The Complete Assassin… Part 4

“Doctor! Doctor!!” Steven screamed at the top of his voice.
A tall, fair-skinned lady walked into the room Steven was. She
wore horn rimmed glasses and had a pleasant disposition.
“Steve, bring your voice down. This is a hospital. What is the
matter?” She asked with a smile, walking towards the bed where
Dorothea lay.
“She squeezed my hand and called Jeffery!” Steven exclaimed
happily.
“Really? That is impressive. Move back a little Steven, I need to
check her vitals.” The doctor said.
She took out her stethoscope, checking Dorothea’s heartbeat rate.
She felt for pulse, pupil dilation and carried out other simple basic
vital checks. She was done in a few minutes and turned to look at
Steven who had great anticipation written all over his face.
“Your mother is gradually coming out of her coma. I was not
expecting her to snap out this early, but this is good. Are you sure
there is no one that we can call? Any family? Uncle, Aunt,
anyone?” The doctor asked.
She had bent low now bringing herself to almost the same height
as Steven, and holding him tenderly by the shoulders.
Steven shook his head slowly.
“Who is Jeffery?” The Doctor asked.
“Jeffery is my dad.” Steven replied.
“Oh dear. Come here.” The Doctor said, taking Steven into a long,
warm embrace.
He had stopped crying since. He had come to realize that crying
was not going to bring neither his dad nor his sister back. He
remembered what his father always told him.
“Stevey boy. You are a man. No matter how old these women think
they are, it is your duty to take care of them. Protect them, and be
there for them.” His father had said, months ago.
Steven, along with the rest of the family had laughed over it, not
knowing that he would need the advice sooner than they all
realized. So he had determined to be a man. He had been by his
mother’s side for three days now, barely eating nor sleeping. He
didn’t shed a tear as he hugged the Doctor back. They disengaged.
“When your mother wakes up, it is important that the first thing
she sees when she opens her eyes is you. Do you understand?”
The Doctor asked.
Steven nodded.
“Good. If you need anything, just press the button okay? I will be
with you in a flash.” The Doctor said rising.
Steven nodded again, watching as the Doctor shut the door
noiselessly behind her.
***********************************
Two weeks flew past in a flash. Dorothea had finally come out of
the coma after relapsing twice. Steven was always there for her.
He never left her side. He had become very good friends with the
female doctor who always brought gifts and beverages for him and
Dorothea. His mother was eating and talking now, but it would be
a long and arduous journey to get her back to the woman she once
was. Even Steven doubted the possibility of that happening. They
began to receive visitors regularly at the hospital when news
filtered through that Dorothea had gotten out of the coma.
On one of the visiting days, they had so many visitors and Steven
saw his mother smile for the first time since the incident. He felt so
elated. Amongst the throngs of well-wishers was Detective
Samson. The doctor saw him first and accosted him before he got
to the patient and caused more harm than good.
“Coming here is not a good move Detective. The patient has just
come through a major medical issue and having you around would
not be good for her.” The Doctor said through clenched teeth.
“I just wanted to see how well she is doing. Since when did that
become a problem?” Samson retorted.
The Doctor was about to reply when Steven spoke from behind
her.
“Good Evening sir. Please did you bring my sisters?” Steven asked
innocently.
“Ermmm…Err….I would ….” Samson started but was quickly cut off
by the doctor.
“Steve dearie, why don’t you stay with your mother a little while
longer? I promise to answer all the questions as soon as I escort
Mr. Samson out of the premises. He was just leaving” The Doctor
said, crouching and holding Steven by the shoulders, whilst
glancing at the detective as she completed her sentence.
“Okay.” Steven said feebly, walking back to where his mum lay
surrounded by well-wishers.
“Before I go, we have not been able to get any reasonable
headway with the culprits in the murder of Jeffery and his
daughter. State Divisional Headquarters have not given me access
to the files I need to cross reference the clues and evidence we
have gathered so far. I am rather handicapped.” Samson said to
the doctor.
“So what’s the next step? Are you just going to let this case die?
Just because you cannot obtain sufficient intel? What if this was
your family? What would you do?” The doctor said, anger written
all over her contorted face.
“I am going to keep trying, Doctor. Keep her safe.” Samson said,
nodding his head at Dorothea who was laughing hard at a joke
from her best friend.
“Unlike you, I am pretty good at doing my job. You have to leave
now.” The Doctor said, walking him to the door.
Samson neither objected nor replied. He just walked out of the
ward, wishing there was something more he could do.
THREE WEEKS LATER . . .