Broken

How is Charity coping with her stay in the dark world et al? Would she be saved in the long run? Find out here.

Chapter 5

“Precious Jesus, I thank you for your blood, precious Jesus, I thank you for your body broken for me. I remember all you’ve done for me, your perfect sacrifice and victory…”

Charity began to sing after the Lord told her that it would be difficult to accept her back since she was almost near death. Where the song came from, she had no idea since she hardly sung anything gospel but it seemed like the song did the trick because she could clearly see the Lords’ face dressed in rows of tears which were gradually turning into blood. He gave out a soft but thunderous cry which sparked her inner sentiments and flashbacked what he faced on the cross of Calvary where He shed His blood on her behalf and that of others. She could feel the pain in His heart as she began to tremble and her heart throbbed loudly in her chest. At that instance, she surrendered unto Him.

The pain of losing a soul scared the Lamb of God and there and then, he forgave her again and granted her a second chance to start her life all over again.

When he spoke again, lucifer and his accompanying darkness quickly disappeared from the scene and Charity felt her body on her once more but quite different this time. She could hear with both physical ears and see with both eyes. This to her was a guerdon for finally letting go and letting Christ in. She felt fulfilled and hardly recognized herself when she awoke from the spiritual world.

Gaius who was still by her bedside got up immediately from his seat when he realized that she had moved her arm. He rushed to her side to aid her sit upright. He heard her mutter something under her breath and became concerned. He sat beside her on the bed and held her hand whilst he prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for the fulfillment of his request. He opened his eyes to notice that she was wiping the mark of tears on her face. He smiled and asked if she wanted to talk about it. She nodded and requested a glass of water. After gulping down the water like a famished tom, she narrated into details what happened to her and why she was not responding to treatment after three days of being admitted to the hospital.

Just then, Mercy walked into Charity’s ward in silence only to begin to compose herself when she saw her cousin in an embrace with Charity. She had no idea he was praying with her after she recounted her experiences to him.

“Gaius, do you seriously have to go this far? You really brought this romance thing to her sick bed? Wowww, that’s way too much cousin, you should know better.” Mercy spat out in anger.

“Never did I think you’ll actually visit me, Mercy. Thanks for coming. I surely owe you.” Charity said kindly.

“And who said I came here to see you in the first place? For once can’t you read between the lines clear enough to know that I don’t like you and that I would never stoop low to your level? By the way if you care to know, I came to see my sweet cousin and not you.”

“Gaius is your cousin?”

“You still can’t hear clearly, right? Let me do you the honors of repeating myself. Gaius is my cousin!”

“Ladies, please its okay. You’re making me uncomfortable here. And Mercy, learn to respect my decisions about who I want to hang out with.” Gaius intervened.

“Whatever! Your mom wanted me to deliver a message to you since you were unreachable for the past days. Do you care to excuse her or you want me to spill the beans right here?”

“Please go ahead, am sure Charity is okay with whatever you have to say.”

“Alright. Your mom asked me to remind you of your impending trip. She specifically asked me to aid you pack your things for your travel abroad.” She stressed.

“Okay, I’ll talk to her about it. But, are you sure that is all you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Not really. I think I will rather discuss what’s left away from all prying eyes and hungry ears ready to feed on a meager but relevant information.”

“You’re always full of drama. Will you ever change?”

“Am full of drama huh? I bet I would be better at it than anyone else no matter how hard they try to gain attention from others, am always the best.”

“You sure are. Now if you’ll excuse us, there’s a lot to do before vacating this premises. Tell my mom I’ll get in touch soon.”

“I sure will. And Charity, I hope you get well soon. I miss you already.”

“Thanks Mercy, feels good to hear it coming from you. I appreciate it very much.”

Unlike the usual times where Mercys’ statements just built rage in her, this time around, she felt nothing about the way she talked to her. She didn’t take offense and she was proud of herself at that moment. She hoped it would be for long and above all, she hoped that she would be able to meet the standards of the new life she was about to live. What bothered her most was the fact that Gaius would soon be travelling to the United Kingdom to further his studies. She started feeling like a loner.

Gaius watched her face carefully thinking about how to explain to her that he was due to leave the country in the next three weeks. He finally mustered courage and spoke to her about it.

The doctor walked in and stopped in his tracks when he saw Gaius and Charity chatting heartily. He was at sea because Charity wasn’t responding to treatment when he came to check on her about an hour ago. He managed to recover from the shock and proceeded to perform his duties.

“Young man, for how long has she been awake?” The doctor queried.

“For about an hour ago. I am sorry I wasn’t able to inform you. I was overwhelmed that I forgot to allow you to perform your duties.”

“It’s okay. We should have played our part well by checking up on her intermittently. Now that she is awake, I need to run some few tests on her to ensure that she is fully recovered. Of she is, she would have to be discharged with immediate effect.”

The doctor went ahead to perform the tests which included an eye test and a hearing test. All the tests he run proved that she was in good health so he decided to discharge her.

“From the tests, she is fine so I am going to have to discharge her.”

“Oh my God, this is actually real. How can I be thankful enough for this wonderful miracle, I bless you Lord. You are marvelous and glorious.” Gaius lamented in praise of the Lord.

“You should be thankful young man because this kind doesn’t usually occur especially when we had lost hope of bringing her back to life and now she has received three packages in a whole? This is surely the doing of the Lord. He deserves it all.”

“I’m amazed and awed at all that is happening now. For a moment, I didn’t want to have anything doing with God and all but now he has done marvelous things for me. I declare today that as for me and my household, we shall continuously serve the Lord.” Charity declared amidst tears.

The doctor advised them to make all preparations to exit the hospital. After they had gone through the discharge process, they headed straight for Charity’s hostel. They got to her door only to notice that it was left ajar and there were marks of blood all over the place. They had no idea what was in store for them. Charity suggested they call the police to come handle the situation but Gaius objected and went into the room. He saw something laid out on Charity’s bed. He uncovered the item only to find Mercy’s corpse in Charity’s bed with some parts of her body missing. Gaius screamed and instantly blacked out.

© Ivy Edith Makafui Agbozo, 2018.

PS: Merry birthday, Natasha Eyiah. Your love for God is just sweet and inspiring. May you be blessed with strength to keep on doing the things of God. Bless you love!