(Third person POV)
[Mombasa Hospital | August 25, 2005 – 9:45 PM]
The reception hall was quiet, like it always was around this time of day. The monitors and the soft breathing of sleeping patients were easy to hear. A man stood there with a phone pressed to his ear, his white coat indicating that he was a physician. From his gray receding hairline and the crow's feet near his eyes made him look around fifty. His beard neatly shaved and posture straight, as though neither age nor years of duty had worn him down.
"How is my son doing now, Doctor Mwenyeji?" Asked the person on the other end, the voice sounded female. Dr. Mwenyeji glanced at the file in his hand.
"He's recovering well Madam Kali," Dr. Mwenyeji replied after a moment, hesitating if he should mention what wasn't supposed to have happened. "Uhm uhm. The surgery was successful and his condition is stable." As his eyes moved across the report he said. "If everything continues like this, he should make a full recovery soon."
"That's great, haa." The doctor heard madam Kali exhale softly on the other end, sounding more relaxed now. "So… when can he come back home?"
This time, the doctor took a small breath before answering. His gaze stopped on a specific section of the file. "I'd prefer to keep him under observation for a few more days," he said. "There are still some tests I want to run, and if all goes well… he can be discharged the day after tomorrow."
"…Alright." Madam Kali's voice softened. "I'll come to pick him up then. Thank you, Dr. Mwenyeji."
"There's no need, madam." Dr. Mwenyeji continued. "I'm just doing my job." After the call ended. He lowered the phone slowly, and exhaled. His grip loosened, and for a moment he didn't move, just thinking.
"Let's finish the rounds first," he murmured. "Kids these days…"
Before he could take a step, the speakers crackled.
"Dr. Mwenyeji to Ward 7C, please."
"I repeat—
Dr. Mwenyeji to Ward 7C."
He stopped while shaking his head and a wry smile formed on his face. "Speak of the devil." With the file still in his hands, he turned. "Well… I suppose I should go see our little problem first."
Dr. Mwenyeji walked steadily through the corridor, while flipping through the file in his hands.
"Kids recover quickly." He muttered under his breath.
"Good evening, Mwenyeji," came a voice close to him.
He turned slightly and gave a small nod to a younger-looking physician in his early to mid thirties.
"Good evening, Dr. Kale, still the same I see."
Dr. Kale stepped beside him as they kept walking with his hands in his coat pockets, looking rather relaxed. His bold head glistening from sweat and skin tone was slightly darker than Dr. Mwenyeji's.
"You look focused," he said with a grin
"Haa, I think you mean exhausted." Mwenyeji replied while gazing up.
"The boy again?"
Dr. Mwenyeji exhaled quietly. "Yes."
"Haha, he's a lively one. Still can't believe he recovered so soon after that incident." Dr. Kale commented.
As they kept on walking, a sudden crash echoed down the corridor. Both men stopped. One glance between them was enough.
They moved again. Faster this time, and by the time they turned the corner, it had already happened.
The boy was on the ground. One hand braced against the floor. His eyes squeezed shut and his jaw tightened. He looked more irritated than hurt.
"That hurts…"
Dr. Mwenyeji approached calmly after seeing the boy was oke he even had the time to adjust his sleeves. While Dr. Kale kept watch from a distance, looking rather amused.
"Yes," Dr. Mwenyeji said. "I imagine it did. So care to tell me what happened young man?"
"Yeah, I kinda knew that would happend." The boy replied with a tremor in his voice a little shaken from the accident.
"What do you mean?" Dr. Kale asked.
"Well.." Just, as he was about to answer.
The nurse arrived seconds later, slightly out of breath with her clothes sticking to her skin and hair in a neat bun from the coastal heat. She looked young, perhaps mid-twenties.
"Evening doctors." Then she looked at Dhalik. "Are you alright?"
"I think I'll manage somehow."
The doctors attention never left the boy, and they could see he was choosing not to say something. Dhalik looked up. Annoyed.
"Now then," Dr. Mwenyeji said after lowering himself slightly, "why are you making this more difficult than it needs to be?"
"Because I want to go home," Dhalik replied immediately, pointing at the nurse. "She told me I could."
The doctor glanced at her. "Did you now nurse Elli?"
She hesitated. "I said soon, but only after you approved it. But he's been acting a little chil—"
"That's because I am a child!" Dhalik cut in, then continued. "You know that right?"
Nurse Elli looked offended, opening her mouth to rebuke him, but Dr. Mwenyeji raised a hand.
"That's enough, Elisabeth." She stiffend. Then he continued while rubbing his temples, as he turned back to Dhalik.
"I spoke with your mother." Dhalik's expression changed immediately.
"You did?" Dhalik asked with a hopeful tone. "When is she coming to pick me up?"
"She'll be here to pick you up the day after tomorrow."
"So here's what we'll do," the doctor continued. "One more test tomorrow… and after that you can go home."
Dhalik hesitated. He didn't like it, but he understood there wasn't a better option right now.
"…Fine." He replied.
"Good." Dr. Mwenyeji stood back up. "Let's go back. Properly this time."
Nurse Elli stepped forward again. "Come on."
Dhalik pushed himself up and followed, his gaze unfocused. The sound of their footsteps slowly fading down the corridor.
****
(Dhalik's POV)
[Mombasa Hospital – children's wing – patient room | August 25, 2005 – later that night]
After the tests they brought me back to my room. While I was alone there, I just couldn't stop thinking about it.
"Now that I think about it, that place still doesn't make sense." Confusion slowly crept back into my mind as I replayed the memory again and again. 'Maybe… just like Dr. Nichoke said, it was only an illusion.'
The memory itself was not very coherent. 'Like being somewhere and nowhere at the same time…' But I was sure that wasn't all that happened.
"Guess I should sleep." But even as I closed my eyes, that feeling still lingered. Like something had followed me back.