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Things got worse for Hauwa when she got pregnant for the second time. She called her father and begged him to allow her to return home. He replied before he hung up, "Hauwa, the only way you can come back to me is in a coffin…to pray for you."

Her labour brought with it a fresh bout of pain that was beyond what Hauwa had imagined. Her waters broke unexpectedly, and for hours, she begged Abdul to take her to the hospital. He refused.

"I'm very tired, Hauwa. Wait till morning. Then, we can send for a midwife."

"Haba, Abdul! Midwife? Why can't we go to the hospital?"

"I'm saving money for a new car. Now, stop asking questions and let me sleep."

"Can I send for Auntie Asabe?"

"Not if you want to be beaten."

At dawn, the midwife arrived. Hauwa laboured for two days. She was tired and weak, and each contraction took a little life out of her. Eventually, she gave birth to a stillborn, possibly dead from exhaustion. Hauwa began shivering.

"She's in shock," the midwife whispered.

Abdul turned on her, "Then do something, woman. Don't just stand there."

"Something is wrong. She is dying. We have to get her to the hospital." She reached for Hauwa's neck, feeling her pulse. Her eyes were wide open but had rolled back into her head so that her irises were hidden. Her white eyeballs stared ahead, sightless. Mucus ran from both nostrils and mixed with foaming spittle that seeped from her mouth.

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Suddenly, her jaws clamped shut and she began to whimper, a desperate cry for help. Her eyes righted themselves for a moment, and then rolled back into her skull again.

The midwife felt her heart rise in her throat. "Abdul!"

"Yes." His voice sounded like a gravel mixer.

"We have to get her to the hospital." The midwife had both hands on Laraba's cheeks. "Shh, shh… it's okay, child. It's going to be okay."

Abdul stepped in, slid one of his arms under her legs and the other behind her back. He lifted her trembling form and stood. Her jaw stretched in a silent scream; her body shook with such force that for a moment Abdul thought he might drop her.

Then they were moving, running through the corridor, towards the car. Hauwa shook in Abdul's hands like a blender. In the car, the midwife sat behind, cradling Hauwa's head in her laps and silently cursing Abdul, as he squealed through a tight turn and floored the accelerator.

****

Hauwa regained consciousness on the second day and realized she could not contain her urine or stool. She panicked and asked the doctor what was happening.

"You're torn," he replied, referring to the fistula condition.

Since neither her husband nor his family visited her, she spent two weeks alone in the hospital. The relatives of other patients were kind and gave her food and drink.

By a stroke of luck, her uncle and auntie attended a baby dedication and came across the midwife who had worked on Hauwa. Through her, they discovered the ordeal she went through and got directions to the hospital. They went for her immediately. Auntie Asabe deposited her gold chain before the nurses agreed to discharge Hauwa. They put Hauwa at the back of a truck and drove her home. At home, she was escorted to a secluded room at the back of the house.

The next evening, her husband, in high spirits, came to visit her with a flask of tea and buttered bread. He offered her a cup and when she drank it, she wet the chair almost immediately. Abdul stood up abruptly, his face aghast as the urine drained down the wooden frame.

"You are cursed!"

"Ban yardaba. No, Abdul…" she reached for his hand and he drew back with disgust.

"What is this? What have you done, Hauwa? Who did you sleep with, you whore?"

"Nobody!" Hauwa said as she began sobbing, still trying to reach out to her husband as pain wracked through her body.

"It was the baby…"

"Shut up! I came here to take you back, but I thank Allah for his mercies. He has revealed your sin to me. You will not recover, Hauwa, until you name the man you went to bed with. Till then, I don't want to see you again."

"I didn't sleep with anyone Abdul," she continued to sob as she pleaded, going on her knees despite the pain and grabbing his caftan.

He kicked her away and walked out.