The Donor

If any one had told me that Mikel would turn around and betray me, I would have called the person a liar. If anyone had told me that Mikel would betray me, I would have laughed in their face.

Mikel and I dated for four years and we were planning to get married when his health issues started. He never drank alcohol or smoked cigarettes a day in his life, he was stickler for healthy eating so it came as a surprise when the doctors told us that his kidneys were failing. His dialysis commenced as soon as the diagnosis was made and the search for a matching donor started. This search went on for over year without making any headway until I asked to be checked if I was a match… it turned out that I was a perfect match. We were so happy and it was easy for my parents to give their consent because Mikel was a good guy and besides I’d be helping to save the life of my husband to be anyway.

The surgery was in a hospital in Turkey and we stayed back to recover fully before returning home. I had fallen in love with the City so I made a mental note to come back for our honeymoon. We arrived home to a rousing welcome from our families. They had a welcome home party for us. Everyone clapped in excitement when Mikel’s mother mentioned that the next party would be our wedding party.. I don’t think I was overthinking things when I saw the look on Mikel’s face… He didn’t look excited at all.

The months that followed proved that what I saw that day was true. Mikel had become a different person. He complained that fate had given him a new lease on life, a second chance and the only thing we could come up with was to plan a wedding to tie him down. He announced to our families that his near death experience had taught him to live life a little before getting married. He had a lot of unprintable things to say to me. He even told me that I was acting entitled just because I gave him a kidney. “What have you done that nobody has done before?”… He threw at me.
His words hurt more than the wounds from the surgery and I was heartbroken. I still can’t believe how I survived that period.

I decided to relocate abroad while Mikel continued to gallivant and the only place I could think of was Turkey. Years went by and I continued to beat myself up for being too nice. I couldn’t move on because I had trust issues. I kept my circle very small because I didn’t want anyone taking undue advantage of me.

I woke up one morning to hundreds of messages on my family Whatsapp group. This had to be one of those family gossip. I will come back to it later but in the meantime, l need me a cup of coffee. Before I put down my phone, I noticed that Mikel’s name was consistent in their conversation. That caught my eye because as an unspoken rule, no one ever mentioned his name.
I picked up my phone and began to read. So, as we all know, Mikel had resorted to a reckless lifestyle of partying. This was his own way of celebrating his new life. He took to the bottles and this affected his kidney and he was back in the hospital… on the list awaiting a donor.

I was so pained that I gave an idiot my kidney and he handled it so recklessly…what a waste of my precious organ. Mikel didn’t deserve the second chance he got. It’s sad how things turned out but it’s also lovely how karma shows up from the bend to address bullshit.