Seeds of Plenty by Jennifer Juo

instead she had to forcefully hold her down. Lila could not understand, her eyes pleading to be held and comforted. What kind of mother was she? She had left her child alone and vulnerable. She thought of her sister Mei Mei’s death. Sylvia felt cold and hot at the same time, and suddenly she was drenched in sweat.
    Ayo injected the first dose of the anti-venom, and Lila screamed. Afterward, he picked her up and carefully placed her in Sylvia’s arms.
    “Keep her arm hanging down, it needs to be lower than her heart. With the bandages and splint, this should slow the spread of the venom,” he said as he adjusted Lila in her arms. He spoke calmly and with so much confidence. If she could just anchor herself to him, maybe she would be alright.
    He helped Sylvia and her baby into his car. They turned outside the compound walls toward town, driving through the faded, painted cement houses and blackened mounds of burning garbage that lined the road. People, vendors, goats and chickens, mopeds, and buses cluttered the road, stopping all traffic. They were stuck in the usual go-slow, now of all times. Thirty minutes, the random thought came back to her. Death could happen in thirty minutes. How much time had passed? She kept glancing down at Lila, fearing the venom was taking over her little body. Couldn’t they somehow bypass the traffic considering this was an emergency? But she knew there were no ambulances in Nigeria, and even if they had existed, no one would pay any attention to its sirens. She had heard of another child from the compound dying on the way to hospital because of injuries from a terrible fall. Trapped in the usual grinding traffic, the girl just didn’t make it to the hospital in time. She tried to push this thought away.
    But Ayo seemed to read her mind. The traffic in the opposite direction was relatively sparse. He suddenly drove over the dirt, garbage, and overgrown grass that divided the road into the lane of oncoming traffic. Others followed, suddenly reversing the direction of the third lane. The road could be three lanes one way and one lane the opposite way, depending on the flow of traffic and the whims of the drivers.
    Ayo drove like a maniac, weaving between the other cars, breaking all the rules like a local driver. She thought of his words, I might save one or two, but the rest I fail. She pulled Lila closer, holding her breath, looking at her child’s arm, the arm full of venom.
    ***
     
    At Ayo’s clinic, Lila was burning with fever now. To prevent a massive release of the venom trapped in her arm, Ayo un-wrapped the bandages extremely slowly. The bruising and swelling seemed worse, even Sylvia could see this. She looked up at Ayo, something in his eyes seemed less confident.
    He rewrapped the bandages, then pulled up a chair next to Sylvia.
    “The blood and urine analysis show there’s more venom in her bloodstream than I originally thought. She’s going to need another dose of antivenom.”
    “More venom?” Suddenly, Sylvia struggled to breathe as if the poison were attacking her own body.
    “Don’t worry,” he said softly, placing his hand on her shoulder. “We’ve got this under control.”
    He turned to the nurse in the room. “Monitor her vital signs frequently. Check for any neurological or respiratory symptoms. And keep the fluids going through the IV.”
    “What symptoms? What are you monitoring her for?”
    “Don’t worry, the antivenom should do the trick.”
    “I want to know. What symptoms?”
    “The venom from snakes is neuro-toxic,” he spoke slowly so she would understand. “What this means is that it can interfere with the body’s nervous system and could result in tissue or organ damage or, very rarely, paralysis. The odds are very low. I’m monitoring these symptoms more out of routine protocol, not because I think it’s likely.”
    She nodded, trusting him was all she had now.
    Ayo got up. “I’ll get the nurse to bring you some dinner.”
    The