For about three weeks, Dr Adesina refused to pick Lucinda’s call. He was avoiding her. His conscience was haunting him, he wasn’t sure he could look at her again. Lucinda was worried too. She was feeling funny and wanted to talk to someone about it. She picked herself up and went to the hospital. When she entered, she was tempted to turn back because she felt so uneasy with the smell of the place. Then she saw sick people waiting to be attended to. She wasn’t sick, she was just feeling funny and so she was sure she could just take malaria medicine at the pharmacy and she would be fine.

“Hello Young lady, have you gotten a card?”

Inquired one of the nurses.

“Yes ma”

“Okay take it to that nurse”

Pointing in the direction of the nurse, she said

“Nurse Ronke, please attend to this lady”

And so Lucinda went to see Nurse Ronke

“Let me see your card”

When the nurse read the name on Lucinda’s Card, she wore a probing disposition then she began a pseudo-niceness.

“Sweetheart, what is the matter with you”

Lucinda explained that she had just been feeling funny. Nurse Ronke advised that she could just be stressed and needed some rest but not withstanding she would carry out some tests. She took Lucinda to the lab and after finding out where she stayed she promised that she would bring the results to her on her way home. She also promised to bring along some sleeping pills to help her rest. Lucinda couldn’t believe her luck, not only was she skipping the ordeal of waiting for the doctor, she had made a nurse friend who was willing to get her test results across to her.

Later that evening, Nurse Ronke came to give Lucinda the test results as promised. A few minutes afterwards she left but Lucinda didn’t escort her.

Sharon came back from her choir rehearsal later that evening and as she entered the room she was surprised that no loud music was playing which was an indication that Lucinda wasn’t in the room. She opened the door and to her surprise Lucinda was on the floor, she held what was left of sleeping tablets in her hand. Blood gushing from her head. Apparently she had tried to kill herself by taking an overdose. Sharon called for help. A few of the housemates heard her call and they helped to take Lucinda to the hospital.

….To be continued.