AIR-CLINIC WRITING CONTEST 6 - AIDS IS REAL, IT KILLS

gamsam (67)in #air-clinic • 6 years ago (edited)

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"I think I should leave now Tunde" she said brusquely, looking back at him with a stern face. She hissed and stormed out.

It was the third time he had brought up the issue that week and even though she had made her decision clear the first time, he still persisted. Rose didn't understand how he could be so naive about the matter.

A lot of deaths had occurred in the community over the past few years. Even Sola, one of Rose's close friend had fallen sick weeks ago with the mysterious illness. The symptoms of which everyone had concluded was a curse from the village. The same disease that had claimed the life of her husband.

She began to sob as these thoughts filled her head. Tunde had insisted on having sex before marriage and they had not even had the routine premarital screening. She had made up her mind, and Tunde was not going to change it

Weeks later, Tunde was in the hospital. And yes, it was the dreaded Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. It brought both pity and disgust to her mind as she saw Tunde laying there all pale with parched skin. His eyes bulging out from their sockets. His recurrent bouts of bloody diarrhea had become unbearable for even his caregivers.
He cleared his throat and in a shaky voice smiled as he called her name.

There in that moment, she was filled with regret. Regrets on why she didn't insist Tunde get tested earlier, why she didn't make a move to create awareness in her community, why she didn't make a change.
And she felt more of a killer than AIDS.

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