was the same Dr. Kenneth who had saved Bianca's life and also his coworker who had helped him recover quickly. He decided to change the topic to prevent the situation from getting worse.

"Does JK know of the case?" asked Lucky, trying to change the topic.

"Do you mean her case?" responded Dr. Kenneth.

"Sure."

"Why not? My fellow colleague and I diagnosed her case as complicated. I quickly got through to him. We asked for his permission if she should be taken to the ICU machine. Then he gave the go ahead."

"Alright," said Lucky, coughing a little.

"But can you tell me who told you she was in a coma? Just tell me,"

"I can't, let's bury it here."

"I would get to know, but all the same let's forget about it," he said, drawing out his locker and taking out a scan.

"Look at this," said Dr. Kenneth, pointing his hand to a part located around the scan, "Do you see all this?"

"Yes," Lucky responded.

"Those are the areas that are affected," he continued.

"How long will it take for everything to be alright?"

"A month or two."

"That's long."

"Of course."

"I can no longer stay here again. I have to go back home." said Lucky, tears dropping from his eyes, "Bianca, I know you can't see me or hear me now, but I wish you a quick recovery. Goodbye!"

Lucky and Dr. Kenneth stood up from their respective chairs, with tears all over Lucky's face.

"Stop crying, it will soon be over." The doctor urged him. They both left the office as Lucky shook hands with Dr. Kenneth, then cleaned his face before dashing out to the reception all alone.