Morning comes and Precious is worse, with shortness of breath and a rapid heart rate. Her skin is pale and she is very weak.

Wandile calls the ambulance, against Precious’ will, and they are soon in the hospital’s emergency room. Wandile has Precious on his medical aid so she is taken to a private hospital.

Wandile waits and worries. The doctors can’t find what is wrong with her and they tell Wandile that they are admitting her. He spends the entire day there but in the evening the doctors tells him to go home; that she is in good hands.

Nolwazi stares at her phone all day. Wandile has not called and she is sad. She hopes that his wife is OK and that it’s nothing serious. She wants to send him a text and ask, but believes she should wait for him to make contact first.

How she wishes to be with Wandile, in his arms. She fantasises about kissing him, touching and caressing him. She thinks about making love to him and is turned on.

She knows it is wrong. He belongs to someone else.

I wish I had never met him. I wish I had never seen him that morning. I wish I didn’t like him. I wish I didn’t love him. Nolwazi wishes many things.

She asks herself so many questions. Do I love him? Does he love me? What is this, if it is not love? How can something so wrong feel so beautiful?

It is now ten at night and Nolwazi once again contemplates sending Wandile a text. But, it’s so late and he’s with his wife. I really shouldn’t. This is not good, she thinks.

Yet before she knows it she has texted him:

Hey. Are you ok? I have not heard from

you today. Is everything ok?

She presses send and waits. Thirty minutes pass, no reply. Nolwazi is so hurt she cries, even though she knows it is silly of her to feel that way.

Then her phone beeps. Its Gee:

Hey bae. I meant to text you earlier but

I was literally asleep the entire day.

Nway these are my tens.

Nolwazi replies, even though she is not in the mood to chat to Gee.

Hey hun. No prob. I’ve been tired myself.

In fact I’m gonna call it a night. Chat l8r.

And she adds a smiley emoticon. She thinks of going over some course notes to get her mind off Wandile, but she just doesn’t have the strength. She falls asleep.

*****

Wandile gets home and passes out on the couch. When he wakes up it is a little after midnight and he sees Nolwazi’s message.

He had thought a little about Nolwazi during the day but felt so guilty that he pushed her to the back of his mind. Now that he is staring at her text, he wants to jump into his car and drive to her place. She has a hold on him. She is his kryptonite.

But he goes to his bedroom, takes off his clothes and climbs into bed.

*****

Nolwazi is fast asleep when she is wakened by the sound of her cellphone ringing and vibrating under her pillow. It is Wandile – her eyes open wide with excitement.

“Hello.”

“Hi Nono. Did I wake you?” Wandile has already given her a pet name. His voice calms the roaring sea in her heart. She immediately feels joy fill her up inside.

“Yes, you did. What are still doing up?” asks Nolwazi.

“I just woke up from the sofa actually. I’ve been at the hospital the whole day. My wife was admitted. I’ve just got to bed.”

Hearing Wandile say ‘my wife’ is a stab in Nolwazi’s heart but, it is what it is, and she keeps her cool.

“Oh no. That is terrible. Did they say what is wrong with her?”

“No. They do not yet have a diagnosis but she is really not well. I’m sorry I didn’t communicate with you. I have just had a lot on my mind. I’m very stressed right now.”

“It’s OK. I understand. Look Wandile, maybe we should just be friends, or else if we can’t, then we should just not speak to or see each other. This is just so complicated.”

Wandile doesn’t respond to that. “I miss you Nolwazi,” he says instead.

“I miss you too Wandile.”

“I want to be with you.”

“But how is that going to work?”

“Look. Don’t carry the burden of feeling like you’re destroying my marriage. It was already falling apart. It’s not your fault.”

“Don’t you feel bad though?”

“I do. I feel very bad. But you shouldn’t. Can we talk about something else?” Wandile wants to change the subject.

They speak until 4 a.m., finding they have so much in common, and they make each other laugh. Nolwazi tells him everything about her life; her childhood, the Sibisis, everything.

His passion for her grows stronger. He wants to be her hero.

*****

The next day Wandile is back at the hospital early.

“Sir, your wife is very sick. She will need a bone marrow transplant,” says the doctor.

“What?! A transplant? Just like that? She’s that sick?” Wandile is shocked.

“We did a complete blood count and detected some abnormalities, which led to us then deciding to do a bone marrow biopsy. Your wife has a rare disease called AA – aplastic anaemia.”

“How did she get it?” asked Wandile.

“It is thought to be an immune response that destroys bone marrow. AA can also occur if the bone marrow has been damaged by chemotherapy. Has your wife ever undergone any chemotherapy treatment?” asked the doctor.

“Not that I know of,” answers Wandile.

“Some medications can also cause AA, as well as exposure to certain toxic substances. Does she work with toxic substances?”

“Well, I’m not sure. She has a spa-salon, so she works with chemicals but they are supposed to be safe. You know, hair and nail products and massage oils – surely it can’t be that?”

“Yes, unlikely. Now, about the transplant. Do you, or does she, have any children?”

“No,” replies Wandile.

“Right, well the transplant is an allogeneic one, which means we will need to use cells from a family member or even an unrelated donor. Her condition is very serious; otherwise we would opt to filter her own bone marrow and transplant it back into her but we cannot do that in this case; we need a donor for her.”

“Precious doesn’t have any brothers or sisters. Just her mom.”

“Well then I suggested you call her mother so we can test her to see if she is a match. About seven out of ten patients who need a transplant do not have a suitable donor in the family. You can also get tested.”

“And what if we’re both not a match?” Wandile is worried.

“Then we search our donor list. Or you can bring other family members and friends to test, if they’re willing to donate their bone marrow.”

“Exactly what does being a match mean? What are you matching? Blood type? What?” asked Wandile.

“We match HLA – Human Leukocyte Antigen,” explains the doctor.

“And in English that is … what?” Wandile is confused.

“HLA is a protein – or marker – found on most cells in your body. Your immune system has HLA markers to know which cells belong in your body and which do not. An adult donor must match at least six of the nine HLA markers. It will be complicated for you to understand but trust me, sir, we know what we are doing.”

“What if she doesn’t do the transplant?” asks Wandile.

“She will die.”

Wandile is close to breaking down. “What are the risks involved with donating?” he asks.

“The risks are minimal. Before the donation you get injections of a medicine that increases the number of stem cells in your blood. The side effects include some pain in your bones, muscle ache, headache, nausea … but this will only last a few days and it’s not that painful unless you have a low pain threshold.”

Wandile nods, “Thank you doctor.”

Feeling dazed, he calls Precious’ mother, who assures him that she will be on the next taxi out of KwaZulu-Natal.

He enters Precious’ room. She is asleep. The doctor returns to tests Wandile. Sadly he is not a match. He spends the whole day at the hospital again. Precious wakes up but she is weak and soon she sleeps again. Wandile cries and cries by her bedside.

***

Tell us what you think: Has this crisis made Wandile realise how much he loves Precious? Or is he generally a very caring person?