When they got to the hospital, Sharon could not wait anymore. She was overtaken by an impatience brought on by desperation.
She asked for directions to Bryan's ward and was shown the way to the place.
As soon as she saw Bryan and with the cast on his neck, extending to his shoulders, she broke down in tears. Bryan was very pale and looked like he was not breathing and then there was this quinzy breath as though something was stuck in his respiratory system. He looked far worse than she had expected.
She fell on her knees beside his bed weeping. Gabriel cautioned her to take it easy before she injured herself and the baby. She was inconsolable.
'What will I do Gabriel? What if he does not survive this? Can you see the magnitude of the wound?'
Gabriel nodded and though he was sceptical, he still offered words of consolation. 'You do not know that, do you? Someone the doctors have written off had eventually come to life or had you not heard of such scenarios?'
Sharon had. David was a case study but for it to happen to the live of her life, she was willing to fight for and with him but the sight before her eye was very discouraging.
'Bryan', she started holding to his hands tightly so that he could feel it. 'We wasted three years being stubborn and not enjoying what we had. Now, there is no one to disturb us or cause any misunderstandings between us and you allowed yourself to get this injured? It is okay if it is just the injury's, she sniffed trying to hold back her tears. 'You will heal. I shall make sure of that but you must come back to us. What will I tell Deborah? Till now, I have not told her about your accident because I know that she would be inconsolable and why not? She just found you and has centred her life on you. Will you do that to her? Will you leave her to be raised by another man?' She could not hold back the years and she cried some more. 'What about the one still in the womb that does not know you yet? Will he grow to be told that his father left him while he was yet unborn? How am I supposed to cope without you? Who is going to love and care for me the way you do? How can I live without you? You know you are my reason for living'. She burst into tears and would not be stopped.
Gabriel was not really used to this kind of scene. He was not used to this type of inconsolable weeping. He picked a chair and sank into it.
Maybe it was good for her to cry out her sorrows and be free of them so that she could consider things more objectively. He looked at Bryan lying so lifeless and pale and shook his head. He remembered when he had come to his place calling for Sharon and the way he had acted had got him so scared of him that they had not been in good terms ever since until recently when the pregnancy and recent wedding had brought them closer together. Looking at him now, he did not look like that man. He looked so frail and lifeless and Gabriel thought that life was indeed nothing but vanity when all was said and done.
Sharon was speaking urgently again in Bryan's ears. She was determined that he must hear her and come out from that coma he had fallen into.
She called David to find out how Deborah was coping and was told that there was no reason for her to worry.
'In the event that the sick woman decided to come here, she will have me to deal with. I am not a sentimental fool like her half brother. I could just injure her. Do don't worry because she will not do any such thing', David assured her.
That gave Sharon some peace. She only had to focus her efforts in helping her husband out of the coma.
The doctors came later to check on the patient and though they tried to keep their faces expressionless, Sharon could see the bleakness in them and knew that they had given up hope.
'Doctors, I hope he will wake from the coma soon?'
'We shall watch him for a couple more days and then we shall advise you to help him with a mercy killing'.
With her heart pounding erratically, she asked, 'What do you mean by Mercy killing'?'
'You obviously know that he is in a lot of pain and living like this would not be the desire of such a man like him. He will be too proud to be such a burden to you and the best thing you can do for him is to pull the plug and let him go peacefully to the afterworld'.
'Never!'
'That is the only option except you want him to be a vegetable? He will not thank you for that because you will have made him lose his pride'.
'He shall recover and he will wake from this deep sleep he's fallen into. He can not just leave me and his children alone He loves us too much for that. He will definitely come back for us'. She said it knowing if she was trying to convince the doctors or herself.
The doctors shook their heads and left after the routine check up and Sharon was left with her cousin. She looked at him miserably and he was at a lose of what to say.
'You shall do what you think best. No doctor can force you to do what you do not want to do but right now, you have to take care of yourself. Your children need you. How would they fend for themselves if you are indisposed and how would you help Bryan fight his way out of this terrible situation of you don't get a hold on yourself and make yourself strong for him and his children? How do you think he would think of you then? Would he be happy that you could not take care of his children and he because you were crying for him? Would he give you an applause then or would it make him despise you?'
Sharon looked at Gabriel as though he had grown horns bit as his words sank in, she realised that he had spoken the truth.
She wiped her tears and got up. She was still determined to keep speaking into his ears, urging him to fight but she would not cry like she was hopeless or helpless because she was not and would never be.
She asked for something to eat and Gabriel, feeling relieved that she was making an effort to get a hold on herself rushed out to get something for her from the cafeteria outside the building.