(S2): HEARTBEAT OF BELLO'S HOSPITAL. E7

Episode 7 Title: Reevaluate

*******

With a file in her hand, Lola wore a smile the moment she stood in front of Duke.

He smiled. “Dr. Lola, can I help you?”

“I saw Dr. Yvonne and I wanted to speak with her but she said I should meet you.”

“That’s right. You and Dr. Melvin are back under my wings.”

A bright spark glimmered around her eyes. She wanted to jump out of excitement but managed to compose herself. She didn’t want him to know how she felt.

“I hope all is well with Dr. Yvonne.”

“Yes. She is leaving us.”

“Leaving us?”

“Dr. Yvonne will no longer work in this hospital as from next week. It was her decision. I am sure Dr. Bello is already working on bringing her replacement.”

Lola thought it must be the reason Yvonne came to Wole’s office.

“Anyways,” Duke said. “Why are you here?”

She extended the file to him. “There is a patient I looked into his case. I need your opinion and your advice about it.”

He glimpsed through it and gazed at her. “How long has he been here?”

“Three days. I noticed the patient wasn’t getting any better. I think his condition requires surgery not the medication prescribed to him.”

Duke stared at the name of the doctor on the file. “Dr. Damien Fola is in charge. Have you talked to him?”

“I haven’t seen him.”

“I think both of you should talk. I will go to my office and look into his file thoroughly and get back with you.”

“You could look at it while I wait for your feedback.”

Duke didn’t want to be around her for long, especially not in his office.

“Instead of you to wait, use that free time to find Dr. Fola and speak with him. If the patient really needs surgery, it will be better if you let him know what you think.”

She shrugged. “Okay.”

He didn’t say anything further, he started to walk towards his office.

****** 

“Dr. Zara… Dr. Zara….”

Melvin called Zara’s name but she didn’t hear him. She was in deep thoughts in the lodge. She was sitting alone.

Zara!”

His loud voice snapped her out. She looked at him surprised.

“What happened? Why did you shout my name like that?”

“I should be the one to ask you what happened. What were you thinking?”

She gave him a cold stare and hissed. “Please leave me alone.”

“I can’t leave you alone. You need to attend to a patient. She’s a little girl and her mother is with her.”

She glanced at her wristwatch and back at Melvin. “Am I the only one here? Can’t you look for someone else to attend to her?”

“Yes. You are the only one available right now.” He said and began to approach the door.

“Melvin.” She called his name and rose.

He turned to her. “Yes?”

“Do you know where Dr. Ahmed is right now?”

“No. Anything?”

For the first time today, Zara smiled. “No.”

“Okay.” Melvin walked out and the smile on Zara’s lips disappeared.

******

Lola had searched for Dr. Fola and couldn’t find him. She asked a female nurse if he had seen him and she suggested she should check the dressing room. Lola went there, knocked, entered and saw a female nurse with him. They quickly stopped kissing and the nurse speedily ran out of the room. Fola grinned at Lola. Lola shook her head.

“We need to talk.” She told him.

“Here?”

“No. Let’s take a walk while I explain.”

“If you say so.”

They came out and walked side by side, as she explained in details why his patient should stop the medication and have a surgery.

“Are you saying I don’t know my job?” He asked her.

“I didn’t say that. I am only suggesting the right way to go about it. That patient is in pain.”

“But the medications I recommended to him ease his pain.”

“But for how long? The surgery is the only solution to stop the pain.”

“Dr. Lola,” Fola said. “The patient is not complaining. As long as he doesn’t feel that pain, he is okay.”

“But it is likely going to cause more damage.”

He halted and turned to her. She stopped walking and faced him. He appeared upset with the look on his face.

“And how do you know it will cause more damage? I have been in charge of him for days.”

“And she will be in charge of him as from today.” They heard the voice of Duke and he stood close to them. They didn’t even hear him coming. He gave Lola the file and turned to Fola.

“Dr. Fola,” he added. “We need to talk privately.”

“Privately? I want you to talk to me in her presence.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” he said with anger in his voice. “This is my patient and not hers. You don’t have the right to allocate my patient to another surgeon.”

“But I have the right to tell you, you have been giving the wrong treatment to this patient. If you had continued with it, it would have damaged his lungs. If he knows, you know what that means.”

Lola was surprised. Fola appeared shocked. His mouth opened wide. Lola opened the file and noticed there was a new lab result that wasn’t there before. She took a close look at it.

Duke spoke to him. “I went through the file and noticed you are awaiting another test result from the lab. I went to the lab to get it. Dr. Fola, how could you go on with this treatment without waiting for all the test results?”

“I…I …” Fola stammered.

“You see why I told you I needed to speak with you privately.”

“I’m so sorry Dr. Duke. Can we talk privately?”

“No. I will advise you to apologize to Dr. Lola and thank her too. She saved you from getting sued and losing your job.”

He apologized and thanked Lola. She felt special and loved the way Duke defended her.

“Are you going to mention this to Dr. Wole?” He questioned Duke.

“No.”

Fola gave a relief sigh.

Duke continued. “You are going to mention it yourself.”

“What! I thought you would keep it as a secret.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t. Dr. Lola will handle the case and let’s hope the surgery makes the patient better.”

“But I might lose my job or even my license if I tell Dr. Wole Bello.”

“Take responsibility for what you have done,” Duke said. “And you might get a second chance if you are willing to change. I know it’s none of my business when it comes to your private life, but I will no longer keep quiet. Stop this nonsense with some of these nurses. Our patients should be our number one priority here.”

Duke walked away without listening to whatever Fola wanted to say. Lola just turned and sauntered towards the direction of the ward.

*******

Fola Damien didn’t have a choice, he went straight to see Wole and told him the mistake he had done. Wole appeared mad and told him the surgery must be carried out first before he can make a decision.

Lola checked on the man that had a kidney transplant. He was responding to treatment and he mentioned his daughter always check on him after work. She was planning to bring her family to see him during the weekend. This really made Lola very happy.

After Zara had administered the right prescription to the mother of her patient, she planned to leave the hospital and go home. 

On her way to the dressing room, she met Ahmed on the way. He turned his face away and to his surprise, she spoke with him.

“Are you not going home?”

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Should I wait for you?”

He scratched his forehead. “No. I will be staying at a motel tonight.”

Zara gazed at him surprised. “You will be staying at the motel?”

“Yes and I think it’s the best.”

She grabbed his arm and whisked him towards an empty room. “What is the matter with you?”

“Nothing.” He looked at his arm. “Can you let go of my arm?”

She released him. “If it’s about what happened last night, forget about it. It won’t happen again.”

“I think it’s best I don’t stay with you, please.”

Zara frowned and shoved him by the shoulder as she bounced out of the place. She was very angry with him. She changed her clothes and made way out of the hospital.

Duke and Wole spoke about Fola before they went home. Melvin took Ahmed to a motel not far from the hospital before he drove to his destination. Lola was still at the hospital, attending to the male patient.

Jidenna chose to wait for her. On their way home, they ate at an eatery and he dropped her in front of the house. Even before she was able to sleep, she couldn’t stop thinking about Duke.

*******

The next morning, Lola had gone to get the test and lab results concerning the lady with a lump in her breast. Lola sat opposite her.

“The lump found in your breast is called fibroadenoma.” Lola said to the lady, “It is not cancerous but we are going to do an excisional biopsy. After the surgery we are still going to have an ultrasound to know if the fibroadenoma might be cancerous.”

“But I thought you said it’s not cancerous.”

“Most of the time, it is not.” Lola smiled at her. “Be happy. This doesn’t have to make you sad.”

“When can I have it removed?”

“Today, if you are ready.”

“I am ready. I just want this out of my body.”

“No problem.”

It was a busy day for everyone. Most of them didn’t even have the time for lunch but waited until evening before they ate. Duke liked it. It was an opportunity not to think of Lola or be with her alone.

The lump was removed and the surgery for the new patient was carried out. Fola was lucky the surgery was successful. Wole Bello suspended Fola for a month and he would deduct the money for the surgery from his salary.

Despite Lola’s busy schedule, she still checked on Wole at his office. He appreciated it.

*******

The next day, a surgeon resumed work after a long leave. Dr. Robertson was an older man, and with the way he was welcomed by his colleagues, it appeared they liked him. Duke introduced Lola, Zara, Ahmed and Melvin to him.

He seemed pleased to meet the four of them and he shook their hands. As they spoke to each other, nurses wheeled a woman into the emergency ward, a man with them, unhurt, gestured towards Dr. Jidenna when he approached them.

“Doctor, you need to save my wife!”

“We will do everything we can!”

Jidenna asked for the necessary details about his wife. The woman had crashed her car into a building close to the house. She lost control. She was lucky there was no one at the place if not, it would have been worse than that. The man left to the waiting room, and the doctor attended to her. She had to be operated. Two nurses took her to the OR. Lola, Yvonne and Dr. Robertson were ready to operate on her.

*******

Lola came out of the operating room looking tired but with a cheerful face. She went to meet the man and when he saw her, he appeared anxious.

“How is my wife? How is she doing?”

She wore a smile. “The operation went well.”

He smiled brightly. “Thank God!”

“You and your wife are very lucky. We were able to save the pregnancy.”

“Pregnancy? She is pregnant?”

“Yes. You didn’t know?”

“No.”

“She is three months pregnant. I am sure she wanted to surprise you.”

“That can’t be possible. She can’t be pregnant.”

Lola looked at him confused. They heard a male voice.

“Iyke!”

The man and Lola turned to him.

“That’s my brother.” The man said and hugged his brother.

“Iyke, how is your wife? How is she now?”

“She is fine but I don’t understand what the surgeon is saying. I think she is wrong.”

“Mr. Iyke,” Lola said. “I am not wrong.”

He gazed at her. “I have not been around for three years. I returned from Germany two weeks ago. She can’t be three months pregnant. I left her in my brother’s care.”

Then, he looked at his brother with his eyes broadened. “You bastard!”

Before Lola could say a word, Iyke had lifted his hand and landed a blow on him. Duke sighted what was happening and ran at their direction.

Lola and the onlookers watched in shock as a fight ensued. Lola screamed for security, Duke rushed to take Lola away from the brothers and two male nurses hurried to separate them.

Iyke pointed at his sibling. “I will kill you and Elaina!”

“She is in love with me! You can’t do anything!”

“How could you? I travelled and you started sleeping with my wife! How could you?”

“What was I supposed to do? She was lonely. I was lonely! We fell in love!!”

Iyke freed himself from the nurse holding him and raced towards him in rage. He pounced on him. Two securities came and separated them. Lola was in total shock.

“Are you okay?” Duke asked her. “I hope they didn’t hit you.”

“No. I have to go now. I have to see the woman.”

“That’s fine. I will talk to them.”

“Okay. Please stay safe.”

“I will.”

*******

Lola met the woman awake. “How are you feeling now?”

“Better.” she said softly and peered into her eyes. “Am I still pregnant?”

“Yes.”

She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them with tears dripping down. “Does my husband know I am pregnant?”

“Yes. I should have kept quiet.”

She shook her head slowly. “I was going to tell him. I was already thinking of how I was going to tell him before I lost hold of the car. I knew it would hurt him but I really wanted to tell him we can’t be together.”

“He said he returned two weeks ago.”

“That’s true. I can’t be with a man I do not love. I can’t be with him even if he wants me and the baby. I can’t be with him. I want to be happy. His brother makes me happy.”

The door opened and her husband’s brother came in.

“Benson!” She called his name and he hugged her on the bed. She stared at his bruised face. “What happened to you? Did Iyke do this to you?”

“It doesn’t matter if he did this to me. We have to tell the family about us. We can be together now without getting scared of being caught.”

Lola couldn’t even say anything. She looked at them astonished.

*******

“I know you are surprised to see only me here.” The woman who was born without a womb said to Melvin.

“Have you and your husband made a decision?”

She shook her head sadly.

“Then why are you here?”

“I don’t think my husband love me enough to consider a surrogate,” she said. “Ever since he went to see his family yesterday, he has refused to say a word to me. I think he wants to leave me.”

Melvin cleared his throat first. “It is not in my position to say anything about it. This is a family matter.”

“But you can help me have a child. I really need a child.”

“How can I help?”

“My husband can leave me anytime. I am terrified. I don’t want to be alone. I still want a surrogate and I want you to be the sperm donor.  I will pay you one million naira for it.”

Melvin became speechless.

*******

Lola came out from the room and took a deep breathe. The woman’s words ‘ I want to be happy’ echoed in her head. 

With a sad expression on her face, she walked slowly and as she approached Jidenna, he saw her and smiled at her. She didn’t smile back. It got him worried and he moved to meet her.

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t think so.” Lola replied. “Jidenna, we really need to talk. I need to tell you something.”

“I want to see a patient briefly. Wait for me at the lodge.”

“It can’t wait. I need to talk to you now. Please.”

“Dr. Jidenna!” A male nurse called him. Jidenna and Lola looked at his direction and saw him with a woman holding a one-year-old child. “Miss Sandy Fayemi is here to see you.”

“Oh my God. What the hell is she doing here?” Jidenna asked himself and Lola heard him.

“Who is she?” She asked him.

Jidenna stared into Lola’s eyes and she could tell he was very nervous.

*******

To be continued on Friday.