Hemiballismus

Ayo looked at the girl walking about 5 steps in front of him. He had followed her from the café and rubbed his palm on his trousers to rid his sign of nervousness – palm sweat.

He swallowed tightly as she waved her friends goodbye, her hair bouncing under the blinking streetlight and her laughter rang out.

Wiping his palms on his trousers once more, he began following her again consciously reminding himself of his friend’s advice.

“A---aaaY! Why can’t you speak to the lady? You’re good looking, Worst case, she’ll say No.” Abass, his close friend always said. 

But Ayo didn’t want a No, she was his exact type, he wanted a favorable response, but he’ll take it easy.

His thoughts was lost on him as he saw her continually shake. He reached out his hand but She was fine in a couple of seconds and did not notice him. However this happened 5 times in a course of 15 minutes.

Worried sick about her, Ayo did not notice her increasing her strides, falling into place 3 steps away from her and maintaining it.

She fell.

She almost did. She supported herself by placing her hand on the building by the bend of the corner. In a heartbeat, he was there supporting her.

She shrank away from him immediately, “Leave me!” she yelled.

The confidence and calmness, he had been working to achieve to speak to her came crashing immediately he heard that statement.

“I—I – I”, he stuttered.

She shrank even further, her back folding into the wall, her books held against her chest like her source of support. 

“ I – thought you had Hemiballismus”

“Hemiba- what?!”, she looked at him suspiciously.

He fumbled around, and straightened up, looking for the right words, “Hemiballismus is a condition where the sufferer shakes or the arm is involuntarily flung out.

Alth—Although , it also happens to the leg, so Hemiballismus is a form of Chorea whereby one upper limb and lower limb is flung out. 

Quite rare but not unavoidable, it is a violent hyperkinetic movement caused by damage to the subthalamic nucleus of the Basal Ganglia in the Brain.”

“Excuse you?!” The pretty lady looked at him, an incredulous expression painted on her face.

“No, like, Hemiballismus affects the proximal part of the limbs, unlike Chorea which affects the Distal parts of the limbs. It is repetitive and it occurs more frequently with active movements. 

The goal now should be to see a doctor in order to determine the severity scale.”

“ The what, now?”

“It is a scale that determines how severe it is, Although it can be limited, that’s only when it is not severe, and then again, you don’t know the level of severity. Otherwise, it’d be best to treat the manifestation of the disease.” Ayo looked at her and smiled. 

He felt important. He had seriously read on the clinical significance of the Basal Ganglia for a test where this information was not requested at all, it felt so nice to actually use the information and he was sure she was impressed.

She hissed. For a long time.

“Do not ever talk to me again.” Pushing him away from her personal space with her books, she began walking away, breaking into a short - run as she looked back to find him standing and staring at her.

Ayo felt deflated, there was a possibility of her suffering from Hemiballismus and why would she treat him that way?

He turned to trace his way back to the café and then realized his mistake.

The Sun had set and he blocked her at a corner.

Relieved, he felt she didn’t hate him, she was just security conscious.

But what if her Hemiballismus was severe?

To be continued....📍

Writer Details:Temidayo✍️

Location:Ekiti State University,Ado Ekiti,Nigeria🇳🇬.