#the LECTURE he got when he came out at 3am to see his father sitting in the living room

[that-blue-vault-dweller]

One shot idea that I got at like 3am. Nora and Piper have gotten themselves into trouble and once they unravel the mess they are in they are both afraid of going back to Diamond city because they just know that Nick will somehow find out.

A/N: Thank you so, so much for this request!!! I've really enjoyed writing for these two and it's actually been the first time in a good while that I've actually enjoyed writing a fanfic lol 😅

Sorry it took so long to reply! It took me a while to get back inspiration for this fandom, but I'm going to do my best to keep it for at least a little while longer 💙💛

Word Count: 1.6k+

   “My place or your place?” Nora asked, stopping finally in the nonstop sprint they had been on since running into that Super Mutant Behemoth and bringing down all of the ghouls in the nearby area on their heads.

   By some miracle, they had defeated the thing, and Nora honestly still was not sure how.

   The entire thing had been partially both of their faults with Nora reminiscing over the days that she would go on the swan ride and Piper deciding to indulge her with Nora more than happy to go along with it and help her. Piper had led the way, Dogmeat following as she brought them over to the swan when something suddenly emerged out of the water.

   Which led them to somehow killing the thing with no large weapons— at least none that were compatible with the remaining ammo that they had between the both of them— and one lucky hand grenade that Nora had happened to throw in its basket, the blast radius destroying its head.

   But they then realized they had lured all of the ghouls in their direction, and there were far too many to reasonably take on considering the fact that they were almost out of ammo for the pistols they had on them.

   So they ran and here they were now, trying to decide which place to go to refill on ammo so that they could actually go to the place that they were originally aiming to go before the entire escapade happened.

   Piper looked behind her as she paused before replying, shaking her head as she squinted. She then looked back at her best friend, apparently satisfied with the lack of ghouls following them.

   “My place is closer,” Piper pointed out, trailing off a little as she stopped and started to sit down on the sidewalk there below her. She did not sound overly enthusiastic about heading back to her own place, and Nora raised an eyebrow as she looked down at the other girl.

   “But?” Nora asked, and Piper shook her head.

   “Blue, you know we can’t go back there,” Piper told her, and Nora paused, going through all of the reasons why they should go back there. She ultimately came up with no reason they should not, and she looked at Piper, utterly lost.

   “Umm… Why?” Nora questioned, furrowing her brow as she leaned against the streetlight and tried to regain her breath. Piper just waved her hand in the direction of Diamond City lazily, pulling out a cigarette.

   Dogmeat came over to inspect her to see if it was anything he could eat, and Piper leaned away from him, trying to keep her cigarette out of his reach. He gave up after a short moment of this and she then returned to what she had to say in response to Nora’s question.

   “Because of Nick! He’ll know!”

   “How would he know?”

   “Because he just will! And then we’ll get a lecture!”

   “You say this like you speak from experience,” Nora huffed incredulously, unable to help the smile that was tugging at the corners of her lips.

   Piper was one of a kind, and honestly, Nora could see Nick giving her a good scolding back when the girl was younger. She was instantly picturing Piper around the age of sixteen and Nick acting as a sort of father or grandfather figure for her, the girl just as fiery as she always was and Nick just as tired as he always was.

   “I do have experience. He’ll have our heads, mark my words,” Piper told her, pointing at her with her good hand before taking a drag from the cigarette.

   “He’s never tried that with me,” Nora acknowledged, and Piper released a long breath from her mouth, smoke billowing between her lips.

   “Yeah, well, there’s a first time for everything,” Piper shot back, and Nora thought about it for a few moments before returning her gaze to Piper’s, concern starting to grip at her a bit. She knew how Nick could be when he disapproved of things despite her having never seen the lecturing side of him.

   “He can’t be that bad.”

   “Look, you remember when he got upset with Vadim that one time when some of his famous moonshine got into some of the schoolkids’ hands, and he fussed at him for a solid fifteen minutes?” Piper asked, and Nora nodded.

   “Yeah… I thought he was never going to stop. Poor man didn’t even mean to for it to end up with the kids. Didn’t it come from Darcy Pembroke?” Nora questioned, trying to remember the entire thing and Piper nodded.

   “Imagine that lecture but like for twice that amount of time or better,” Piper explained, bringing the cigarette to her lips once more, and Nora wrinkled her nose as she thought about Nick’s unrivaled ability to scold people.

   Nick could certainly do a good job lecturing people and he would not let anyone get in a word edgewise if it was something that he was particularly worked up about. Nora definitely did not really want to be on the receiving end of the whole thing…

   “Well… where should we go then? We need to restock on ammo somewhere… Goodneighbor maybe?” Nora suggested and Piper scoffed, letting out another breath of smoke.

   “Ugh, I hate it there,” Piper grumbled, and Nora shrugged tiredly.

   “I know, but we don’t have much of a choice. It’s a long ways between here and Sanctuary and that’s where I keep my ammo. And if Diamond City’s out of the question, Goodneighbor’s our last option,” Nora explained, and Piper sighed, standing up as she offered Dogmeat a scratch.

   “Guess we better get going,” Piper agreed reluctantly, dropping her cigarette as she snuffed it out with her boot. Nora huffed, smiling softly as she realized Piper’s hat was drooping a little too far down her face.

   “And play it quiet,” Nora told her, adjusting Piper’s hat playfully. Piper’s eyes sparkled and she feigned offense as she placed her hand on her chest as if she had been utterly scandalized by the other woman.

   “Are you implying that I don’t play things quiet?” Piper asked, and Nora could easily see that she was barely able to keep the cheese-eating grin off of her face. Nora raised an eyebrow, her own smile starting to come onto her face.

   “It was a warning for both of us, but if the shoe fits,” Nora conceded, and Piper offered her own raised eyebrow in reply.

   “I’m pretty sure you were aiming that one at me, Blue,” Piper pointed out, and Nora smirked knowingly, unable to help her amusement as an old saying came to mind.

   “Hey, the bit dog hollers, I always heard,” Nora joked, lightly bumping into her with her shoulder. Piper narrowed her eyes and bumped into her in turn before throwing an arm around her as the both of them started to head out, Dogmeat walking ahead of them with his tongue lolling happily.

   “Not so fast, ladies,” a voice spoke up, and Nora and Piper froze in place, sharing a horrified glance before turning around quickly.

   There behind them was the one and only Nick Valentine.

   “Nick! What are you doing here?” Nora asked smoothly, trying not to look like she was guilty. That one time that she and her sister had brought a puppy home to her and Nate’s place in a Pre-War Sanctuary Hills randomly came back to mind.

   Just like she had then with her biological sister in the face of Nate’s dissatisfaction, she now glanced at Piper briefly, wordlessly sharing a silent agreement to pretend nothing had happened and that they were perfectly innocent.

   “What are you two doing here so close to Boston Commons?” he asked, watching them carefully. He offered Dogmeat an affectionate rub of the ears in response to the dog’s nose against his good hand.

   “Aww, Nicky… Look at this guy, Blue, he’s a sweetheart. All worried about us,” Piper pointed out, grinning and trying to disguise the panic that Nora could see shining in her eyes.

   “That was really sweet of you,” Nora told him, smiling softly, hoping her tone would throw him off-track from the situation that he doubtlessly was doing his best to sniff out.

   Nick very unfortunately did not look amused.

   “Yeah, well, when I heard from our mutual friend in the spying business that a couple of wastelanders were crazy enough to try to take on a Super Mutant Behemoth with just a couple of ten millimeters, a hand grenade, and an attack dog, I knew something was up,” Nick stated drily, and Piper’s smirk fell as she let out a loud groan. Nora sighed deeply, closing her eyes as she winced a little at the knowledge that they had been caught.

   “What did I tell ya?!” Piper cried. Nora tried to appease him with an apologetic look.

   “In our defense, we didn’t aim to take it on at all, much less with only the two handguns. We did have other weapons but we ran out of ammo before we even got to Boston Commons,” Nora explained with a nervous chuckle, and Piper groaned once more, still mourning the fact that Nick had found out.

   “Every single time! I’m telling you, he’s like… He’s got eyes in the back of his head or something!” Piper cried in utter exasperation, pointing at him accusingly.

   Nick smiled humorlessly before turning in the direction of Diamond City. Nora knew what was coming next.

   “C’mon. You two can tell me your story on the way back. Then when we’re actually back, I’ll tell you how careless that was,” he told them, a certain Dad-like exhaustion in his tone.

   Nora and Piper shared a glance before sighing deeply, the both of them trailing behind him as Dogmeat proudly ran along and took point, not having the first idea of what was happening between the humans and the synth.

   Piper leaned in closer to her.

   “What did I tell you?” Piper questioned in a whisper, and Nora just shook her head tiredly.

   “Yeah, yeah, I know…”

[tanoraqui]

Oooh, Elrond and his (ex)mobster family is such fun idea, I adore it so much you are a true genius! But I got to ask; what if Galadriel leaving crime business is only what she wants you to think? Sure, she isn't as involved in it as before, and those flowershops are legitimate business, but she still does smuggling and crime on side. Leading to scene where poor Elrond and Celebrian, who just took out squad of would be assassins, are stuck between Celegorm and Galadriel 1/2

who are currently arguing about best way to dispose of body and assuring kids to just sit down and rest, they will clean up the signs before police comes. Fact that Elrond and Celebrian just murdered few professional hitmen doesnt disqualify them from kid status. 2/2

[re:]

No, Galadriel really DID leave the criminal enterprise…not long before the feds came in and cleared it up, in my mind she left Doriath immediately after Finrod’s death (which obv didn’t happen in this au). But still, she left before it all got REALLY warring between families. She went so straight that she married a man and they eloped to— fuck, I was going to say California but geographically, Beleriand is California and the Rockies are the Ered Luin, huh. They eloped to Colorado? Yes, all of this is much funnier if it’s happening in some mid-sized non-coastal city.

(Also, Galadriel/Celeborn is bi4bi, but my point stands.)

Galadriel’s burgeoning flower/gardening empire is completely aboveboard and she does NOT do additional crime on the side…but that doesn’t mean she can’t still grab a gun from an erstwhile cousin’s belt and coolly shoot someone attacking her daughter three times in the chest, then snappily discuss where to hide the body and how to follow this back to whoever hired these goons and deal with the problem at the root.

Also on the subject of “people who left that life behind, for sure”:

Celebrimbor, showing up to break into a bank at 3am: This is a terrible idea and I cannot believe I’m doing it. I’m not doing this again, Elrond. This is a one-time thing and I hope you appreciate it.

Elrond: I know. I do, really, thank you. I brought everything, I just need a hand - what’s that?

Celebrimbor: [had been getting a mysterious electronic doohickey out of his bag; set it at the side of the building, presses a button and looks satisfied when there’s a soft beep]

Celebrimbor: Short-range multi-purpose signal blocker. Can’t EMP the building, alarms would go off somewhere else - this way, none of the alarms will get out, and the camera data will be scrambled.

Elrond: Did you make that?!

Celebrimbor: Only the image scrambling - the rest, I borrowed it from work. [going around to a side door] Did you not have a plan for the remote alarms? See, this is exactly what I’m saying about how this is a terrible idea - we don’t care if it’s obvious there was a break-in later, right?

Elrond: No...

Celebrimbor: Great. [still talking, gets a vial out of his bag, uncaps it carefully and pours it on the lock. the lock dissolves] I don’t care what Maedhros thinks he needs, or what you think he needs, this just isn’t worth the consequences - 

Elrond: Sorry, what’s that?

Celebrimbor: [opening door, walking in] Classified. It’ll evaporate without a trace, don’t worry. And if you’re caught, fuck the sons of Fëanor, how will that reflect on Gil-galad? What will your girlfriend think? 

[at a mechanically locked door] Elrond, fishing out lockpicks: Here, I can - 

[Celebrimbor continues lecturing while Elrond picks the lock. The vault itself, however, is electronically as well as mechanically locked]

Celebrimbor: [still lecturing (ranting), pulls out another doohickey, a little less sleek, and presses it against the keypad. the whole thing buzzes, lights, and goes dark. The door clicks]

Elrond: Okay, that one was an EMP.

Celebrimbor: - if my father thinks he can - yes, I made it in my garage. [opens door] If he thinks he can just....

ALSO by the end of it, Maglor is going to be on Elros’s maybe-extradition-proof topical island that needs more houses - well, at the actual end of it, everyone has to come together again for some dramatic mass confrontation, shoot-out and/or family shouting match, obviously. But Elros & Maglor arrive at that together, with the girl Elros’s new girlfriend (or Elros’s pre-established wife?) in tow... 

BUT I’m torn as to whether it’s like, Elrond (& Elros) starts out genuinely not knowing where he is, they want to but also maybe they don’t because the affection between them and Maglor is Complicated, on account of the whole murder/kidnapping that preceded the genuinely affectionate parenting. But then like 2/3 through the plot, on their daily Zoom chat, Elros is like, “You know those finches I was telling you about, which keep trying to steal my breakfast?” 

“Yes?” Elrond replies, still half-distracted by his own, more dire troubles. 

“Well today a new bird showed up. A really big one, dark-haired. I think ti’s pretty rare - probably a lot of people would be excited to find it. 

“Uh-huh...”

“Sings really loudly and obnoxiously.” 

“...oh. Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want...advice to get ride of it? We could- I mean, we should call a- a zookeeper.”

“No. No, I think it’s....fine. For now. But don’t tell any other ornithologists either.”

OR 

Has Elros been telling Elrond about the pretty birds that live in the trees near his apartment every day, about how they sing, they seem to enjoy the sunshine, the little fuckers stole his croissant...they seem to be anxious about the threat of hunting cats... Elrond says to send the birds his love and Elros says he’s sure they’d like Elrond, too, if they met him, and be worried about how he’s doing...

And you the audience just have the slowly dawning realization that Maglor has literally been there with Elros the entire time and they made this code in advance, and are deliberately not telling anyone.

One hand hand a dash more emotional drama; on the other, more dramatic irony, you know? I’m very torn.

Also in my heart I’m imagining this whole thing as a tv show where Elrond and Elros Skype once an episode. 

[pettyprocrastination]

Frankie loves making out+dry humping because it reminds him when you guys just started dating in your early twenties and he would sneak out of his parent's house late at night to pick you up in his truck and drive off to some starry spot to make out, this often lead to him either cumming in his pants or some awkward bumps and the occasional tap on the window from a very tired sheriff who is also friends with his father but he remembers the quick kisses you'd give him and your stifled laughter as your idiot boyfriend would shout "I LOVE YOU!" to your dorm window at like 2 in the morning

[cynicaldesire]

Since I’m having trouble writing, I’ll just make an update post. Maybe that’ll help me feel better, get some things off my chest.

Not much to get off my chest tho. My husband had a like 2week break and we sat around mostly playing Monster Hunter Rise for the duration.

Shortly before his break, though, I was having chest pain and a toothache. My teeth have looked pretty gnarly and my gums have been receding for a while but language barrier so we’ve been too scared to go to a dentist. But we have to now because I started have Chest Pain.

My husband’s father died from heart failure. So I kept expecting my chest pain to go away so I wouldn’t have to scare him with it. But after like day 4, when the pain hadn’t gone away, I finally broke down and told him about it. He had like 3 days of work, so we agreed that I would be super careful and we lost a lot of sleep, but I checked my heart rate using my phone and tried to take it easy until my husband’s break started. We headed to the big hospital like a block away from the clinic we usually go to just in case my chest pain was serious. We struggle our way through language barriers and I explain my symptoms to the doctor. It was mostly some burning pain at the time. Doctor has me get an ECG and some bloodwork. He tells me the ECG is normal so my actual heart muscle is fine, but the bloodwork says my liver is inflamed in response to something, but it’s not an infection, so he’s gonna prescribe me some NSAIDs and tells me to come back in a week. My husband says that I also have been having some tooth pain. The doctor freezes with a thinky face and says to get my teeth checked and to come back in a week. We ask if he has any suggestions on dentists. He says NOPE! and leaves. We head to checkout and while waiting for them to process my stuff, the doctor stops by checkout also and I’m like Hey. He nods and heads out. We spent a total of like... 4 hours there. Total. For the ECG, the bloodwork, etc.

Go home, take the meds, try to take care of my teeth, get Listerine. Sit around and try to take it easy for a week. We go back, the burning is gone and my teeth have overcome their problem. Doc asks if I’m okay now, I say yeah, seem to be, but now I have random pinchy pains. He says I should come back in a month. Husband and I can’t so the doctor is like Okay well, you’re fine, but if it gets bad again... Come back.

Due to my being broke, uninsured, and having a chronic illness, I do a lot of armchair doctoring on myself. There’s a limit to it, of course, but I try to research my own health issues or treatments after visiting a doctor. I found so much more information on PCOS on sites like fucking Reddit than by going to a doctor for years. So after the doctor told me I was okay, I looked up why I might have chest pain if it wasn’t related to a heart attack or something. And one of the options was a pulled muscle.

I thought back to the week before the chest pain started. Other than the toothache and swollen gums, I had been doing a bunch of exercise. I did a bunch of Ringfit and hip lifts and situps and stuff. And I was like Hm. Did I injure my chest muscle overdoing the Ringfit?

I, of course, informed the parents of all of this. My husband’s mother was informed and I was worried she would be deeply upset because she lost her husband to heart problems. But then both parents were like “You went to the doctor? You have medications? Well you seem to have it under control, so let’s bitch about my problems.” Meanwhile, I’m over here having trouble sleeping because I’m worried I won’t wake up. But okay. When my husband went back to work, I Skype’d with my mother and she seemed more irritated that I had interrupted her evening than happy to talk to me or worried about my Chest Pain. Also my dad has to get up at like 3am, so when I called her, she was worried her getting loud and animated as we do was going to wake him up.

(husband’s mental health doctor struggles and a story about library card nonsense under the cut)

Husband has also been seeking professional help because he believes he has ADHD. He’s been having a lot of problems, mostly mentally and emotionally, and he traced all the issues he’s having to ADHD. So he went to an English-speaking psychiatrist for medication. The shrink said he wanted to treat the anxiety before the ADHD in case anxiety is the only issue. My husband, due to his job, is very good at asking questions, so he asked the doctor how many people he prescribes this medication to. And he said 100% of his patients. Well, the medication didn’t seem to help, so on the followup appointment, the doctor said Oh, you’re just taking too much. My husband was like It’s supposed to reduce my anxiety, but instead it’s making my anxiety worse, it’s giving me mood swings, and generally making me very angry. And also sex is more difficult. Doc said I’m gonna reduce the dosage because I can’t treat your ADHD without getting rid of the anxiety. Husband came out of the appointment angry and defeated. But now he’s taking less (and it might be helping?)

Soooo yeah. I try to brush my teeth at least once a day (up from the like once every 20 years I did it before) and I use the No alcohol Listerine in place of brushing sometimes because you can. I skimmed an article about how to take good care of your teeth and it said to not actually rinse when you brush and mouthwash in place of brushing sometimes. I drink almost exclusively soda so I try not to drink any for at least 30minutes after brushing or mouthwash.

We hung out with the friends a couple weeks ago and they said we should start up a new DnD campaign because one of our friends has a roommate in his small apartment and can’t rejoin the old one. The roommate is a friend displaced by a breakup, but he seems to have a new apartment and the moveout date keeps moving. Our DM is getting tired of it and one of our other friends wants in because he’s lonely and DnD is great, so he said we should start up a new campaign so he can join. So we’re setting up for that, just in case.

In order to work on my writing, I’ve skimmed a lot of tips articles after watching a bunch of YouTube lectures and videos. I kinda hate reading and I feel like a huge fraud because if I want to write, I should like to read. But I don’t want to risk buying books I don’t like and having piles of books on my Kindle that just rot. And also, you know, I’m broke. Why spend money on something I won’t get any enjoyment out of? Just a waste at that point. Coulda bought some McDonald’s with that money. Or something. So I thought about the library. I don’t have an active library card, but I knew my Dad had one, so I asked to use his to check out ebooks. He obliged and I started getting books that everybody recommends, like The Name of the Wind and Tales of Earthsea and all this other stuff. I also got Mistborn: The Final Empire and some other Sanderson books, and the Witcher series. But not every book was available at my library. I found an app that let me look at other libraries’ catalogs and I found the missing books at the library where my husband’s family and friends are. I asked our friends if they had a card among them, and the one guy that works at the library has one but his card is always maxed out for checkouts. As an employee, he can check out like  a max of 99 things. And it’s always maxed out. He offered me something I wasn’t comfortable with, so I declined. So I asked my husband to make a card. He declined. So I asked him to ask his mom to make one. She said she doesn’t live in the city, so she can’t. She sent us an email with my husband’s sister’s name for a library that I didn’t ask for and didn’t have the books I was looking for available. Because it uses a different service than the one I was looking at apparently so I could use that one but they didn’t send actual login information.

My husband, because of the way he communicates with his family, asked his mother for help with this library endeavor very cavalierly. He was just loosey-goosey with it. Something about it rubbed me the wrong way, but I figured they would handle it. His family intimidates me, has rarely made me feel welcome, and so I usually leave myself out of conversations with them. But after they just stopped worrying about the library thing, because I felt like I was right and all they had to do was make an effort, I took it upon myself to email his mom directly. Due to childhood trauma or other paranoia, I’m always worried about being misconstrued or misunderstood, so I end up being very verbose. See above. So I made a long email explaining why I wanted the library card, why I was asking for their help specifically, and included links to the places I saw you could make a library card and how they didn’t have to leave the house to verify it because of COVID. Then, to make sure it wasn’t demanding, that it was friendly, I added some stuff at the bottom about how I wished them well and I was proud of my sister-in-laws’s weight loss journey and how my chest was doing and blah blah. I sent this email right before bed. I assumed that his family would work together to figure it out and if they didn’t wanna deal with it, they would say they weren’t interested. The worst they can do is say no and I’ll have lost nothing except time.

Woke up to an email from his mother saying, in that malicious compliance/corporate politeness way, that she couldn’t make a library card because she didn’t live in the city and she’d be happy to make one for one of the cities that did work. Also, she hoped I was feeling better.

I had had a bad day prior. The day before, waking up had been near impossible, my husband ordered McDonald’s delivery for breakfast and I wasn’t hungry so we sat and watched an anime I didn’t want to watch while food sat getting cold in front of me. I ended up not being hungry for 8hrs. We were talking to the group about DnD, but also needed to shower, so while my husband got in the shower, I said some things to the group and then hopped in the shower. Upon telling my husband what I said, he had this look on his face like he was planning how to damage control what I had said, despite not even knowing what it was. My exhaustion had left me vulnerable, so I couldn’t deal with it and cried. He apologized and we talked about it. Bolstered by this conversation, I went on to boldly converse with other people, which is what allowed me to send that email to his mother in the first place. So upon her declaration that she couldn’t help me, I decided to help myself.

So I went through the process of making an account using my husband’s name for the library I wanted and it worked, I think. It’s not verified or maybe it’s not in the city, so I couldn’t check out an ebook. So I was back to square one. Not only back to square one, now I was doubly wrong. I had pursued this process in righteous indignation, after having directly contacted his mother, and been proven wrong. So now, not only was I dumb and wrong, I had put myself out there. I was wrong on stage.

My husband, wanting to help, went and acquired the one book I was using as my litmus for me. There are probably others I could look up, but at least I have that one and it’s sequel.

But yeah, that’s what’s going on with me.

[forever-firewalking]

to chart a course by the stars | Bi Wenjun

In your life, there’s no such thing as before and after sunrise, only before Bi Wenjun, and after Bi Wenjun.

Title: To Chart a Course By the Stars (part i) Pairing: Bi Wenjun x reader Characters: OC (reader), Bi Wenjun Concept/prompt: “Can I request one in which the reader has a bad habit of sleeping late, and Wenjun's concerned and trying to break that habit?” 

I. Allegro.

It’s 5am and the birds outside your window have started squawking.

These birds don’t trill gently or warble in minor arpeggios, nor do they do that gradual, gentle crescendo that’s meant to salute the rising sun or whatever. No, these ones squawk. You peek outside your curtains. The gentle fingers of reddish dawn have started to creep up into the darkness between the twinkling stars, which already seem dimmer in comparison to the imminent sunrise.

Okay. Time to sleep, you guess. You have 9am class, and you promised Wenjun you’d meet him to compare homework answers before that, but it still seems like you’re admitting defeat to go to bed before you’ve finished your work.

Wenjun sees you first, but his smile disappears when he approaches you at your locker. “Y/N, when did you sleep last night?”

“3am,” you say, pulling out your music folder. “Can I check what you got for 4(d)?”

He chews on his lip, frowns a little. “You have dark circles,” he says softly. “You look exhausted.”

“Well, no shit,” you snap, irritable. it’s cold and your head aches. “If only classical music theory came naturally to us all.

He sighs and you feel guilty immediately, but before you manage to apologise, he’s already taken the folder from your hands and flipped to the correct page. He settles in by your side, sitting back against the lockers, a warm, reassuring weight. You press closer for the warmth.

“Mm, here,” he says, and you both lean in, your heads together, and it’s all forgotten for now.

II. Adagio.

This was you, before Bi Wenjun:

You were in your final year, and college applications were looming.

You were terribly busy. you were the loud, spirited, popular one, life of every party. Female lead in the school musical, captain of the soccer team, first desk flute in school orchestra, baking cookies for charity.

Things were a bit off because you’re quickly realising that high school was ending and that what you enjoyed doing was perhaps different from where life and your parents were nudging you.

You enjoyed people, you liked volunteering your time, making people smile, performing, you chase that adrenaline high, you were restless, you didn’t like sitting still.

You had that contract in your hand, from that agency you interviewed with secretly after the nice lady came to find you after the last night of your show. Your parents didn’t know.

You visited the agency building once, for your interview, and that’s also when they showed you around all the practice rooms and studios. You’d peeked into a few rooms: a music room, where a tall boy sang, eyes closed, perfectly, through E minor arpeggio, a dance studio, full of boys and girls younger than you, calmly working their way through a synchronised ballet routine.

It looked nothing like the messy, wild, impulsive way you lived your life then. So the contract was still at the bottom of your schoolbag, unsigned. You carried it with you everywhere you went.

You knew your limits. You weren’t born with any particular talent or genius, you knew that. Your successes were from the time you put in, from the enjoyment and the laughter and the fun you had in what you do. (This was clearly reflected in your grades—every year, your teachers wrote, “she has great potential”, meaning, she would do better if she worked harder). You also felt the weight of your parents’ gaze upon you. You, the eldest child of three. You, daughter of a father who’d had a stroke not six months ago. You, who dutifully collected the mail every evening when you trudged home from school, carefully sorting it into thick stacks of various overdue household bills. In contrast, your manila envelope from Yuehua Entertainment seemed pathetically thin.

III. Minuet.

January, senior year. You’d sent off applications to a dozen or so colleges, for liberal arts degrees in the humanities. Your parents were mollified, you guessed, but everything still lay contingent on your final exams.

You weren’t really an exam person.

Studying made you feel soulless, and you didn’t seem to be able to learn intuitively, gracefully, you seemed to require brute force and sheer bloody determination to drill things into your head.

It’s okay though, you knew you weren’t stupid. You weren’t. You just needed to put more time in, maybe a bit more than the average person.

At your 7am soccer practices, the frosted grass and pre-sunrise darkness seemed chillier and darker than they did at the same time last year. You found yourself resting your eyes during orchestra rehearsal, when the conductor was busy drilling the string section.

“Um, Y/N?” A warm hand landed on your knee, fingers tapping lightly. You jolted awake, just in time.

“Y/N!” barked the orchestra conductor. “Your solo, from the downbeat in Section D, with strings, 1 and 2 and 3 and—“

You played, and after the conductor was satisfied, you turned to the second desk flute player. You’d never really talked to him much, him not being very chatty, and you likewise at 8am in the morning. His name was Bi Wenjun, you thought? It was his first year being on second desk, so he must have been an underclassman, although he looked kind of familiar: soft sweep of brown hair, sunshine smiling through his eyes like a shot of caffeine, straight to the heart.

“Dude, thanks so much,” you said, flashing him a smile. “Saved me from another lecture like last week’s.”

He laughed softly, brown eyes sparkling. “I don’t know, I think you escaped pretty well last week. ‘Mr Zhang, I wasn’t asleep, I was just visualising the notes with my eyes closed!’”

His imitation of your voice surprised a laugh out of you. “I don’t sound like that!”

He only offered you a little crooked smile in response, and you couldn’t reply because Mr Zhang had just cued the woodwinds again. The entire time you were playing, you thought of Wenjun’s smile, and you listened to the way the second flute’s notes twined around your solo part. You’d never noticed it before, but now it couldn’t have been clearer. continued.

[crykea]

Jack Danny Button fluff?? (Or anything with them I just love them)

i owe u my life thank u

heres a story under the cut (also posted on ao3) this is very unedited and very written in one sitting and its very 3am so its probablyy/. weird but thats ok

The first time Ms.Georges’s first period mathematics class met her nice baker friend, it was memorable. Halfway through class, as Ms.Georges was lecturing her students about the difference between sine and cosine, brow furrowed– a short man swept into the classroom, set a small blue box down in front of her, stole a red pen from where it was tucked into her bun, and promptly swept back out of the room. The entire class, including Ms. Georges, was silent for a few moments before the teacher cleared her throat. The students watched their constantly-irritated math teacher rub a blush from her cheeks with a frustrated twitch of her eyebrows. With a level of care that those at the school rarely saw, she picked up the box and gently placed it under her counter before going back to teaching her class as if nothing had happened.

–

The first time Dr. Lee’s 9:00 AM Survey of English Literature class met their professor’s weird baker friend was also very memorable. It was commonly thought throughout the class that 9 in the morning was far too early to be discussing how super horny John Donne was, but there they were. Doing that. There was currently a bet going on between a few of the students who had read ahead and seem some of Donne’s poems that they had yet to study over which of the poems if any would get Any kind of reaction out of their professor besides his usual too-energetic-for-this-early-in-the-morning outlook, but they had yet to come up with any results. As per usual, Lee began the class’s discussion by reading the text aloud to them, today’s poem, another of Donne’s, was titled ‘A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning’ which didn’t seem quite as lascivious as some of the other’s they’d read previously, but they were likely going to be proven wrong once the discussion began. Suddenly, six stanzas in, a light, smiling voice joined Lee’s from the doorway.

There stood a short man, with long light hair piled on top of his head and held in place be a bright red pen. The students turned to stare at the newcomer, who they realized was holding a pale blue box, as he continued reciting the poem from where their professor had trailed off, all while grinning. After he’d recited the remaining three stanzas, he gracefully made his way over to the professor’s desk, plopped the box on top of a pile of papers, and kissed Dr. Lee on the cheek. Before leaving, he tugged the red pen out of his pale hair and tossed it at the professor who fumbled it lamely and dropped it on the ground. For the following fifteen minutes of class time, Dr. Lee kept glancing dreamily at the box on his desk and smiling goofily. A couple students in the back of the class exchanged five dollar bills when The Mystery Man started quoting the poem, as they had all seen their professor cover his face, flustered and damn it that counted as a reaction to the poem.

–

The next time Ms. Georges’s first-period mathematics class met the baker, he was sitting behind their teacher’s desk when they walked in in the morning. Ms. Georges was scrawling the formulas they had learned last class onto the whiteboard and holding a pastry in her right hand. It had been a while since they’d seen him and by that point, they had started their unit on conversions. Ms. Georges was a good teacher, but some of the students had to admit that she was kind of scary and it was often hard to go to her with questions about the homework. After finding this out, she had added a class to their schedule that was meant entirely for asking questions and receiving help in an attempt to make sure all of the students had a fair shot at the exams and assignments.

She began class as soon as the bell rang, never once acknowledging the man sitting at her desk. He looked bored, sitting at her desk reading what looked like a textbook from the bookshelf behind their teacher’s desk. Ms. Georges looked slightly less stern and walked through the class helping students one on one and answering any questions that her class might have. At one point, she stood up and turned to face the man at her desk for the first time that morning, and rubbed her fists together in a circle, one on top of the other. The man nodded back and smiled before tucking back into the textbook that he was reading. The students watched Ms.Georges leave, telling the class that she would be back in five or so minutes and that if they had any questions, they could ask “Mr. Gilbert” who was sitting at her desk. The man rolled his eyes at her and made a gesture with his hand, starting open at his temple and then moving away from him as his fingers closed.

A couple of minutes past in silence until one of the students at the front of the class got up and walked nervously over to the desk.

“Uh, I don’t know if Ms. Georges was being serious? But I actually do have a question that I forgot to ask her when she was helping me and I don’t want to have to take time away from anyone else to get an answer…” She trailed off, nervously.

“Honestly, I think she was kidding about asking me for help” The student’s shoulders sagged and he hurriedly continued, “But you guys are learning conversions right? That’s actually some of the only math I’m actually good at so you’re in luck! Why don’t you pull up a chair.” He smiled at her. His voice was quieter than they had expected with how confident he seemed the last time they saw him, “Actually let’s see if anyone else has the same question first so we can kill two birds with one math equation, how ‘bout that….”

When Ms. Georges came back to the classroom five minutes later holding two mugs of coffee, there were four of her students sitting around her desk being taught the tricks to convert between the imperial and metric systems. In rare form, the usually-frowning teacher smiled gently at the scene for a moment before relinquishing one of the mugs and going back to making her way through the rows of tables.

–

The second time the mysterious man shows up in Dr. Lee’s 9:00 AM class, he’s actually there before Dr. Lee even arrives. It’s a well-known fact that their professor is always at least five minutes later to every one of the classes he teaches, so it’s weird to enter the class and find someone standing at the chalkboard writing something. They’ve long since moved on from John Donne and have begun their unit on The Epic. They know it’s the man from before who seemed to seduce their professor by reciting poetry at him, but he didn’t once turn away from the chalkboard where he seemed to be copying down notes about Beowulf from a paper covered in their professor’s writing. Around ten minutes after everyone had settled down to jot notes confusedly, or continue quietly talking with their neighbours, the door slammed open, startling everyone including the man at the front of the class who threw the paper and then stared at Dr. Lee sheepishly. Dr. Lee for his part looked wild-eyed and far more disheveled than usual, which says something because he was not often one to be seen with even a hair out of place.

“Sorry, class!” He panted as he stalked to the front of the class, “I accidentally slept in because someone turned my alarm off, Daniel.” The last bit of the sentence was directed at the man, whose sheepish smile had grown into a playful grin. He snickered and moved his fist in a circle in front of his chest. Dr. Lee sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose before leaning over and pressing a kiss into the smaller man’s hair, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Go to work, love. Thank you for writing out my notes for me.”

One of the students near the front of the class slipped a two dollar coin across to the person sitting beside them, who smirked at them and pocketed the change quietly.

–

The first time Ms. Georges’s class met her special professor friend, she had to leave class early. One of the science teachers ended up having to watch the worried students for the remaining fifteen minutes of class. It was a test period so it didn’t really matter who was supervising as long as someone was there, and the period was already almost over anyway.

Near the end of class, there was a sharp knock on the door, which Ms. Georges got up to answer, setting her red pen and her marking aside. At the door, a tall man in a rumpled suit stood, looking worried. Ms. Georges looked back at her class before stepping into the hall with the man, leaving the door cracked open. Through the crack in the door, the students could barely pick up on a hushed conversation between the two of them.

“Button, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I may as well have. Danny’s father is in town and I didn’t know until I got a call from Joanna telling me that they’ve had to close the shop for the day and that we should probably head back home as soon as we can, Jack.”

The students heard their teacher swear before she ushered the man into the classroom.

“Sorry for the interruption, class. This is Dr. Lee. He’s going to watch you for a moment. Play nice. Now get back to work.”

Ms. Georges and the man left shortly after when a science teacher arrived to take over supervising.

–

The first time Dr. Lee’s 9 AM class met the red-headed high school teacher, she wasn’t alone. There had been a few days where Dr. Lee had called in a substitute, but three classes later, he was back with two people in tow. Surprisingly, he was actually on time for the class which possibly could be attributed to the man and woman who were nearly dragging him through the door. The man, Daniel?, had walked the woman directly over to Dr. Lee’s desk as soon as they had all entered the room and proceeded to sit her down so that he could sit in her lap. Their professor smiled warmly at the duo and began the lecture.

They had graduated onto starting on some of Alexander Pope’s work, which their professor, as per usual, began to read out specific passages from. The pair at the desk seemed to be reading along from Dr.Lee’s copy of the textbook, so he was fruitlessly trying to recite from memory.

“Ah, ah,” The woman interrupted flatly, “Go back. You skipped at least three lines about the salamanders.”

Their professor looked at her helplessly, “You know, it would be easier if you two would just give me my book?”

“Wasn’t this the story you were quoting yesterday? I thought you had it memorized.” She said without looking up from the textbook. From behind the desk, Daniel shrugged apologetically at the students who were watching this unfold, not very upset that they were taking a break from listening to Alexander Pope’s writing.

“It’s a poem, Jacqueline dear. Give me my book I need to teach my class.” The woman, Jacqueline, rolled her eyes playfully and handed the book over, “Thank you now don’t distract me. I’ve already been away for the past few classes.” He apologized to the class before continuing to recite his passages.

Once he was finished and everyone had split up to discuss the readings with their groups, Dr. Lee leaned down to face the two visitors to chat. The group populating the front row of desks could catch snippets of a conversation between Jacqueline and Dr. Lee. Something about deciding which of the three was going to make dinner that night. Something about a family-run bakery that was located around the block, near the high school.

A pair at the side of the room exchanged a couple coins.

[torixus]

How We Lost Our Loved Ones Rejected By Hospitals Amid COVID-19 Pandemic - Bereaved Families Speak

Families who lost loved ones who were rejected by hospitals amid the coronavirus outbreak have spoken on the development. 

  He once assured me not to worry that God would soon bless his efforts but he never waited to enjoy the blessings.” These were the words of bereaved Mrs Joy Okereke-Nkemakolam as she shed uncontrollable tears while speaking with our correspondent.

Nkemakolam is the elder sister of 32-year-old Joel Aleke who  allegedly died recently due to the negligence of some hospital workers.  It was gathered that Joel slumped on Sunday while playing football and was rushed to the hospital, but was allegedly refused treatment for fear that he might be a COVID-19 patient.

She told our correspondent that the deceased being the first son acted as the father of the house and husband to their mother since their father passed on  10 years ago.

As she spoke, her words were halted by the tears that chocked her throat. It was an emotional moment as he recounted how her brother could have been saved if the medical workers had attended to him.

  Nkemakolam said it was difficult for her family to break the news of Joel’s death to their mother as it would lead to double tragedy in the family.

“Breaking the news of my brother’s death to my mum will kill her. My brother Joel has been like a husband to her since our father passed on 10 years ago.  We don’t want to experience double tragedy,” she told our correspondent as she sank into a chair.

She noted that the 32-year-old was loved by people in his area and one could see how sad they were hearing about his death. “Joel was a good man, gentle and easy-going,” she added.

The sister further said Joel could give up anything to have peace and was a lover of football. She stated, “He was passionate about football. He started playing football when he was eight years. He could play football three or four times a week. He sometimes played football in the morning before going to the shop to sell.”

Talking about their relationship, Nkemakolam said after her brother clocked 32 last month, he confided in her of his plans to marry soon.

“He told me he would soon settle down with his fiancé who’s the only lady I knew with him. He sold beans in bags and was a serious young man,” she stated.

She added, “Joel was also  humble. At 32, he visited me to wash my clothes. He washed my husband’s car too. Whenever he came around, he would ask me what he could do in the house and the moment I sent him on an errand, he was up on his feet to do it.

“He would tell me, ‘mama don’t worry, God will soon bless my hustle.’ But my brother is gone. Wherever there was trouble, you wouldn’t see Joel. He loved children. He was a teacher before he resigned to learn a trade.”

  She let out anguish as she stated that the country killed her brother. Nkemakolam said, “This country killed my brother. How could you allow a hospital to operate and they don’t have oxygen. The General Hospital didn’t even do anything to help the situation.

“It’s terrible when hospitals that ought to be saving lives are the ones killing people. They killed my Joel. If they rushed someone to the hospital that he slumped while playing football, they should have fought to save his life. He wasn’t a COVID-19 patient but he was killed because the hospitals were scared of attending to patients because of coronavirus scare. He never complained of heart or chest pain or anything. They should have treated him first at least to save his life.”

Needless deaths amid wobbling health system

There are many forgotten victims of the coronavirus pandemic beyond those infected with the virus. Ever since the ravaging pandemic started some hospitals  were accused of refusing to attend to patients for fear of contracting the virus especially since most hospitals weren’t equipped in treating victims of the virus.

Joel’s not the only one who suffered rejection by hospital for fear of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Francis Ufford would have been 61 in a couple of months but he succumbed to high blood pressure. It’s almost the same narrative as few private hospitals that were open at the Alagbado area of Lagos were without oxygen.

His cousin, Gerald Ufford, who spoke with Saturday PUNCH said when he heard of Francis’ condition that night, the family did all they could to ensure he was taken to the best hospital. He accused the hospital of responsible for his death.

Ufford said, “He was diagnosed of high blood pressure some two years ago.  He lived at Alagbado and when he had the attack, due to the lockdown, his daughter got an airman to escort them and begged a neighbour to drive them to the hospital as they could not move freely because of the pandemic.

“In order to avoid drama, the daughter got the officer, so they could get to the hospital on time. Many hospitals in the neighbourhood didn’t have oxygen so the Lagos University Teaching Hospital was the best option, unfortunately they didn’t accommodate him.

“The hospital refused to admit him because they said their space was filled up and didn’t have bed to admit him. Then we took him to the Ikeja General Hospital and it was the same story. We continued to carry him about from one hospital to the other before we saw a private hospital willing to attend to him. But by the time they started to attend to him, it was late. He died in the process.  Due to the stress of carrying him around, his blood pressure was like 220. They tried to bring it down but by then it was already late. He succumbed to death.’’

Ufford described the late Francis as a good man willing to help whenever he could. “He was a good man. He loved to help people. He was a calm person who always minded his business; He was a family man, gentle and easygoing.”

As tales of rejections of non-COVID-19 patients by hospitals spread, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 advised hospitals not to reject such patients,, adding that doing so would lead to an increase in the number of deaths.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, had said that the there had been a spike in death being recorded in the country because hospitals were turning back non COVID-19 patients.

He said, “As at present, records show that we may be experiencing more unnecessary deaths because our hospitals are turning back non-COVID-19 related patients.”

The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, also urged health institutions not to stop offering critical health services to patients requiring attention.

John Ademulegun is also another person who allegedly  died as a result of health workers refusing to attend to non-COVID-19 patients.

The aggrieved brother of the deceased, a lecturer, Dr Demian Ademulegun, said the issue should not be swept under the carpet.

He stated, “Our mother died shortly before the lockdown. She should have been buried if not for situation. Her remains are still in the mortuary. But the Nigeria health system has truncated my brother’s life. We now have to bury a mother and a child at the same time. What a sad country we live in.”

The lecturer narrated that the deceased complained of stomach pain and was finding it difficult to breathe. “We took him to a private hospital around midnight; they directed we should take him to the Infectious Disease Hospital. We did that night and IDH directed we should go to LUTH.

“We were not attended to. The female doctor on duty spoke  from afar and did told us to take him to IDH  without  any attention. She didn’t attend to us at all.

“ I told the doctor that we were just coming from IDH but she just walked away. Having no choice, we took him to IDH again. It was our second visit to the place. The time was getting to 2am. He was still agile but finding it more difficult to breathe. We got to IDH the second time. It was even my brother that answered all the questions from the doctor on duty. After the questioning, the doctor said he couldn’t admit him because the wards in IDH had been turned to COVID-19 wards and that it would be dangerous to admit him since he had not been tested positive. He advised we should return to LUTH.”

He said when they returned to LUTH the same female doctor bluntly refused to attend to them.

“She did not attend to everybody that brought in any one for emergency. She turned everyone back and advised that they should go to IDH,” he narrated.

He expressed that he watched his brother beg for oxygen around 3am as he continued to experience difficulty in breathing.

“At this point, my brother begged that he needed oxygen to breathe well. It was then getting to 3am,” Ademulegun stated.

He stated, “We decided to take him to LASUTH at Ikeja. It was then getting to around 4am. The doctor on duty at the emergency ward after a long time came out to check his temperature while in the car. It read 36 degrees. After a long while, he came out to meet us with a note that we should return to LUTH. We told him we had been to LUTH twice and they did not attend to us. He also left us in the car pack.”

“Doctors are supposed to be kind and humane. But the doctors who attended to us were wicked and callous. They killed my brother. If they have done the right thing, my brother wouldn’t have died.”

He said when they didn’t have a choice, they returned to LUTH the third time in the night and it was getting to 4.30 am and the lady doctor on duty still refused to attend to them.

“We pleaded in vain seeing our brother in agony. My brother pleaded that we should get him a chair to sit as he was getting increasingly uncomfortable in the car. We got him a seat in the car pack. We were there from 6 am, 7am until 10am,” he said.

Ademulegun stated that a doctor later came to attend to them and examined his brother, promising to hospitalise him.

He added, “My brother was the one that addressed the doctor that came around 10am. He begged him that he should not allow him to die, that he needed oxygen.

“It took another two to three hours before he was admitted in a single apartment and we were not allowed to be with him. We were outside.

“He died at around 9.45 pm on Friday but we were not informed until around 9am the next day.’’

He added that the deceased studied civil engineering at the University of Lagos, lamenting that the country’s health system shortened his life.

“He still has an elder sister and he died prematurely. Something must be done about the failure of Nigeria’s health system.”

For Sylvester Okey, suffering from collapsed intestine before the coronavirus pandemic, he was referred to the LUTH by a private facility managing his condition.

The sister, a musical artiste, Bethamary, told Saturday PUNCH  that her brother was rejected at the hospital for lack of bed space.

After the rejection, she quickly rushed him to LASUTH but he was also rejected there too. He was subsequently taken to several private facilities but was refused admission. Bethamary said her brother lost hope after the rejections and asked to be taken home where he died.

With hot tears, she explained “I drove to LUTH and when we got to the accident and emergency section, a doctor came out, took his information and checked him in my car. He went back inside. My brother fought for life but the nation’s health system failed him.

“Another doctor later came out to tell us that there was no bed space in the hospital. I begged him to name any amount for us to pay, but the doctor just said my brother needed intensive care but I  didn’t want to admit him in the hospital.

“I left LUTH for LASUTH and we met people outside the accident and emergency ward and asked for someone I could talk to. But I was asked for a referral letter from the hospital treating him and I produced it. The moment they saw the letter, we were told to go and do a COVID-19 test and I took Sylvester to the Ikota Primary School for the test. But the person we met there said he did not know when the result would be ready but he took his samples.”

She said that after they left there, she took him to some private hospitals, which also rejected him and those at the last place she took him to, didn’t treat him well. According to her, the doctor did not come down to check her brother but he told the medical director that he attended to them.

“On Monday, May 4, 2020, he started struggling for life and called me; when I got to his room, he was in pains and requested Holy Communion, which I blessed and gave to him and he was okay,” she added.

She said her brother died because the hospitals turned him back without attending to him. She stated, “He could not take it anymore. He died because of the failed health system.”

The bereaved  families who spoke with our correspondent also lamented what they described as lack of oxygen in most of the hospitals they took their ailing loved ones to.

For instance, Ademulegun said when the doctor wasn’t showing any concern to his sick brother, they opted for a private hospital. He added that as they kept moving from one hospital to the other, they discovered that lack of oxygen was common to them all.

He said, “We tried to look for some private hospitals around to find out whether they could administer oxygen on him. The two private hospitals we went to did not have oxygen.”

We don’t reject patients —Hospitals

Earlier, when The PUNCH contacted the Chief Medical Director,  Isolo General hospital, Dr Godwin Akhaboa, he said the facility was not in the habit of rejecting patients, adding that Joel was brought in dead.

Akhaboa said, “There are parameters to look at before certifying a patient dead and no doctor will say a patient is dead without checking those parameters. It’s never done; no nurse or doctor will do that. The patient had a cardiac arrest on a football field and he was brought in dead.”

Also, the Public Relations Officer, LUTH, Kelechi Otuneme, said the hospital wasn’t in the habit of  rejecting patients but rather it was limited by resources.

He said, “We exist because of patients. LUTH has three tripods; service delivery, research and training. There is no reason why we would not offer service delivery to the people.

“We are a tertiary hospital for that matter. The other hospital that complements us in that light is LASUTH in serving over 20 million population.  I think it’s not fair to say that we are rejecting patients.”

Otuneme explained that at the Accidents and Emergency ward, being the first ward where patients were admitted into, it was always difficult for them to control the number of patients at the ward and they couldn’t accommodate more than the hospital capacity.

He added, “At the Accidents and Emergency ward, there are usually occasions where there would be no space at least for the time being. You know the department is meant to stabilise people for a period of time before they are moved to other wards. When the ward is occupied, we have to tell them to wait till there are free bed spaces. It is not as though we deliberately say there is no bed space, and it’s like that all over the country.

“These things are beyond the hospital, we can’t control what happens to people, so there is no way we can stop accidents from happening to people.  Also in some cases, Primary Health Care Centres are not available or not open and people with malaria come to the hospital and have occupied the bed before others. We can’t possibly send them away from the beds.  These are the issues that needed to be attended to.”

On his part, Director of Clinical Services and Training,, LASUTH, Dr Ibrahim Mustapha, stated that the hospital didn’t reject patients as claimed by those who brought their sick ones to the hospital.

He said, “It is not true that we reject patients. Saying we reject patients is not true. Why are we then hospitals if we reject patients? I will encourage you to come to the office and see things for yourself. If that is the case, where do we get the people that fill our hospitals? Our hospital is oversubscribed. Many patients come here and there is no way we can attend to all patients that come. We don’t have the capacity. That is why we have other hospitals around.

“When patients come and the bed spaces are already filled up, we won’t be able to accommodate them. As I speak to you, I have the two emergency rooms filled up. Where are they from?”

Mustapha stated that the hospital didn’t reject suspected cases of COVID-19, noting that there was no way it would reject patients who didn’t even show symptoms of the virus.

He added, “ The practice in LASUTH is that when patients come in during this COVID-19 period, we ask them questions which we refer to as screening questions to know if it is a suspected COVID-19 case or not. Questions like “have you been having fever, cough, any respiratory distress,’

“Even in a situation where they are suspected COVID-19 cases, we keep them in our isolation ward at LASUTH, so they don’t get mixed up with others. After that, their samples are taken for a test and when the result comes out as positive, we refer the patients to any of the COVID-19 government-designated treatment centres around. And some staff members who have tested positive are receiving treatment at Agidingbi.

“If after the result the patient is negative, we move the patient out of the isolation ward to the general ward and continue treatment with such patients. That is our protocol at LASUTH.”

Mustapha stated that while taking measures to ensure that more patients were accommodated at LASUTH, there was an ongoing project at the hospital sponsored by a philanthropist.

He said, “We are building 20-bedded quarantine and triage self-contained room courtesy of a philanthropist. It is constructed in such a way that people will not mix with each other. Positive will not mix with negative.”

The director said that patients came with expectations usually, but doctors were trained to attend to the most critical issues.

He added, “Patients come in with their own expectations and such sometimes are not medically sound. We do a thing called Triage. It means sorting and attending to patients based on their medical needs. Treatment is not solely based on first come, first served, we prioritise patients based on how critical an issue is; we attend to those patients that are in dire need first.

“Our doctors have also been taught to attend to patients based on the triage. That is what they have been trained to do.  But most times, the patients don’t understand what the doctors are doing. And that is what we tell them to carry patients along. Many patients are not properly informed so they peddle misinformation around.”

Hospitals inability to accommodate patients not doctors’ fault – NMA

President, Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Francis Faduyile, said that it was not the fault of the doctors or other medical practitioners if hospitals were unable to accommodate patients coming into hospitals.

He identified the major issues in the nation’s health sector as lack of adequate funding and poor utilisation of funds.

He said, “Many of the public hospitals employ doctors, nurses and other health workers. It is whatever the government provides that they work with. When you have a hospital that can only accommodate 30 people, there is nothing they can do about it than to admit the number of patients that the hospitals can accommodate.  It is beyond the workers there. It’s not like they like to reject patients. There is a limit to what they can do.

“It is the responsibility of the government to look for a way to provide more bed spaces and other infrastructures. Such roles are beyond the limit of medical practitioners.”

Faduyile said until hospitals were well projected and a sustainable plan employed, people might not be able to get the best of medical practice in Lagos.

He added, “If they have properly budgeted money for hospitals, during planning, they should know the number of hospitals that should be situated in a place based on the area’s population. But in a situation where there is no adequate planning, you might have one or two hospitals in an area which will not be able to cater to the needs of the people.”

Faduyile also linked the issue of poor funding to lack of oxygen in hospitals, noting that the issue wasn’t peculiar to private hospitals but also public ones.

He said, “ Talking about the issue of lack of oxygen, it is not only private hospitals that do not have a regular supply of oxygen. But there are also many public hospitals that do not have a regular supply of oxygen and this is due to the fact that many of them are poorly funded. It is the funding that will allow you to get what you want at the right time.

“If you don’t have adequate funding then you begin to prioritise, not knowing if the next patient will need that exact equipment that you didn’t put into consideration.”

The NMA President  said it was not right to blame owners of private hospitals as the financial situations of the people who patronise them would determine the types of equipment available at the hospital.

He said, “The best a private hospital can do depends on the buying power of the patients that visit the hospital. You can’t have consumables worth millions of naira and your patients can’t pay beyond N50, 000. You will certainly run at a loss and when you don’t have enough money to re-equip, then you will not have a supply in place. The buying power of the people around will also determine what type of services the hospitals offer. You can’t compare the services in highbrow areas to the one in an area where there are more low-class people. The differences will definitely show in the services they offer.”

He noted that the only sustainable health situation in the country was to have a health insurance scheme.

Faduyile noted, “The only way we can experience adequate minimum is when we have a health insurance scheme in place in such a way that everybody contributes to it and everybody is guaranteed a minimum level of care. Otherwise, people will continue to be denied a good healthcare system.”

***

Source: Saturday PUNCH

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[justeverythingprettymuch]

High School AUs (based on real experiences I’ve had) pt. 1

I know no one asked for this, but I kind of wanna share these wild rides with someone, so here goes lol

(Part 2)

1. I was waiting to get picked up after staying at school for a Shakespeare lecture, and you were waiting to get picked up after band practice. A dog suddenly ran past us in the parking lot, so we debated whether or not we should tell anyone. 2. I saw you getting really uncomfortable because of Creepy Tom not leaving you alone, so I swooped in and pretended I needed you for an emergency. 3. We tutor freshman in the same time slot every week, so we always go together to pick up the students from their classes and sometimes end up just talking shit with them instead of doing any work.

4. Your best friend and my best friend used to date, and they only broke up really recently, so they still kind of have feelings for each other. We end up joining them when your best friend is trying to win mine back, so we spend about an hour sharing exasperated looks.

5. We've known each other for three years and you stop by every day to steal my pretzels since I never eat them, and one day I forget to pack them and you get super offended. You end up dragging me to the store so you can buy pretzels for yourself and gummy worms for me.

6. We have a free period at the same time, but none of our other friends do, so we usually spend it together talking shit or having weirdly deep and philosophical debates.

7. Your birthday is the same night as prom night, so you throw a huge after party at your house since your parents won't be home. I get there later since I wanted to go home and actually have a shower first, so when I walk in most of the people have calmed down a little. I find you on the couch watching a basketball game while eating a giant bowl of ice cream. Are you okay??? Aren't you meant to be getting hammered like everyone else??

8. Your birthday is the day after prom night and when we go to the after party, you get wasted and make me promise to buy you gummy lollies for your birthday. Now, every year, I turn up at your door with a giant bag of gummy lollies and people think I'm really weird, but you always get super excited.

9. We're at a party and you're so wasted you keep forgetting that we've already met, so you keep coming up to me just to tell me that I'm really pretty.

10. You were really drunk at a party and kept telling me I'm really pretty, but now it's Monday and we're in the same physics class and I don't think you remember.

11. We went out drinking with some friends, but you found out that most of us had nowhere to stay the night, so you offered to let us sleep on your pull-out bed. In the morning, you're walking around in a robe and flip-flops, and as I give you a goodbye hug, you whisper "I'm not wearing anything under this."

12. I have to leave your house really early after a night of partying because I have to go have breakfast with my mother. My make up hasn't smudged, my hair isn't a mess and I brought a change of clothes. You keep giving me weird looks until you eventually just ask; "How do you still look perfectly fine????"

13. I'm staying over at your house for the night, but we've been roaming around the city with our friends all night and we were drinking at the park. When we finally sneak back into your place, it's 4:30 in the morning and we have to get up at 6 so that you can get ready for work. You text me later saying you were still drunk for most of your shift, but you got lots of tips, so you don't think it was a problem.

14. We got really bummed out at a party, so we spent a large portion of the night lying down in the middle of the street just staring up at the stars and talking about life.

15. I walked into your house and found you in a kimono while slow dancing to old rock songs. I'm a little embarrassed to say it isn't even the weirdest thing I've seen you do.

16. Your best friend's been trying to drunkenly teach me about cars over a slice of pizza for the last hour, but I can't understand what he's even saying, so you save me by forcing me to dance with you.

17. We both got really drunk at a friend's birthday party, but I'm the first one to wake up in the morning. When I look around, I'm lying on the floor next to you, while you're hugging a giant '1' balloon, which you've apparently dubbed 'Janine'.

18. Neither of us wanted to be in a stuffy room all night, so we went outside and made a hobo fire in the park. I'm pretty sure someone's called the cops, but you're really warm, so I don't really care.

19. We've been acquaintances for years, but for some reason, we both keep getting dropped off really early this year, so we've made a habit of hanging out in the locker bay before school. We just kinda sit against the wall and talk shit until a teacher comes in to shush us.

20. It's the middle of the night and I heard you knocking on my window, but I'm not wearing anything other than an oversized t-shirt, so I kind of panic for a few minutes. When I finally pull on some pants and open the window, you liteRALLY JUST PICK ME UP AND PULL ME OUTSIDE because you want to go for a walk.

21. There's this guy who lives down the road from us and he's been an asshole to us for the last week, so you decide we need to exact revenge. You know where his bedroom window is, so we start knocking on his window and then running away repeatedly, until eventually he and his dad come outside to yell at us, but we're already halfway down the road.

22. You're the most intimidating guy in our year and there's this creepy guy who won't stop trying to get me to go out with him, so one day you just come up to me and call “Dibs” REALLY loudly while we're in the library. I want to yell at you about how totally fucked up that is, but then the creepy guy is coming over to yell at you because apparently “He saw me first”, so you deck him and say “Woman aren't property.” I don't know whether to hit you for the hypocrisy, or to applaud you.

23. You're the most intimidating guy in our year and everyone knows you've already got tattoos, even though you're BARELY a junior. Everyone assumes it's some kind of gang tattoo, but you show me one day and it's actually just tattoos of Poseidon and Aphrodite. You then tell me that they represent your parents because your father has always loved teaching you about the ocean and how to fish and he's the strongest man you know, and because you're mother is the most beautiful woman you've ever seen, and she's also the most confident and powerful. You're such a cute dork, I'm gonna cry.

24. You ask for my help on a project, but I can barely understand your notes, so I have no idea what you even need help with. Do you just wanna see what I wrote so you have an idea of what you're meant to do?

25. You and your roommate recently got a goat, despite barely having a backyard, and you love sharing stories about your goat in our class. One day you walk in and start telling us about how your goat got out of its pen and was wreaking havoc in the neighborhood, and our teacher just pulls up an article on the projector and apparently your goat got into the local news, and you're just laughing SO HARD.

26. We were at a party and you were drunkenly dancing on a wall, but then you slipped off and hit your side on the way down. I try to patch you up, only to find that you've ripped off half the skin on your side and might have broken a couple of ribs??

27. It's literally 3AM and you won't go to sleep until we've had some burger king, so I guess we're going.

28. You live a couple of blocks away from me, and you came to my house for a sleepover, but you left something at yours, so now we have to walk all the way there in the middle of the night while wearing onesies. Also, your parents are home and are super concerned??

29. It was your birthday, but you don't really like having parties, so you just invite me over for a sleepover and we spend the whole night playing horror games. In the morning, one of our other friends come over to make us pancakes, but we're zombies and they don't know how to use your stove, so they don't really come out right.

30. We're at a party and you get into some kind of fist-fight with your best friend. It leads to you falling off the patio, and he ends up laughing so hard he trips over a vodka bottle. You both sprain your ankles and I'm the one that has to fetch the ice and make sure you don't go do anything else that's stupid.

31. I get locked out of my house and it's pouring down outside, so I text you and ask you to come save me because you're the only person I know that lives nearby and has a car.

32. We ditch school after lunch because it's the last day of the year and none of our teachers even care anymore, so we go sit in the park and I make you a flower crown.

33. We joined the human rights club, but the teacher couldn't make it this week, so one of the new guys decides to take over for the day. We're all expecting him to just talk about another human rights case, but he starts yelling about how we should just decapitate everyone and neither of us really know what to do.

34. The teacher who runs the human rights club just brought out a giant box of colourful badges and we start trying to get every colour, but I end up finding the only bronze one.

35. You're my new physics tutor and you're super cute, but my sister keeps calling me and I'm so sorry, but I've really got to take this and find out what's going on.

36. Our friends got into a really stupid and petty fight, but one of them threw the other one's bag over a fence, so now we're all being called into the office to talk about it.

37. We used to date, but now we're just sort of acquaintances and we both wear leather jackets to school, so whenever we see each other we just smirk and say "Nice jacket" as we're passing.

38. My best friend broke up with you while she was really drunk, so you call me in the morning to ask if she was being serious and I kind of don't know how to break it to you that I was the one holding the phone and cheering her on because you're kind of an asshole???

39. We're in the same art class, but we always get permission to sit in the side room away from the rest of the class because our teacher thinks we're the quietest people in his class. In reality we spend the entire hour just shit talking everyone and having huge discussions about issues we're having, so we never actually get any work done.

40. Our section of the art room is usually really quiet, until someone brings up Harry Potter (or some other fandom we're all in), then we're all suddenly debating REALLY loudly and getting mad at anyone who don't know what the fuck they're talking about.

41. We get asked to help out during our school's open evening, but neither of us know what the fuck we're doing, so we spend most of the night just making sarcastic comments as we pass each other, or making "save me" faces at each other. Our teachers think it's hilarious.

42. Our English teacher has been trying to get our class to focus on the next scene in Othello for the last ten minutes, and she almost does it, until you turn to me and ask in complete seriousness "Who the fuck is Cassio?" and I burst out laughing. 

43. Our physics teacher has pretty much given up on our class because it's Friday last period, so literally none of us care anymore. He offers to take us to the park so that we can “learn about rotational motion” on the merry-go-round, but he can't be bothered writing up the health and safety forms, so he just says "Don't die, or I'm failing you for everything."

44. You take food and nutrition, so you've got permanent access to the school kitchen and the coffee machine. After a long day, you text me and ask if I want free food and coffee.

45. I got surrounded by a huge group off people in a really small room and started having a panic attack, so you dragged me outside for fresh air and charmed everyone into leaving me alone, even though I was meant to be answering their questions.

46. For some reason you have a yo-yo, and every time the teacher looks away, you fling it out and make it do the dog-walking trick, until you accidentally fling it too far and hit me in the face.

47. You're the angsty kid that sits alone and glares at everyone, but my friend and I decide to go talk to you and find out you're actually really good on a guitar and like the same music as us.

48. We're in the same French class and sit at the same trio of desks with your best friend. We don't really talk much, until one day you guys are bickering so much that the teacher puts me in the middle and you keep trying to bicker around me.

49. We've somehow become the group that adopt younger kids that don't have anyone else to hang out with, so we're now surrounded by like six younger kids and don't know what to do??

50. You're two years older than me, but we somehow became friends, so we always talk when we get the chance. At the end of the year, right before you graduate, you come up to me and kiss me, then you leave before we can even talk about it.

Okay, so that’s it for now. My life is so weird. If you end up using one of my prompts for a story, I’d love it if you could tag me or send me a link so I could read it??

[agwitow]

Nonsense prompt: A small mercy shoots pineapples with a machinegun.

(warning: swearing, dysfunctional relationship, and drug use)

They were a perfect couple, everyone said so. And perfect couples don’t just call it quits after a few problems. Or a lot of problems.

It seemed to Timika that she and Adam fought all the time. Over silly things. Like the dishes, or the laundry, or how he always goes out drinking with his friends on Friday and doesn’t come home until 3am, or how she wants to get up at 5am every morning to go for a run, or that his mother doesn’t like her (never has, really), or that her father has been getting more and more annoyed that Adam hasn’t proposed...

Little things, really, when they’re a perfect couple.

Adam slammed the door to their apartment--a sure sign that he had a bad day at work. Timika put on a weary smile. Her day had been stressful too, but for once she wanted to get through supper without either of them shouting.

“Hey honey, glad to have you home,” she called from the living room.

Adam grunted and kicked his shoes off (harder than necessary--he’d put a hole in the wall someday if he kept doing it like that). He headed to the kitchen. For a beer, she thought with disdain.

Adam joined her in the living room with two cans of lemonade. He handed one to her without saying a word and then sank into the overstuffed chair they’d found at a garage sale the week they’d moved in together. It looked awful, but was the comfiest thing either of them had ever experienced.

“Rough day?” she asked.

“The worst,” he agreed.

They sat in silence. Timika pretended to read the book in her lap while Adam sat with his eyes closed, taking deep breaths.

“So...you want to go out for supper?” Timika asked, finding the silence uncomfortable.

Adam snorted. “With what money? We’re practically bankrupt.”

“We are not! I wish you’d stop saying that, and I wish you’d stop telling people that!” Timika snapped, slamming her book down on the coffee table.

Adam opened his eys and glowered at her. “Bet that’s a new book. You can’t have two cents in your pocket without spending five.”

“It’s a library book, you asshole,” she shot back.

“Whatever. All you want to do is spend money. We need to be saving so we can get out of this dump.”

“This is a good apartment,” she said, her chest feeling tight. “Maybe it’s not huge, but we don’t need more space.”

“The neighbourhood is shit.”

“You’re just saying that because Hazel keeps flirting with me.”

“Yeah, well, if you like her so much, why don’t you go live with her?”

“I don’t like her like that! I like you, you goddamn idiot!”

“Really? Didn’t you tell me last week that you wished you could have dated a girl or two in college before you met me? That you feel like you missed out?”

“Why are you such an asshole?” she demanded.

“Why are you such a bitch?” he shot back.

Timika didn’t know if she wanted to cry or hit him. Instead, she stood up and stormed out of the apartment. She nodded at a wide-eyed Hazel and took the stairs down. There was a shitty little park--not much more than two benches, three trees and a pathetic patch of grass--across the street. It was better than nothing.

She sat on a bench and fumed.

Three junkies huddled on the other bench, ignoring her as blatantly as she ignored them.

One of the junkies leaned forward and smiled at her. “Hey sweetheart, why--”

“If you tell me to smile, I will break your nose,” she cut him off.

“Nah, sweetie. Why the long face? Need something to cheer you up?” the junkie said affably.

“I don’t do drugs.”

He shrugged. “More’n just drugs to cheer a person up. Sex, food, exercise, setting things on fire...”

Timika stared at him and he just smiled at her. The other two junkies watched the exchange with vacant eyes.

“Right, well, I should probably go back to my boyfriend. He’ll be waiting for me.”

“Ah, lover’s spat was it?”

“You don’t know me,” she snarled.

The junkie wobbled his head side-to-side. “I know an angry woman when I see one. And you stormed outta the apartment building in a pretty big huff. Just stands to reason.”

“Shouldn’t you be spaced out like your friends?” she asked.

“Nah, I’ve been clean for six months.”

“So what’re you doing hanging around them?”

“Somebody’s gotta make sure they don’t kill themselves. Figure as they’re my best mates, that somebody aught to be me.”

Timika blinked in surprise. “Isn’t it tempting though? To relapse, or whatever?”

“Sometimes,” he admitted. “But the world don’t give a shit about no one. Only people who care whether you live or die are the ones you love and who love you. So I figure I just go to more meetings and look after ‘em best I can.”

“That’s actually really sweet. Pretty stupid, but really sweet.”

The former junkie grinned at her. “That’s pretty much a definition of love, ain’t it?”

Timika laughed.

“Now, seems as you’ve got three options. You can either tell me what’s got you in a huff, or you can go back and try and sort it out,” he said.

Timika knew those options. Neither had ever helped before. “What’s the third option?” she asked, scared that she knew what he’d say.

“You can leave. End it. Get out and start a new life.”

“I couldn’t do that, we’re a perfect couple!” she protested.

He shrugged. “There’re perfect couples that everyone says are perfect, but behind the smiles it’s a rotten relationship. And then there’re perfect couples who’re actually perfect together. They don’t stay mad, ‘cause they know how to say sorry and fix tings. Which perfect are you?”

“I...I don’t know,” she replied. Her heart whispered it was the first, but she desperately wanted it to be the second.

“Well, you know your options now. What’s it going to be?”

“Guess I should go talk to him...” She stood up, thanked the former junkie for his advice, and headed back inside.

Her chest felt tight, and she was desperately trying to ignore the little voice saying that maybe it was time to call it quits. She was reaching for the handle when the door sung open. Adam stared at her blankly for a moment, and then pulled her into a hug.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice muffled against her hair. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you, or said any of that stuff.”

“I’m sorry too,” she said.

He sighed and let her go. “So Hazel came and gave me a lecture after you stormed out. Made me realize that I don’t like his pattern we’ve fallen into.”

Timika laughed. “I got a bit of a lecture from a junkie in the park, made me realize some stuff too.”

Adam smiled. “So, it’s not really a fix, but I thought you might like to go shoot some pineapples with a machinegun?”

“That...is oddly specific. Why?”

“Blow of some steam. Bit of a small mercy, y’know?”

She shook her head. “That’s not...I don’t think you know what a ‘small mercy’ is...but, it sounds like fun. Make it a date night?”

He nodded. “And after we’ve made a bunch of pineapples explode, we can sit down and have a talk. I think we’re pretty overdue for one.”

“Yeah, we are.”

**

Enjoyed this? I’m posting a short piece of original fiction every day in June as a thank you to all my amazing followers. Send me (non fanfic) prompts or I’ll keep using the Nonsense Generator :)

[venora-the-rogue]

Eyes.

So I’m cleaning out my laptop, and I came across this little number. I think I wrote it for a NaNoWriMo competition a couple of years ago, but anyway it’s hella cheesy and follows an interesting AU regarding eye ‘colour’ and here for your enjoyment or criticism or possibly both or whatever. *

I glanced around at the faces that passed by me. Ghosts that haunt the city. Unaware of the beauty they held in their eyes. Not the concrete jungle around them, of course, but the world in that area of the beyond – you know, the one that lies just at the edge of your periphery, clutching at the corners of your eyes, wanting to be seen, to be acknowledged.

But not in this world.

No, this world was monotonous shades of black, grey and chrome, broken here and there by the white glare of “social networking”. Which was all a lie, of course. Because nothing says “social” like the urban solitude of eyes locked in battle with touchscreens. Like the windows of our souls have been chained to the bars of the windows of applications, and the chain continues to link through all the new windows opened in new tabs, as souls are slowly pulled forth and sucked into the vastness of the Ethernet to be held on display for eternity.

Does it even matter anymore that those windows, individual and personal and precious, so deeply reflect nature in all its glory?

There was a buzz in my pocket. I pulled out my phone.

Sin u fre

I sighed. Goddamn.

Are you going to ask me properly?

He’s going to hate me.

The phone buzzes.

Grr SINEAD R YOU FREE?

I chuckled.

                                   Close enough. Where am I meeting

                                   you?

           Corner 5th n Bdwy

I pocketed the infernal device and strode out of the square.

As I walked to the corner I watched as people’s eyes stayed glued to their technology. Every now and then a pair of eyes would glance up at me as I passed, but would immediately dart away.

I let the crisp afternoon air whistle out of my nose.

People were always afraid of that which was different.

Where their eyes were (at this point in the late, rainy afternoon) a mottled grey, mine glared back with their deep, speckled black.

I pulled my hood close around my pale face, knowing my little nose and pale cheeks were flushed a soft red by now. Gah, how embarrassing.

I wove through the bustling bodies and spotted Kevin at the corner, waving at me. Got to give him credit: when he meets up with me he avoids the drag of technology. He knows how much I hate it. He stood there in his fashionably holey jeans, Docs and a flannel over a plain white t-shirt. Keeping up with modern trends, yet a little rough around the edges. His coat hung from the nook of one arm. How is he not cold?

I strode up to him, hands stuffed in the pockets of my jacket, and stretched up on my toes to lightly head-butt him, as was our friendly greeting. He chuckled, and his breath burst through those annoyingly perfect teeth in smoky white gusts. This winter was quickly becoming a cold one.

           “Hey, I’ve got someone for you to meet!”

He moved aside to reveal a girl about my age, my height, whose back was to me. He tapped her on the shoulder and she spun around, having been oblivious to my approach, and I noticed the white cord of her earphones brushing against her dark neck. She saw me and quickly pulled them out of her ears with one hand, extending the other towards me.

           “Hi! I’m Leena!”

I blinked at her and took her hand, trying not to notice the stark contrast between her rich skin and my ghostly own.

           “Sinead. How do you know Kevin?”

           “Economics 101. You?”

           “Film and Visual Studies.”

She shot a glance up at Kevin. “I didn’t know you studied Film!”

He shrugged. “It was a phase.”

           “Excuse me,” I shot at him, “Fine Arts are not just a phase. If I remember correctly, you enjoyed those classes. Not my fault your father made you change.”

           “Yeah, remember how we don’t talk about that?”

           “Whatever, man.” I returned my gaze to Leena, and for the first time really considered her eyes. Even in the cold grey of the afternoon, amidst the looming clouds and the steady shimmer of rain, her eyes remained an almost iridescent honey gold, with pink undertones.

She blinked and looked to the ground, tucking a curl behind her ear.

           “Sorry. I didn’t mean to stare.”

           “No, it…it’s okay.” She glanced back up at me. “Yours are different too.”

I felt my cheeks flush, and cleared my throat. “So, where are we going for coffee?”

           “I know a nice little café near the park,” Leena suggested. “It’s tucked away in a quiet side-street, they’re really lovely in there.”

***

The train rattled along the tracks, taking me home. We’d spent most of the evening in the café talking and laughing and sharing snacks, reminiscing in our pairs. But I’d noticed something different in the air all evening.

Kevin hadn’t brought Leena along by accident.

After we’d farewelled Leena I’d probed him about it. His enduring silence had left me with an almost sour taste in my mouth. He never kept anything from me.

I found myself unintentionally glaring at people along the train carriage. With the sun gone down and the stars beginning to pop out, everyone else’s eyes looked almost like mine now. So when they accidentally caught my gaze, nobody quickly averted their eyes.

The night was my realm.

Yet I felt far from comfort.

My mind tracked through the course of the day. Lectures, a hurried lunch from the deli as I walked to the square, then the café.

I felt like I’d barely listened to Kevin talking that afternoon. Most of my memory of the café was filled with Leena’s face. Especially those eyes…

Was she like me, then? One eye colour, one mode, trapped in that time frame, where all others shifted with the hours and the weather?

Ugh. It was beginning to bug me more than it should. I’d have to let it slide for now.

 But as I went through my daily routine, dragging through the week, I couldn’t get her out of my mind. Her lilting laugh echoed through the crowded caverns of my mind as I drifted through the tedious tasks of the day, her eyes glowing in the backdrop of my dreams. For my dreams are always backed by a golden sun just below the horizon.

The following weekend, sitting on the floor of my shower, the chemical smell of shampoo staining the air, warm flush staining my cheeks, I heard my phone buzz through the music that beat against the edges of the surrounding steam. I sighed heavily, heaved myself up to my feet, turned off the water, and wrapped a towel around me. I quickly dried my hands and reached for the phone.

           Sinead, are you doing anything

           today?

                                   Kev, since when do you use

                                   proper English in texting?

           Actually it’s Leena.

           Kevin’s in the men’s, he told

           me to message you and ask

           if you wanted to join us – we

           were thinking about that new

           indie film that’s just come out?

I’d thought about seeing that one. The reviews had only given it 3.5 stars, but I’d long ago given up on their judgement of films.

                                   Sure thing. Text through the

                                   cinema of choice and I’ll meet

                                   you guys there asap.

***

We ended up going bowling instead, but made plans to get together again by the end of the month to see that film.

It was alright.

We continued like this over the course of a few months, and over several coffees we grew into a very comfortable friendship. Leena and I had found a lot in common, even down to our favourite ice-cream flavour and book genre.

Our next movie date was for another newly released indie film. It was an ‘exclusive’ early viewing. Leena knew a place. This one had only received 2.5 stars.

The film, as I’d suspected, was worth at least 4 stars. Idiot critics. We decided on a new café afterwards and discussed our own personal reviews over coffee. Kevin thought the cinematography was unique. Pssht yeah, like he’d hated Film Studies.

Leena, on the other hand, was enraptured by the soundtrack. She talked about how it had moved through the scenes with perfect grace, with crests and falls and overtures that told as much story as the characters did. I noticed that when she talked about something with this amount of passion, those golden eyes lit up something fierce. It was like staring into a sunrise, the sun just waiting to burst over the horizon.

I talked about the performances, having found them both moving and stoic enough in the right moments to be realistic and relatable. After a while I noticed Leena was watching me with the same interest as I had when she’d spoken.

When she’d gotten up to go to the ladies, I turned on Kevin.

           “What gives?” I whispered.

           “You like her? I knew you’d get along.”

           “Dude, she’s…I don’t know, she’s…”

           “She finds you very interesting too. She wouldn’t stop talking about you at lunch. She was the one who insisted on you joining us today.”

           “I mean she seems nice, and pretty cool, but—”

           “Sin. Really. You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”

           “Dude…”

           “You’re more alike than you think.”

           “Oh, I know how alike we are.” My thoughts turned again to those eyes. “What’s with—”

           “The burning sunset in her eyes? Dunno. Pretty cool, huh?”

I glared at him. “As ‘pretty cool’ as my freakishly dark ones?”

He shrugged. “So your eyes are stuck in eternal night. So what?”

I shook my head. There was no reasoning with this boy.

Leena hurried back and pulled her phone out of her bag as she recounted how strange the ladies room was in this café, marvelling at the range of fancy, organic soaps.

But as she checked her phone, her face immediately fell.

           “Oh god, I…I’m so sorry, I have to go.”

My throat tightened. “What is it? What’s happened?”

           “I can’t, I…I just…” she quickly gathered her things, pulling on her coat haphazardly. “…I’m sorry…” She rushed out of the café, leaving Kevin and I staring curiously at the door, completely befuddled.

 All the way home I tried messaging her.

                                   Hey. Is everything okay?

                                     Do you want to talk about

                                   it?

                                     It’s okay if you don’t want

                                   to talk about it. But we’re

                                   here for you. Kev and I. You

                                   know…if you need us.

I compulsively checked my phone the whole train ride home, but it remained as silent as the carriage for all its barren conversation.

***

It was 3am before I heard back from Leena. I’d slept restlessly, my stomach churning, and had woken up at a quarter to three. Propped up in bed, re-reading a book whose cover had worn away years ago, I heard my phone buzz against the table. Never before had my hand lashed out to grab it so fast.

           I need help.

My heart stopped for a second. Shit, don’t panic…

                                   Okay…what do you need?

It was a good ten minutes before she responded.

           I don’t know…oh

           god, I don’t know…

                                   Where are you?

           Princess Memorial

           Hospital.

My heart jolted again. My fingers were a blur as I replied.

                                   I’ll be there asap. I’m bringing

                                   ice-cream. You like strawberry,

                                   right?

           I don’t think they’ll let

           you bring food in.

                                   I really don’t give a damn. I’m

                                   bringing it. Also books. Got a great

                                   one I think you should read.

Without waiting for her to reply I jumped out of bed, hurriedly pulled on some sweatpants and a jacket, stuffed the necessities into my bag, messily pulled my fair hair into some sort of bun, and rushed out the door.

 I got to the hospital within the half hour, nervously waiting in the empty foyer for the elevator as Leena gave me the room number. I was losing patience, contemplating taking the stairs, when it arrived with a –ding!-.

I rushed in before the nurse at the front desk got back, before she could tell me the usual ‘no visitors allowed after hours’.

The doors opened onto the third floor and I stuck my head out, checking that the coast was clear. I quietly dashed out and down the hall to the right, checking the numbers. 15…16…17…

I reached 18 and stopped, hesitating.

Taking in a deep breath, I lightly tapped on the door, and it swung ajar.

Peeking in, I spotted Leena in the corner, dark circles under her puffy eyes, her sunset gaze staring into nothingness.

I sidled in quietly, closing the door with a –click!- behind me. She blinked and turned those eyes on me.

Oh god…the pain in that gaze was almost unbearable. My heart lurched against my ribcage, and I walked slowly, quietly, further into the room.

In the bed across from Leena’s chair was a middle-aged woman, unconscious, sunken-eyed, hollow-cheeked, and wired up to all manner of contraptions that gathered around her bedside like mechanical vultures to prey.

I glanced back over at Leena, who was staring at the woman again. She tried to take in a deep shuddering breath, got about halfway there, and then broke down. I dropped the bag I was carrying and moved over to her, kneeling before her, resting a hand on her arm.

           “Leena…what do you need?”

Her eyes swam, a river of tears cascading down her full, speckled cheeks as she shook her head. “I don’t…I don’t know…”

I watched her pull her legs up to her chest, drawing in her arms, and realised that internally she was slowly imploding.

I perched myself on the arm of the chair and wrapped her up in my embrace, resting her head on my chest. We stayed like that for ages, as I just let her cry it out.

While I gently stroked her tight, messy curls, I did the math.

The woman in the bed: probably her mother. The situation: some kind of cancer, judging by how little of her was left. The circumstances: life support. She was practically on death’s door.

 When Leena had calmed down some, I picked up the bag and produced the tub of ice-cream and two spoons. I sat myself on the floor in front of her, resting against her legs, quietly providing the comfort of presence, and passed back one of my old, tattered books.

We waited out the early hours of the morning in reverent silence.

***

The next day I finally plucked up the courage to ask her about it.

           “So…what is it?”

           “Lung cancer.” Ouch. “She wasn’t even a smoker, she was always super healthy. I guess some people are just…” she trailed off, then blinked. “Anyway, her body hasn’t been able to fight it well enough.”

           “Has it spread anywhere else yet?”

           “No. But lungs are delicate things.”

I hesitated, trying to find the right words. “Both lungs? Or just one?”

           “Just the one. But it hit her hard. The life support is mostly to pump oxygen into her, since her lungs aren’t doing a good enough job of it. The good one is struggling on its own.”

           “Has nobody stepped forward as a donor?”

           “I have. Otherwise the waiting list is a mile long. But they won’t do a full lung transplant from a living donor.”

           “Right.” I thought at length about it, then pulled out my retched device to message Kevin.

                                   Come to PMH. Asap.

                                   Bring your portable

                                   wifi.

***

As Kevin consoled Leena, I stepped out into the corridor. Having taken full advantage of his wifi, I was in the process of looking up medical advice when a specialist approached the room.

           “Ma’am, are you here visiting the patient in Room 18?”

           “Kind of. Hey, what are the chances of a lung transplant from a living donor?”

He sighed with resignation. “I have spoken to Miss Leena about this. We’d need a second living donor volunteer for there to be any hope of a successful transplant.”

           “Blood type?”

           “Uh…I’m not exactly authorised to share—”

           “Sir, I really need to you understand the gravity of this situation.”

He hesitated, then checked his notes. “B positive.”

I nodded, thoughtful. It was decided.

           “Doctor, I’m wondering if you could help me.”

***

As the doctor spoke to Leena, I pulled Kevin out into the corridor.

           “Kev, I need you to cover for me. Look after Leena post-surgery, okay?”

           “What surgery, what—” something changed in his blue-sky eyes. “Sin…”

           “Dude, this is a really important favour.”

He scratched the back of his head. “How the hell am I supposed to look after two people at once?”

           “Do I have your word?”

           “…ugh, fine.” We butted heads lightly, and I patted him on the shoulder. The doctor was done speaking with Leena, so I popped in my head.

           “I need to run some errands. Finish off the ice-cream, and get through as much of that book as you can. Trust me, you’ll love the ending. I’ll see you later, okay?” Before she could answer, I was gone.

*****

I woke up slowly, the anaesthesia doing its utmost to drag me back under. My eyes wouldn’t open, and my throat felt dry.

           “Mm…”

I felt a hand on mine. A little rough around the edges.

           “Sin, how are you feeling?” Kevin’s voice was low, quiet.

I tried speaking again. “Lee…”

           “You two are a pair of crazy ladies, you know that?” He chuckled quietly. “She pulled through nicely. They’re transplanting the lung segments now.”

I sort of nodded, as best I could in my condition. I could feel myself drifting back into sleep.

           “It’s okay, Sin. I’ll be here.”

           “Look…”

           “Yeah. I’ll look after her. I know.”

***

The mid-afternoon sunlight shot through the blinds, searing through my eyelids, turning my waking vision into a sea of red.

I pulled up a weary hand to shield my stinging eyes, and felt a shadow fall over me. I took the opportunity to blink my eyes open.

Kevin was standing by me.

           “Afternoon, Sleeping Beauty.” I responded by poking my tongue out, and he laughed quietly, his eyes blazing the bright gold of mid-afternoon. “Feel any better?”

I licked my lips, desperate for moisture. “More awake.”

           “Good, because there’s someone on your other side who has a bone to pick with you.”

Even in my groggy state I felt my heart shudder, and as I turned my head I was met by that searing golden gaze.

           “What the hell were you thinking?” Leena croaked, propped up in the bed next to mine.

           “Same thing you were.” I swallowed hard. What’s a girl got to do to get a drink of water around here?

           “You could have…” she trailed off, and I suddenly felt my stomach drop. Oh man, I didn’t even think…

           “Leena’s mom came out alright too.” Kevin moved around and pulled up a seat between us, at the foot of our beds. “She’s still on life support for now, while her new lung material figures out what to do, but the doc reckons she’ll start a good recovery soon.”

I sighed with relief, and turned back to Leena. She was still glaring at me.

           “What?”

           “Did you even stop to think—”

           “No, actually, I didn’t.” I let my gaze drop to the floor. “I didn’t think. Sorry.” I sighed. “I just wanted to help. Seeing you like that…”

           “Like what?”

I looked back up at her. “It wasn’t just killing her. It was killing you.” She held my gaze, unblinking, processing. “You just didn’t know it yet.” I couldn’t tear myself away from that gaze. “I couldn’t bear to see you like that. So I did what I could.”

She was quiet for a long time.

           “How will I ever make it up to you?” she asked, almost a whisper.

           “Leena, seriously, you don’t have to—”

           “Sinead.” Her eyes were intense. “How can I make it up to you?”

           “Well, you could take her out to dinner.” Kevin’s voice cut in, booming in comparison to our near-whispers.

           “Kev!”

           “She likes Mediterranean.”

           “KEVIN!”

           “Done.” I shot my glance back to Leena, who was nodding, her concentration face on.

           “Leena…”

           “No, this is perfect.” I saw the ghost of a smile touch the corner of her lips. “It’s a great idea.” She looked up, letting that smile gently spread. “I know a place.”

           “Of course you do.” I sighed with exasperation. “Fine. Okay. But the next meal I’m buying.”

           “Oh shut up, we’ll split the next one.”

           “Depends how good this place is. If it’s really as amazing as I know you’re about to suggest—”

           “You’ll love it, it’s…” she stopped, catching up to my comment, and a small laugh escaped her. I joined her momentarily, until we both had to gasp for breath. Our lungs were still healing, after all.

           “So…”

           “Yeah…so…”

           “Oh for god’s sake, get a room,” Kevin sighed loudly.

           “You’re in it,” I shot back, and as he hauled himself out of the chair he laughed.

           “Alright, alright. I’m going to go feed the first floor vending machine all my precious small change to get a downsized can of soda. You gals want anything?”

I glanced back at Leena, and we both smiled. “Nah, we’re good.”

He shrugged, striding out, leaving the two of us to settle into a comfortable silence, her lost in the constant midnight of my gaze, and I knew that I’d follow the burning sunrise in her eyes to the end of my days.

* Copyright © 2017 Kasey Boyd a.k.a arroea-la-kinfa All rights reserved. No portion of this post may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, on any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise - without the express written permission from the creator. But you may reblog, with appropriate tags, and talk to me if you wish!

[torixus]

How We Lost Our Loved Ones Rejected By Hospitals Amid COVID-19 Pandemic - Bereaved Families Speak

Families who lost loved ones who were rejected by hospitals amid the coronavirus outbreak have spoken on the development. 

  He once assured me not to worry that God would soon bless his efforts but he never waited to enjoy the blessings.” These were the words of bereaved Mrs Joy Okereke-Nkemakolam as she shed uncontrollable tears while speaking with our correspondent.

Nkemakolam is the elder sister of 32-year-old Joel Aleke who  allegedly died recently due to the negligence of some hospital workers.  It was gathered that Joel slumped on Sunday while playing football and was rushed to the hospital, but was allegedly refused treatment for fear that he might be a COVID-19 patient.

She told our correspondent that the deceased being the first son acted as the father of the house and husband to their mother since their father passed on  10 years ago.

As she spoke, her words were halted by the tears that chocked her throat. It was an emotional moment as he recounted how her brother could have been saved if the medical workers had attended to him.

  Nkemakolam said it was difficult for her family to break the news of Joel’s death to their mother as it would lead to double tragedy in the family.

“Breaking the news of my brother’s death to my mum will kill her. My brother Joel has been like a husband to her since our father passed on 10 years ago.  We don’t want to experience double tragedy,” she told our correspondent as she sank into a chair.

She noted that the 32-year-old was loved by people in his area and one could see how sad they were hearing about his death. “Joel was a good man, gentle and easy-going,” she added.

The sister further said Joel could give up anything to have peace and was a lover of football. She stated, “He was passionate about football. He started playing football when he was eight years. He could play football three or four times a week. He sometimes played football in the morning before going to the shop to sell.”

Talking about their relationship, Nkemakolam said after her brother clocked 32 last month, he confided in her of his plans to marry soon.

“He told me he would soon settle down with his fiancé who’s the only lady I knew with him. He sold beans in bags and was a serious young man,” she stated.

She added, “Joel was also  humble. At 32, he visited me to wash my clothes. He washed my husband’s car too. Whenever he came around, he would ask me what he could do in the house and the moment I sent him on an errand, he was up on his feet to do it.

“He would tell me, ‘mama don’t worry, God will soon bless my hustle.’ But my brother is gone. Wherever there was trouble, you wouldn’t see Joel. He loved children. He was a teacher before he resigned to learn a trade.”

  She let out anguish as she stated that the country killed her brother. Nkemakolam said, “This country killed my brother. How could you allow a hospital to operate and they don’t have oxygen. The General Hospital didn’t even do anything to help the situation.

“It’s terrible when hospitals that ought to be saving lives are the ones killing people. They killed my Joel. If they rushed someone to the hospital that he slumped while playing football, they should have fought to save his life. He wasn’t a COVID-19 patient but he was killed because the hospitals were scared of attending to patients because of coronavirus scare. He never complained of heart or chest pain or anything. They should have treated him first at least to save his life.”

Needless deaths amid wobbling health system

There are many forgotten victims of the coronavirus pandemic beyond those infected with the virus. Ever since the ravaging pandemic started some hospitals  were accused of refusing to attend to patients for fear of contracting the virus especially since most hospitals weren���t equipped in treating victims of the virus.

Joel’s not the only one who suffered rejection by hospital for fear of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Francis Ufford would have been 61 in a couple of months but he succumbed to high blood pressure. It’s almost the same narrative as few private hospitals that were open at the Alagbado area of Lagos were without oxygen.

His cousin, Gerald Ufford, who spoke with Saturday PUNCH said when he heard of Francis’ condition that night, the family did all they could to ensure he was taken to the best hospital. He accused the hospital of responsible for his death.

Ufford said, “He was diagnosed of high blood pressure some two years ago.  He lived at Alagbado and when he had the attack, due to the lockdown, his daughter got an airman to escort them and begged a neighbour to drive them to the hospital as they could not move freely because of the pandemic.

“In order to avoid drama, the daughter got the officer, so they could get to the hospital on time. Many hospitals in the neighbourhood didn’t have oxygen so the Lagos University Teaching Hospital was the best option, unfortunately they didn’t accommodate him.

“The hospital refused to admit him because they said their space was filled up and didn’t have bed to admit him. Then we took him to the Ikeja General Hospital and it was the same story. We continued to carry him about from one hospital to the other before we saw a private hospital willing to attend to him. But by the time they started to attend to him, it was late. He died in the process.  Due to the stress of carrying him around, his blood pressure was like 220. They tried to bring it down but by then it was already late. He succumbed to death.’’

Ufford described the late Francis as a good man willing to help whenever he could. “He was a good man. He loved to help people. He was a calm person who always minded his business; He was a family man, gentle and easygoing.”

As tales of rejections of non-COVID-19 patients by hospitals spread, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 advised hospitals not to reject such patients,, adding that doing so would lead to an increase in the number of deaths.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, had said that the there had been a spike in death being recorded in the country because hospitals were turning back non COVID-19 patients.

He said, “As at present, records show that we may be experiencing more unnecessary deaths because our hospitals are turning back non-COVID-19 related patients.”

The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, also urged health institutions not to stop offering critical health services to patients requiring attention.

John Ademulegun is also another person who allegedly  died as a result of health workers refusing to attend to non-COVID-19 patients.

The aggrieved brother of the deceased, a lecturer, Dr Demian Ademulegun, said the issue should not be swept under the carpet.

He stated, “Our mother died shortly before the lockdown. She should have been buried if not for situation. Her remains are still in the mortuary. But the Nigeria health system has truncated my brother’s life. We now have to bury a mother and a child at the same time. What a sad country we live in.”

The lecturer narrated that the deceased complained of stomach pain and was finding it difficult to breathe. “We took him to a private hospital around midnight; they directed we should take him to the Infectious Disease Hospital. We did that night and IDH directed we should go to LUTH.

“We were not attended to. The female doctor on duty spoke  from afar and did told us to take him to IDH  without  any attention. She didn’t attend to us at all.

“ I told the doctor that we were just coming from IDH but she just walked away. Having no choice, we took him to IDH again. It was our second visit to the place. The time was getting to 2am. He was still agile but finding it more difficult to breathe. We got to IDH the second time. It was even my brother that answered all the questions from the doctor on duty. After the questioning, the doctor said he couldn’t admit him because the wards in IDH had been turned to COVID-19 wards and that it would be dangerous to admit him since he had not been tested positive. He advised we should return to LUTH.”

He said when they returned to LUTH the same female doctor bluntly refused to attend to them.

“She did not attend to everybody that brought in any one for emergency. She turned everyone back and advised that they should go to IDH,” he narrated.

He expressed that he watched his brother beg for oxygen around 3am as he continued to experience difficulty in breathing.

“At this point, my brother begged that he needed oxygen to breathe well. It was then getting to 3am,” Ademulegun stated.

He stated, “We decided to take him to LASUTH at Ikeja. It was then getting to around 4am. The doctor on duty at the emergency ward after a long time came out to check his temperature while in the car. It read 36 degrees. After a long while, he came out to meet us with a note that we should return to LUTH. We told him we had been to LUTH twice and they did not attend to us. He also left us in the car pack.”

“Doctors are supposed to be kind and humane. But the doctors who attended to us were wicked and callous. They killed my brother. If they have done the right thing, my brother wouldn’t have died.”

He said when they didn’t have a choice, they returned to LUTH the third time in the night and it was getting to 4.30 am and the lady doctor on duty still refused to attend to them.

“We pleaded in vain seeing our brother in agony. My brother pleaded that we should get him a chair to sit as he was getting increasingly uncomfortable in the car. We got him a seat in the car pack. We were there from 6 am, 7am until 10am,” he said.

Ademulegun stated that a doctor later came to attend to them and examined his brother, promising to hospitalise him.

He added, “My brother was the one that addressed the doctor that came around 10am. He begged him that he should not allow him to die, that he needed oxygen.

“It took another two to three hours before he was admitted in a single apartment and we were not allowed to be with him. We were outside.

“He died at around 9.45 pm on Friday but we were not informed until around 9am the next day.’’

He added that the deceased studied civil engineering at the University of Lagos, lamenting that the country’s health system shortened his life.

“He still has an elder sister and he died prematurely. Something must be done about the failure of Nigeria’s health system.”

For Sylvester Okey, suffering from collapsed intestine before the coronavirus pandemic, he was referred to the LUTH by a private facility managing his condition.

The sister, a musical artiste, Bethamary, told Saturday PUNCH  that her brother was rejected at the hospital for lack of bed space.

After the rejection, she quickly rushed him to LASUTH but he was also rejected there too. He was subsequently taken to several private facilities but was refused admission. Bethamary said her brother lost hope after the rejections and asked to be taken home where he died.

With hot tears, she explained “I drove to LUTH and when we got to the accident and emergency section, a doctor came out, took his information and checked him in my car. He went back inside. My brother fought for life but the nation’s health system failed him.

“Another doctor later came out to tell us that there was no bed space in the hospital. I begged him to name any amount for us to pay, but the doctor just said my brother needed intensive care but I  didn’t want to admit him in the hospital.

“I left LUTH for LASUTH and we met people outside the accident and emergency ward and asked for someone I could talk to. But I was asked for a referral letter from the hospital treating him and I produced it. The moment they saw the letter, we were told to go and do a COVID-19 test and I took Sylvester to the Ikota Primary School for the test. But the person we met there said he did not know when the result would be ready but he took his samples.”

She said that after they left there, she took him to some private hospitals, which also rejected him and those at the last place she took him to, didn’t treat him well. According to her, the doctor did not come down to check her brother but he told the medical director that he attended to them.

“On Monday, May 4, 2020, he started struggling for life and called me; when I got to his room, he was in pains and requested Holy Communion, which I blessed and gave to him and he was okay,” she added.

She said her brother died because the hospitals turned him back without attending to him. She stated, “He could not take it anymore. He died because of the failed health system.”

The bereaved  families who spoke with our correspondent also lamented what they described as lack of oxygen in most of the hospitals they took their ailing loved ones to.

For instance, Ademulegun said when the doctor wasn’t showing any concern to his sick brother, they opted for a private hospital. He added that as they kept moving from one hospital to the other, they discovered that lack of oxygen was common to them all.

He said, “We tried to look for some private hospitals around to find out whether they could administer oxygen on him. The two private hospitals we went to did not have oxygen.”

We don’t reject patients —Hospitals

Earlier, when The PUNCH contacted the Chief Medical Director,  Isolo General hospital, Dr Godwin Akhaboa, he said the facility was not in the habit of rejecting patients, adding that Joel was brought in dead.

Akhaboa said, “There are parameters to look at before certifying a patient dead and no doctor will say a patient is dead without checking those parameters. It’s never done; no nurse or doctor will do that. The patient had a cardiac arrest on a football field and he was brought in dead.”

Also, the Public Relations Officer, LUTH, Kelechi Otuneme, said the hospital wasn’t in the habit of  rejecting patients but rather it was limited by resources.

He said, “We exist because of patients. LUTH has three tripods; service delivery, research and training. There is no reason why we would not offer service delivery to the people.

“We are a tertiary hospital for that matter. The other hospital that complements us in that light is LASUTH in serving over 20 million population.  I think it’s not fair to say that we are rejecting patients.”

Otuneme explained that at the Accidents and Emergency ward, being the first ward where patients were admitted into, it was always difficult for them to control the number of patients at the ward and they couldn’t accommodate more than the hospital capacity.

He added, “At the Accidents and Emergency ward, there are usually occasions where there would be no space at least for the time being. You know the department is meant to stabilise people for a period of time before they are moved to other wards. When the ward is occupied, we have to tell them to wait till there are free bed spaces. It is not as though we deliberately say there is no bed space, and it’s like that all over the country.

“These things are beyond the hospital, we can’t control what happens to people, so there is no way we can stop accidents from happening to people.  Also in some cases, Primary Health Care Centres are not available or not open and people with malaria come to the hospital and have occupied the bed before others. We can’t possibly send them away from the beds.  These are the issues that needed to be attended to.”

On his part, Director of Clinical Services and Training,, LASUTH, Dr Ibrahim Mustapha, stated that the hospital didn’t reject patients as claimed by those who brought their sick ones to the hospital.

He said, “It is not true that we reject patients. Saying we reject patients is not true. Why are we then hospitals if we reject patients? I will encourage you to come to the office and see things for yourself. If that is the case, where do we get the people that fill our hospitals? Our hospital is oversubscribed. Many patients come here and there is no way we can attend to all patients that come. We don’t have the capacity. That is why we have other hospitals around.

“When patients come and the bed spaces are already filled up, we won’t be able to accommodate them. As I speak to you, I have the two emergency rooms filled up. Where are they from?”

Mustapha stated that the hospital didn’t reject suspected cases of COVID-19, noting that there was no way it would reject patients who didn’t even show symptoms of the virus.

He added, “ The practice in LASUTH is that when patients come in during this COVID-19 period, we ask them questions which we refer to as screening questions to know if it is a suspected COVID-19 case or not. Questions like “have you been having fever, cough, any respiratory distress,’

“Even in a situation where they are suspected COVID-19 cases, we keep them in our isolation ward at LASUTH, so they don’t get mixed up with others. After that, their samples are taken for a test and when the result comes out as positive, we refer the patients to any of the COVID-19 government-designated treatment centres around. And some staff members who have tested positive are receiving treatment at Agidingbi.

“If after the result the patient is negative, we move the patient out of the isolation ward to the general ward and continue treatment with such patients. That is our protocol at LASUTH.”

Mustapha stated that while taking measures to ensure that more patients were accommodated at LASUTH, there was an ongoing project at the hospital sponsored by a philanthropist.

He said, “We are building 20-bedded quarantine and triage self-contained room courtesy of a philanthropist. It is constructed in such a way that people will not mix with each other. Positive will not mix with negative.”

The director said that patients came with expectations usually, but doctors were trained to attend to the most critical issues.

He added, “Patients come in with their own expectations and such sometimes are not medically sound. We do a thing called Triage. It means sorting and attending to patients based on their medical needs. Treatment is not solely based on first come, first served, we prioritise patients based on how critical an issue is; we attend to those patients that are in dire need first.

“Our doctors have also been taught to attend to patients based on the triage. That is what they have been trained to do.  But most times, the patients don’t understand what the doctors are doing. And that is what we tell them to carry patients along. Many patients are not properly informed so they peddle misinformation around.”

Hospitals inability to accommodate patients not doctors’ fault – NMA

President, Nigerian Medical Association, Dr. Francis Faduyile, said that it was not the fault of the doctors or other medical practitioners if hospitals were unable to accommodate patients coming into hospitals.

He identified the major issues in the nation’s health sector as lack of adequate funding and poor utilisation of funds.

He said, “Many of the public hospitals employ doctors, nurses and other health workers. It is whatever the government provides that they work with. When you have a hospital that can only accommodate 30 people, there is nothing they can do about it than to admit the number of patients that the hospitals can accommodate.  It is beyond the workers there. It’s not like they like to reject patients. There is a limit to what they can do.

“It is the responsibility of the government to look for a way to provide more bed spaces and other infrastructures. Such roles are beyond the limit of medical practitioners.”

Faduyile said until hospitals were well projected and a sustainable plan employed, people might not be able to get the best of medical practice in Lagos.

He added, “If they have properly budgeted money for hospitals, during planning, they should know the number of hospitals that should be situated in a place based on the area’s population. But in a situation where there is no adequate planning, you might have one or two hospitals in an area which will not be able to cater to the needs of the people.”

Faduyile also linked the issue of poor funding to lack of oxygen in hospitals, noting that the issue wasn’t peculiar to private hospitals but also public ones.

He said, “ Talking about the issue of lack of oxygen, it is not only private hospitals that do not have a regular supply of oxygen. But there are also many public hospitals that do not have a regular supply of oxygen and this is due to the fact that many of them are poorly funded. It is the funding that will allow you to get what you want at the right time.

“If you don’t have adequate funding then you begin to prioritise, not knowing if the next patient will need that exact equipment that you didn’t put into consideration.”

The NMA President  said it was not right to blame owners of private hospitals as the financial situations of the people who patronise them would determine the types of equipment available at the hospital.

He said, “The best a private hospital can do depends on the buying power of the patients that visit the hospital. You can’t have consumables worth millions of naira and your patients can’t pay beyond N50, 000. You will certainly run at a loss and when you don’t have enough money to re-equip, then you will not have a supply in place. The buying power of the people around will also determine what type of services the hospitals offer. You can’t compare the services in highbrow areas to the one in an area where there are more low-class people. The differences will definitely show in the services they offer.”

He noted that the only sustainable health situation in the country was to have a health insurance scheme.

Faduyile noted, “The only way we can experience adequate minimum is when we have a health insurance scheme in place in such a way that everybody contributes to it and everybody is guaranteed a minimum level of care. Otherwise, people will continue to be denied a good healthcare system.”

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Source: Saturday PUNCH

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