Chapter 85

IN TWOS

The road to the hospital felt like an eternity long. In Obiefune's hands was Obiukwu who was groaning and burning up while by his side was Mma who was unconscious. Chukwudi went at a speed that should have posed a problem, were they to have been moving in the day.

"Obi you'll be fine, just hang on" Obiefune would whisper into Obiukwu's ears and kiss her temple as they went on.

Obi clenched her fingers around Obiefune's collar as she yelled. Obiefune was devastated and scared, he was too terrified to stare at Obi's clothes afraid that the blood will make him lose his sanity.

Mma was immobile at the moment but Obiefune checked her pulse and saw that she was still alive much to his relief.

"Chukwudi go faster now! She's in serious pain here!" Obiefune yelled

"This is the fastest that I can go, do you want all of us to die on the road?" Chukwudi retorted still very much terrified

"I promise you once we get married we won't have any more children inu, you just have to be fine inu. Please for my sake, Obi please. I can't lose you twice biko, I can't bear it"

They were almost at the clinic when Obi clenched Obiefune's shirt harder and started panting. She screamed and yelled and breathed deeply while Chukwudi drove into the compound. He rushed into the hospital and announced to them the incident at hand and they rushed out with a stretcher. They got Mma first while Obiefune thought of how to Obi out of the vehicle.

"Obi.. efune I th.. think it's another one" Obi managed to mutter confusing Obiefune. He stepped out of the vehicle while Obi lay with her legs spread apart. Obiefune on a closer look noticed that the baby was already coming out. The shock glued him at the spot while he encouraged Obi to push.

He shakily went to her side encouraging her till the nurses arrived and took over. The third baby was born in Chukwudi's vehicle and the mother and child were wheeled into the emergency room for proper care. After running a scan on Obi they discovered that she still had one more baby to go.

The baby was cleaned up and Obiefune held her in his hands before they took her away. Some medication was administered to Obi who looked pale. Obiefune went to her side and held her hand. She was still very much in labour but was exhausted. "You've done well Obi, you're doing great. Jisike nnu! It's one more, just one and we're done" he spoke smiling at her. Obi was crying at this point and it broke his heart

"Don't worry, everything will be fine, just relax"

"No, no. I am tired of Obiefune. I.. am tired. Mma is dying isn't she?"

"Obi don't think like that! I don't know how she is, but she'll be fine"

"I am tired of losing people Obiefune, I am so tired. I feel weak" Obi stated sniffing

"I am here, Obi I am here and I love you. I am not going anywhere. You are not weak, you are one tough mule. You are the strongest person I know, Iheoma. Please just make me happy by believing that inu. We'll get out of this hospital, with all of our children and we'll get married and I will make you happy for the rest of my life, I promise. We will sing our song, we'll use our favorite Clause or a slightly modified one"

Obiukwu chuckled remembering the first one he modified. "I like the first"

"We'll be together and it won't matter if you look at me like I'm a plate of food that you want to devour or even a dog that you want to protect"

"I.. I.. hate dogs'' Obi weakly stated

"Well, we'll talk about that when we get married. You see you don't have a choice but to come out of this. I'll be here every step of the way. God! I love you so much, do you know that? I love you with my life. So please don't tell me you're weak before you scare me to death. "

Obi nodded slowly while he wiped her tears." I never wanted you to die in place of Benjamin, I didn't mean it"

"I know, Obi I know"

"I love you too, please help me check how Mma is doing" Obiukwu requested

"Chukwudi will tell me, I don't want to leave you here alone."

"Please, I need to know so that I'll be at peace. I am so worried" Obi persisted boring her glassy eyes into his.

Obiefune reluctantly got up and brushed his lips over hers briefly. "I need to remove this spell you have over me,I don't know how to turn you down" He stated grumpily earning him a smile from Obi.

Obiefune quickly sought for the room where Mma was. He went to different wards but after he saw Chukwudi he was relieved. "She's stable but she's not awake yet. They're saying she's slipping into a coma, ike a gwụla m.(I am tired)" Chukwudi stated squatting and Obiefune patted his shoulder. Nobody wanted Mma to go yet, she was a huge part of their lives and losing her would be devastating especially for Obiefune who had grown so close to the old woman.

Obiefune went into her room and sat beside her, he held her dry wrinkly hand and smiled. There was nothing he could do, if it was indeed time for the old woman to die. A tear slipped out of Obiefune's eyes and he chuckled.

The sound of the monitor was still audible, with every beep Obiefune hoped he'd see her eyes flutter.

A thought occurred to Obiefune and he brushed it off, before he realized that it was probably the last thing he could do for the old woman. Obiefune's lips parted and he began to croak the song which he had termed his favorite out of all Mma's lores.

Mma mma m o

Onye dị ka gi akokwala m o

Eshi m ga ihu gị

Ihe m ji emere gị ọjị akokwala m o

He repeated the song wiping tears from his eyes. Soon Chukwudi joined in the song and they saw something like a smile across the old woman's face before the monitor rate went up. The two men ran out to get medical assistance but Obiefune was hijacked on the way. The nurse said Obiukwu had been asking for him.

He went into the labor room and held Obi's hand while she pushed till she was finally delivered of a baby boy. Obi's rate went up in the monitor and Obiefune almost shrunk with fear at the moment.

"She's lost a lot of blood"

Some of the nurses attended to the baby while the doctors rushed to Obi trying to stabilize her. The other nurses ushered Obiefune out while the room went into chaos.

Obiefune stood at the door and could hear most of the things they said

"She's bleeding!"

"She's going into shock!"

Obiefune couldn't hold his lips from muttering the prayers he was making at that point. At one wing of the hospital Mma was battling with her life, at the other Obi was battling with hers.

Obiefune grew weak in the knees and felt both dizzy and nauseous. He sought a place to rest but found none. Obiefune staggered around very close to the room before he fell and darkness engulfed him.

"Bibi! Wait now!" Chioma called out to him and he kept running

"You'll still go back any way, I thought you loved your school!"

"Obiefune chere!"

He ignored his little sister and kept running, he couldn't tell her or anyone what had been happening to him. Chioma was growing angry by the minute, he could tell with how she switched from his pet name to his full name.

They had run past the church and frankly he didn't know where he was headed. They knew very little about the village where they came but he was willing to hide in it.

He looked back at his sister when he stopped hearing her voice, to ascertain that she was fine. His momentary distraction was disastrous as he clashed into someone.

Pain shot through his head and he saw her writhing on the ground. Chioma had almost caught up with him and he didn't want her to get to him, the girl seemed to be in so much pain and her clothing left her body, he had to choose between running away and helping the girl.

Obiefune stared at her briefly before he fetched her cloth and wrapped her body with it. He stretched out his hand and pulled her up. Something about her made him forget what he was running from, it was not until Chioma caught up with them that he realized that he had forgotten.

Chioma approached then panting, she turned to the girl and smiled at her before glaring at him.

"All these for nothing, no matter how fast you are, you can never out run destiny"

Obiefune could hear someone call his name weakly and when his eyes fluttered open he saw the ceiling. Obiefune exhaled deeply before he jerked up from the bed. He saw her seated on a wheel chair with what seemed like a medication attached to her wrist, a drip. He couldn't contain his joy as he lept out of the bed and hugged her.

"Bibi, jiri nwayọọ(Take it easy) biko. She's not that strong. She insisted that we bring her here, that's why she came" Chioma reprimanded

Obi laughed as she threw her hands around him. "You're alive! Obi you're alive!"

"Please don't scare me like that again, I thought I was going to lose you." Obiefune breathed out as he held Obi to his chest.

"I love you so much, I love you so much. You are my destiny, you are my life!"

Chioma choked on the snacks she was chewing and started coughing while Chukwudi led her away. "Jiri kwanu nwayọọ, you eat too fast"

"It's not the food, it is his confession that caused it" Chioma managed to wheeze out

They stood at the door and watched Obi and Obiefune make up. Obiefune captured Obi's lips in a deep kiss which expressed everything he wanted to say and Obi wrapped her hands around his neck.

"He was supposed to watch her but he fainted and he got a kiss like this?" Chioma pointed out

"She almost died now haba, cut him some slack, besides when are we going to tell them about Mma?"Chukwudi enquired

"Just allow them to enjoy themselves a little, then we'll tell them, I've worked too hard for this to happen" Chioma stated

"Where are the others?" Chioma enquired

"Watching the baby, half of the village came to see them. They are the first quadruplets to be born here after a very long time. The last was during the Civil War"

"Your parents have refused to take their eyes off them. I think Mr. ìgwè hasn't blinked since 7am that he arrived. The man is so happy!" Chukwudi stated with amusement

"He got more than what he expected, I do hope Benjamin is happy. He's a father of two girls and two boys. Very healthy, beautiful children!" Chioma beamed with happiness

Their gaze fell on the couple who were still deep into the kisses they were exchanging.

"I don't feel very comfortable watching them Chi "

"Then we should make others uncomfortable "Chioma whispered seductively into his ears,as she stood on her toes to capture Chukwudi's lips in a kiss.

"You know I did tell Obi that she might end up with Obiefune despite all the odds that were against them".Chukwudi murmured against Chioma's lips

"And I was hoping you would call me your destiny" Chioma teased

Chukwuebuka and Chukwuemeka ran to the spot where Chioma and Chukwudi stood and threw disgusted looks at them before they progressed into the room, causing Chioma and Chukwudi to pull apart.

"Mummy grandpa said you should come and feed the babies!"

They turned to Obiefune "Daddy Mma said you should bring her Achara tea, she said she doesn't want to drink the nonsense they gave her."

"These two have ruined the surprise" Chioma stated as she playfully drew the boys by their chin. Obiefune was ecstatic and quickly drew a kiss on Obi's lips before heading out.

Chioma and Chukwudi wheeled Obi into the room where a lot of family members were seated waiting for her to feed the babies.

Akubueze was holding one of the babies, Mrs. Obiọma had one in her hands, so did Mr. Obidike and Mr. Igwè.

"I'll start with Benjamin" Obi declared and they all cheered and clapped praising her for birthing four children.

Obiefune wheeled Mma in while Obi was breastfeeding the second baby. She quickly blessed both the children and the mother before enquiring about the snuff she had told Chioma to bring her.

Chioma whispered into Obi's ears "I knew the two of you loved each other, be thankful that you have a persistent matchmaker like me as a friend. And be mindful of Mma, she's slowly snatching your future husband away from you"

Obi laughed before she added "You still owe me one thing and when you get married, I'll come for it. Remember I told you so"

Obi could see how happy Obiefune was and how pleased Mma was that everyone was happy including her favorite person in the world, her Achara tea maker Obiefune. Chioma was right in a way, both the old woman and Obiefune loved each other so much.

Food, powder and gifts went around the room. People poured a lot of powder on their hands and applied on their faces, including the children who bathed themselves in it. Mr. Igwe couldn't tear his eyes off the children. Everything and everyone else seemed oblivious to the old man besides his grandchildren, his healthy grandchildren

Tobe and his sisters stood behind their sister, helping her with every request. They told jokes about the delivery of the children, teasing Obiefune and Obiukwu. She stared at her sons and daughters as they lay on the bed surrounded by people who loved them and remembered her late husband's words.

"I love them in Twos God knows"

She watched as they slept peacefully, the girls smacking their small lips together and the boys smiling while they slept. It dawned on Obi what her husband had stated to her the night he passed away

You seem to be smiling a lot for someone who almost died"

"I'm passing on a trait to my sons"

Obi ran her hands across their faces before the guests began to disperse. Obiefune was the only one who stayed behind and for the whole week that they spent at the hospital, he was with Obiukwu and his new family.