Yellow patches were seen on the ground as the sun’s rays peered through the trees. Kehinde’s shadow stood very visible, every aspect shown in a thick hew of black as he walked past the trees and into the sea of yellow rays.
He breathed on his palms and squeezed them tightly before wiping the strands of sweat that lingered on his face. He then went for the gates of the building, the name boldly written on a large double-faced placard that stood guard by the side of the gates.
“Amosun Clinic”, Kehinde read it for himself before knocking on the gate. He had only knocked once when a voice came from within, and then the mini gate was flung open as the gate-man ushered him in, reciting a phrase that must have been used severally judging by its lack of savor.
Kehinde was in no mood for courtesies and walked passed the man murmuring a greeting that went no farther than his lips.
Image by Huyen Pham on Unsplash
He went straight for the reception, placing his hands on the slab as he leaned across and greeted the receptionist.
“Good afternoon Ma,” He said, forcing the lady to make an almost ninety-degree turn to look up at him.
“Good afternoon young man,” The lady said, Kehinde went straight to the point if he wasted too much time this fair lady might have neck pain he thought.
The receptionist read his mind and asked if he was here for the dengue test.
“Yes Ma,” Kehinde said, and the lady pointed at a corridor where Kehinde found other patients sitting and awaiting their turns.
One of them was a girl pretty, as Kehinde noticed when she lifted her head and replied to his greeting on a whim. Kehinde guessed she was in no mood to talk too, he would have left her alone if he had not seen the distinctive red and white Canadian emblem on the paper she was holding.
“Excuse me,” he said and waited for her to lift her head. He looked around to see if anyone was watching as she didn’t lift her head.
Then he tapped her and muttered another “Excuse me”, this time she lifted her head revealing a rather tired face which made Kehinde say “Sorry” out of his lips.
“My name is Kehinde,” He said, then felt the voice leave him as she didn’t reply.
“I saw your papers are you a scholarship recipient ?”, he said in one breath, She then answered opening her mouth to grasp for air first, before speaking under her breath.
“My name Tega,” she said, then sat up properly,
“I printed the application details, and I wanted to go through all the tests before the embassy does theirs”, she added and gave Kehinde a look, the first time she was seeing him fully.
His pink lips highlighted the black beards behind them, and the side beards were a tiny strip of hair running from the head to the chin. Tega realized she must have been looking at him for a while now and moved her face away only to be called back when he started talking.
“This is my second time, I got it this time,” he said, then rubbed his sweaty palms on his knees.
“My first attempt was foiled by my uncle, who refused to pay the application fee saying he hadn’t received any of my father's pension yet” Kehinde added, feeling like he had said too much as he stopped abruptly.
“I’m sorry to hear that, good thing is you are here now,” Tega said, she gave him a list of all the tests that would be done at the embassy. Kehinde was more nervous about the Dengue test because his cousins were admitted the previous week for dengue fever and he felt it was coming for him too.
When she disclosed it with Tega she brushed it away.
“It’s not contagious you know,” she said before standing up as a voice echoed “Next” from within the doors.
A few minutes later and it was Kehinde’s turn, he felt a little bit relieved than when he got into the clinic, maybe it was because of Tega and the ease she brought along.
“Is that all?” he asked as the lab scientist scribbled on a piece of paper.
“You are clean although we will still do a blood culture,” he said, then opened a refrigerator that housed small glass plates covered in aluminum foil and brought out one labeling it before turning to Kehinde.
“You can go, this will take days,” he said, “We’ll call you if we find anything” he added.
Kehinde knew he wasn’t going to find anything, and he went out to share the relief of not having Dengue fever with Tega, only she wasn’t in the corridor.
Kehinde felt sad and walked past the reception to go home. “Are you leaving without me? “ a voice said, and he turned left to find Tega holding a snack bag to which she handed one to him.