Daughters

Episode 4

She only had one place in mind and that was the Blue Shades Bar and Casino. After forty-five minutes she was in the premises, she stepped in and within minutes of looking for her dad,she decided she needed to relieve herself and asked for directions to the ladies. She was about closing the door when she heard a groan,she knew someone was in pains and she knew she had to find what was wrong with the being. The door cracked open and peeked through the small opening, she saw a man in a pool of blood, a man non other than d!ckson Michaels.

The emotions that played on her face was unreadable. She went on her knees beside her dad ,she touched him and found out he was still alive
“Dad,can you hear me?”
“Y…..y….ess”,he said blinking his eyes
“Good. I’m gonna get you to the hospital, just stay calm”
He nodded
“I gonna go and get some help”
“N……n…nooo,I think……mmmm”
“Shhh. Just save your strength”,she tried to leave but was surprised at the arm that gripped her,it has enough strength for the man who’s in this pool of blood
“I……can…Mmmm…wa….lk. Just….Mmmm take….just take me out……oo…f this…..Mmmm…..place”

She understood now why her father didn’t want her to get help. He was afraid of been alone,thinks the person who shot him would come to finish him off.
“Okay, can you….”
“Yes,I…..c..an”,he coughed “…stand”
“Wait,I gotta look for something”,she went into the inner room even before her dad would protest and in no second returned with a black towel and placed it on the surface of the gunshot
“Take this”,she said putting his hands on top of the towel “Apply pressure on it”,she waited to see her father do as she had instructed
“Let’s go”,she said as she wrapped his arms around her shoulders and they walked their way the bar as no one noticed them till they got outside where she hailed a taxi and it came to a halt and they both entered
“Where you dey go?”,the young driver asked
“To the nearest hospital”
“Na emergency?”. But she didn’t answer so he just drove instead.

She brought out her phone from the small animal-skinned purse she usually carries and dialled Fiona’s number
“Hello”,came the scared voice from the other end
“Fiona,in my grey jacket I kept fifteen thousand naira,bring it to…..”,she stopped to ask the driver the name of the hospital and he told her
“Bring it Amazon Hospital”
“Did you find dad?”
“Yes and he has been both shot and stabbed”,and ended the call.
On hearing this,the driver doubled his speed–Emergency

The cab driver pulled up at the hospital driveway. He ran into the hospital to call the nurses or anyone he would see as Tiara brought her dad out from the cab. Within seconds,the nurses came out with a gurney. They made a count of three and d!ckson’s was lying on the gurney still applying pressure to his wounds. Tiara paid the cab man,just then Fiona came running from the motorcycle she’d boarded
“Where’s dad?”,and she followed Tiara’s gaze to where the nurses where transporting him into the hospital.
“Where’s the money?”,Tiara asked instead.
Opening her bag,Fiona said “In here”
“Come on,let’s go”

When they got to the reception, they saw the nurses were waiting for them. Perhaps an advance-they thought.
“How much are the bills”,Tiara asked the nurse in charge
“There’s a problem”,the nurse responded
“Okay”
“The patient has a sharp force wound from serrated blade,I’m thinking he’s been stabbed and I’m thinking this wound here…”,she said pointing to the wound “is a gunshot”
“Okay”
“However, we can only attend to the stab wound. At least that can stop the bleeding a little till you go and obtain a…….”
“How much is it?”
“Fifty thousand naira”
“But we have fifteen thousand”,Fiona said already in tears
“Okay,there might be a way. There’s new health insurance policy that just came,if your dad had signed and has been paying up,then he’s safe.. There’s no need for the advance or any money,you’ll just fill a form about the details of the insurance and hell be attended to”
“No,I’m not sure”
“I’m sorry”,the nurse said and walked out.
Fiona turned to Tiara “What do we do now?”
“Let’s check with the government hospital”
“Okay”,and they both took their dad from the gurney,hailed a cab and in no time,they were at Reavon Health.

The nurses came and pushed the gurney,a doctor was paged and he appeared almost immediately.
“Hi,I’m doctor Eze”,he took a look at the patient and turned back to Fiona and Tiara
“Looks like your dad sustained a gunshot and I can’t treat him unless you obtain a police report”
Fiona spoke “What?, I thought it’s after you pulled the bullet out and the police would come and take a statement”
“No ma’am. Not in this country”
“Can’t you just pull the bullet out without the police report?”
“No ma’am. I’d loose my license and I’m……..
Tiara interrupted “Where do we get this report?”
He was surprised at the calmness of her voice
“Police Station”,he responded
He looked from Fiona to Tiara “I’m sure….”,he stopped when he heard the beep of this pager, it was code 911. Knew a patient is dying, in order words,an emergency
“If there’s nothing else,I’d like to go check on a patient. Excuse me”,and he began running to the elevator.

“I’ll go”,Fiona said and began hurrying her way through the busy hospital
“Fi,don’t go”,she almost shouted it but Fiona was already gone.