HOOK, LINE AND SINKER (Episode 8)

No, she was not allergic to any fruit juice. At least, not until four years ago. She had landed in the hospital a second time and had been admitted for longer based on her request. She contacted Sharon the second day after becoming a bit stable, just to alert her and to request that she come by the hospital whenever she could. The doctors were not saying anything major, and if they were, her aunt was doing a good job at concealing it and calming her down with the stereotypical ‘you’ll be fine my dear’ response.

Sharon, who was a nutritionist by profession and generally, a know-it-all person looked her in the eye one of those days doting aunty Dupe was not around and asked:

"What exactly did the doctors say is wrong? I know first pregnancies can be tough for some people but it's the second time you're coming here in less than two months..."

"I don't know. I'm just tired..." Bisola sat up on the hospital bed and reached for the bottle of water on the side table. 

"My tummy feels better though. I think I just need to be more careful with the kind of things I eat." She said dryly.

"Or things you drink, maybe..." Sharon voiced out her thoughts quietly. She had been searching through her mental storage for foods and drinks that could affect a pregnant woman in the first trimester and all through pregnancy.

"What did you say?" 

Bisola's voice jeered her back to consciousness.

"You said the last thing you remember was sipping on your glass of juice, right?” She asked, as she reached out for a notebook and pen from her bag.

“Yes? And I felt a sharp pain in my tummy, like it was being tied in a knot…” Bisola replied.

“Okay. I want a list of all the things you've been eating and drinking frequently since you arrived here." Sharon handed the notebook and pen to her with a straight face.

"O..kayy...You think it's something I've been drinking?" Bisola responded dryly.

"I'm not sure what to think, especially since the doctor is not saying anything concrete..." Sharon stood up from her seat.

"Wait..." She stopped mid-way after pacing the room for a while.

"Is the doctor a family friend of your aunt? I mean, is this the hospital your aunt's family uses normally?" She said in almost a whisper.

"Yeah, I guess..." Bisola was still very confused. She tried to figure out the point Sharon was trying to make to no avail.

"'Cause if it's not, then something is definitely wrong..." Sharon said almost to herself.

***

And yes, Sharon was right. After a third time at the hospital and extreme weight loss, Bisola knew something was definitely wrong. Once Sharon arrived this time, she brought out the list of foods and drinks Bisola gave her the last time they were at the hospital. She had noted a few things across each food and drink that was listed. She moved close to Bisola who lay in bed and looked weaker than Sharon had ever seen.

“You’ll be fine…” Sharon started.

“You don’t know that, okay? I wish I could abort it and get my life back, you know?” Bisola’s voice shook. She pushed back tears. She was exhausted from everything.

“Shhh. Don’t say that… You don’t mean it” Sharon began to pet her. Once she was calm, Sharon stood up from the side of the bed. She paced the room for a few seconds before going towards the door. She opened it, peeped out to the corridor, after which she shut the door and locked it.

“What?” Bisola could see nervousness written all over Sharon and it made her afraid.

Sharon walked quietly towards her, regained her position on the edge of the bed and took Bisola’s hands.

“Bisola, you have to believe what I’m about to tell you…” She started.

“And you have to promise me you won’t freak out.” Sharon continued after Bisola’s nod.

“I think…”

“Sharon, you’re scaring me. What is it?” Bisola tried to seat up in bed but Sharon stopped her.

“I think your drink… the numerous glasses of freshly squeezed juices…” She sighed.

“Especially the pineapple juice which has been more frequent than the others…” Sharon stopped talking and looked away.

“Sharon, please talk to me…” Bisola pleaded. A tear rolled down her cheek on its own accord. She was indeed weak; she wished more than ever that this phase of her life could be over in a jiffy.

“Okay. Thing is there’s a myth about pineapple intake causing heart burn, miscarriage or early labour because of its bromelain content” Sharon paused to see the reaction on Bisola’s face.

“What? Oh my… You mean…” Bisola couldn’t find the right words. She tried to wrap her head around the situation she had found herself. From the very first day she arrived at Aunty Dupe’s place, it had been from one glass of fresh fruit juice to the other. It was mainly a mix of two fruits; orange and pineapple. And she loved both fruits dearly, so she couldn’t be gladder to be pampered with glasses of freshly squeezed juice from two of her favorite fruits.

“But reasonable amounts might not lead to any complications” Sharon tried to calm her down. She had more bad news to give. Her suspicion stemmed from the amounts of fruit juices Bisola had been taking but she figured it was way more than that.

“Okay…” Bisola knew Sharon had more to say. She still had that worried look on her face.

Sharon ended up voicing out her suspicion about the many glasses of fruit juice being laced with something to induce an abortion. She was more suspicious since according to Bisola, the doctors had not said anything major was wrong with her. She felt it was all part of whatever plan was in place to make Bisola abort the pregnancy unknowingly. She suggested an alternative living arrangement for Bisola who was now in tears at the realization of the plan her mum had made with aunty Dupe. She cried for some time, while Sharon did her best to calm her. There and then, they set up an escape plan. Sharon was going to find a way to convince her husband to allow Bisola live in their Boys’ Quarter, which had been practically empty since she got married. She would present the situation as Bisola being an old-school friend who was one of the Batch B corp members that was recently posted to Port Harcourt for NYSC and had turned to her for assistance pending the time she was able to work her posting back to anywhere else in the South Western Part of Nigeria.

Bisola hugged her friend tight with one hand and held her tummy with the other. In that moment, she suddenly felt so much pity for her unborn child and longed for the day she would hold him or her. She knew by then, she would have the right words to say to her mum but until then, she had to prepare herself for this escape.

***

“Is there nothing I can say to convince you not to go” Peju said with a puppy face as she moved away from the door to allow Bisola walk past with a mini suitcase in hand.

“No, sis. I have to go. I’ll be back before you know it. There’s work on Monday, remember?”

She dropped the suit case on the sofa and rushed towards the fridge to get a pack of Oreos and canned malt, which she placed in her handbag.

She then reached out for her phone and began to call her uber driver to find out where he was. Before the call ended, another call came in. It was Sharon.

She immediately called her back.

“I’m at the airport, can you pick me up?”

“You’re where?” Bisola was confused.

“But I told you I was coming…” She hurried back into her room to pick her toothbrush, which she was almost forgetting.

“Okay, okay… just wait, I’ll be there.”

“What’s the matter?” Peju asked after Bisola hung up.

“I’m not sure myself…Hurry up, the uber guy is almost here.” She told Peju who had insisted on escorting her to the airport to board her flight to Port Harcourt.

Bisola hurried back to the sitting room. She peeped through the window to see if the uber had arrived after hearing a car park.

“Sharon, Sharon, why are you here?” She kept muttering to herself as she tried to block all negative reasons for Sharon’s awkward surprise.

***
HOOK, LINE AND SINKER By Faith Olatunbosun

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Read previous episodes here: Epsiode 1; Episode 2; Episode 3; Episode 4; Episode 5; Episode 6; and Episode 7