KIMBERLY PART TWELVE.

(Continued from the previous part)

 Little Angela. 

“She needs special care and attention. Many people are psychiatrist patients without even knowing it. In our country, we think everyone who goes to a psychiatrist hospital is insane or mad but that is a wrong perspective of things; everyone needs to do a regular psychiatrist checkup. Why do some people get extremely mad at other people at the slightest provocation? It is because their brains have been carrying too much load and they are so pent up to the extent that a slightest touch can trigger an explosion. As for your mother, you have not been here at those times when she has fits of mental disorder; your opinion would have been a lot different”

“Oh” Kim said dejectedly.

“However, your mother’s mental breakdown took a positive dimension. Did you perhaps notice those beautiful pictures on the walls?”

“They are everywhere such that it is impossible to miss them” Angela said.

“Those are your mother’s works…”

“Jesus!” Kim and Angela chorused. “How come, mum never drew anything in her life?!” Angela said.

“Yes. The brain is a dynamic organ; it does mysterious things especially when affected by shocks.”

“Since when did this start, it definitely not there when I visited last, otherwise I would have seen it?”

“It started last week. Did you take time to look at the pictures very well?”

The girls shook their heads.

“You should, it may explain a lot to you” the doctor said.

Kim and Angela exited the doctor’s office and walked through the reception and corridors, looking in amazement at the canvass that were hung on the walls. The pictures all depicted different landscapes and natural elements in their beauty and in the middle of each picture, there was a child.

“Jesus, can you see this, look at this picture right here, it is Maxwell when he was younger!” Angela pointed at a large canvass showing a snow capped mountain that was reaching for the cloudless blue sky. The child was standing on top of the mountain.

“Yes, I see!”

“And look here, that is Rose in that field of daffodils with petals tucked into her hairs…mum is drawing each child she had lost in each picture!”

They left the hospital an hour later after taking one of the pictures with them.

“Dad will not believe this” Angela said as the driver carefully put the canvass in the booth of the jeep.

Mr. Smith was discharged the following week. Kim and Angela organized a small surprised party to welcome him back home. His friends and business associates were invited to the party. Though he was now permanently on wheelchair, yet the presence of all the faces that he had known for years cheered him greatly and by the time the last visitor left, Mr. Smith was brimming with joy and happiness. Both girls were happy to see him smile again.

Later when he had been tucked into bed by the nurse the hospital provided, both Kim and Angela stood by his bed and read him a story, he fell soundly asleep a couple of minutes after they started the reading. The two girls kissed him on the cheeks and went to their bedrooms.

Mr. Smith took the sea trip the following week and he came back a month later after sailing in a cruise ship round the world. He came back with souvenirs from each country where the ship docked. He looked fresh and agile again despite the fact that he was on wheelchair.

Kim’s pregnancy by the end of her second month at the Smiths’ residence had considerably grown and it became very obvious. Mr. Smith had called in the family obstetrician whom he said had delivered all his children because she was the best in the country. “She is so good that she sees a problem before even the problem surfaces” he had said and she had been registered in the family’s clinic and she attended the maternity section regularly. Her vital signs were taken and the doctors were positive that she may not have complications during delivery.

“Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables then work out frequently, these things are very important for the growth of the baby in you and your health as well. If you notice any strange signs in your body, call the clinic’s hotline immediately, understood?” the doctor had asked her and she had nodded reluctantly.

Though she was just fourteen years old, yet, she had begun to dislike the way people treated her like a child. She was now a woman if the truth must be told and she was passing through the highest stage of womanhood, how then could she still be treated like a child?

As Kim’s day of delivery neared, Angela’s health deteriorated rapidly.  It all started with a cough that developed into tuberculosis and before twenty four hours, she couldn’t respire on her own, so she had to be put on the respiratory machine. At times when Kim had to attend maternity sessions, Mr. Smith would sit alone beside Angela’s bed and read her stories though she was unconscious most of the time. Whenever she was free, Kim would join Mr. Smith at Angela’s beside and both of them would be keeping a watch over the unconscious Angela, saying nothing to each and lost in their individual’s thoughts.

Mr. Smith

December 12 1997

Kim was told by the doctors that she would deliver in August. As the delivery day neared, she became worried about Angela. For weeks, she had been unconscious and living on machines to feed her and pass her excretion.

At times when she was not keeping watch over the unconscious Angela, Kim would visit Mrs. Smith. On some occasions when Mr. Smith was strong enough, he would join her and both of them paid her a visit. Like the doctors said, she was getting better gradually and the doctors were hopeful that soon enough, she would be discharged.

One bright Tuesdays morning in August, Kim and Mr. Smith were at home, preparing to visit the hospital to see Angela when she suddenly cried out in pain. The cook quickly held her before she could fall and took her to a seat. At the time, Mr. Smith was in his room so he had to be wheeled into the living room.  After examining Kim, he declared that her water had broken and neared delivery. The family doctor was called and few minutes later, an ambulance arrived to take her to the hospital.

Immediately thy arrived at the hospital, three nurses wheeled her into the delivery room. She was told to push several times and she did. After about two hours without any success, the doctor began to fear that it could lead to cesarean section.

“Must it really come to that?” Mr. Smith asked when the doctor briefed him and told him that it might be the only solution to save the mother and the child. He signed the forms for the operation and the doctor sped away to prepare her for operation.

Later that night as Mr. Smith sat beside Angela’s bed, gazing at her sleeping face, he began to wonder if he was about to lose both Kim and Angela at the same time because since the operation began at noon, he had not gotten a report of its progress. He had tried unsuccessfully to get the doctor but each time he tried, he was told that the doctor was still in the operating room; even the nurses he saw were mute and kept long faces. He was still brooding on this unpleasant outcomes when the doctor himself came in. the doctor took a seat beside him. From the way he looked, it was obvious that he just left the operating room.

“How was it doc?” he asked fearfully.

“It was a bouncing baby girl, congratulations sir” the doctor smiled.

“Thank you so much, so how is the mother?”

“She is off the danger now but she has to be under intensive care for the next couple of days. There were lots of complications. We made the right decision by conducting a CS on her; otherwise, we could have lost her. She is too young to deliver the baby herself.”

“thank you doc, I can’t bear losing my two daughters at the same time” he said with a heavy heart. “Any progress on Angela?”

“Like I told you yesterday sir, we are rapidly losing her. However, the pains have been subdued by pain relievers. The end is unavoidable and when it comes, it will be swift. However, I want you to be here, let yours be the last face she sees when it happens because it is not always easy”

Mr. Smith nodded in understanding.

“When do you think that will be?”

“I cannot say but whenever it is, it won’t be far…”

“would you advise me to consider euthanasia for her, because of the pains that she must be passing through?”

“No, like I said, she has been given enough pain relievers to take away most of the pains, there’s no need for that”

After their discussion, the doctor took his leave and Mr. Smith’s secretary came in to give the daily reports.

Two days after delivery, Kim was pronounced okay by the doctor and was discharged. She came to Angela’s ward where she met Mr. Smith with puffy eyes. It was evident that he had not slept for a long time. She sat beside him and passed him the squalling baby. He began to play with the baby while Kim stared at Angela’s sleeping figure on the bed.

Suddenly, Angela coughed from the bed and both of them sprang up, Kim rushed out to call the doctor. They came in moments later. The doctor examined her and later left after making sure that nothing was wrong. Both Kim and Mr. Smith were too excited to hide their happiness. Though Angela was too weak to move, yet she smiled back at them.

“When did she come?” she asked Kim, pointing at the baby in Mr. Smith’s arms.

“Two days ago’ Kim said.

“Have you made up your mind about the name yet?”

“Sure, she is Angela” Kim said without hesitation and they all smiled.

“Angela” Mr. Smith said into the baby’s ears.

After five minutes of chit chats, Angela vital signs began to worsen and the doctor was called in again. They were shooed out while the doctor and the nurses attended to her.

Mr. Smith and Kim remained in the reception despite the doctor’s advice that they took a break, especially Kim. They were both /silently pacing the length and breadth of the big reception twenty minutes later. Both of them gathered on him immediately. The doctor shook his and its meaning struck them both very hard. No word could have said better. That simple gesture meant only one thing; that Angela too was gone.

The burial took place the following day at the private cemetery that Mr. Smith had originally bought for himself and his wife when they grow old and pass on many years ago before even Angela was born. The burial was a private affair. Apart from a few friends and families and the priest, no one was there save the Smiths and Kim.

Kim’s baby was christened Angela on the eight day of her birth. Though Mrs. Smith was unable to be there yet she sent her well wishes and promised to pay them a visit as soon as possible. The baby became the center of attraction in the house. She was seldom out of Mr. Smith and Kim’s sight, even the workers in the house always took turns in carrying her. Whenever Mr. Smith carried her, she would grasp his hand in her little wrist and begin to suck his fingers to the latter’s amusement and joy. Little Angela as she was fondly called by everyone seldom cried and this endeared her greatly to everyone and her smiles and laughter were so contagious that it was impossible to resist and she grew so fast that at three months, she was crawling.

One Tuesday morning, Kim and Mr. Smith visited Mrs. Smith at the psychiatrist hospital. That was Kim’s first visit to the place since she gave birth to Angela. Mrs. Smith’s joy knew no bounds when she sighted them and she was instantly drawn to Little Angela.

“What a beauty!” she said as she scooped Angela up in her arms. The baby reached out pulled her hair “and she is so strong!” she said and laughed. The visitors stayed long into the night before they left the hospital that day because Mrs. Smith insisted that she wanted to draw the baby’s picture before they departed so they had all waited and watched as she sketched the picture of the baby who was crawling through the room and scattering everything in her path with full concentration. When she was finally done, both Kim and Mr. Smith were unable to hold back their amazement.

“You got it so perfectly! Even a camera will not do a better job, I have married a genius!” he said and took his wife into an embrace, as much as the wheelchair would allow.

“So you are just knowing that I am a genius, this man?” she teased.

“Well, men are most times blind and I must have been the greatest of them all for not knowing what a prodigy you are until now. Baby, we can make money out of this” he said excitedly.

“You have come again” she said with feigned disinterest. “You can even make money from a dog’s poo”

“I am serious. Just hear me out. We will start selling your paintings and they will fetch you handsome prices. You could be the Da Vinci of our time!”

“Young man, are my drawings that spectacular?” she asked in self-mockery.

“Of course a, he is right” Kim chipped in excitedly “I have never seen a better artist”

“You both are going to make my head swell but okay, I have heard you, maybe I will do it when I am out of here. I can’t wait to be out”

Before they left the hospital, the doctor briefed Mr. Smith about his wife’s progress. He said in a couple of weeks from then, she should be fit enough to go back home but gave strict warning that she must not be too stressed or be too excited about anything which may trigger her psychological misbehavior.

True to the doctor’s word, Mrs. Smith was discharged two weeks later. Some friends and families were invited over for dinner and too welcome her back home. Life began afresh for Kim and the Smiths.

Few months after her arrival back home, Mrs. Smith was already her old cheerful self. She had resumed going to her supermarket and Mr. Smith too, despite being on wheelchair had begun work too so most times; Kim was alone at home with the baby Angela and the workers in the house.

One Saturday morning while they were having a breakfast, Mr. Smith broached the subject of Kim’s going back to school.

“Nothing is comparable to true education” he said “You should put the past behind you and start thinking of going back to school. Thank God, Little Angela is a highly spirited child that can stay for hours without making a noise, she is really a gift and a blessing to you and this family so she cannot be your excuse not to work on yourself”

“That is right, Kim, you have to go back to school….”

“But where will I start from after almost six years that I have not stepped into a classroom, my mates are already graduating from the University, yet I will have to go back to secondary…”

“That is a very wrong way of thinking about this. Education is not limited by age. Besides, we all have been destined to achieve different things at different times in this life. You may not know it but what if all those things had not happened to delay you from furthering your education and you had actually gained admission into a University but something bad happens to you?” he asked rhetorically “If it is because of Little Angela, my dear will help with that. “She can take her to her supermarket and drop her off at the crèche before heading to the supermarket and in the evening when she comes back, she would pick her up and bring her back home. It is as simple as that. Think about what we have said. Remember what you told me when we first met, you said you want to become a lawyer, to prosecute law offenders, remember? What happened to that dream?”

Kim hung her head.

“Have you given up and accepted defeat? Where is the fire, the passion and the determination that was in your eyes when I first saw you, have you quenched them….”

“No!” She shouted, touched by what Mr. Smith had said.

“Good, I want that Kim back. I want the Kim who believed that nothing is impossible and who has the vision to be the greatest woman the world had ever seen. Convert all your past failures, pains and hurts into a determination so strong that it can stare death in face!”

Excused herself from the table and took a stroll in the garden, thinking about what she had just been told.  After twenty minutes, she returned into the house but the breakfast was over and Mr. and Mrs. Smith had left the dining room, Mr. Smith was sitting on the chair beside the bed while Mrs. Smith was sitting on the bed, supervising her maid as the latter was rearranging her wardrobe.. She found them in Mrs. Smith room, both of them talking about their Christmas trip to the Bahamas. She sat on the bed beside Mrs. Smith and rested her head on her shoulder.

“I wonder what you are doing with all these clothes and shoes, they all look the same to me” Mr. Smith in despair.

“They look the same to you because men are colour blind.”

“What is this difference between these two suits?” he said and pointed at two grey suits that the maid was about to put back into the wardrobe.

“There is!” Mrs. Smith said with exaggerated impatience. “First, they are not made by the same designers and apart from that, this is grey while that one is ash, they are also cut different too, see” she said and tried to show him the difference but he was still not convinced “Gracious God, I thought I had married a genius” she said and turned to Kim “Per chance you know a judge that can separate me and my husband, I need a new husband” she said and everybody laughed. “By the way Kim, you looked distress at the table. I blame Smith for that. He shouldn’t have spoken to you like that, he should have let you make your choice but he thought he was in one of his executive meetings so he piled it up on you. You have to understand that if you don’t want to go to school, you are still our loving daughter but we just want you to be fulfilled. Soon enough, you will start meeting people of high caliber and the first thing most of them will notice is the level of your education because education is what differentiates men- and women too. I wonder why everything in this life is about men” she said and rolled her eyes at her husband.