Cindy strode slowly to the hospital reception.As other patients and clients passed her, she bend her head so low that nobody got a chance to see her bruised face.She had escaped from the hands of her bloody thirsty husband who had blown knuckles on her few hours ago

I knew everything was amiss as I helped her secure a seat for examination,she needed help and I was glad she choose to come to me because this is the day I was going to complete the puzzle I needed to fill about her. She had held her tear filled eyes for so long that I had to watch them explode in my own eyes.It was an overwhelming situation and I wished the world would stop as painful feeling overcame me.

I had seen scars on her body several times during her antenatal visits but she was not willing to confine any form of abuse to me.I had tried to reach her husband to inquire if he knew what his wife was going through but he claimed it was just an allergic reaction to some food.Having been her doctor for more than ten years,I had noticed this unpeculiar change in her body and attitude and this was enough evidence that she was being abused by her husband, because this happened only when she got married four years ago.

I really prayed for all the laboratory, sonographic and radiological test I had requested to be done on her be just normal but to my surprise, Cindy had a blood clot in her brain,a condition which put her life in so much danger that she didn't have a choice but to get intensive care from the hospital.

After getting treated for a week, the clot had dissolve but she was not getting well as I had expected.After trying laboratory investigation to check what was wrong,her blood sugars were really so low.Someone in the hospital was working with the abuser to see her dead and the only way I was going to help Cindy was referring her to a different hospital.

As I wrote the referral letter,I knew I was putting my life in danger but had no choice but to save Cindy.I wanted one day to see justice being served to her and the only way I could do that was only to see her wake up from her semi conscious state and confess to the police, but her recovery was taking too long.

Cindy was discharged after a week in the new hospital and I was relieved she choose to be taken to her parents house rather than her husband, Although she still didn't confine any form of abuse to the facility,the records from my previous examination showed physical signs of trauma and at least I knew where I was going to start my investigation with the police.

As I walked to the police department with the few information I had,I wondered why women would suffer so much trauma while all the public offices were at their disposal to help them.I remembered other patients out there like Cindy whose lives were at God's mercies but they didn't recognize it.I hated my career at some point to learn that someone who swore to save lives would work hand in hand with an abuser to see a woman die to hide evidence.

The investigative police department promised to look into the matter and as I watched the evening news absently after a long day at work one evening, the mention of the name Cindy caught my attention, she had died two days after being discharged from the hospital from a gunshot.My heart sunk and I knew this was the time to run away for my life too.As I Crossed the boarder to another country the next morning, I knew justice was going to be served.

© Purity Ndinda