Arriving at the hospital, Kganya was wheeled to an emergency room. Ntombi was worried sick. Her mind was reeling. She didn’t know what to touch or do, so she decided to sit down on one of the chairs in the waiting area, just outside the emergency ward.

“Everything will be alright, Ntombi,” Gladys said, while rubbing her back soothingly.

“Stop saying that!” Ntombi stood up, and turned to Gladys. “My daughter just collapsed and she was unresponsive for a long time and you are here telling me everything will be fine. How can everything be fine when my daughter is dying?”

“No, Ma’ Zwane, don’t say that. Kganya is not dying,” Mkhulu said, in his deep voice while standing just few steps away from her.

Out of respect, Ntombi recollected herself. She sat down and cried.
“Let’s wait for the doctors, there must be an explanation behind her collapsing. People don’t just collapse without a reason.” Mkhulu sat next to her.

“My daughter hadn’t had nightmares in a week. She was absolutely fine when she went out with Lethabo. Then all of a sudden she collapses?” Ntombi wasn’t talking to anyone in particular, she was just thinking out loud. “I suspect that that Gogo Lesedi has a hand in this. Yesterday she was in my house telling me my daughter is in danger, and now my daughter’s lying in a hospital bed? It can’t be a coincidence.”

“Gogo Lesedi? Who is that?” Gladys asked her.

“It’s some lady I don’t know, who came to my house and told me she was brought by her Elders to help Kganya because, apparently, she could be in some danger.” Ntombi gestured her hand around in annoyance.

Gladys and Mkhulu grew quiet.

“And did she say what danger?” Mkhulu asked, concerned.

“No. I kicked her out before she could.”

“Kicked her out? How could you, when she was going to help your daughter?” Gladys frowned, disbelieving.

“Help my daughter? Psh! I don’t believe in those people. Them, the sangomas and the prophets, are all the same – they’re scammers.”

Gladys opened her mouth and instantly closed it.

***

Inside the emergency room, the doctors and nurses were busy.

“Her pulse is strong, and she is breathing normally. This is strange. What could it be, Doctor?” a nurse asked in confusion.

“I suspect hypotension, but please confirm by checking her blood pressure,” the head doctor said, putting his gloves on quickly.

“On it.”

Beep-beep! The machines sounded as soon as they were plugged on to Kganya.

***

Kganya was trapped in a place she didn’t know. She remembered that she was with Lethabo, and they were walking home when darkness engulfed her unexpectedly. Where was she? What was this dark place?

“Hello?” she shouted, her voice echoing. She turned around in a circle, looking around. She was trying to see if she could find anything that would be of any help to her, but she found nothing. She was in an intensely dark, open space. The air was dense and moist. It all felt unpleasantly forest-like.

“Hello!” She shouted, and her voice echoed again. “Hello! Can anybody hear me? Hello! Where am I? I want my mom!”

The whole place was filled with her echoes. She decided to stop shouting because her own sounds were starting to terrify her. She tried to walk, but her legs were unsteady, so she fell down. Realising that she was trapped, Kganya wept for her mother to come and save her.

Tell us: ‘Gladys opened her mouth and instantly closed it.’ What do you think Gladys and Mkhulu are not saying?