“I don’t like what I am
suspecting,” He said to Mabel and shook his head.
“What is the problem?” Mabel asked.
“I will send her to run some
tests in the lab before I can say for sure.”
“Doctor Obi what is wrong with
me?” Cynthia asked sounding worried.
“Don’t worry,” Dr Obinna
reassured her. “Whatever it is can be handled.”
He wrote out lab
tests for Cynthia to run.
“Should I add scan?” he asked
rhetorically.
“Scan?” Cynthia asked.
“Don’t let it scare you. I just
want to know how things are inside your tummy region. Sometime, issues there
can radiate pain to the back, even though it is not likely in your case because
you are not showing some symptoms.”
“Ok.”
He filled a scan form for her and handed the forms over
to Mabel.
“Where do we go?” Mabel asked.
“Show it to the lady doctor
you met earlier,” he replied. “She will direct you.”
“Will the test results come out today?”
“The basic ones will come out
today.”
“Even at that, you know it is
afternoon already. All these lab attendants can behave somehow at times.”
“Not in this hospital o. But
just so you will be convinced, give me the forms.”
Mabel gave them
back to him, he wrote ‘urgent’ on them and handed them back to Mabel.
“How much do you think the
tests will cost?” Mabel asked.
“Mabel you are asking too many
questions o,” Dr Obinna said, smiling. “The earlier you go there, the better
o.”
“I need to know if I am
prepared to bear the cost. You know how expensive these things can be.”
“As long as I am here, you
don’t have any problem.”
Dr Obinna took
the forms again and wrote ‘50% off the cost’ and signed. He handed it over to
Mabel.
“Any more questions?” he
asked, smiling.
“No,” Mabel replied. “Thank
you so much.”
“You are welcome.”
“I hope you will still be
around when the results come out?” Cynthia asked.
“Sure,” Dr Obinna replied. “I
am not going anywhere till we get to the bottom of this.”
“Ok thank you.”
They left. The
worry on Cynthia’s face remained there as she walked behind Mabel.
“What is wrong?” Margret asked
when they met her. “What did the doctor say?”
“He sent Cynthia to run some
tests and do a scan,” Mabel replied. “We will find out after that.”
They gave the
forms to the lady doctor who took them to the laboratory section. The lab cashier
went through the forms and told them how much the tests and scan cost.
“You are to remove 50% from
the total cost,” the lady doctor told her.
“Says who?” she asked.
“It is there. Signed by Dr
Obinna.”
“Ok.”
The cashier looked
at what Dr Obinna had written, nodded her head and then told Mabel how much was
left to pay. Mabel brought out her purse and checked how much she had.
“I don’t have up to that
here,” Mabel said. “Do you use POS?”
“No we don’t,” the lab cashier
answered.
“Do you accept part payment? I
will go and use an ATM now and pay the balance before the results come out.”
“No. Our policy here is ‘pay
before service’.”
Mabel sighed.
“Don’t worry,” Margret told
her. “I will make it up.”
Margret opened
her bag and brought out the amount required to complete what Mabel had.
“Thank you so much.” Mabel
said to her.
“You are welcome.”
“I will pay you back when I
use the ATM.”
“It is not necessary.”
Mabel paid the cashier. Then Cynthia was led into the
sample collection room. They took her blood and urine. Then she was directed to
the scan section where she did what she was asked to do and did the scan. They
were told that all the results would be ready in an hour thirty minutes time.
“Should we go back to Dr
Obinna’s office or should we wait here for the result?” Cynthia asked Mabel.
“Let me find out what time
they close.”
Mabel asked a lab
attendant who told them that the labs will close in about two hours time. He
advised them not to go far if they wanted to leave the hospital.
“It is better to stay around o,”
Margret advised. “If you are not in sight, they may forget you need your result
urgently.”
“But we can’t stay here,”
Mabel said.
“Let’s go to Dr Obinna’s
office then.”
Mabel told the lab
attendant that they are still in the compound and will come back for the result
in an hour thirty minutes time. He reassured them that the results would be
ready by then. They left for Dr. Obinna’a office. They met him standing outside
with a friend.
“How did it go?” He asked them
when he discharged the friend.
“They asked us to come back in
an hour thirty minutes time,” Mabel said.
“Ok. Do you want to wait or do
you want to go somewhere and come back?”
“We will wait.”
He turned to
Cynthia and asked how she was feeling.
“In pains,” Cynthia replied.
“Did you come with the balm?”
“Yes,” Mabel answered and
opened her bag. “It is here.”
“Hold on.” He told Mabel and
then turned to Cynthia, “Cynthia, is the pain unbearable?”
“Not really.”
“Can you manage it till the
results come out?”
“I think so.”
“I will prefer we wait until
the result come out so we will know exactly what we are dealing with and apply
the right treatment.”
“Ok.”
“Let’s go get something to
eat,” Margret said to Mabel.
“Thanks dear but I am not
hungry,” Mabel told her.
“I am o,” Cynthia said.
“Will you like to use the
canteen?” Dr Obinna asked them.
“No o,” Margret said. “I don’t
do canteens.”
“Ok. There is this fast-food
not very far from here. You can try them.”
“You can go with Cynthia,”
Mabel said. “I will wait for the result to come out.”
“No. You two can go and bring
back take-away for me,” Cynthia suggested.
“You can all go.” Dr Obinna
told them. “I will monitor the lab for you.”
“Thank you so much.”
They left for the
fast-food restaurant.
“I will need to use an ATM,”
Mabel said as they drove off.
Margret drove to
a bank close by. The crowd of people waiting to use the ATM was too much.
“Do you want to wait or do we
try somewhere else?” Margret asked her.
“Let’s try somewhere else,”
Mabel answered. “Remember, we don’t have much time.”
They went to
another bank. There was no queue. Mabel entered and came out almost
immediately.
“What happened?” Cynthia
asked.
“Their ATM machines are
temporarily out of service.”
“These banks sef,” Margret said and hissed. “If we
can’t find one, we leave it till we are done with the hospital.”
“Let’s try one more,” Mabel
said.
They went to
another bank.
Nedu Isaac
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