At 5 p.m. on the 31st of December 2009, everywhere buzzed with the sounds of music and jubilation, as it was just a few hours before the clock struck 2010. Daddy J, as people usually call him, taken from the initials of his daughter, Joy, took out his bike to travel to the neighbouring community to get the chicken he had paid for since the beginning of that month, December.
"Daddy! Daddy!" That was Joy, his 6-year-old daughter, crying to follow her dad. He carried her, jiggled her, and cleaned up her tears. "Don't worry, I won't stay long; I'm going to bring the chicken for tomorrow's celebration."
The sound of the chicken made Joy agree and remained calm. He dropped her before driving off while the baby girl walked to meet her mommy, seated on the front balcony of the building.
Daddy J, driving slowly on a busy highway, was about to cross to the side with the poultry he was heading to. Suddenly, a fast-paced bike with two passengers approached. Unable to stop in time, Daddy J hit the brakes hard, causing his bike to spring up. The force threw him to the other side, while the two passengers collided with his bike, leading to a somersault and their bike breaking into pieces on the asphalt road.
"Jesus! Accident ooo!" The few people in the area shouted with fear, as the scene was fiery. They rushed to the scene and carried the victims to the nearest clinic. All of them were unconscious, and their rescuers hoped they would survive the shock.
Daddy J's injury wasn't much, just a bruise on his legs, but he slumped off while the others were badly injured with fractures and bruises.
"That's Daddy J; I know that man, and I know his wife. Let me try and get to her." One of the people that rescued them, a woman, recognized him and picked up her phone to call Daddy J's wife.
"Hello, please come to Pheel City Clinic; your husband has had an accident and he's admitted there," the woman said as soon as Mummy J answered the call.
"My husband? How? Where? When? He just left home, not quite long." It was hard for her to believe because her husband had just left home a few minutes ago.
"Yes, yes, it happened when he was trying to cross over to the poultry side." The woman replied and hung up the call.
Mummy J began to run helter-skelter, with her body shivering out of fear of losing her husband just a few hours before crossing to the next year. She wore her black polo on dark blue jeans, while she dressed Joy in very casual wear, and off they went to the hospital.
"Nurse! Nurse! Nurse! He's awake!" The woman looking after Daddy J shouted and ran to get the nurse when she noticed Daddy J's eyelids had opened a little. The shout further helped to awaken him; he opened his eyes and saw that he was lying in a hospital bed.
He got up from his lying position and sat on the bed. When the nurse and the woman entered the room, they were all surprised to see the almost-dead man alive and sitting on the bed.
"Please, what happened to the others? Tell me they're alive, please," he pleaded with the peak of curiosity, hoping to hear the good news.
"Sir, please calm down first; you need to be medically fine first before racking your brain about others," the female nurse said as she placed her hand on his chest to push him back to the lying position.
"Please, I want to know now; are they alive?" He knocked off the nurse's hand.
"Yes, they're alive; they're in the next ward," the woman, seeing how determined Daddy J was, had to respond.
"If you say so, I want to be sure; can I go and see?" He tried to put his legs on the floor, and the nurse harshly kicked him.
"Sir, allow me to check on you!"
"Nurse! I'm fine, allow me to go and relieve my mind by seeing them!" His voice was so loud which startled the nurse.
She couldn't hold it anymore; she unplugged the almost exhausted drip on him. He stepped down, looking very fit, and the nurse led the way to the next ward.
On getting there, the sight of the other accident victims gave him a big relief; his heart was filled with delight. He had thought he had killed people already.
He walked to meet them on their beds with smiling face, very excited that no one was dead.
He was still there when his wife walked in and rushed to hug him.
"Honey, honey, I can see you're fine. It's a big relief for me. Glory be to God!"
"Yeah, God did it, and I'm very excited that these ones are still alive too because I saw how they somersaulted." Daddy J as he carried his daughter, Joy, that ran towards him and pecking her cheek.
"My brother, thank God no one is dead. It would have been a bad experience if any of us had died on this last day of the year. We are surely destined to see the new year." One of the accident victims on the bed struggled to voice out.
It was around 9:30 p.m. already. The whole family stayed at the hospital, and they all, with the accident victims, celebrated the beginning of the new year when the time hit 12:00 a.m.