At the first mention of Efe's name, the next sentences his mother addressed to him hardly entered Ofure's brain as a sudden pain intensified in his skull. He moaned softly. Upstairs Kevwe screamed sharply, "No... No..."
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine mom but I have to go see Kevwe."
Ofure rushed up, taking the steps two at the same time and holding his head in pain. The nurse hurried down going in the opposite direction.
"What is it?" He heard their mother ask anxiously.
"I can't tell, just a few minutes ago, his temperature and blood pressure shut up and he woke up screaming," the nurse explained hastily, "I want to call the doctor. He said to call him once the patient regains consciousness."
Once upstairs, Ofure tried to calm Kevwe down. First, he controlled himself by taking deep breaths and letting them out slowly. Soon Kevwe stopped screaming. He opened tearful eyes and looked soulfully at his twin.
"It's not true, Efe cannot leave me. I won't believe it. No ... No ... No ... It's too painful. I can't bear it. Please make the pain go away, Ofure tell me it's not true. Say it's not true, say it..." he tried to seat up but the bandages and POP on various parts of his body wouldn't permit it so he demanded instead, "Where is Efe, where is she? I want to hear it from her,"
The tears overflowed his eyes as he looked around blearily. Sighting their mother at the door, he suddenly cried, "But why? Why would Efe leave me, why? No ... it's not true," he muttered shaking his head from side to side.
Ofure led their mum out of the room and closed the door gently after her. Tears clouding his own eyes, he went back to the bed, placed his palms on his twin's forehead and closed his eyes. Before long, Kevwe fell into a deep and dreamless sleep. By the time the doctor came, his blood pressure and temperature were almost back to normal and he was sleeping peacefully instead of being unconscious.
Ofure took some painkillers and went into his own room to rest. He knew it was only because Kevwe was his twin that he had been able to do what he'd just done. He was good with his sick patients in the hospital but on his twin, his hands made wounds heal faster and calmed him down. There was no medical explanation for the phenomena, he had come in contact with other people who had the same gift. Some of them had been doctors and others were not. His own twin brother did not possess the gift even though they shared the bond of telepathy; he knew some other twins had the same gift.
When he had felt as if a brick wall had fallen on him a week ago, he knew instantly what had happened. He was on his rounds in the hospital where he'd just started his five-year internship but had boarded the next available flight to Nigeria. He had gotten their phone call in the Paris layover and reached the hospital even before his parents who had arrived a day later. The accident had occurred just outside Lagos and the Road Safety officials' had taken Kevwe to LUTH. The same officials had also later sent a message to their parents.
After more than a week at the hospital, both parents had traveled while he'd remained at his brother's bedside. Though he'd told no one, Kevwe's injuries seemed to have counterpoints in his body and this inflicted him with a serious headache. Ofure sighed painfully as thoughts of Efe came into his mind but he deliberately wiped them out so as not to disturb Kevwe. Soon, he too dozed off.
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BTW, What is the mystery of the bond between twins? Is it stronger than ordinary familial love? Do you have any special closeness with any of your siblings? What will you do or have you done for the love of a brother/sister? This Valentine, don't forget to tell your family you love them and also show it. Don't wait till they're lying on sick beds or even worse, when it is too late.
ps, So this is a very rough first draft from my upcoming novel, I'm still working on the manuscript. Please give me feedback on the writing too, thanks...
