"Doctor Sahab!" Sameer yelled choking on hot tears as he carried his niece through the Hospital corridors. "Doctor Sahab! Arey koi toh doctor ko bulao, please!"
A ward boy mercifully and quickly makes his way towards them, with a stretcher in tow. Sameer with utter care lays Suman down then along with Rachna and the ward boy pushes the stretcher towards the Emergency Room. Just the mere sight of doctors rushing towards them is reassuring, doctors could help, they could give them their Suman back, they could make her hale and hearty again. They push the stretcher further until they reach a room, beyond which a nurse informs them family remembers were prohibited.
Sameer knows that it was no good arguing. The doctors knew best and by barging in they would be of more harm than help. So leads his sister to the waiting room after informing the nurse in desperate and clear words about where they will be waiting. The nurse assures them that she would inform about even the minutest change in Suman's condition. And so they wait, sitting on the cold plastic chairs, for news to come.
~
"Suman" Sameer yelled shocked at the sight of Suman unconscious on the floor. He rushes towards her prone and notices the foam leaking from her lips. "Manju! MANJU! RACHNA! Bablu-ji! Jaldi AAO!" He yells, kneeling next to his niece, taking her head and resting it on his lap. "Suman? Suman utho beta!" he lowers his voice almost to a whisper, lightly smacking her cheeks in vain.
"Arey kya hua, Dabbu ke Pa-" Manju exclaims, only to stop midsentence to let out a scream. "SUMAN!"
Hearing the commotion, Rachna and Bablu-ji quickly make their way to the source of the noise.
Sameer doesn't remember who had the sense to check Suman's pulse which was bottoming out. And who ordered them to take her to the Hospital. Or who pointed out that she took the wrong combination of the medicines. All he remembers is telling Bablu-ji volunteering to stay back to look after Babu-ji. He doesn't remember why Manju stays behind but he thinks it didn't matter who came and who didn't as long as they reached the hospital on time. Suman was going paler by the second, they needed to get her to medical attention.
~
Suman remembers is a chill going down her spine a little while after she ingested the pills, and that her heart rate was slowing down. She feels completely exhausted and finds herself moving towards the bed, but she doesn't think she makes it there because her bed wasn't this hard, and it most certainly wasn't made up of tiles. She knows she should get up and sleep properly on the bed, but just can't seem to find the energy to move. And her vision was going dark a little too quickly for her liking. She thinks she may as well just lie there on the floor, just for a little while.
She dreams of her childhood, of her parents. Of how she and her mother would curl up on the couch on weekends, under her favorite Blue starred fleece blanket, watching cartoons. Of how she would help her mother in the kitchen by washing the veggies and handing her the proper spoons and utensils. Suman had never had such vivid dreams. She contemplates on waking up but then she doesn't think it would harm to get maybe another hour of sleep in.
But she registers someone vaguely screaming a little too close to her "She isn't responding!"
Suman wants to tell them to hush it, that they were disturbing her but her body just doesn't seem to obey her commands. She settles on focusing her attention back on her dreams.
"Up the amount of charcoal and then begin the lavage process."
Everything goes mercifully blank for Suman after that.
~
"Suman Tiwari?" A middle aged doctor calls out, entering the waiting room a good two hours after Sameer had admitted his niece in. They stand up at once, on weak and shivering feet. "Ghabrane ki koi baat nahi hai. Dawai ke galat combination aur dose le ne se aisa hua hai. Hummne waise Suman ke system se sari dawai toh flush kardi hai, par phir bhi humme usse 48 hours tak under observation rakna hoga. Aap chahe toh thodi der baad unhe dekh sakte hai."
The duo releases a sigh of relief quickly joining their hands for a quick prayer. They rush towards where the doctor had pointed the ICUs were. There Suman lay, on the slightly inclined bed, propped up further by several white pillows. She looked tired even at rest and ghastly pale. The light blue and white gown they had changed her into did nothing to improve matters, if anything it made her clavicle look more prominent and her neck slenderer. It wasn't a pretty sight.
~
"Shravan." Ramnath grabs his son's attention just as he was about to head out for office.
"Ji Papa?"
"Do minute baat hai? Kuch zaroori baat karni thi." He asks solemnly, voice heavy with thick.
"Haan Papa kahiye na." He sees Shravan walking towards him from the corner of his eyes. The eagerness with which he moved to serve every whim and wish of the person he considered his Hero' made Ramnath nauseous. What good did I do to deserve a son like him? Ramnath often wondered. And what sins did Shravan commit to deserve a father like me?'
"Nahi yaha nahi." He places a hand on Shravan's shoulder. "Mere Kamre mein jaa kar baat karte hai."
The room felt stuffy and the walls felts like they were about to close in on him. Ramnath was n half a mind to just damn it all and keep all his secrets and sins to himself. He couldn't lose Shravan. He just couldn't...
But he sighs, gathering all the courage he could muster. His son deserved better. He deserved the truth or else...he would lose his son anyway.
"Shravan. Baitho." His throat clogs up and tears already blur his vision. Shravan's concerned look did nothing to balm his mind. "Shravan main jo bhi kehne jaa raha hoon, usse sunn kar tumhe bohot dard hoga. But Shravan please, please know that maine jo bhi kiya who isliye kiya because I love you and I didn't want to lose you. Please yeh baat hamesha yaad rakna. Espeacially mein aaj jo kehne wala hoon, uske baad."
He places Shravan's hand with in. A silent plea for a promise.
"I promise Papa." Shravan replies, reading the words unsaid. "And I love you no matter what."
Ramnath offers his son a small smile, watching him reciprocate it with reassurance of the promise.
And Ramnath bares his secrets to his son. His voice quivers as he speaks because he is aware that all this mess was his fault. It was his pride that didn't allow him to accept his wife's wishes and it was his ego that kept him from making amends despite all the guilt filled nights. Tears blur his vision, unable to meet the eyes of his son because he knows the hurt and blame he might see in them will surely break him.
"Main Janata tha ki tum Suman se bahot pyaar karte ho, aur yeh bhi janta tha ki woh bhi tumse sacha pyaar karti hai, par phir bhi maine tumhe uske khilaaf bhadkaya kyuki main darr gaya tha ki woh kahi tumhare aur Nirmala ki beech poul na banjaye..." He feels Shravan's grip on his hand loosen. So he rushes in with his apologies because he knows time wasn't on his side and Shravan was close to walking out on him. "Shravan I am really sorry. I am truly very sorry. Please mujhe maaf kardo Shravan."
It breaks Ramnath's heart as Shravan rips his hand out of his hold and walks out.
He was just trying to keep his son to himself, he never thought that things would get this exponentially out of control. He never meant things to get so far and bitter. He just wanted the best for Shravan.
But he failed to recognize that was best for Shravan was the truth. Not Suman Tiwari not Nirmala Malhotra. No! Even they couldn't heal him. Only truth and time had the power to restore Shravan to his rightful self. Ramnath just prays that it wasn't too late.
~
His thoughts were in a tangle and the world just ceased to make sense at that point. All this time he was living a lie. All this time he was worshipping a liar. All this bloody time!
The house was far too silent. It was such a huge contrast to the tumult that was going on his mind. No! This couldn't do! How in the world could everything be so peaceful when his whole world was turned upside down?!!
He is glad he reached his room because here behind the closed door of his bedroom he can be destructive. His world can be decimated. He is glad that he had replaced his mirror just so he can pulverize it again into pieces of simmering glass. He trashes the shelves of the wardrobe, breaking bottles of perfume and cracking the dials of his watches. And when that's not enough he takes to the racks that held his model cars.
It was after his room was in a state of absolute disaster that Shravan found peace. He dropped down heavily in the middle of the room, amidst broken parts of his model car collection and other trinkets. He realizes that he should be crying but he couldn't find the strength to muster up a tear. He doesn't feel broken, just defeated.
Yeah, defeated seemed like the appropriate word. He felts as if he had just fought a battle and now he has returned home, defeated. He lost. He felt lost. He wonders if this was what Suman must have felt, talking out of the Malhotra Mansion two mere days ago. He knows that if he looked into a mirrior right now then his expression would reflect that of which Sumo wore as she descended the steps from his room, leaving for Tiwari Killa.
The more he thinks about it the surer he is; she must have been defeated too. Because while she wasn't entirely faultless, she too was a victim of power play from her loved ones.
"Sumo.." he croaks out sub consciously. The mere mention of her name seemingly cleared the fog from his mind and he finally registers his state and that of his room. He blinks once, twice before, rubbing a hand down his face, regretting creating such a mess-of his room and of himself. The room now felt dirty and depressing. He couldn't stand staying here for a minute longer.
The Yard.' His brain supplies. He needs clear space and fresh air.
He stumbles to the yard, where he habitually drank himself to madness, taking the exact seat where he cursed himself, his mom, his fate and his Sumo. He thinks if Scotch would do him any good right now but then negates the idea. He didn't need numbness right now. He just needs peace, forgiveness and Sumo.
"Preeti?" He hears Pushkar's concerned voice come from the living room and he considers leaving the house for a while. He didn't need to hear the love in his brother's voice for his wife, not when his love life had been brutally murdered by his own father and his twisted sense of possessiveness. "Preeti? Tum ro kyu rahi ho?" He stands up, walks over to the living room to grab his keys and leave but then his world decides to stop again.
"Suman Di-" She sobs unable to continue.
"Kya hua Sumo ko?" Pushkar encourages her.
"Suman Di hospital mein hai."
"KYUN?! Kya hua hai Sumo ko?" It's not his voice but Pushkar's that asked the question. He grabs Preeti by the shoulder when she doesn't answer. "Prerti! Kuch toh bolo kya hua hai Sumo ko?"
"Di ne-Di ne galti se galat dawaiya le ne, toh unhe usse negative reaction hua hai." Preeti's voice was punctuated by several sobs that broke the sentence down to many pieces.
How silly could the woman get?! Shravan thought, infuriated by the fact that she could get so callous while taking medications that she almost lost her life. But then was there more than met the eye...was this just carelessness?
"Pushkar kahi yeh suicide attempt-" Preeti voiced his fear.
And while Pushkar was quick to brush off such doubts, Shravan couldn't shake the feeling that maybe, maybe it was suicide. A person was bound to break sometime and now in the light of recent revelations, he was afraid that he pushed Sumo off her edge.
"Doctor keh rahe the ki Di ka heart rate ab bhi thoda low hai, aur unhe halka sa fever bhi hai. Toh unhe Di ko mandatorily 48 hours under observation karna hoga."
He faintly feels the grooves on the keys painfully digging into his flesh and it's that feeling that brings him out of his thoughts. He needs to see Sumo NOW!
~
Sumo finds herself sitting on the swing of her old house. Her house, not Tiwari Killa but her parent's house. Her feet don't reach the ground so that she could swing herself. And she finds it odd considering that she is no longer a 5-year old girl but a 25-year old woman of about 5 feet 7inches.
"Toh kya socha hai tune?" A voice comes from behind her, a voice she instantly remembers.
"Maa?!" She turns her face around to meet the prettiest face of all smiling down at her. "Aap? Yaha-"
Her mom smiles down at her, giving the swing a gently push. "Toh aur kaha hoti? Meri pyaari si beta itni pareshaan hai, baar baar mujhe pukaar rahi hai, aur main na aao?"
Suman smiles a sad smile, staring straight ahead, wondering about where to start. "Jaanti hoon. Tujhe kuch kehne hi zarrorat nahi hai"
"Ma, mujhe kuch samajh nahi aa raha hai. Mujhe kya karna chahiye?"
"Jo tera mann kehta hai."
She wonders if all moms are so cryptic while giving advises or just hers. It wasn't the time to be philosophical, it was time to be practical. Her dumb philosophy got her nowhere. "Maaa" she lets out a whine, "Bolo naaa"
The swing comes to an abrupt stop and Sumo turns out to ask her mom why she had stopped swinging. Her mom was gone. "Great! Yahi hota hai tere saat Sumo beta! Jabhi sochti hu and ab apni mann ki baat kahungi toh sab chale jaate hai. Typical.
"Soch Sumo soch..." she tells herself, shutting her eyes in concentration.
When she does eventually open them she found herself in a pale green hospital room. She knows why she is here. She is here because she was stupid and she didn't think before taking the medicines. Stupid, stupid Sumo.
But she had come to a conclusion. She would wait for him. She knew he could come for her, the only think she wasn't sure about was the when. But she would wait. He was worth it.
The doctor chooses to walk in at the exact moment, he greeted her with a smile that she really couldn't reciprocate, her lips were chapped and cracking. He performed the required check-up and declared her A-okay. He heartily announced that she could be discharged-but because there always is a but with doctors, after a day and a half.
"Main tumhari family members to inform kar deta hoon." He lets her know and takes his leave.
A day and a half. She tells herself that she would wait for him for a day and a half. If he doesn't show up, then she would have to take matters into her own hands.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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Cricket
Anupamaa
