Tatsuniya; Day one at St Andrew's!

"Hello.........Hellllooooooooooooo" A tiny voice penetrated her subconscience..
She slowly turned to the other side and met the gaze of the intruder........."Hey Chabiya" she replied.
the little girl was instantly confused and asked, "whats your name?" with her tiny baby voice.
"Naima"
"I dont know you....where are you from?"..........
"Chabiya! Chabiya!!!" Aunty Mimi shouted from the hallway, saving Naima from the interrogation...
She got into the house at about 10pm the night before and so the girls had been asleep. her mum's friend had welcomed her well and also took her round the house.
the house wasnt really as big as she had expected it to be,especially since every1 back home was talking about how Aunty Mimi was married to a well-to-do surgeon. but it looked comfortable for a young family like theirs.
Aunty Mimi has been married for about ten years now, and had been living in the UK from the start. she had two lovely girls Kwala aged 7 and Chabiya aged 2.....Both girls had heavy british accent and couldnt say a word in their language. they had spent only one vacation in Nigeria,like two years ago, which was why Chabiya didnt know Naima.
The 3-bedroom bungalow was all brown on the inside though there seem to be some re-decor going on as she noticed white paint just behind the front door. the fireplace also smelled like it was just painted white....the sitting room and most of the rooms downstairs were dubbed in lemon green with matching brown sofas and folding chairs. there was a small barbie doll house for the girls at the far end of the room and Naima thought the matching cream walls made the house more homey....

Naima smiled as she looked around the room she was in......it was all pink,it reminded her of her own room back at home. the room was Kwala's and there was a whole bookshelf of children's books. Aunty Mimi had said last night that she wanted to inculcate the habit in her very early. that thought made her remember Eazy's call earlier in da morning and her inability to relay to him exactly how she felt when she saw her mum the night before. she just said it was bad and the manner in which he shifted back to talk about how much he was missing her after chiping in a quick "take it easy" just wasnt enough for her. but she let herself laugh at his jokes all the same,she needed that too....she was grateful that he had actually called to wake her up to pray subhi just like he did at home, and that alone she thot was enough for now....
She preferred not to think too much about her mum's present state. the Lord was watching and she was sure He wouldnt let her down. So,she got up and walked into the bathroom just opposite the room to brush her teeth.
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She looked at her map again,even more confused then....the street Aunty Mimi lived on was one of those highbrow jewish neighbourhoods that had no bus service. as such she had to take a cab to the nearest tube station before she started her journey to St Andrew's hospital. Yemi had told her which service to take and when to change abd she had assured Aunty Mimi that she could manage just fine, but she was sure now that she had been she mistaken.

She walked back to the information desk and decided to ask for clarification. the lady looked like she couldnt care less even if Naima was lost. she told her to take the northern line and then switch at Bank...the rest was easy from there. she thanked her and then proceeded to top up her Oyster card.

On the long ride Naima's mind drifted back to her dad insisting that her mum needed more prayers than medical attention and why he thought she should be brought back home immediately. but Naima knew him too well. he worried too much and easily got confused when making big decisions, as such she had decided on her own to talk to the doctors first. she was also doing her own little research and was studying more about toxoplasmosis cos she heard that some doctors kept patients for research even when they knew they couldnt do anything for them.

She walked out of the underground station and got lost all over again. she knew it was near the old london museum but she couldnt see the turn Yemi had pointed out to her the night before.

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She smiled at the nurse as she walked into the ward...the nurse was the same one with her mum last night. she began to update her on the case and promised to let the doctor-on-call know that Naima wanted to talk to him/her, but she warned that being weekend, the actual team working on her mum wont be around.
Naima thanked Bibi for the help and made a mental note to always consult her when she needed anythn. Bibi was from South Africa she gathered and had been living and working at St Andrew's for almost a decade.
Her mum looked at her with sad eyes as she walked in and she didnt even reply the hearty greeting Naima gave her. she really looked as depressed as Bibi had said. Naima sat on the bed after droping the kunu she had brought from home on the table close to the bed.
'Mama ya jiki?" Naima asked softly.
all she got was a slow nod...Naima could feel the sting of hot tears welling up in her eyes...her mum turned away and starred into space.
She began to talk to her and ask if she felt or needed anythn but there was no response. Naima felt like the bed was wet and as she tried to confirm, she realised that the catheter had a leak.
she stood up to find the nurse but she was no where to be found.......and they say its only nurses in naija that are like that...