There to the End (1)




There to the End

Dear Readers, we are still talking about friendship. Benny recalls one she had…….being a friend to the very end  

10:04am 27th April 2013

“She is gone”,  my pain riddled brain was fogged, I thought, oh she has gone out and will soon be back, then I blinked and looked again at the doctor who just checked her pulse, the fog lifted, she is gone doesn’t mean she went out, she is gone means she is gone, never to return.

I crumbled to the ground in pains and tears, I took a look at the lifeless body of my sister, friend, prayer partner just lying in the car like she was sleeping.



7:30am 27th April 2013

Florence told me to hurry because she needed to run some tests the doctor asked her to run before her next visit. I was busy packing breakfast so she could get something to eat afterwards.  Her friend from church was coming to pick us to run the tests and go to the hospital later.

The friend came at about 8:00am and we got in the car, we chatted and laughed as we went along. We got to the diagnostic center, I made enquires and then paid the required fees. She was asked to go upstairs for her blood samples to be taken. She wanted them to take the samples downstairs but they insisted where we were was the reception area and we needed to get upstairs. She told me she didn’t want to climb the stairs because of how  easily she tired she got with stairs climbing. I encouraged her and we moved towards the stairs, she went to the rest room first, it took us one laborious hour for her to climb the two flights of stairs, all the while sweating and breathing heavily. We finally made it to the room, I used a hand fan to make her comfortable and brought the standing fan very close to her because she was  still drenched in sweat. Her blood sample was taken and she felt a bit better. Thankfully our next port of call was the next room for abdominal scan because she had been having some pains and also wanted to check the fibroid inside her to see if it was shrinking because she had been using some herbal supplements.

 She said she needed another rest room break so she went in the toilet upstairs near the reception bay and I sat at the reception bay to wait for her, a movie was showing, I was watching but lost interest after like 5 minutes when she was not coming out, I started to panic when she didn’t appear in what seem like forever. I kept stealing glances at the door at a point I decided to go in but assured myself she will come out. I saw her coming out and ran to help her to sit and she told me she couldn’t get up from the toilet seat , she told me to help her lie down after which she told me to start praying, now I seriously started to panic because the way she said it scared me. I tried to reassure her nothing would happen and next thing she fell off the bench to the floor and I flew downstairs to call her friend who brought us to the hospital because she was oblivious of all that was happening upstairs. By the time we both raced upstairs, some good Samaritan men were already carrying her down the stairs. She couldn’t stand, we took her to do x-ray on her chest because the doctor asked her to do an x-ray because she had complained about chest pains, we thought running the test will make it easier for the doctor to treat her. Her friend started calling their pastors and leaders in church while I went in with her. She kept clutching her chest and wouldn’t lay on her back for the x-ray, the attendants kept trying to put her on her back, my very last words to her were “do you want them to give you some time to catch your breath before the test is done” she nodded and I told the attendants to give her some time. She was lying on her side after a few minutes she lay on her back, I removed her shirt and bra. Then I faced the wall to cry to God to help her because it had  become obvious something was very wrong, I just asked God for mercy because no words were forming and I couldn’t even pray in the spirit and then I heard this guttural cry from her, I turned with fear in my heart and someone who couldn’t lift a finger, jerked up suddenly from the bed and sat up but before her back hit the bed, I fled in tears out of the room because I had watched too many movies that whenever that particular motion took place, the inevitable happens.


 I ran out of the building and her friend who was still making calls outside saw me running and ran too. She came over to ask me, I told I didn’t know what just happened and I began to cry, she joined me, she started to go back into the building but saw I was reluctant to follow her then someone called from their church to called to ask for update, she told the person to call everyone to start coming because she was not sure  what was happening, one of the attendants ran out to tell us to take her to the hospital quickly, again people carried her into the car, I sat in front with her friend while someone from the centre went with us and held her in the back seat.

Will continue this shortly,

Benny

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