Dr. Agaba

Mom and Jasper came about ten minutes later. Mom cried when she discovered Sarah's death. She cried so much I had to tell Jasper to take her home. 

The police came and asked some questions about my relationship with Sarah, and then they asked the doctor who hit her with his car. It was then I discovered that his car was a Mercedes Benz, and that he had come into the country for his wedding.

"I feel so horrible about the accident," he said. "She came out of nowhere."

"Do you have a license?" I asked, and I smelled the peppermint all over his body again.

"Yes, I do. I have one in the UK, and I have one here." He looked into my eyes. "I wasn't driving roughly."

"Did you take alcohol today," I asked. 

His eyes shrunk for a moment and then they grew wider. "I was not drunk," he said, and then he lowered his head, as if avoiding my eyes. "They police can confirm it. They checked me; I wasn't drunk."

I nodded, looking into his eyes. He lowered his eyes from my gaze and looked down at his phone. There was something about him, but I just couldn't place my hand on it. I thought maybe I had met him before, but I couldn't remember when or where. I concluded that since he was a doctor, maybe I met him in one of the hospitals…maybe during my stay in the hospital.

"The police would confirm I wasn't drunk," he said again. "They took my sample."

"That's alright," I said. "Which of the police stations?"

"The one in Rayfield," he said.

But his eyes couldn't meet mine, and I had a feeling that what he was saying, he was saying it just to assuage me. Why did he have to tell me so many times that he wasn't drunk? Was he? If he was, why was he hiding it? Many thoughts ran through my mind, and my head swirled like a crazy man's head. 

I looked at my wrist. The time was 6:55 P.M.

"I will be going," I said. 

"Yeah," he said, taking another step closer to me. "Take my number; in case you have a need to contact me." The smell of the peppermint was stronger now.

I nodded but did not pull out my phone to take his number. I didn't want anything to keep us together; any time I see him or see his call, I know that I was going to be reminded about Sarah and I don't think I wanted that. That was something I didn't want to happen to me day after day, or even from time to time. I didn't want that at all. 

"Can I take yours?" he asked. 

I woke up from my thoughts.

I called out the number to him and he typed them into an iPhone. I looked at the phone, noticing that it was the latest version in the market. This guy must be drooling in money, I thought.

"I will call you now," he said, and two seconds later my phone rang. I type in his name and save it. 

"Dr. Agaba," he said. "I work in the UK. I just came for my wedding and this unfortunate thing happened. I am truly sorry."

I nodded. 

"Can I give you lift?" he asked. "I can take you anywhere you want to go."

I shook my head. "I can drive myself. I came in my car."

"Okay," he said, and stretched out his hand. 

I shook it. This hand was big and warm, and I thought whether he was a surgeon. Once more, the smell of peppermint sweet was all around him.

"I am sorry again," he said, releasing my hand. "I hope you have a good night rest."

"You too," I said, and turned away. 

I walked out of the hospital with my legs walking on the clouds. The air was cold outside, but I did not pull up my collar or bothered to lock up the buttons around my neck. I walked like a zombie, mechanical and slowly, unaware of where I was.

"Where am I going to start from?" I muttered. "How can I live life without you, Sarah?"

The tears ran again, without control and without any particular direction. I cleaned my face twice before I reached the car. I sat in the car and cried some more, and by the time I looked at the time, I had spent an hour and half sitting in the car. 

I started the car and drove out of the hospital. I was driving toward home but changed my mind. I turned the car and headed to the Rayfield Police Station.

I drove into the compound and parked in the public parking space. I walked into the police station and found three policemen standing behind a counter. 

"Good evening," I said.

"Good evening," the one standing closer to me answered. "What do you want?"

"I am here to lay a complaint," I said. 

"About what?" he asked.

"It's about the accident that happened in the afternoon."

"Yes, what about it?"

"I want to learn more about what happened. The lady that died in the accident is…was my fiancée."

"Sorry about that," the same policeman said. "But what do you want to know? I investigated the case."

I hesitated. I didn't know how they were going to take what I was about to tell them. 

"I just wanted to find out if the driver was drunk or not," I said.

The three policemen looked at each other. Then the one talking to me came out from behind the counter. He stood in front of me. 

"He said you tested him," I said.

"Yes," he said. "But he wasn't drunk. I would have locked him up if he was drunk. He wasn't drunk."

"Okay," I said. "I just wanted to find out. He had licked so much peppermint sweet that I thought maybe he was trying to hide the smell of alcohol."

The policemen looked at themselves again. 

"You can go home and rest," the policeman said. "Leave the investigation to us. We will take care of everything; but he wasn't drunk. It was just unfortunate that your wife to be ran into the road without looking."

I nodded but remain standing. I couldn't just leave; something seemed to be at odd with the situation, but I couldn't just place my hand on what it was. I guessed with the way my mind was numbed, I wasn't thinking clearly.

"Is there any other problem?" the policeman asked.

"No," I said, and i turned and walked out of the station.

I walked to the car and sat in it. I thought for another while, and then started the car. I was pulling out when I saw the policeman standing beside the car. 

"Can I come in?" he asked, and then he turned to look at the entrance to the police station.

"Is there a problem, officer?" I asked.

"Let me come in," he said, and looked back again. I stopped the car and opened the door for him to get in. He jumped into the car, sitting in the front seat.

"I want to tell you something," he said. "But don't say you heard it from me."

I nodded. "Okay?"

I noticed he was one of the three policemen who asked what I wanted when I walked into the station. 

"Do you promise not to mention my name when you are talking about it?" the man asked.

I didn't know where this was going to, but I said, "I promise."

"Okay," he said, and again he looked at the entrance, as if expecting someone would come out of the station and come to challenge him.

"Your guess is right," he said. "The man who knocked your wife was drunk. The sergeant you spoke with was the one who checked him and discovered he was drunk."

I remained silent.

"But the driver brought out dollars and bribed him," the policeman said. "After he collected the money, he changed the report and said that the driver wasn't drunk. But most of us in the station knew that the driver was drunk. He was smelling of alcohol when they brought him in."

I couldn't say a word. This wasn't the first experience I was having with the police, but this one left me in shock. I just stared at the policeman sitting beside me as if I was in a dream.

"I just wanted you to know the truth," he said. "Anything that has to do with the dead I don't want to be part of it. That's why I want you to know."

"Thank you so much, officer," I said. My voice didn't sound like mine.

"But don't take up a case against the driver," he said. "If you do, the report will show that he wasn't drunk, and you have no way to prove that he was. I just wanted you to know the truth. Not for you to make a case against him."

"Thank you so much," I said again. "I am must grateful. Thank you."

He nodded. "Please remember you didn't hear anything from me. If this ever comes up, I will deny that I said anything to you. Do you understand?"

I nodded. "I won't bring it up. Thank you so much."

"Okay," he said and opened the car. He walked back to the station without turning back. 

I remained in the car and cried again.