327 Arrangements

In a room within the private ward of the Centre Médical du Centre Ville located in Lubumbashi, DR Congo, a tall, middle-aged man with a physique on the thin side and a chubby woman stood by a hospital bed. They were Marie and Joseph Bemba, who were Zachary's only surviving aunt and uncle. In other words, they were the only children birthed by Zachary's grandma, still alive. At that moment, their gazes, tinged with a sense of worry, were fixed on the pale old lady wired to several medical machines on the hospital bed.

"Joseph!" The chubby woman in a patterned African-style dress said abruptly to break the silence. "Do you think mom will make it through this?" She spoke fluent Swahili like most of the people in Eastern Congo.

"I really don't know," the middle-aged man replied while stroking his goatee. "She has a tumor in her brain. So, we can only pray for a miracle and wish her a quick recovery. The rest is in the hands of the Almighty."