End Of The Road (Episode 2)

There’s no news as heartbreaking as that of a loved one departing from you forever. Words are indeed not enough to describe the trauma and shock of knowing that someone you love dearly is dying slowly. Anita was shocked beyond explanation and found it hard to believe that the man she loved with all her heart was secretly suffering from Leukemia.

“Baby please tell me you’re joking, please I beg you” She said with tears falling off her eyes. Marvin was completely shattered due to the fact that Anita had found out about a battle he was secretly fighting for years. He purposely begged his family to keep the truth a secret and not reveal to Anita, because he didn’t want her to start giving more attention to his predicament than the beautiful moments they shared.

Marvin didn’t want Anita to pity him but rather, he wanted her undivided love and attention; at least for the little while he still had to spend on earth. Seeing those tears fall off her eyes broke his heart the more, he wanted her to always be happy and not sad. He was devastated!

“You’re still not saying anything, please tell me this is all a joke and that you didn’t mean what you said earlier” Anita said sobbing. Marvin walked closer and laid his head on her shoulder and they burst into uncontrollable tears. “I’m so sorry babe, I should have told you earlier but just couldn’t. I didn’t want you to start pitying me more than loving me, I didn’t want to let you into my sinking world, I didn’t want you to join me in counting the number of days I still have on earth, I didn’t want you to feel hurt or sad because I want my last glance at you to be with a smile on your face and not tears. You are the best thing that has happened to me of recent; you have been my life support, you have been my reason to want to live another day and you are the reason I’m still fighting. The cancer has spread and there’s no solution at this point. I’m so sorry that I wouldn’t be with you for too long and it kills me everyday” He said sobbing.

The more Marvin spoke, the more Anita broke down in tears. She was still in denial and didn’t want to accept the fact that the man she had imaginarily planned her future with was going to be absent from it. She didn’t want to accept the fact that the man she was crazily in love with was going to leave her soon. It was a tough truth but Anita wasn’t ready to accept or face it!

“No no no baby, you can’t leave me, you just can’t. I won’t have any reason to live again if you leave me; my world wouldn’t mean a thing anymore without you by my side. You just can’t go anywhere babe, please you can’t!” Anita said, with tears falling uncontrollably from her eyes.

Marvin didn’t know what to say or do anymore so he hugged her tightly. “Everything would be alright” he said to console her as he gently pat her back. Anita dropped the medicine container she was holding and wrapped her arms around him properly. They hugged for a while until Anita started perceiving burnt smell coming from the kitchen. She immediately remember that she was cooking and rushed to attend to the food in the kitchen. Marvin followed her to see what was happening and helped her with whatever she needed.

After a little while, food was served and they ate together in the dinning. The atmosphere was tensed and quiet as they scooped each spoon of food. Tears occasionally fell from Anita’s eyes as she ate and every tears she shed broke and shattered Marvin’s heart into pieces. He was trying to be a man and control the situation but it was beyond him.

Anita couldn’t go home again that day so she spent the night over. They talked about the situation on ground over again but Anita was still in denial and didn’t want to accept the truth that laid right before her. It felt like a nightmare to her and she needed someone to wake her up.

All through that night, Anita shouldn’t sleep and kept staring at Marvin while he slept. “No wonder he lost so much weight a while ago” She thought to herself as tears fell off her eyes. “Why Marvin Lord? Please don’t take him away from me, Please God” she silently prayed and finally laid her head to rest because she was already heating up.

Morning came but the atmosphere was still tensed. Marvin had to step out because he had an important appointment to tend to at work. He left before Anita and kissed her goodbye before leaving. While he walked away, Anita felt scared and started imaging all sort of things that could happen to him as he went about his daily activities. “Would he come back to me again? I hope today isn’t going to end without him by my side? What if he leaves me today? Oh! my heart hurts so bad” she muttered.

For every second Marvin was away, Anita couldn’t take her mind off him. This was the exact reason Marvin hid the truth from her; he didn’t want her to live in constant fear or worry. He felt the truth was better left hidden and not revealed.

Anita finally summoned strength and went to work. While at work that day, she thought about absolutely nothing else than Marvin. She surfed the internet and read over a thousand articles on Leukemia. Fear gripped her whenever she read each article because it occurred to her that Leukemia was almost incurable and often claimed the patient’s life. Her colleague who figured that something was up, approached her to inquire what the problem was but she told her colleague that everything was fine.

Anita secretly prayed to be able to get through that day without losing her mind completely. She called Marvin every now and then to check up on him. After work, she headed straight to his office so they could go home together. Immediately Marvin saw her, he could just tell that she had been worked up all day from excess thinking. “My baby, I have missed you just this little while I was away” he said smiling. Anita was confused and tried to figure out why he was so relaxed and un-bothered despite his condition. “Baby why do you pretend as though all is fine when it clearly isn’t” she asked but Marvin hushed her. “Stop this babe, can we just live in the moment and stop worrying about what the outcome of tomorrow would be. I’m here now and that’s all that matters” he said and kissed her lips.

They kissed passionately for a while and had to stop when Marvin’s elder brother walked in. “Love birds, una own better” Marvin’s brother jokingly said and they laughed. “Baby I’m hungry, have you eaten yet?” Marvin asked, “No, I was actually thinking we would eat together” Anita replied.

In no time, they left the office and went to have dinner before heading home. Anita wanted to ask more questions about the situation of things with his health but didn’t want to ruin the nice time they were having. They arrived home, did the needful and retired to bed.

As Marvin slept, Anita couldn’t stop staring at him. She cried and touch his face occasionally but little did she know that was the last time she would ever see him that peaceful.

Few hours later, Marvin woke up and complained about the room being too cold. Anita turned off the air conditioner but he still complained that the cold was unbearable. “Please boil hot water and keep the bucket near me so the steam can warm my body” Marvin said shivering. Anita started panicking and did as he instructed.

After a while, the situation worsened and she had to call his brother to inform him on what was happening. In no time, Marvin’s brother arrived at his house and he was taken to the hospital afterwards. Anita was made to wait at the waiting room by the nurses, while Marvin and his brother went to run some tests. It turned out that Marvin’s health had diminished greatly and he needed to be transferred to a higher hospital with more advanced facilities. Marvin was admitted and his brother went to meet Anita at the waiting room.

Immediately Anita saw Marvin’s brother without him, her heart skipped several beats in fear. “Where’s Marvin?” She curiously asked, “Everything is fine” He replied. “Cut the crap please, I know about his sickness that you all were hiding from me. Where is Marvin?” Anita said with tears already failing off her eyes.

Marvin’s brother was surprised that she already knew. He took a deep breath with tears in his eyes and said “The cancer has spread, I’m scared Anita”.

End of episode 2.

Stay tuned in few hours to see what happened next.

Written by Sonia Okehie


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