His whole body shivered. Teeth chattered. A sparse intermittent rivulet of mucus trickled down his nostrils.
Sniffing, he soliloquized, “Oh, my God! I’m freezing.”
He painstakingly coughed out large amounts of bloodstained muco-purulent sputum, spat onto the wet ground and- at a tortoise’s pace- continued with his journey. A horde of flies soon feasted on his foul-smelling spittle.
James Chin, 34, was not only suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, but was also a martyr of cryptococcal meningitis and was HIV positive, too. Most of the time people would hear him say to himself, “I’m now dead. But I have enjoyed life. All those beautiful women I slept with. Which hotel, night-club or bar in this country did I not spend lots of my money in? But that girl! That girl!”
The female TB Ward at Beatrice Road Infectious Diseases Hospital was a hundred metres away from the male TB Ward. Separating the two were the Children’s Ward, the Out Patients’ Department (OPD) and the visitors’ toilets.
That morning of the 20th of December 2003, James gathered his guts and went to the female TB Ward during the visiting hour. He wanted to propose love to Mary Teams.
Mary, 20, was an extremely gorgeous woman. She was of medium build with a supple yellowish skin. Barely a year after her husband, Simon Grand, 25- a motor mechanic by profession- had been found guilt of car theft and sentenced to two years in prison, she contacted pulmonary tuberculosis from a work-mate at a construction site.
“Good morning Mary,” James said as he took out a soiled handkerchief from the breast pocket of his leather jacket. He blew his nose making an irritating sound.
“Excuse me,” he said.
Removing her right hand from under blankets and extending it to shake hands with him, she replied, “Morning. How come it’s too cold today? Is it raining outside?
“It’s not raining. Get up and lets get some fresh air, stretching our legs outside,” he responded.
With great difficulty, Mary got up from her bed and stood up. As soon as she was on her legs, she couldn’t balance well and was about to fall when James supported her. He got the first chance to get his body as close to hers as possible.
“Thank you James.” She said in a soft voice.
A few silent seconds slipped by.
“My legs are painful,” she broke the silence.
When they were at the door, a very cold wind whistled past the area. Both began to cough deeply and noisily. They turned back and moved to her bed. The two sat on the bed and started telling each other general stories. Gradually, the general talk transformed into love talk. Moving his rough cracked fingers on her back, he told her, “You are very beautiful, Mary.”
“Don’t flatter me dear,” she uttered in a low romantic voice. “I’m married. Didn’t I tell you the day we first met?”
“We are mend for each other. God drew us from distant places we were living, separated us- in different ways- from our loved ones who now no longer visit us, brought us together in suffering and made us feel for each other like we do. Do you want to despise the will of the Almighty, darling?”
“No, but we are patients here,” she replied tucking her little body in the blanket, revealing the upper part of her thighs.
The bell to mark the end of the visiting hour rang. All visitors went out of the ward and James was the last one to go. Before leaving, he kissed her good-bye.
Mary remained with a lot of questions gyrating in her mind. Does this man mean it when he says he loves me? Why me in particular? Am I more beautiful than all those young nurses and student nurses I see around? What did he mean when he said God separated us from our loved ones?
She thought about how she felt when he kissed her on her lips. “Yes! Yes! Yes! That a real man,” she serenely said to herself.
With the eyes of her imagination, she saw herself and James on their wedding day soon after being discharged from hospital. She heard the ululation, whistling and sound of drums after the priest had said, “May the groom kiss the bride.” Smiling, she quietly said to herself, “That will be my happiest day on earth,” and fell into a deep sleep.
For the few months that followed, James and Mary made love in the public toilet on most evenings soon after the visiting hour. They were never caught because these toilets were used by visitors who would have gone to their homes by then.
One day, the two were not in their beds when the doctors and nurses went round examining patients, collecting specimens and giving medicines. On being asked where they had been, James quickly answered, “A relative of ours was with us at the tuck shop.” No further questions were asked.
After sharing love with Mary for three months, James passed away. Mary was two months pregnant. Four months after James’ death, she was discharged from hospital.
The same day she went out of hospital, her husband, Simon was released from jail. On seeing that his wife was pregnant, Simon became very angry.
“What’s this I’m seeing?” he asked. “Is this you my wife? Is this you, Mary, who betrayed me like this?”
Mary kept her mouth shut. Neither had she talked to anyone about her pregnancy, nor expected her husband to come home that day. She felt embarrassed. She wished she could dissolve in the drizzle.
Overcome by anger and depression, Simon went out by night that day and hanged himself in the orchard. He left a note written, Live in peace, Mary.
