Chapter 3

Adrenalin had kicked in and Tjatiwa was not feeling any pain as she eyed her mother, her eyes as wide as saucers. Tears flowing unstemmed. Heart racing, thumping in her ears. This was her mother's most favourite piece of deco. 'What happened?' The single most clear thought floated in her head.

The Butler and a few maids scurried in at this point, trying to prevent a homicide.

"Get out!" Tjedza yelled, even without turning to see who had walked in.

Tjatiwa was having trouble breathing, she turned her face up trying to capture even a small amount of air. She noticed Tjawada, standing on the stairs, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Then suddenly it made sense.. it all made sense.

"Ma-mada-" Tjatiwa feebly tried to call out to her mother. Before she could call out 'madam' she lost all her strength and fell crashing back into the glass.

"Madam!" The Butler screamed, panic attacking him as he rushed through the glass to get to the youngest Miss.

Tjedza, whose taut nerves suddenly snapped, collapsed onto the sofa behind her and lay there in a daze.

"Mother!!" Tjawada flew down the stairs rushing to her mother's side, her heart fighting her lungs.

'This...this wasn't supposed to happen.' She shrieked internally.

'How did things go so bad so fast?' Her thoughts rang.

"Mama has to be alright, she has to be alright" she kept muttering to herself as she helped a dazed Tjedza up, taking her to the main bedroom before she called for the doctor.

The Butler was shocked by the amount of blood on the floor as he picked Tjatiwa up, ignoring the sharp prickles of the tiny glass shards. He raced to the floor whilst yelling at the maids to call the hospital ahead of his arrival. His heart was about to beat out of his chest. His little Missy lay on the seat looking like she was gone. He floored the accelerator as he shot out of the drive way.

He couldn't imagine what his master would do if his beloved daughter ceased to exist.

"She has to live, she has to live" He chanted this mantra all the way to the hospital.

"Doctor!! Nurse!! Please somebody help me me!!" The Butler started shouting before he stepped out of the car as he reached the hospital. A 25 minute drive had taken him 12 minutes, earning him a good amount of road rage and traffic fines.

The medical staff, who were already waiting, ran out with a stretcher ready to assist the poor old butler.

"Please save her, save her doctor" he pleaded with a Locum who was assessing the patient when they were in casualty. Young Missy was covered in blood and that sent shivers down his spine.

"Master will not spare us... any of us" he muttered, seemingly lost to the conscious world.

A nurse came to calm the Butler down and sent him out of the ward with reassurance that his young madam would indeed be saved.

"Please young lady, please take care of my precious Missy, Master would be broken if anything happens to her. The butler pleaded, eyes shinning with unshed tears.

" I assure you sir, we will do our absolute best, don't worry mmh? Let the doctors do what they do best." The nurse comforted the old butler with a very warm and friendly voice.

The Butler was outside the operation theatre on tenterhooks. He sat down, stood up, paced a bit, set down again, then stared at the red light above the door. He repeated the cycle for the whole hour's duration of the procedure. Just as he thought he could no longer hold on, the theatre light went off, signaling the end of the procedure.

The theatre doors flung opened and the doctor came out.

"Are you Miss Khuphe's family?" The doctor asked, his facing looking quite grim.

"I- yes" the butler stuttered and felt a killing intent emanating from the doctor.

"Mmm" the doctor hummed coldly as he looked down at the file in his hands.

"Although Miss Khuphe has suffered a lot of injuries only one is major. She had a lot of glass shards embedded into her skin, although they are minor cuts, we had to be very careful in removing the glass and treating the wounds. She lost a dangerous amount of blood, so is still getting a blood transfusion. She also suffered from a mild concussion, which may cause her headaches when she comes around. Overall, Miss Rutsate is no longer in danger... may I ask what happened?"

The doctor suddenly asked, catching the Butler off guard.

"Uhm, uh.. missy had an accident at home." How could tell the doctor that a mother almost sent her own child to reunite with her ancestors?

"Oh okay, she will have to stay here for the next 7 days so we can monitor her major wound. She is absolutely fortunate that the glass didn't pierce her kidney. A few millimetres higher and would be having a different conversation" the doctor replied, looking every bit unconvinced with the butler's stammering response to his enquiry.

" You can follow her to the ward, but she is unconscious, she will probably come to tonight or tomorrow morning."

"It's alright Doctor, thank you for your hard work. Mahinga (you worked diligently)" the butler bowed, relief suddenly attacking him and he almost buckled as his knees suddenly felt weak.

"It's my duty sir." The doctor said, still looking as if he was headed for war.

Without wasting anymore time, the butler turned and rushed behind the nurses towards the ward where they were taking his young Missy. Although the doctor said Tjatiwa was no longer in danger, he still had worry etched on his old face, which seemed to have aged ten more years in an hourand a half. It looked like most of the wounds on her palms and feet had required stitches, he frowned in concern.

'You are okay Missy, you'll be fine soon' he prayed internally to all that was good.

Tjatiwa had lost a lot of blood and was still unconscious, even then, her brow was furrowed as if she was having a nightmare. Just as the butler reached out to smooth the lines between her eyebrows, another hand reached over, touching her before he did.