Mum! Mum! Talk to me.M…Mummmm! 

He broke down In tears and screeched painfully. 

As the doctor used a white cloth to cover her. He stood up from where he was kneeling and rushed forward wailing .

 “ Leave her alone! She's not dead yet.L..leave her alone!

Just then, the sound from the noises outside the passage of the hospital Jerked him up. Sweat was all over his face and his heart palpitated so loudly as though it would tear his heart out. He was soaked and was sweating profusely despite the air conditioner that was in the room. 

He was breathing faster and then it slowed down. It was just a dream. He jumped up from the bed and headed  towards the door and then outside. 

The noise that had woken him up was coming from the passage. A man with a mental condition was trying to force his way out of the hospital while the security guards were tugging him up and dragging him back. Mark ignored them, making his way to the stairs. He went straight to the ward where his mum was. As he approached the door he saw a nurse coming out from the ward. Her facial expression wasn't looking optimistic at all and this made him disturbed. He increased his swiftness towards the door. Without switching the handle twice he held it and shrank the door open. 

He looked at his mum. She was still laying with her face upward. The same position she had been facing since he returned from school. He went close to her. He lifted her left hand up and dropped it back again. It fell back effortlessly. He held her two shoulders and placed his ear to her chest. Comforted that her heart was still beating. She was breathing faintly. 

With that he lifted his head up and moved to the other side of the bed and sat down on one chair where he had been sitting the previous day. 

He looked at the wrist watch on his left wrist. The time was 9:15A.M that morning.Presuming that the doctor would have arrived, he stood up and went to check on him at his office. When he got there.

 He was not on seat and so he left and was walking back to the ward when he saw the doctor greeting and collecting his office keys from the nurses at the entrance of the hospital. Mark approached him. 

“Morning sir.” Mark said as they both walked to his office.

“Morning Mark. I told you I would be early. Have you paid into the hospital's account? 

“Not yet. I can do a transfer.”

“Good. You can do that while I go to prepare at my office. You would get the hospital's account details from the nurse at the reception desk.

“Alright sir.” Mark said and stopped walking with him. He turned back and headed to the reception desk. 

When he was done paying the hospital bill. He was given a receipt which he took back to the doctor. 

When he got to his office his door was locked and so he left there assuming he would be at the ward where his mum was. 

He was right. When he got there the doctor was almost coming out. Yet met by the door of the ward. 

“You have to stay downstairs while myself and some other experts carry out the necessary surgery for her at the operating theatre. 

“Alright.” Mark said and turned back. 

He went downstairs and waited by the waiting room where other people were. He sat down for a while but stood up again, pacing around the room like a man whose wife was in the labour room and about to give birth.

He waited that way for about two hours.  Finally when it was exactly 12 P.M from the waiting room where he was, he saw the doctor coming out alongside two other doctors. He at  once left the waiting room and went to meet him.

“ How was it doctor?” Mark asked anxiously.

“Yeah, everything went very well.  She is now fine, however she would have to live disabled for a while. How long that would take depends on her quick response to the subsequent treatments. 

“Can i go to see her now? Mark asked.

“Not now. In the next two to three hours when she is well rested. You can go.

With that, Mark returned to the waiting room where he was before. After some minutes he called Johnson. 

“They are done with the surgery.” Mark said as soon as Johnson picked up his phone.

“Thank God it was successful. Is she now conscious?” Are you with her now?”

“No, I am still in the waiting room. The doctor said I would have to give her some time to rest.” Mark said as he sat down beside an old woman who kept two crutches by her side.

“So what are you going to do now when she is out of the hospital?”

“I do not know yet. I would go look for an apartment where we could stay for the time being.” Mark responded.

“ How about your program and projects in school?”

“Man, that would have to be on hold for now. I have to stay with my mum. Probably I would look for a good job somewhere to work.”

What kind of job without a good certificate attached to your work permit?” Johnson asked. 

“ I already saw a vacant post for a chef in an eatry some buildings away from this hospital. I am considering applying for it because after using the rest of the money to get an apartment there would be nothing left and I still have to scamper for more money to settle her subsequent bills as the doctor said.”

“ That's good. If the payment is good, you should apply for

It. I know cooking is your second nature and you love doing it. If the payment is worth it, you should apply.” Johnson said.

“Yeah.I will do that today. It's one of the biggest and most popular buildings around here in Chicago. I believe their payment would be manageable.”

“ So you are putting your school and projects on hold, how yeah?”

“I have no option. I have to stay with her, at least till she  gets better.” Mark responded. 

After considering what Johnson had said, he decided to go and apply for the vacancies he had seen at the cafeteria some buildings away from the hospital. The walk from the hospital to the cafeteria took him less than two minutes. He went in and after explaining to the cashier he met at the front stand inside the cafeteria he was directed to the boss who then told him to return for an interview the following day.

He went back to the hospital. Looking at his time, he waited patiently at the waiting room until he was sure it was more than two hours. When the time was 2:45 P.M he stood up from the bench on which he sat and headed to the ward where his mum was. He opened the door gently, not sure if she was awake or asleep. When he entered. She opened her eyes slowly. And turned her head towards the door where he stood. 

With a faint smile on his face he close the door gently and went closer to the bed. He sat down on the chair and took her hand in his and asked.

“How are you feeling mum?” He asked, but no reply came. He asked again.” How are you now mum?” she still did not talk. 

Just them a nurse walked into the ward. She came to check if she had woken up. As soon as Mark saw her he stood up and asked.

“ Why is she not talking?” He asked, looking at the nurse with confusion registered in his voice.

“Her fall affected a part of her brain just as the doctor told you.”

“So she will not be able to speak again?” Mark asked.

“For  now .” She said snappily and walked out of the ward.

Mark took hold of her hand again. Grace closed her eyes. Mark just stared at her soberly without speaking a word. Some minutes later he stood up and walked out of the ward, heading straight to the doctors office.