Her Christmas desire [completed] Season 1

Season 5 years ago

Her Christmas desire [completed] Season 1

☆☆

It was snowing heavily outside. She watched as the winter kissed clouds rained down the pristine flakes down the earth in anger. A thick fog built an empire over the Iowan atmosphere, making it difficult for people to see.

She took a deep breath and peeled herself from the window, knowing she wouldn’t spend this particular Christmas in the United States of America. Home was calling, family was whispering and she couldn’t deny the yearning of her mother
Eno Benjamin pulled the curtains together and moved towards the table where she had dropped her house keys. She was leaving for Nigeria in the next few hours, and she had to move fast to the airport as she had a flight to catch.

She closed her eyes and pulled in a settling breath which made her feel a little warm. Her heart was beating fast against her chest as she thought about the family she had left behind for many years. She hoped they had all changed. And she also hoped that she wasn’t making a grave mistake by travelling home.

Slowly, she grabbed her box which she rolled outside, while pausing at the entrance, she ran her eyes over the dark bluish painted interior.

‘I hope I haven’t forgotten anything.’ She muttered underneath her breath. In five minutes, the driver she had called would be there soon. Satisfied with her mini scrutiny, she shut the door with a bang and proceeded to the wooden bench she had on her porch, where she would wait for the taxi.

The chilly weather didn’t do much for her mood. She was having period cramps which made her very irritated. She hated the weather, and the snow.

‘D--n,’ she exhaled, her hands finding their way to her abdomen instinctively.

Though she had been a Medical Practitioner for many years, she had never gotten around the stinging pain that accompanied periods. She pursed her lips and pulled out her phone, just to distract her mind from what she was feeling.

Eno had just returned from the Indian City of Tamil Nadu, where the Hospital she worked for had gone on a Charity mission to the locals who couldn’t afford medication.

A smile played on her lips as she remembered the beautiful places, she and her colleague had visited in India. She had touched the Umaid Bhawa Palace, one of the most luxurious hotels in the world. She had tasted some Indian foods, and their Spiced Chicken was the best for her.

Her light brown eyes glowed like little sea pebbles at night as she went through the different pictures she had taken with her colleagues, who she would miss by the way.
“Good morning Ma’am!”
The loud honking of a sienna interrupted her picture viewing session and she quickly jumped towards the cab. It was time to leave for the airport.

‘Hello,’ she whispered and tightened her coat as she stepped into the snow. A river of snowflakes kissed would’ve kissed her dark hair if she hadn’t worn a winter cap.
Respite poured on her as she finally settled in the back of the car. She was safe from the insensitive cold as the car heater was on. Soon, she would be in the airport and then her home country.
Eno had relocated to the United States when she was nineteen years old. She had always had the passion to study Medicine and Surgery, but not in her home country, because of the faulty academic foundations.

At first, the plans she had for her future had seemed very elusive, just like a mirage. But luck had smiled on her, when she had won a scholarship to study abroad.

After six years of study, she had emerged as one of the best graduating students in her class and had been offered automatic employment in one of the state hospitals.

‘Can you turn that off?’ Eno bit her lip. She hated songs that that were depressing, especially when it was snowing so heavily.

‘Don’t you have a Christmas Carol or something?’ She rolled her eyes. She wasn’t comfortable with the gloomy voice of Jimmy Reeves, which always sent a chill down her spine whenever she was travelling.

The taxi driver quickly apologized and began to search for a suitable song for his customer.
‘Would you like “Love came down at Christmas?” It’s the latest Rhythm and Blues Song by Beyonce.’ He sought her consent. Eno shrugged, any song other than Jimmy Reeves’ was fine by her.

‘Play it.’ She relaxed against her seat and stared out the window.

The taxi driver wasn’t the type to allow a lull in his car, ‘It is a beautiful love song and I find the lyrics kind of prophetic.’ He began.

‘Why?’ Eno asked coldly, not pulling her eyes away from the snowcapped rooftops of buildings as they journeyed towards the airport.

She wasn’t in the mood to talk, and even if she were, she hated talking to strangers.
‘What many people don’t know is this, Christmas is a season of love and you can get connected to the man or woman of your dreams.’ He explained, and went further to give Eno a long list of celebrities who fell in love at Christmas.

Cutting him off would be rude, and she hated being rude to service people, so she decided to use this opportunity to go through the pictures on her phone. While his baritone rumbled through the journey, her eyes and her mind were glued to her phone screen.

At first, she kept on smiling at the happy pictures they had taken at Tamil Nadu, but a sick feeling crept up within her as she stared at the picture of an eight year old girl that was battling with a heart disease.

‘Jahnvi,’ her lips trembled as she called the name of the hazel eyed girl in the picture.
Little Jahnvi had suffered a rare heart disease , Truncus arteriosus which is a rare heart condition that occurs when the aorta, coronary arteries, and pulmonary artery all come out of one common trunk.

Her parents didn’t have the money for surgery even though they had been saving up since the little girl was born. Tears rushed down Eno’s face as she remembered the last moments she shared with the girl, just before the surgery which had led to her death.

Her heart wrenched at the thought of her first failure after several years of practice. She found it difficult to push the images of the crying parents out of her mind when she had announced to them that their little daughter had died in the theater.
‘I failed Jahnvi, I failed everyone,’ she sobbed quietly at the back of the car. Though this had happened two months back, the wounds were still fresh and she found it difficult to sleep without seeing the images of the innocent child.