Never rains but it pours

Thandi had left the city and switched off her phone to avoid the parade by S’bu and his friends. She had initially planned to stay away for few days and go back to serve her 30 days notice at JC. However, she felt a lump on her left breast when she was taking a shower and decided to have it checked. She had checked her breasts for lumps every month and screened for breast cancer every year ever since her grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her heart was pounding by the time she got to the hospital. This was her worst nightmare, with her family history she was sure that it was cancer. In the hospital she was assessed by the Doctor, her blood was taken and was asked to come back the following day for her results and have her breast scanned. She went back to the hotel terrified. After extending her stay with the receptionist she went straight to her room and couldn’t help imagining the worst. She came here to clear her mind and get over the heartache but here she was, worrying about whether she had cancer or not. The following day. she went to the hospital very early, she was the first patient at radiology department. Her heat sank when she saw the expression on the Radiologist’s face. She had cancer, her nightmare just got real. Surprisingly no tears came, maybe she cried too much about her breakup with S’bu that there was no more tears left, she thought.

How bad is it? Thandi asked her Doctor who looked worst than her. In his whole career, Dr Jali had diagnosed a lot of people with cancer but none of them were as young as Thandi.

“The scan shows signs that are highly suggestive of cancer but only a biopsy can confirm the diagnosis. If you give me your consent, I will put in a needle, take a piece of the lump and send it to the laboratory to check for cancer” he said.

“How long will it take for me to get the results?”Thandi asked agitated.

“Two to three days” he said.

Thandi had a biopsy and went back to the hotel. She turned on her phone to send Mandy a message informing her that she was unlikely to come back to work that week as originally planned. Knowing that Mandy was probably worrying about her, she assured her that she was fine and would come back as soon as possible. She switched her phone off as soon as she was satisfied that the message went through.

“Tell me you have her location”S’bu demanded.

“Her phone was only on for few seconds. I can’t trace her” G told him apologetic.

S’bu sat down rubbing his eyes, he has not been sleeping much lately. Thandi has been gone for three weeks now and he had looked for her all over. Today her phone was on for the first time since she left and she sent Mandy a message. S’bu was hopeful that G could find her location but that was another dead end.

“Look S’bu, her message says she’s fine. She just needs time to clear her mind. She will be back and you two can talk and fix things” Menzi said trying to console his brother.

“I don’t know Menzi, I just can’t rest until she is back here with me. I should have never let her go” S’bu said regretfully.

Thandi kept extending her days in the hotel. Her original plan of staying for few days was now extended to a month. When she went to get her biopsy results, she was told that she needed to have the test repeated as the results were inconclusive. After having a repeated biopsy, she had to wait another two days for results which eventually confirmed that she had breast cancer. Dr Jali was confident that he could remove the cancer completely without removing the breast as the cancer was at its early stage. Thandi was booked for an operation to have the lump removed. She debated in her head if she should tell her family and Mandy about it but decided against it. She was not in a mood to deal with her Mother’s questions and did not want to get Mandy worried for a small operation.

It was midday when Mandy’s phone rang. She did not recognise the number. She signalled to S’bu who was in Thandi’s office before answering.

“Good day Ma’am, can I please speak to Miss Mandy Jobe?” the voice on the phone asked politely.

“Speaking”Mandy responded.

“You are speaking to Dr Jali from Heal hospital. I’m calling about your friend Thandiswa Dlamini” he said and hesitated.

“What about her? is she okay?” Mandy asked.

“You are listed as her next of kin in our files. She complicated in theatre, her condition is critical, we have to keep her on a ventilator in intensive care unit” he said with a low voice.

Mandy’s hands shook, dropping the phone on the floor. Thandi told her that she was okay but now she was critical on a ventilator in icu. She thought S’bu was overreacting when he was tracking Thandi’s phone, now she wished they tried finding her much earlier.

“Hello Dr, I’m S’bu, Mandy’s brother. She’s too shaken at the moment, do you mind telling me what’s going on?” S’bu asked.

Dr Jali explained everything to S’bu starting with Thandi’s cancer diagnosis, her operation and the complications. S’bu thanked the Dr for calling. He made a calls and informed Thandi’s family and his parents about the Dr’s call. Two hours later, S’bu, Mandy and Menzi walked into Heal hospital icu. Mr and Mrs J arrived an hour after that followed by Bonga, Thandi’s Mother and her two Aunts. Dr Jali came to speak to them. The operation went well and they managed to take out the cancer from Thandi’s breast but she had a very rare reaction to the anaesthetic drugs. Her temperature spiked too high and damaged her organs. Thandi was critically ill and there was no way of telling how she would react to treatment. They were given Thandi’s belongings and allowed few minutes to go inside and see her. After a prayer, Thandi’s family and Sbu’s parents went back home leaving Mandy and Menzi who decided to stay behind with S’bu. S’bu insisted on staying in the same hotel room Thandi stayed in the past month. The key was in Thandi’s belongings that was handed to them by the hospital. Mandy and Menzi took rooms on either side.

Inside the room, S’bu opened the locker and found Thandi’s clothes neatly packed inside. He took out one of her favourite sweaters, placed it on his face and took in her scent. Every emotion he has been suppressing since he spoke to the Dr could not be suppressed anymore. He slid against the locker, sat on the ground and sobbed. Thandi was diagnosed with cancer, she was all alone and he was not there for her. She looked so thin and fragile in that icu bed, thinking about it broke his heart. Mandy and Menzi who heard S’bu heart-wrenching sobs from their rooms came in and sat on either side of him. He hardly spoke when they were driving to the hospital and after they saw Thandi. S’bu was hardly emotional about anything but Thandi was his weakness, they expected him to breakdown eventually especially after seeing her like that. That’s the reason they chose to stay behind with him. S’bu eventually stopped sobbing and there was dead silence in the room for a long time.

“I’m ordering supper” Mandy said breaking the silence and picking up the room service menu.

“Don’t order anything for me”S’bu said with a hoarse voice. He had no appetite and too sad to eat anything.

“You have to eat, Thandi is fighting for her life and you need your energy to be strong for her” Mandy said calling room service and ordering meals for all of them.