Too precious episode 49

TITLE: TOO PRECIOUS

WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI

CHAPTER 49

Immediately the ambulance arrived, they transported Allen out. Allen surprisingly didn’t ask any questions. His mother came with the ambulance and she asked where they were taking him. PB didn’t respond to her or anyone. Titi followed behind in her car while Seun stayed to take care of the children.

When they arrived at Chief Rotimi Adeoye’s residence, everyone was in shock including her uncles. The bedroom was thoroughly cleaned by PB and two maids. When they had aired out the room, Allen was taken upstairs to lay on the bed.

Her uncles confronted her about her presence in the house but she didn’t reply to anything they said. Titi told them to leave her alone, she was in shock. She was scared Allen would die and she wants it to happen in a comfortable place for her.

“Why choose our home for the location of her husband’s passing?” Niyi asked.

“Because it is her house and she can decide what she wants to do here without your consent. Check your agreement, it is clearly stated she can use your father’s room for whatever she wants to use it for. None of you can have access to it. This is what she wants to use it for,” Titi replied to them.

After Allen had settled down, he smiled weakly at his wife and said, “I have refused to give up because of you. I don’t know why you brought me here but whatever the reason it, it is for a good cause. Limit the number of people that can have access to me. I want only immediate family members close to me.”

PB nodded as he gave her instructions. She watched her once vibrant husband struggle to talk and fight to survive. He got worse as the days went by. A catheter was placed for him to urinate as he could no longer walk to the toilet. She would stay with him alone in the room except when the services of the nurses were needed.

She spent all night praying for her husband. They couldn’t see any improvement but he could speak longer. This was a positive change. It was the only change observed. She stopped eating and waited on God to do the miracle she was expecting.

Five days after he had been in the house, he became unconscious. Hope and Titi insisted he should be taken to the hospital but PB stood her ground. She left him in the room and tended to him.

Hope insisted, “Have you given up hope? Do you want him to die here? If you don’t want to spend money, we are willing to. Release him so he can get adequate medical attention.”

“He is not going anywhere. Please, allow him to be. It is either you stay here quietly in peace or you leave. Whatever wants to happen will happen in this room and nowhere else” PB answered.

Titi told Hope to be patient with PB. She advised she could set up the room as a hospital and the doctor can see him. The doctor came to see him and said his vitals were ok. That was all PB heard and was adamant.

Hope complained in tears to her husband. Collins came to the house to see Allen and PB. He said to PB, “I know you love Allen very much and there must be a good reason why you brought him here and have refused to send him to the hospital. Would you like to share with me? I will make his mother understand and she will back down.”

PB replied in tears, “I believe strongly he will get better here. I don’t want to move him from here, please. I am following instructions. My world will crumble if Allen dies and I don’t want that. Please, sir, trust me this once, allow him to stay here. I believe strongly he will be well soon.”

“I will ask Hope to step aside and allow do what you want to do. If it is the will of God for me to bury two of my children; I will. His mother wouldn’t be able to withstand it. I pray for all our sakes he gets better.”

“Pray for him as his father. Lay your hand on him and pray for him. That’s all he needs now.”

Collins laid his hand on his son’s forehead and prayed for him. Then he prayed for PB. After the prayer, he left the room. He met Hope and Titi and asked them to work with PB and not force her to do what they want. He told them to always be in the room with her in case Allen gives up otherwise she might go with him.

Two days after that meeting, at about midnight, Allen woke up. He woke up as though he had been asleep and roused to ease himself. He walked to the toilet and observed the catheter. He called out for PB which caused his mother to wake up. She observed he was not on the bed. She sprang up and woke everyone up. Then Allen called out for PB again. PB ran to the toilet.

“Babes, what is this?” Allen asked her pointing to the catheter. All PB could do was cry. She hugged him and cried. She pulled up his trouser and led him out of the room. He asked what was happening. He was confused seeing his mother and Titi in the room. Then he was more confused seeing himself in Chief Rotimi’s room. “Babes, why are we here? What’s going on?”

Hope was also confused at his confusion. She asked him, “Nna, have you forgotten that you have been very ill? Your wife brought you here to get better. You have been unconscious for three days. Has your memory been wiped out by the unconsciousness? How is that even possible? Did you fall and hit your head?”

“I didn’t fall or hit my head anywhere. I feel fine. Babes, I don’t know what is going on but I am very hungry, bring me food.”

PB couldn’t control the tears from flowing. The food he couldn’t eat more than two spoons was what he was asking for. PB was so happy but could only show it by tears of joy. Titi went to get food for him while PB made him lie on the bed and she laid beside him holding him tight.

She attempted to feed Allen when the food arrived but he refused and ate all by himself. After eating, he watched television while others tried to fall asleep. PB couldn’t sleep anymore; no one could sleep that night until morning.

In the morning, PB asked the nurses to remove the catheter. She took him to the bathroom, even though still very slim, he insisted on taking a bath himself. PB entered the bathtub with him in case he fell.

Allen had breakfast, laid down and slept. While he was asleep, the nurses were stationed to watch him while PB, Hope and Titi went outside to talk. Titi told them, “I am scared. When someone recovers suddenly that means death is around the corner.”

PB didn’t allow her grandmother to finish before she shouted, “God forbid it. Death will never come near my dwelling. Allen has been made wh0le. Sickness and death have been put to shame. We have won the battle. My husband is not dying. Watch and see.”

Hope curious about the wh0le setup. She understood what Titi was saying but for PB to be confident about Allen getting better and Allen is eating as he had done in the past, it was too sudden a change. He behaved as though he was his normal self. Hope suspected PB was hiding something. She decided to ask her, “PB do you know something we don’t know? You sound so confident. Tell us what you know so we can join our faith with yours.”

“It is not yet time. When it is time, I will let you know.”

Allen recovered steadily from that day. PB refused to allow him to leave the room. He stayed in the room for three weeks. He began to go down the stairs after that. He had added a bit of weight and was active. When the children came to visit him, he actively played with them.

Two months after, he was fully recovered. Allen was back to the Allen they all knew. His mother insisted on a thorough medical check-up to be conducted. All the tests came back negative. They couldn’t find anything wrong with Allen. They couldn’t find what caused the illness. Allen was declared fit.

PB contacted Biodun. She said to him, “I want to thank you for allowing yourself to be used as an agent of deliverance for my husband. He has fully recovered. I did what you instructed and he responded to treatment. Now, I want you to please ask Chief if we can return home. We will visit him as he wants but he should instruct us probably so we don’t have such problems again.”

“Precious, he just appeared to me once and now I intEr×¢t with the dead? I don’t o. He might use another person to answer you. I am happy your husband is healed; I pray it shall be permanent.”

“In case he comes to you, please don’t forget my message.”

“Precious, if I see him again, I will give him your message.”

Allen was eager to go back home but PB insisted in stayed there. She didn’t want them to leave without an assurance. Her grandmother, Titi, pressurized her for them to return home but PB refused for them to leave. She told Titi she was waiting for her confirmation before she leaves.

Titi left very early one morning and came back late at night. She called PB into her room. “Why didn’t you tell me about the revelation? I guessed but I didn’t have the details. Allen is ok now, let us go back to the house. What we will do now ……..”

“Grandma, the only message I will listen to right now is only from the source my grandfather used to get to me. Any other source, I will not listen to. We will remain here until the message is sent to me.”

“So, what I have found out is not useful to you?”

“It is not. I don’t want to get distracted from my goal. Once I get the message from the appropriate quarters then I can leave this house or make it mine.”

“Your uncles are complaining. They wouldn’t say it to you but they are. Instead of waiting for a message that will never come, I can tell what I found out and what we were asked to do. It is better and faster.”

“Why didn’t you go to these people when Allen was very ill?”

“I went to them but they didn’t see anything.”

“They are still blind. Grandma, please leave me alone. You can go back home; Allen and I will remain here until the message comes.”

Gradually, life went back to normal. Allen and PB remained in the house. They went to work from there and returned there every night. They visited the children in their home but returned to sleep in Chief’s room. Allen never asked why or insisted he wanted to leave there. He stayed without complaint.

Biodun called two months after his conversation with PB. “He said you can return to your home. You have to visit him for two nights at least once a month. This is important. He said your husband has been healed completely. The disease he had would have killed him immediately he discovered it. The treatment would have worsened his condition. For this reason, he didn’t allow the hospitals to discover what was wrong with him until he was completely healed. He should avoid eating seafood altogether.”

“Is that all he said?”

“Finally, he said and I quote, “A labourer deserves his wages.” He said you would know what that means.”

PB couldn’t believe what she just heard. Whenever anyone did anything for Chief no matter how small, Chief rewarded the person handsomely and would say, “A labourer deserves his wages.” She realized Chief wanted her to compensate Biodun. She was happy too. She thanked him and told him she would invite him to the house to show appreciation.

The next day, they packed up and went home. It was at home she shared the reason Biodun visited with Allen, Titi, and Seun. But she didn’t disclose the other instructions given to them, only Allen and they promised to keep it between them. Allen asked them not to tell his mother about it. She already suspected there was more to his illness and it could be from his wife’s family. He didn’t want to confirm her suspicion.

Allen was so grateful that he invited Biodun over. Allen and PB gifted him N5,000,000.00. Biodun was excited when he received the cheque. He said he kept wondering why Chief decided to use him after all he did to PB and Chief. He said Chief told him it was because he had turned a new leaf and embraced a good life, that was why. The money was the exact amount he needed to finish his factory. He had been praying for intervention and it came on a platter of gold.

Allen and PB went to visit Collins. He hadn’t seen Allen since he recovered. He was ecstatic when he saw his son hale and hearty. He cried tears of joy. He prayed for both of them. He told his son to hold on to PB and never let her go. He said she is a strong woman. He said cheerfully, “Now I can go and rest knowing my son is healthy enough to bury me.”

Tbc