Olumide arrived at the doctor’s office last.

“Shut the door,” Ajoke said.

He shut the door behind him as his eyes surveyed the room.

Yetunde sat between her parents on the red couch in the corner.

Ajoke shuffled towards the leather clad hospital bed but Olumide stood by the door.

The doctor looked up, dropping her pen on the file as her eyes widened, “Are you all related to the girl?”

“Yes.”

The doctor’s eyes bounced between him and Ajoke before resting on a sobbing Yetunde. “Who are Modupe’s parents?”

“What’s wrong with her? Will she be okay?” Yetunde’s lips trembled.

“Well…” The doctor shifted. “The situation doesn’t look too good.”

Olumide’s chest tightened as the doctor reorganized the files on the desk.

“What exactly is not looking good?” Yetunde’s dad linked his fingers together.

“We’ve stopped most of the blood flow and her injury is of little concern.”

“Thank God.” Ajoke placed a hand on her deflating chest.

“There is something else to worry about”

“Something else? What else? You said her injury is fine.” Yetunde’s mother replied.

“For the injury, she will need a few stitches, some drugs and proper care to prevent an infection. The real problem is the blood loss. She will need a transfusion.”

“Transfusion?”

“Oh God. Olumide, you see. See what you’ve done.” Yetunde cried.

Olumide held the back of the empty chair in front of the doctor’s desk. “The transfusion; the stitches, how much would it cost?”

The doctor sighed. “It’s not a matter of cost. We’ve sampled her blood. She’s A negative and we don’t have that blood type in —”

“This a blood centre. How can you not have blood?” Ajoke shrieked.

“We do have blood. Just not anything compatible with Modupe’s body. The Corona Virus and lockdowns created a backlog of blood patients and a shortage of donors. Since the lockdown cleared up, there has been a huge demand that we haven’t been able to meet up with.”

Nobody spoke after the doctor’s statement. Olumide felt strength leave his legs as he settled into the chair.

Yetunde glared at him. “So, what will happen to Modupe?”

“We don’t have the blood she needs in this bank but we have two options. We can try to get some blood from Abuja, assuming they have blood or you can find someone who is O negative or A negative to donate. She will need three pints of blood. But find 6 donors, just in case."

"In case of what?" Ajoke asked.

The doctor shrugged. "In case of an emergency. In case any of the donor's blood are not viable. She'll need blood from someone with a healthy count of red blood cells as well as someone who is healthy, does not have any underlying illnesses, preferably someone with an AA blood type."

"Where do we find such a person, ehn. Where?" Yetunde's mother asked.

Olumide drummed his fingers on the table. "What's the real risk with delivering blood from Abuja?"

"It would take quite some money—"

Olumide waved off the rest of the doctor's sentence. "We have the money. What else?"

"Time. As it is, that's the real risk. If Modupe doesn't get the blood she needs soon, I'm not sure she will make it through the night. Even if God... You know, God is a miracle worker, not a magician, if you know what I mean."

"A plane from Abuja to this place will take 45 mins tops right. My dad's helicopter can make the trip and drop off the blood here. Is there an helipad close by?"

Olumide didn't wait for the doctor's answer before he brought out his phone and began to dial his dad's number.

"Sir, you don't understand. What if the people at Abuja don't have blood?" The doctor said. "It would be better if you start sourcing for donors."

"Then what are you waiting for?" Olumide barked at the woman. "Make a call to Abuja. Confirm it. Get your people to start working on it."

The doctor nodded at the nurse and made a sign of a phone call with her right hand. The nurse left the room while Yetunde's sobs grew louder.

"I am AB negative, can't I give blood to my daughter. I'm her mother for goodness sake!"

Ajoke gasped as her eyes rested on the Adeiga family. None of them responded. She turned to Olumide and he nodded. Dami had made him swear to keep the truth about Modupe's paternity to himself. It wasn't even a story worth sharing. He could only curse the man who thought it was okay to rape a fourteen-year-old under the guise of a relationship.

"I'm really sorry. It doesn't work that way."

"Olumide, I swear." Yetunde's voice turned harsh. "If anything happens to Modupe, I'll kill you."

He took that as his cue to leave, just as the ringing in his ear gave way to the static background of a picked phone call.

"Olumide, what is it?" His dad asked.

He stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him. "Dad, I need help. Yetunde needs help. Modupe—"

"What happened to Modupe?" His mother's voice in the background caused a twisting in his stomach.

Modupe was his mother's pet.
He gave an abridged version of the story, cutting out any of his involvement including the part where he had encouraged her to go and play despite Yetunde's warnings and emphasizing on the little boy that was probably still in the school's sick bay.

"Jesus. Jesus. Call Tayo now. The helicopter. The Jet. I don't care. Get any of them." His mother screamed.

"Is it the best idea to get blood from Abuja. Will the pilots get clearance to fly in time?"

"Dad, Modupe doesn't have time. She could be dead by this evening." He lost the control over his voice as the realisation of the part he had played in Modupe's misfortune hit him. If he hadn't been chasing Romola, if he had just listened to Yetunde, none of them would be here.

"I'll send the jet now. Send me the address."

"Yes sir."

"Give me the phone." His mother screamed from afar. Her voice became louder as she spoke. "Where are you? How is she doing? Where's her mother and Yetunde? You know what, just tell me where you are? The hospital's name?"

"You don't have to come here mum. Ajoke is already here." He ended the call.
Yetunde would no doubt tell his mother the truth and they would most likely look upon him like the devil. Just as they had when Muyi died. The cycle would repeat itself again.

The nurse walked past him with a white landline and Olumide followed. She entered the hospital room and dropped the phone on the doctor's desk.

Every eye turned to him as he shut the door. "I've spoken to my dad, the jets will be prepared. They just need an address."

"Give me a moment." The doctor punched the numbers into the landline and put the white phone to her ears. "Can you link me to Doctor Mustapha please...Yes...hmmhmm...Good and you...They're fine...we have a very urgent case...A paediatric case.. Patient is about 7 years. A negative. We need— You don't have it...What of O negative...I see...Don't think so...Thank you Mustapha. It was nice hearing from you again. Have a great day."

The doctor dropped the phone back in its cradle as it made a beeping sound.

"How soon can we get it?" Olumide asked.

"They don't have it. They have a surplus of A positive but that won't do us any good. You better start sourcing for contacts."

"I don't understand." Ajoke shifted on the hospital bed. "Are there no other blood centres in Lagos? Don't you have a list of regular donors? This is an emergency."

"Well, there are actually a couple of other options you could try. I wouldn't personally recommend it but if you are so eager to treat this girl regardless of the cost, you could go to one of the other 'blood banks' around where they sell blood for cheaper but don't complain when they give you something else, like pig’s blood.

"Or you can buy blood from one of those touts you see parading around, I'm sure they would be very eager to make money. Some of them want to have a smoke, you see, and they don't care that their lifestyle impacts the effectiveness of their 'side hustle'." The doctor made air quotes with her hand, then continued,

"Not to mention some of them have been in and out of Olopade Prison down the road, if that tells you anything about the kind of life they live." The doctor said with a deadpan look on her face. "Or, maybe you should take the advice I have given you and find someone before the girl dies. I'm simply saying that you should have a list of handy donors that you can call on in cases like this."

"Sister Joke, don't worry about it. I'll text my friends. My customers. Someone would have the blood right? It's O negative right?" Yetunde's fingers flew over her screen in a frenzied tap dance.

"I'm B negative, can I donate?" Olumide asked.

The doctor shook her head. "For other patients, yes, we would really appreciate it but for this case, your blood is useless. As to a donor list, we've exhausted both our primary, secondary and tertiary lists as well as those previously unscreened and unlisted. We can't ask any of them to donate any further without risking serious complications to them. You need a fresh donor."

"Doctor Sammy, can I speak to you for a second?" The nurse raised her hand.

"Sure."

The nurse walked around the doctor's table, past the Adeiga family before leaning close to the doctor's neck and whispering while her eyes bounced to Olumide and back to the table. She finished, straightened up and returned to her post by the door.

The doctor sat up. "It seems we have a new development."

"A donor?" Ajoke asked.

"Something of that sort. But it's a bit more complicated."