JUDAS...Part 9.

The cold blast from the car's air-conditioning unit quickly dried the sweat gathering on my brow. I peered into Mama Cynthia's face again to be certain for the upteenth time and gave an exasperated sigh. The face and the voice were unmistakable. She was the woman in the dream. I was seated to her left, occasionally bearing the weight of her protruding abdomen as she writhed from side to side in the back seat, whimpering endlessly. This good woman? To die? I shook my head in agony as I suppressed the urge to scream.

"Monica die ya, inugo? Bear the pain," Mum said from the steering wheel.

"Madam, it has been long nau. I have forgotten how painful it used to be." She hit Cynthia on the arm. "Na you put me for this wahala. Every time 'I need a sibling' 'Mummy, born baby'. As if to say e dey easy."

Cynthia smiled, tapping me. "At least, I don't get to be an only child again."

Tessy chuckled in the front seat.

I looked away and fought back the tears that had gathered in my eyes. The bright street lights provided little comfort.

"Why aren't we taking her to Dad's hospital, her hospital?" Tessy asked.

"Dad was an Orthopaedic Surgeon. She needs an Obstetrician," Mum said, slowing down at a traffic light.

The Land Cruiser took a right turn and slowed as we approached the hospital gate. Mum honked twice. A security man in blue uniform appeared and opened the gate. We drove in. A nurse approached us.

"She is in labour," Mum told her, pointing at Mama Cynthia.

The nurse went in and returned with a wheelchair. We helped Mama Cynthia into it.

I sat at the reception with Tessy while Mama Cynthia, Mum and Cynthia entered the doctor's office.

"Women dey try o!" Tessy said, looking at me. "Later, una go come de claim superior." She playfully slapped the back of my head. I shook my head and looked away.

"Jude, you've been silent. What's the matter?"

I wanted to tell her about Mama Cynthia, but could not find the words.

"Is it about the dream?"

I nodded.

"You said you saw a woman?"

I nodded again. "The woman..."

Just then, Cynthia stormed out of the doctor's office. I stood up, alarmed. She was crying

"What is wrong?" I asked.

She shook her head. I held her and we led her outside.

"I just found out my Mum had three earlier miscarriages. She told the doctor inside," she said, amidst sobs. 

"I remember one incident clearly. She came back very happy and told me we were going to have another baby. I was mad with joy and proceeded to split my toys in half. I waited and waited. There was no baby. Instead, she became very, very sad. She and my dad quarelled often over it but I never understood."

I placed my arms around her shoulders and wiped off her tears with my hands. "You should be glad that in some hours, you will have a sibling. Brother or sister? Choose one."

She tried to force a smile. "Brother, any time."

"Jude had another dream."

I shot Tessy a reprimanding look, but it was already late.

"When?" Cynthia asked, removing my arm from her shoulders. "I thought they had stopped."

"They stopped. Until this evening."

"This evening?" Cynthia asked. "Tell me about it."

I paused for a moment unsure of how to start. "I saw a woman in an ocean of blood. She called on me to save her. I tried. The blood was slippery. She drowned."

Cynthia stared at me in horror. "A woman? Did you hear her name? Or maybe recognize her face?"

I nodded.

"You recognized her?" Tessy asked, surprised.

I nodded again, my lips quivering.

"Who?" they asked, fear and curiosity etched on their faces.

I looked to the ground, inwardly cursing myself for drifting to sleep that evening.

Cynthia held my hand. "Jude. Tell me who you saw. Maybe we could still prevent this."

"Your mum...I saw your mum."

The rustling of the leaves of a nearby tree punctuated the awkward silence that followed.

"What?" Cynthia asked in disbelief. "How could you be so sure?"

Tears flowed freely from her eyes. I blinked hard.

Just then, Mum appeared at the doorway.

"I was looking for you and Tessy." She looked at Cynthia and then at me. "What is wrong?"

"Mama Cynthia was the woman Jude saw in the dream this evening," Tessy said.

"The devil is a liar!" Mum shouted. "Mba nu!" She turned to me, the burning question in her eyes. I nodded.

She stomped her feet on the ground. "Enough is enough! We must do something. Anything!"

We rushed inside. A young, bespectacled doctor met us.

"Doctor," Mum began, "That patient we brought...Her life may be in danger."

The doctor looked at us, bewildered. "How exactly, Madam?"

"She may be in danger of death, Sir," Mum said, looking at me.

The doctor smiled. He selected a folder from the pile he was holding.

"Her vital signs are good,"he said, flipping through it. "The baby is fine as well. Labour is progressing normally and should likely be over in six hours. I don't understand the panic."

Cynthia looked at me, teary-eyed. I looked at Mum. Mum shrugged.

"If you say so, Doctor. But just keep an eye on her."

He adjusted his spectacles. "That's what I do best, Madam."

He led us to the waiting room and left to attend to another patient.

The night wore on, uneventfully. Cynthia, however, was restless. I paced the corridors with her. Mum and Tessy were praying at one end.

"Tell me the dream again. Don't miss any details..."

"Ahn ahn Cynth! I have told you ten times already."

Just then, her phone rang. "Hello, Daddy... Eh, she is fine...The labour is going well...Jude, his mother and sister are here. They have been very helpful...Okay. Let me take the phone to her..."

She entered the labour room to give her mother the phone.

She came out after some time and tucked the phone away in her denim's pocket. She grabbed my hand.

"Promise me nothing would happen to my mother."

I took her in my arms and patted her back. "I pray nothing happens."

We strolled into the waiting room and sat down watching the hands of the clock move.

"Judas. Bring me the foal."

Thomas touched me. "The Master is talking to you."

It was days to the Passover and we had just returned from Bethany and were about to go up into Jerusalem.

I looked at the Messias. He beckoned on me, his right hand outstretched. I went to unfasten the unridden donkey from the tree and led it by the halter to the Master.

I removed my robe and placed it on the donkey's bare back and handed the halter to the Master. He mounted it.

"Hossana to the Son of David!" I shouted and the other apostles followed suit.

Just then, the donkey brayed. The bray turned into piercing cries.

"Jude!" I opened my eyes, startled. Cynthia was standing, nudging me. "Wake up! My mother has delivered! A baby boy!"

I stood up quickly and ran with her towards the labour room. I could hear the cries of the baby.

The nurse rushed out of labour room and ran towards the doctor's office. She ran back with a packet of some drugs.

Cynthia and I exchanged surprised glances. Mum and Tessy ran towards the door of the labour room.

The doctor came out and called us to a corner.

"Doctor, what is wrong?" Mum asked, her brow furrowed.

"She is bleeding heavily. She has lost a lot of blood already. Her blood group is O-negative and unfortunately, we don't have O-negative blood in our blood bank."

"So, what do we do? Can't she receive from O-positive?" Mum asked, her arms on her head.

"No. O-negative can only receive O-negative blood. You have to search the hospitals around to see if they have."

"Chei! At this time of the night? It is 3 am, Doctor."

"Mr. Udom!" the doctor called out to the lab scientist. "Please, collect their blood samples for grouping and cross-matching." He pointed at us. "We need to work fast!" 

He hurried into the labour room.

We followed Mr. Udom to the lab. I winced as the needle entered my skin, red fluid gradually filling the syringe. In an instant, he was done. He also gave us directions to some hospitals with functioning blood banks.

"Cynthia, stay with your mum. We are going in search of blood. Jude will keep in touch with you on the phone," Mum said as we made for the exit.

We ran to the car and sped off. The first two hospitals had no O-negative blood. 

I dialed Cynthia. From her voice, I knew she was crying.

"They said she is going into shock...still bleeding...the doctor said something about uterine atony...Please, hurry!" Her voice disappeared in trail of sobs.

We rushed to the third hospital.

The nurse walked us to the lab, knocking repeatedly on the door.

A bald, middle-aged man answered, a frown on his face.

"They need O-negative blood," the nurse said.

"Ahn ahn! Nurse Ngozi took the only one we have to the ward about fifteen minutes ago.

We raced to the ward. The blood bag was hanging, its content dripping slowly into the forearm of an emaciated patient. I shook my head in despair.

"You may have to go to UNTH, Ituku-Ozalla. But it will take more than an hour to go and come back. That road is also lonely."

We rushed to the car. Just then the phone rang. Cynthia.

"How is she?" I asked, my voice breaking.

"Still bleeding," she said. "The doctor said you should come back."

"Why? We haven't gotten the blood. We are on our way to UNTH..."

"Jude. You are O-negative. Your blood matched hers."

The screeching tyres brought the Land Cruiser to a standstill. We jumped down, slamming the doors behind us. I ran straight to the lab. Mr. Udom gave me a ball to press and inserted a big needle just above my forearm. Blood flowed through a connecting transparent pipe into a bag. The thumping in my heart outweighed the dizziness in my head.

I closed my eyes. Time seemed to crawl. I felt drained.

"We are done here," Mr. Udom said, after what seemed like a lifetime. He put a ball of cotton wool on the puncture point and told me to press on it. He ran with the blood towards the labour room.

"Jude."

I opened my eyes. The blinding rays of sunshine filtering through the windows greeted me.

"You are still lying here," Cynthia said. She was rocking the baby.

"I must have slept off."

"Oh! You have woken. I didn't want to disturb your sleep,"Mr. Udom said, smiling. "Oya, leave my office!"

Just then, I remembered. "How is your mother?"

Cynthia smiled. "The Lord is the ruler of the entire universe. Life and death are in His hands."

I muttered a silent prayer of gratitude.

"After the transfusion, the bleeding stopped. The doctor said she would still need at least two more pints of blood. But for now, she is out of the woods. I don't know how to thank you."

I smiled weakly.

As we walked out of the lab, Cynthia turned to face me.

"There is something else." She was holding the baby to her chest.

I looked at her, swallowing hard. "What?"

"She named the baby Jude."

I tried to fight back the tears. I could not.

©Kelvin Alaneme, 2015.

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