Ninth strike

Silence.

The whirring sound of the heart monitor could be heard clearly in the room. Manuel Thompson, the old janitor who worked in Riverbed hospital in Florida stood at the edge of the door. He watched the young girl who lay asleep on her bed, her face was devoid of any emotion. It had to be since she hadn’t laughed, cried, smiled or sneezed in four years. She was equivalent to a dead vegetable.

He made his way closer to the girl’s bed. For some reason he felt bonded to her like the way he had been the very first time she was checked into the hospital four years ago. The doctors were told that she had been in a terrible accident and was the only survivor in the car crash. She had been rushed to the hospital immediately, no one knew her name and no records of her birth name and so she was called Jane.

Jane Doe.

Manuel sat on the chair beside Jane’s bed, the same one he used every nine pm whenever he came visiting. The girl in front of him was all alone, maybe it was the loneliness that they shared that had made the connection.

He had lost his wife twenty years ago, had a bad relationship with his son and haven’t heard from his daughter. He hadn’t seen his son in twelve years, no calls, no texts, nothing.Manuel sighed in frustration and ran his hand through his hair. He leaned back on the chair and gave the sleeping girl a smile. “Where did I stop last time, Nita?”

Nita. A nickname he had given her.Overtime he had gotten fond of the young girl, he had made cards for her which he brought with him every morning and would drop it on the table while avoiding been seen by someone. Not that Jane would read it but he still felt the need to.

He laughed, of course she wasn’t going to reply. She was in a vegetative state.Manuel leaned on the chair and it made creaking sounds as he adjusted. He sighed, the hospital needed a change of furniture.You remind me of my little girl, Nita. Her name was also Nita. She was about your age when she went missing but I shouldn’t tell you that since you might be listening, which I believe you must be.”

He cleared his throat. “So Nita, did you ever hear of the code of Hammurabi? Well I guess not since kids these days don’t do much research. So let me just tell you what it is. In the year 14 B.C, way before our Lord Jesus Christ was born. There was a man named Hammurabi, he was the king of Babylon as of that time. Hammurabi made sets of laws and one of them stated that if any man brings an accusation against another man. The accused will go and leap into a river and if he sinks then the accuser takes his house but if he doesn’t then he takes the accuser’s house. Sounds stupid right?” Manuel chuckled lightly, “In that time there lived a young woman, her name was Anja. Anja was a beauty, a sight to behold but there was something else, Anja had always had a burn mark ever since she was little

This kind of mark was only given to slaves and Anja had been serving the Kairo family for seventeen years and in those seventeen years she was being treated poorly. Her mother had been a slave and so it had passed onto her. She was made to work under the scorching sun and the heavy rain. She was subjected to harsh treatment and was barely fed but even with all the maltreatment, Anja was much prettier than most women even her master’s daughters.

She was always sent to work in the fields every morning with barely anything to eat for breakfast other than bread and water. There came a day when she was working in the fields, she stumbled upon a man who had been beaten and left to die. Anja on seeing him couldn’t leave him there just like that.Taking him back with her would only get her into trouble with her master and so she soughted for a way to help the poor stranger. Suddenly an idea came to her mind and she took the man and hid him in a cave. She left the work that she was meant to be doing and bwgan tending to the man’s wounds unbeknownst to her that her master was coming. Her master, Sargon had come to check on the field.Before Sargon could arrive, she was already done and then she went back to the field only to see her master there and he was fuming. He looked at her and noticed the blood on her hands and skirt. He asked about the blood and Anja knowing that if she spoke the truth would not only get her into trouble with her master but she could get put to death according to the law of Hammurabi. Anja told her master that the way of women had come upon her. Sargon seeing that she was unclean told her to leave the fields for he didn’t want to have her leave blood in his precious field.

For the next few days Anja shared her meals with the stranger, she would divide the little bread that she had and pack some into her dress for him, there were also days when she starved herself. She would give all the food to the stranger, as the days passed she noticed a change in his health. He was getting better but unknown to her helping the stranger affected her work and so was reducing the income of her master. Sargon was unhappy about the outcome of his sales and asked Anja about it. Anja lied that she had been sick and so was unable to do much work. Sargon’s wife refused to listen to her excuse and forced her to twice as hard.

The next day, while caring for the stranger he suddenly awoke. He looked round the place confused. He couldn’t recognize where he was and then he laid his eyes on Anja and at first glance he liked what he saw. They began making small conversations and he introduced himself to her as Korah. And not before long the two became friends. When he had gotten his strength and was able to stand on his own two feet, he began helping Anja out with the work on the field and the master’s sales began booming again even twice as before. Anja was happy coming to the field everyday to work. At home she would smile at herself even while working in the kitchen. A servant had noticed her newfound happiness and wanted to find out what was behind it, even Anja’s movements had suddenly become suspicious, she had also begun leaving at odd times. A day came and they decided to follow her. Anja had no idea that she was being followed and when she got to the field, she acted normally. She laughed and they thought she was crazy at first before they looked closer and saw that she was talking with someone. The servant was astonished at what she saw, notaughing at herself until just anyone but a man was in the field. It was a crime for slaves to communicate with people who weren’t from the house and to be seen with a man was even far worse. The servant was happy, Anja was going to be punished. She ran home happily and reported to the master. The master was slow to believe it but he still followed.

During one of the times that they worked together, Korah had told Anja about his feelings for her and Anja was yet to give in and on that day she had told Korah that their was a way that he made her feel. She had been shy at first but Korah was excited and so leaned in for a kiss.It was at that moment that Sargon came and Anja got caught–"

Manuel’s clock vibrated, he checked the time and chuckled, “It’s already midnight, Nita, I guess I would have to finish the story tomorrow." He stood up from the chair, it made creaking sounds as he got up then he walked to the door and opened it, “Goodnight, Nita."

As Manuel closed the door, Jane moved a finger.