You do not give up, do you? Mbali thought to herself, as she read the text from Jeffrey. He had been asking her out for the last few months and even though she thought he was quite good-looking, Mbali had invariably turned him down each time.

She had never dated before and, at 24 years, she knew that her workmates were wondering why behind her back. If only they knew, she thought.

Jeffrey was a newly qualified paediatrician and his arrival at the hospital four months back had had the young single nurses excited. He was a handsome bloke at 25 years and always had a smile on his face. He was clearly attracted to Mbali and seemed determined to win her affection. Pity that won’t happen, Mbali thought, as she opened the door to the ICU ward. Her eyes fell on the patient on the bed in the extreme left corner of the room. Something was disturbingly familiar about him, even in his sickly state.

Then it hit her. It was him! Mbali froze in horror as her eyes locked with the new patient’s obviously oblivious blank stare. She felt a sudden light-headedness. With a thud, she hit her head on the stainless steel instrument tray as she lost her balance and fell to the floor. She heard Anushka scream and seconds later a heavy fog seemed to cover the ward and everything went still.

When she came to, she was lying on a bed with her legs propped up by two pillows. She tried to remember what had happened but her mind was blank. She felt tired and drained of energy. As her drowsy eyes scanned the room, she noticed Anushka’s smiling face.

“You had us worried there, girl, are you OK?” Anushka asked in her friendly voice. Mbali nodded, asked for some water and, while she sipped, Anushka proceeded to explain that Mbali had fainted.

“Did you have breakfast?” Anushka asked, to which Mbali nodded again. “OK, I’m gonna let you rest, will check on you later,” she said, patted Mbali on her leg, and left the room.

Mbali lay staring at the white ceiling as she slowly remembered what had happened.
It was him…She was sure of it. That scar from a cleft-lip-correction surgery, and his eyes. How could she ever forget those eyes? But what was he doing at her workplace?
Was he feigning sickness just to get close to her? Fear gripped her as her mind raced back six years to that day…

“Hey,” Anushka said, as she came back into the room and brought Mbali’s mind back from the harrowing recollections. “Looking better,” she said.

“I am feeling better, yes, thank you,” Mbali replied. She got herself up and sat on the edge of the bed. Anushka had brought her a sandwich with her favourite ham and cheese filling, and she took a bite.

“Guess what happened?” said Anushka. “We have our first suspected coronavirus case,” she said, a little too excitedly.

“Oh my God,” said Mbali, “which patient?”

Anushka told her it was the same male patient next to whose bed she had collapsed. Trust Anushka always to be the first to know, she thought to herself.

***

Tell us: Why do you think Mbali collapsed after seeing the mystery man?