That night I was helpless

It happened years ago but I can still remember it like it was just yesterday. And even till this moment I still get shivers when I think about it. What would have happened if...? Till this moment I am very grateful it didn't happen that way because I'm not sure I'd ever be the same ever again if things had turned out badly.

The usually full house was almost completely empty that day. Everyone had various places they had to be and wouldn't be coming home that night. Everyone except me, my Dad and his friend that came to stay with us for a while.

As the youngest in the house I went to the kitchen and prepared the meal for that night, Eba and Egusi soup. My dad said he wanted to eat in his room that night and so I took his food to him in his room and served him there. After which I served his friend and myself.

I'm a fast eater so I finished eating rather quickly. I washed my plates and sat down to make use of my device. After a while I assumed my dad would be done eating and I decided to go and clear the plates before he called for me.

For a split second my heart froze at what I behold. My dad was on the bed convulsing. Somehow I regained my ability to speak, and I screamed my Dad's friend's name at the top of my voice. He hurried to the room realizing it must have been an emergency.

With how calm he looked one could assume he wasn't bothered or even had a hand in it.

"Get me a bowl of water" he said to me as calmly as possible.

In a split second I ran to the bathroom to fill a bowl with water. When I got back I saw he was repositioning my Dad. He took a shirt that was on the bed and dipped it in the bowl of water. He then used it to clean his face and chest area. He also moved the standing fan closer to him.

If it wasn't for the fact that he was so calm I wouldn't have tried to stay calm. I was freaking out on the inside and my heart was beating so fast.

My Dad began to stabilize a bit, and he said we could leave him to rest a bit, but I was too scared to leave him in the room alone. I stood there and watched him till later on his breathing steadied and he regained consciousness.

How my Dad's friend was so calm in that situation was so surprising. Another day I had to ask him how he was so calm and whether he'd been in a similar situation in the past. He said hadn't but he'd read some stuff online. He also said the reason he was calm was because if he wasn't calm things could easily have been worse.

I don't think I have ever felt as helpless as I did that day. And what's crazy is that my dad has no memory of those moments (other than what we told him of course). He believes he just took a nap after eating.

I'll never not be grateful that things didn't turn out worse. And I don't even want to think about if I can ever face such again.

~THANKS FOR READING~

_{Cover image by Marvin Zi from Unsplash}