Indeed, Season 2 has been a remarkable journey. Several issues have been resolved, yet much remains to be revealed. It will be interesting to see how it all concludes.

For now, it looks like we’ll end this season like the first: with Becky and her dysfunctional family…

Dim light filtered through the hospital room’s curtains, as the feeble Mr. Victor Owusu-Bempong lay quietly on his sick bed. The electrocardiogram machine beeped rhythmically, serving as a somber soundtrack to the battle waging within his frail body. The cancer had really ravaged him this time around, leaving him a mere shell of the man he once was.

And that seizure had only done more damage to his system. The doctors were still doing their best to figure out how this happened, but it had happened with pretty devastating effects.

There was certainly no chance of him getting back to health at this rate. Without an out-of-the-blue miracle, his days were numbered. At this rate, lasting a week would be considered a miraculous thing; it was that bad.

But it wasn’t just his physical form that was enduring untold agony; his spirit was heavy as well, burdened by the weight of regret and remorse.

As his shallow breaths filled the ward, memories flooded his mind.

Awful memories, each one a painful reminder of the choices he had made and the consequences he now faced.

Memories he had dismissed as necessary, but now recognized as terrible, heartless and selfish.

He could visualize it clearly… her face, radiant and full of life, before the cancer had claimed her.

Marian Owusu-Bempong. His wife. The woman of his life. The one who virtually laid down her life for him when this cursed ailment first struck.

He had refused to think about her when he walked away. Made sure any semblance of pity or regret was squashed flat. After all, his happiness mattered. All that nursing and caring for a sick person was not his thing. After recovering from his bout of cancer, he had a new lease of life and didn’t deserve to be locked down to a life of servitude.

Now, as he lay there on his bed, surrounded by the silence of his own making, he wept bitterly for all that foolishness he had embraced.

The images of his children also flashed before his eyes.

Amankwaah. Becky. Arabella. Owusua.

The children he had failed woefully and walked out on, all for a life he had squandered in pursuit of his own selfish desires.

Now he saw himself for what he really was…

… a selfish fool.

“God, what a fool I’ve been,” he whispered, his voice hoarse with regret. “A coward and a fool. I thought I was living my life, but all I did was destroy everything that mattered to me. Marian, forgive me. Forgive me for leaving you when you needed me most. Forgive me for failing to be the husband and father you deserved.”

Tears ran down the sides of his face as he lay still on his bed, his heart aching badly as his life continued to flash before his eyes and remind him of his sheer foolishness.

Oh, what a fool he had been. What a big, big fool he had been.

***

“Wow… wow,” Becky breathed, an incredulous look on her face. “I mean, I don’t know what else to say, just… wow.”

Amankwaah nodded and tapped her on the knee. “I’m still in shock myself. After everything we’ve had to endure, especially me, with constantly buying his medication and all, it’s a shock to me myself. Especially after what he said to me last night.”

The two were seated around the reception of Glory International Hospital. Becky had come to meet Amankwaah there, and since their father could not have visitors in the ward for the next few hours, she had sat down to hear something she never would have expected.

Mr. Victor was now realizing his wrongs! Finally!

Unfortunately, it appeared he was only doing so on his deathbed.

Apart from the weird and inexplicable story the old man had told the nurses about an attack from his conscience, Amankwaah told her about all the sorrowful mumblings he had heard out of their father’s lips when he entered the ward just before the doctors attended to him.

How he had been a fool to do all he had done, how he regretted treating their mother with such awful disregard, how he had been grossly unfair to his children… it was all jaw-dropping to hear.

“It was just… shocking,” Amankwaah continued, shaking his head as he remembered it all. “He saw me, and he just… started sobbing. Shaking his head and murmuring to himself how he’s been a fool, how wicked he’s been to Maame, and to us, and just begging God to forgive him. Chale, Maayaa, it shocked me to the core. Because it was only yesterday that this man was even trying to tell me how ‘eating different meat’ is nicer, so I should cheat on Cindy. And I was so pissed, eh.”

Becky shook her head. That sounded more like the man she had come to know. Not this new version.

“But now, whatever that strange conscience whatever he was talking about did to him, it’s hit him hard. And now… he’s seen the light. But it’s come too late at this stage,” he ended sadly. “The doctors say that this relapse has done far too much damage. And Becky, with what I saw myself… hmmm, it’ll be a big miracle if he makes it out alive.”

Becky stared at him, her eyes already conveying a deep sadness. “That’s why you called Arabee and Owusua to come.”

Amankwaah nodded, fidgeting with his fingers. Looking down, he sighed. “This is so hard. And so unfair. Just when we could have our father back…”

“D-d-don’t lose hope, Amankwaah,” Becky shakily urged him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Who… who knows? M-maybe he’ll… he’ll get better. And then we can make up.”

Even as she uttered those words, though, this sad feeling of inevitability rang harder than the tiny chime of belief. The signs were not pretty, and their worst fears looked set to finally come true.

Cancer was about to take away their remaining parent, and at the worst possible time. Just when he was waking up to reality and was most likely ready to reconcile with the children he had heartlessly abandoned for a silly young lady who ended up paying him back in his own coin.

As Amankwaah had just uttered, so unfair.

***

A couple of hours had passed.

As Amankwaah and Becky continued to wait, they were joined by their younger sisters, who had taken a quick flight from Kumasi. They had informed them of everything going on, and collectively, they bemoaned the reality of this happening at the wrong time while hoping against hope that a miracle would occur.

Now it was about five-thirty, and one of the nurses made her way to the reception area. Once she saw Amankwaah sitting with the others, she signaled to him that they could come.

“Maame Nurse, is there any hope for our father?” Becky nervously asked as they followed her to the ward.

The nurse sighed and faced them, her expression somber. “My dear, I wish I could give you encouraging news. But the truth is, the hope is extremely slim. We still can’t figure out what happened, but… his condition has only deteriorated over the past eighteen hours. Unless Almighty God steps in…”

The sigh that punctuated her answer was another gut punch to each of them.

They walked on and entered the ward.

There lay Victor, looking terribly frail and pitiful. A more than pale version of himself.

The moment they saw him, the girls’ hearts sunk even deeper. Amankwaah and the nurse had told no lies; this was a man on the way out of the earth.

He turned his head. And he saw them.

Then he turned away.

A whimper emerged from his throat, and his body began to shake with sobs.

Everyone was still and silent. Including the nurse. All wondering what was about to follow.

Then he turned his head and faced them.

Remorse could not have spelled itself more perfectly on his face.

“My children… I’m so sorry,” he managed to whimper out, his voice raw with emotion. “I’m sorry for everything… for leaving you, for abandoning you, for pretending… for pretending like I had done no wrong.”

Tears streamed down his cheeks unchecked as he looked upon the faces of his children, each one a painful reminder of the proper life he had forsaken, in exchange for a senseless fling.

“I’m sorry, my children, I’m sorry. Forgive me. Please. I’ve done you wrong, and I’m so sorry.”

Becky could only stare at her father and feel her heart break. Suddenly, all that anger and rage stored up in her heart had melted away. The last time she saw him, his words cut her like a sword and filled her up with so much fury. Now, his words cut again, with sorrow filling her up. His whimpers, his tears… they all painted an unforgettable picture of a man who had truly regretted the route he had taken in life.

“Oh, God, why was I such a fool?” he cried out weakly, his voice breaking with anguish. “Why was such a selfish, foolish man? Why, why did I choose to chase useless, empty pleasures instead of holding my family together? I should have been there for you, I should have fought for you. I should have fought for my wife… oh God, my wife! God, I was weak, so weakkk…”

His words failed him as he broke down and cried weakly.

Not a dry eye was in the room at that moment. Every single Owusu-Bempong child began to leak tears as they walked over to their father to console him. Becky, standing by his right hand side, covered her mouth and kept herself from bawling uncontrollably as she observed the pain and grief on his face.

Even the nurse, who stood back, could not hold back her tears.

“My children, I don’t deserve your forgiveness,” he sobbed, his words barely audible through the tears. “I know I don’t. But please, please forgive me. Forgive me for being a terrible father to you…”

“Papa, we forgive you. Please, we forgive you.”

“We’ve forgiven you, please.”

“Forgive us for ignoring you…”

As the children surrounded him, with assurances that they had forgiven him, the nurse decided it was time for them to be alone with him.

Wiping her eyes and sniffing, she stepped out and slowly closed the door.

***

It was nine-thirty.

Becky and her siblings were still in the hospital, holding vigil by his bedside. While Becky and Arabella knelt by the right hand and left hand sides of the bed respectively, Amankwaah stood next to him, while Owusua sat at the foot of the bed.

Victor continued to breathe in and out slowly, trying his best to revel in this little reconciliation. Oh, how good it felt to have his children around him like this once again!

If only he had been sensible and stayed with his family.

“I was a coward,” he confessed slowly, his voice raspy with regret. “I chose myself over you all when you and your mother needed me the most. I let selfishness consume me, and for that, I am truly sorry.”

Everyone silently listened to him as he spoke on.

“I was proud, too. Foolishly proud. I thought I didn’t need to answer or make amends to anyone. I was such a fool. Such a fool. God knows this is what I deserve. I’ve been a terrible human being, and this is no less than I deserve.”

Sniffs could be heard in response to his words. Everyone was so emotionally overwhelmed, there were few words at this point.

 “But listen to me now,” he continued, his words gaining a teensy bit of strength as he lifted his head slightly. “Amankwaah, my only son. I might have failed you, but… you will be a better father than I ever was. You will love your wife and children fiercely. And you will never, under any circumstance, abandon them, no matter what. Your children won’t go what you went through. You hear me?”

Amankwaah swallowed hard, his eyes glistening with more tears as he nodded in silent agreement.

“And you, my beautiful daughters,” Victor continued, staring at each of them. “You will only marry men who cherish you, who protect you, who would lay down their lives for you. Not fools like me who run away when you need them. Your husbands will be real men, not cowards. You hear me?”

Becky, Arabella and Owusua nodded, their throats tight with emotion as they gave their solemn vow to their father.

“Good.” He laid his head back on the pillow, and continued to inhale and exhale slowly. As he closed his eyes, he spoke yet again.

“I know I was not the father you deserved. I know I didn’t show any care or concern for any of you. But… I love you all… I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

As those declarations hung heavy in the air, tears flowed freely once again as they all held onto him, whispering their love to him as well. What each of them wouldn’t give to ensure that he got a new lease of life, so they could start over? What wouldn’t they give to rewind the clock and stop this from happening?

Alas, his tone and choice of words all revealed one thing: the end was near.

The best they could do was stick around for as long as they could. Any hope of a miracle was virtually negligible at this point. It was not a matter of if, but when.

“P-p-please… can I have some water?”

***

Beep… beep… beep… beep… beep… beep… beep… beep…

… flatline.

Hmmm. This was a heartbreaking end to the season. Just as Mr. Owusu-Bempong repented, he passed on. This is definitely going to crush Becky and her siblings…

What will unfold in season 3? We’re eager to discover what will happen with Becky following this event. There are also other burning questions that demand answers, such as the issue with Bishop Gordon. And the big question: Is Nana Asor finally expecting? The final season promises to reveal all these answers!