Chapter 11

I was still with my dad when I got a message from one of the nurses that my uncle was here already, I? told them to let him in.
"Good day uncle" I greeted him.
"Hey, Erica, how are you doing and how is your day doing too?" He asked me.
"The doctor said that dad will be fine, though it might take some time for him to recover fully. I explained to him.
"That is okay" He responded.
"So tell me about your school, have you been able to send the necessary information to the school" my uncle asked me.
"Yes, I have, I mailed all the documents to them, and it has been? received and acknowledged by the school" I gladly informed him.
"Well, that is good to hear, so when will you be leaving for school?" He asked me.
"I will be leaving in two weeks' time" I told him.
"Two weeks time?" My uncle asked with surprise in his face.
"Yes uncle, is there a problem?" I asked him.
"No problem, I am surprised because two weeks is such a short time." He said.
I understood my uncle very well, anyone? will also feel the same way, it was such a short notice I got from the University. It means I would have to rush everything and also take my preparations seriously.
"Hey Erica, have you made any arrangements for your mum's funeral?" My uncle asked.
?Talking about my mum's funeral,I have intentionally avoided that aspect of discussion for sometime now, I do not want to hurt myself, I do not want to remember that I would not be able to see my mum anyone, I just wished everything was just a dream..yet the funeral nerds to take place as soon as possible so that I could face other things that is important to me and need attention.
At the mention of my mum's funeral by my uncle I was close to tears, I fought back the tears that wanted to drop from my eyes.
"I am really sorry uncle but I have not thought of that, " I said to him.
"And why have you not thought of it, would you want to leave your mum unburied while you head to the university?" He asked me.
ANTHONIO'S POV
I was shocked that uptill now Erica is yet to make arrangements concerning her mum's funeral. I wondered if she had plans locked in her head, I would not want her to outsmart. Arranging her mum's funeral is very vital, so that other plans can be harnessed.
I do not know if Erica has found out about my plans because I could not figure out why she is still delaying commiting her mother's corpse to mother Earth.
I convinced Erica to go ahead and make sure her mum is buried soonest, it was not difficult convincing her because she has always trusted my judgement.
ERICA POV
Arranging for my mum's funeral is one of the hardest tasks I have ever embarked on. It is going to take me time to really make up my mind to bury my mum, accepting that my mum is dead and gone is very difficult for me.?
?I heaved a sigh of grief. I put a call to the mortuary where her corpse has been deposited, I spoke with them at length and informed them I will be coming to collect the remains of my mum for burial.
I went to doctor Albert's office to cancel the appointment we had earlier arranged for this evening. I told him I will no longer be available today, as I would be very busy .
I had limited time to arrange everything because my uncle already told me to make sure mum is buried today. I do not know why he is in such a hurry to bury mum, I mean it is just barely two days before she died. I did not want to object to his decision and moreover it seems to also be a good idea so that I will know that phase has passed and I would be attending to it anymore.
I pressed the doorbell to doctor Albert's office, and he answered.
"You can come in," He said.
"Hey doctor" I greeted him.
"Hey, why the sudden change of look on your face, I hope everything is well" He asked feeling concerned.
"Yes doctor, everything is fine" I replied to him trying to change the expression of sadness on my face.
"And your dad?" He asked.
"My dad is doing well, it is not about him." I told him.
"So tell me what the problem is,common."
"It's about my mum,"? I said, almost in tears already.
"What about your mum, what happened?" He asked me, feeling concerned.
"I plan on arranging for her funeral today,I am sorry our date can no longer hold today, maybe tomorrow."? I told him.
"It is okay, you can take your time, whenever you are ready for the day, I am also ready". He assured me.
"Thank you" I muttered as I left the office.
I went outside the hospital to call Fabian so that we could go to the mortuary to get the remains of my mum. It was a long journey to the mortuary, I wish I had the supernatural powers to bring my mum back to live again.
On our way to get the remains of my mum, I instructed Fabian to stop by the church so that we could inform the priests. We stopped and I went into the church. The priests were all attending a meeting so we had to wait for them for a little longer. We waited for thirty minutes and thankfully they were through with their meeting. I approached one of the priests to inform him of my intentions. He quite recognized me, Father John and I had met on several occasions, he had even come visiting my house, he was a good friend of my dad. I explained everything that has happened in the past few days and he really felt sorry for me. He assured me will commit the remains of my mum to mother Earth and also pray that her soul is accepted by Christ. He also promised to come visit my dad at the hospital. I thanked him and left.
I put a call to Beatrice informing her of the arrangements and informed her to also make provisions for the laying in state and to also get a black dress ready for me. I sent text messages to my aunties, uncles, and other relatives and friends informing them of the impromptu funeral of my mum.
Most of them sent their replies that they would be in attendance, while others apologized that they will not be available to attend as they have the day booked up already with activities.
When we got to the mortuary, more bodies were being brought in while some that had been there for some time? were being claimed by relatives of the deceased.
I went in to inform the caretaker that I would want to claim the remains of my mum, he took me to the room where bodies were kept for identification, he asked me for my identification number,which I called out to him, he checked the body of my mum and affirmed the it was same with the number I called out to him. He instructed his workers to get the ambulance ready .
While we waited for them to get the ambulance ready, I took out my debit card and made all the necessary payments. Few minutes later the ambulance was ready with me laying in there, I got back into the car and the driver of the ambulance followed behind us.
We got to our, some of the friends and families I invented were already there waiting for us,? in black dresses, it dawned on me that it is now a reality. Beatrice had arranged to decorate the house as I had instructed her to . I exchanged little pleasantries with the people around and headed to my room to have my clothes changed.
Beatrice followed me to the room, she got a black dress from the closest and handed it over to me before leaving the room. I did not want to waste much time, so I quickly wore my dress and dark sun shade downstairs to attend to the guests.
One of my mum's favorite pictures was placed on the table beside the fireplace, where the guests could tender their biography.
After we're done with the laying in state, we proceeded to the cemetery for the final burial rites.?
My eyes filled with tears ,I could no longer cover it with the sun shade I was putting on, I quietly went to a corner to carry my heart out. Suddenly I felt a touch on my shoulder, I turned around and saw doctor Albert.
"Doctor Albert? I didn't Know you could be around," I said to him.
"I couldn't have missed a day like this, I know you would be needing a shoulder to cry on, that's why I am here." He said.
I couldn't help it, I embraced him tight and cried the most. He brought out a clean handkerchief and wiped my face.
We were done with the funeral, the invitees went home after my uncle gave a brief vote of thanks.
Doctor Albert followed me to the house and made sure I didn't cry anymore. He kept me company throughout the day with his good sense of humor, we discussed, laughed .
" So can we have the date tomorrow?" He asked me, smiling.
"So quick?" I asked him.
"Yes because I wouldn't want you to keep being unhappy, I want to see your beautiful face with smiles, so is it a deal"
"Yes,deal," I said, smiling.
He left after I assured him I won't cry anymore.