Epistle 60: The Nine Lives of a Cat
A/N: Hey there everyone! :D :D Here is the next update! :D :D
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"Ranveer! Ranveer! Get up! We're out from the car! Please, get up! RANVEER!"
Ishaani slapped at Ranveer's face repeatedly as he lay motionless upon the lapping water. The strength of the flooded waters had washed both of them up for some indefinite amount of time before Ishaani felt herself get thrown upon something that felt like a pavement, Ranveer in her grip. His chest was bleeding while he has several cuts and bruises all over his arms and face, his shirt torn from several places. His lower lip was bleeding from the corner and had swollen up.
The moment she was thrown out of the car, she felt herself get swept away by the impact of the murderous waters until she managed to catch hold of the tree that had nearly damaged their car. Breaking upon the surface as she breathed in the dear sweet air, she knew that she had to go back for Ranveer. Diving underneath, she could fairly see that the torch light in the car was still on, Ranveers silhouette tugging at his seatbelt, the water turbulent.
It was too dark to make out anything or any direction, but as she finally managed to swim against the direction of the water, she realized that the silhouette had fallen limp. Blindly taking hold of the car and entering it again through the cavity where the windshield glass no longer existed, she now managed to see Ranveer's form better, the torchlight still working like a gruesome beacon of tragedy.
His head had fallen upon the steering wheel as his hands loosely gripped the seatbelt that was now free from its holder. She realized that there was something metallic stuck upon his chest that looked freakishly like the crowbar he had broken the windshield with. Without wasting another second as she felt herself go breathless, she pulled herself up to the surface before taking in a deep breath and diving back down once again, now knowing how to get him out from the car.
Five minutes later, Ishaani had managed to pull a now-unconscious Ranveer upon the surface of the water without hurting or roughly hauling him against anything. But before she could even look at him, she lost her grip over him in the heavy current of the vicious floods. In the pursuit of his rapidly flowing body she found herself getting washed away as well until after an indiscriminate amount of time, they were dumped over a higher ground.
Ishaani's eyes now fell over Ranveer's face and she could have sworn that her world had ended then and there. There was a peaceful look upon his face, a look that threw her into the most horrid moment of her nightmare that she'd been seeing for eight years now - the same look he had upon his face when he died in her arms after telling her thank you. She stared at him, horror-struck and paralyzed, barely realizing where they were.
"Looks like we have another two patients... get a stretcher now!"
Two ward boys approached them quickly, picking Ranveer up and putting him upon a gurney even before Ishaani had time to protest. It managed to break her daze as she was rudely snapped back into her senses. She looked up to realize that they were in front of a hospital as she ran now behind the ward boys, moritified at the sight of Ranveer being taken away from her.
Her mind begged her to reverse the whole calamity as she caught up with the stretcher at long last, her mind oblivious to the white, sterile din of the hospital. It was her fault. It was her fault that he was... No, she couldn't think like that! But, oh yes, it was entirely her fault!
She ran behind the stretcher that was now directed towards the emergency room, her feet feeling like lead after the hours of cold and inactivity. Ishaani was about to enter the room behind the stretcher when a nurse caught her by her arm, giving her a gentle look.
"Child, I'll need you to-"
"NO! I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" she yelled dementedly, not caring whether she woke up a single or a hundred dead people. She needed her best friend back! She needed her life back!
"We're taking him to the ER, so I need you to stay here," requested the nurse, but by now Ishaani had lost all control upon herself.
"NO! PLEASE, PLEASE!" she begged hysterically as the doctor came out, looking annoyed at the ruckus being made. His eyes fell upon Ishaani's hyperventilating form and he sighed, looking at the nurse helplessly.
"Bring her in."
Ishaani looked up, her shivering form following the doctor in irregular strides as she entered the room, her eyes instantly falling upon Ranveer. One of the doctors was giving him chest compressions while another nurse now administered him with external oxygen.
"How long has he been out there?" asked the doctor who'd brought her in as he quickly barked out some more instructions to a third nurse. The hospital was in a frenzy with the incoming patients, all of the staff looking frazzled.
"I don't know... Five, ten minutes, maybe," replied Ishaani, not sure of her answer. She wasn't sure about anything in that minute.
"He's non-responsive... get me some atropine quickly, and keep three milligrams of dopamine on stand-by. Keep a defibrillator on hold as well," commanded the doctor as his colleague now took over the interrogation section, trying another round of aggressive chest compressions with Ranveer.
"Has he been prone to seizures?"
"No... No... No seizures," replied Ishaani shakily.
Just then, Ranveer spat out some water as he began coughing, his breathing hoarse and heavy. The doctors and Ishaani heaved a sigh of relief as his eyes flew open, looking around at the room disorientedly. Ishaani disregarded the nurse who had just connected him to an IV drip as she closed the distance and caught hold of Ranveer's hand, looking at him and feeling a wave of life sweep upon her.
She'd barely had enough time to thank God when she noticed that there was something wrong with him. It was evident that in spite of the mask that the nurse had now put upon his face, he could not breathe. He was now beginning convulse, his eyes rolling back into his head.
"What's happening to him?!" she shrieked as the doctors looked alarmed, a knowing look crossing their faces.
"Nurse, connect him to the EKG quickly and keep pumping him with oxygen! He looks hypoxemic... Keep the O2 going and we need to get him on a ventilator, now!" hissed the doctor in urgency as Ranveer's eyelids began to droop once again, his breathing frightening.
"His vitals are falling!" informed once of the nurses, who was noting his stats from the EKG machine.
The doctor who'd summoned Ishaani inside quickly began massaging his chest, trying to ease his breathing as she stared on, aghast. Another nurse overhead was still administering the oxygen from a manual pump even though Ranveer's conditions only seemed to be worsening, the quicker beeping of the machine proof as his pulse rates seemed to be falling even lower.
The doctor gasped at Ranveer's deteriorating condition upon the monitor, now turning to look towards Ishaani fearfully.
"Child, I need you to keep him awake, okay? I'm going to pump out the water from his stomach, but I need you to keep him awake... He must not fall asleep, you get me?" he commanded and Ishaani shook her head frightfully.
She now felt sick and tired and dizzy, but she knew that there was no rest and no sleep. Not until Ranveer was okay.
"Ranveer, it's going to be alright, okay! Look at me!" she screamed as Ranveer's eyes met her own tiredly, his hand still within hers. He suddenly looked alert as Ishaani continued in the same demented paranoia.
"We've got loads to live for... all our fantasies... our promises... think about Papa, think about your parents... your dreams, your thesis paper... about me! Come on!" she begged futilely as his eyelids drooped once again, his breathing now suddenly becoming shallow.
"You have to become a big man still, you have to achieve so much! No, no! Get up! You can't do this to us, to me! Get up!" she shrieked as his eyes shut, his chest now barely rising.
"His stats are crashing!" notified the nurse while the doctor injected him with something Ishaani couldn't determine.
Ranveer's body fell limp as the doctor instructed his colleague to take Ishaani out, hissing out urgent instructions to the nurses who were trying their best to keep Ranveer breathing. Her eyes fell upon the heart monitor that was falling nearly flat. Ishaani had barely any sense of what was happening to her as she felt her knees buckle and crash upon the floor, her vision suddenly clouded by an inky blackness that obliterated all sense of existence.
"He's going into V-Fib! Get me the paddles, now!" was the last thing she was aware of hearing before she felt herself get sucked away into the darkness, sinking into an impossible calm after the storm.
-x-
Shades of light blended into the dissipating darkness as Ranveer forced his eyes open, feeling groggy. He wished that he could snuggle up and remain warmly tucked up in the blankets, but now that the light had broken into his vision, he knew that waking up was inevitable. He shut his eyes for a couple of times before he opened them finally, his blurry surroundings coming into focus. A number of strange faces swam in front of his eyes, talking gibberish that he had no clue about until they all disappeared. He felt too tired to strain his neck and wonder where he was. Instead, he looked at the ceiling and sighed tiredly.
"Welcome back."
Ranveer looked slowly in the direction of the voice to see Ishaani's vision pop in front of him. She, too, was in a hospital gown, her hair disheveled. She had several cuts and bruises upon her arms and face and she certainly didn't look in any good condition either. She looked terribly sick, but she did have a smile plastered upon her face, a relief passing over her features the moment their eyes met. All he could do was shut his eyes and wonder what had happened to them until the horrific memories from the past few hours flit into his mind like running images, making him re-live a quick recap of the whole day.
Opening his eyes, he gasped as he now took in his surroundings in alarm.
"Where-"
"Your house, ofcourse," replied Ishaani, looking displeased. Ranveer blinked his eyes at her several times.
"What?"
"Well, since you love this place so much, I spoke to one of the doctors. They've agreed to rent you a room over here. People usually prefer staying at hotels for a vacation, but you're different again, aren't you? You like to vacation at hospitals! So, there! This is your advance birthday gift - a deluxe room in the hospital!" she replied contemptuously, her voice hoarse. Ranveer now understood why she looked so frazzled, and instantly felt a surge of guilt enter his heart.
"Ishaani, I-"
"This is the third time in eight years you've been admitted for a near-fatal incident!" she spoke, now fuming. "Honestly, do you enjoy torturing me like this by dying in front of my eyes all the time?" she accused, looking livid now.
"Ishaani-"
"Shut up and I don't want to talk to you! You suck, Ranveer," she said angrily, turning her face away from him. Ranveer sighed. He knew that she was going to be a tough cookie to crack.
"Fine, don't talk to me... But can I atleast get a hug? I feel sore," he said, looking at her innocently. She didn't budge from her seat but now looked at him in despair.
"Do you know how frightened I was when I saw you there like that..." she began but let her statement trail off as Ranveer sighed softly. Ishaani looked up and pointed at his chest worriedly. "And what happened to your chest?"
"I don't know, really, but I think it was the crowbar..." he replied uncertainly while Ishaani nodded her head. "I don't know, I couldn't understand a thing that was happening in those few moments..." he continued before shutting his eyes, the memories too much for him to take. Forcing open his eyes after sometime, he looked at Ishaani, who was already staring at him in concern.
"How did you even get me out? I thought I was a goner," muttered Ranveer, still looking too stunned upon his own survival. Ishaani smiled in spite of herself and replied.
"I told you that I would tether you to life. I came back for you the moment I managed to get hold of myself."
"Oh, wow..." was all he could reply with, looking dazed. Ishaani looked at him seriously, speaking now to her hands.
"The doctors said that you've barely managed to survive by the skin of your teeth. Had it been another five minutes and you wouldn't have had a chance."
"Don't they say that all the time, anyway?" joked Ranveer. Ishaani's glare made him fall quiet.
"Don't be a prat, it's not funny. I was there, I saw everything. That is, before I fainted in shock and exhaustion, as the doctors put it. When I woke up, you were on the bed beside mine. The doctors said that you'd miraculously pulled it off, and that they'd taken you off the ventilator since you were stable," she let him know, looking agitated now.
"Wow..." as all Ranveer said for the second time before Ishaani continued, her voice now breaking as a tear fell from her eye.
"Yeah, you'd almost flat-lined by that time. Something about a V-Fib..." she spoke absent-mindedly and Ranveer gasped in shock.
"What?! It was that bad?" he questioned, his tone now awkward.
"Well, it's good that you realize it," retorted Ishaani, her tone stern while Ranveer looked at her guiltly. The two of them remained silent for some time before Ranveer spoke quietly.
"Ishaani, it's-"
"My fault, I know," cut Ishaani, leaving Ranveer surprised. "This is the third time you've been in a condition like this because of me."
"How?"
"Do I need to spell everything out for you, you fool?" she grumbled, annoyed and flabbergasted.
She instead took to playing with Ranveer's fingers, not knowing what to do next and how to continue the conversation when her guilt had dried away all the words from her lips.
"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to scare you like that," whispered Ranveer finally, knowing that she wasn't going to say anything. She looked up at him, her eyes now red. He gave her a gentle smile that gave her the courage to put her fears into words.
"Do you have any idea about how uncanny this was to my nightmare? When you lay there like that in front of me, bleeding..." she whispered, the tears now fast leaving her eyes. Ranveer gulped guiltily, now taking her hand in his own and rubbing circles on it soothingly.
"Ishaani, I'm sorry..." he repeated again after some time, while she still refused to meet eyes with him.
"Sorry isn't going to bring back my frame of mind," she replied bitterly. He sighed, knowing what was going to work.
"Maybe a hug might work?" he put forth hesitantly, looking at her with a mischievous smile.
He didn't feel mischievous at all. Quite the contrary, but he had to give it his best shot at making her happy. Ishaani looked at him hesitantly after a few minutes before nodding her head.
"Works with me. Scoot," she whispered as Ranveer pushed himself to the edge of the bed, thankful that it was broad enough to accommodate them both and had an armrest on either side so that they wouldn't fall off.
Ishaani climbed up carefully, making sure not to hurt his IV-connected hand as she put her head upon his chest, thankful that the wound was the other side. Ranveer put his arm upon her hand and stroked her hair, both of them sighed tiredly.
"Wow, I was so certain that I was never going to remain alive to see you again..." Ranveer confessed slowly, stroking her cheek lovingly as their eyes let. He kissed her forehead, and Ishaani got her answer. After some time, Ishaani spoke again.
"You know, Ranveer? After this incident, I was expecting to have the nightmares back. But I didn't get back any. I don't know why I dreamt of them, but I'm glad that it's over now."
Ranveer could hear the relief evident in her voice, and he could find himself relaxing as well. He was glad that she'd gotten rid of them at long last.
"I'm glad that you don't have to see them anymore... you know, I was thinking about something," added Ranveer suddenly, looking inquisitively now. Ishaani nodded her head and he continued. "Our bands... aren't these of the same description that you saw in your dreams?"
Ishaani gave him a coy smile and nodded her head.
"I got the idea from the dreams and co-incidentally I found the same ones," she confessed and he gave her a pensive look.
"Curious, really," he remarked, not finding a better way to describe the irony of the rings.
"Do you think Love might return again?" asked Ishaani, looking at him with apparent interest. Ranveer gave her question a good thought before he chuckled softly.
"No... No, she won't. Not this time."
"How can you be so sure?" she asked, surprised. Ranveer smiled at her broadly.
"Because this time, I haven't lost my way."
"How poetic..." stated Ishaani as she snuggled closer to him, shutting her eyes. She sighed as Ranveer's arms pulled her into his embrace more securely, purring to herself in contentment. Ranveer gave her a surprised look before laughing.
"Did you just purr like a cat?" Ishaani looked up at him embarrassed, her cheeks flushing red.
"Well, look who's talking!" she retorted swiftly when she found no better defense. Ranveer looked bewildered.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Ishaani propped herself up on her elbow and stroked his hair softly.
"You're the cat with the nine lives. You've used up three, you've only got six more to go," she mimed in the voice of an astrologer while both of them laughed this time. It felt so good to feel alive and happy when there was so much loss, so much tragedy upon their heads. It felt so good to be warm and safe and beside each other, away from all harm, laughing off something that hours ago was nearly a nasty truth of death.
"You're impossible..." was all Ranveer choked out as Ishaani took back her original position upon his arm. Both of them remained quiet for an indefinite amount of time before Ranveer whispered softly.
"Ishaani, are you awake?"
Ishaani sighed in response and Ranveer continued.
"Thank you for saving my life... all three times," he added and Ishaani sighed again. She looked up at him as she kissed his cheek, her gaze passionately.
"You're my most prized treasure... I'm not letting you go anywhere anytime soon," she promised as she stroked his cheek, his eyes shutting at the touch of her fingers trailing on his face. He smiled sleepily.
"You're hands down the best thing that's ever happened to me," he whispered as both of them looked at each other lovingly, their eyes speaking the rest.
Both of them smiled as they snuggled and fell asleep, all the worries of the world leaving them for when they'd get back to reality. The doctors re-entered the room to see them both fast asleep and sighed tiredly. At least two souls that night had found a living solace with each other.
Many weren't that fortunate.
10th August, 2005:
It's been two weeks since the incident and Ishaani and I are still recuperating.
I'm sorry that I'm writing to you after so many days, but well... a lot has been happening. Where did I leave off? Oh yes, at the hospital when Ishaani and I fell asleep. Yeah, we slept for nearly half a day before we woke up again. The doctors ran some more tests upon us and well, we were both diagnosed with malaria. The doctors said that the rains had lessened greatly and that normalcy would be restored in some time.
The moment the telephone lines were rectified, the hospital placed a call to our place on our behalf and let them know of our whereabouts. It had been three days since we were at the hospital and both of us were down with malaria. The doctors said that it was inevitable since we'd both been underwater for that long, but luckily it's mild, so the doctor says that with sufficient care, we'll be alright soon.
Ishaani and I have been on a constant supply of caffeine in the hospital to help us keep our body warmth and I think we're both kinda addicted to it now. The doctors kept us in the deluxe ward and let us accommodate three other kids our age, stating that it was better we remained isolated from the common ward. The trauma would be too much to bear. Ishaani and I did manage to get a look and what we saw... Ishaani fainted in shock at the calamity that reigned. We didn't dare to leave our ward again until Baba and Mota Babuji came to visit us.
Oh, they were so angry at our stupid behaviour and I could have sworn that they looked twenty years older. But they hugged us so tightly, as though afraid that the moment they would let us go from their embrace, we'd disappear. They told us how everybody at home were worried sick and how Baa and Falguni Maa had kept fasts for us so that we'd return back home safe and sound. They'd lost hope, but then again they knew that we were fighters. They thanked the doctors profusely for saving our lives and taking such good care of us while the doctors gave them instructions on our health conditions. The doctors kept us both in the hospital for another four days before signing our discharge papers.
When asked, we didn't bother to indulge into too many details, but gave them a rough sketch.
What were we to tell them, anyway? How the Earth's slimy creatures crawled all upon us in the dirty waters and the sight of death that we saw floating by us like wasted bodies? No, they could do without the details - they weren't important. Everyone have been too stunned and impacted by the incident. The moment we went home, we were swarmed... and Ishaani went on to say how I saved her live without thinking about my own and well... I'm being showered with gratitude and affection right now.
But I'm too numb to feel anything. So is Ishaani. Everybody in the house have become panicky about our presence and our health and safety, but somehow, Ishaani and I are totally numb to it. It's as though somebody has robbed us of the power to feel... to let the horror of what happened to us make our soul shiver. We spend hours of the day together now just sitting beside each other and giving each other the assurance of our presence... That as long as we had each other, it would become alright.
Ishaani's going through the same thing as well and we've agreed to give each other some space before we opened up about this. We both needed time to cope with this. Our health has also been improving steadily and everybody has been taking care a lot of us. Complete bed-rest and no studies at all. The two of us like having a lot of caffeine when we feel glum or the memories get too much to bear - the caffeine is something we use to cope and it makes us feel better as well, giving us hope.
We had faced worse before; we could do it again.
On a side note, Love didn't make a reappearance this time, and I'm not surprised. If I were to be honest, I knew she wouldn't return because I'd begun to understand how her appearances were patterned now. As long as Ishaani was with me, spiritually bonded, and I was alright and away from harm, Love wouldn't come back. It was only when Ishaani and I began to part ways that she returned to take me back to her, her presence inflamed by any traumatic event. Love would have returned had we not sorted things out, but we did and I was happy.
I was using Love's only rule of the playbook and it was working. I was learning to let go, finally.
Speaking of dreams, I've got a new set of ones occupying me lately. They started at the hospital, co-incidentally. I don't know whether it was all the suffering and death that's brought them on, but it's strange, really. In my dream, there's a couple drinking coffee at the cafe. And there's conversation, and laughter, yet there's something tragic about both of them. Like as though they were not meant to be. Like as though their time together was numbered. Like as though they were two broken people nursing their hearts... star-crossed lovers who were never meant to be.
I don't know how or why it is that I know this, but it's as though... I know their end even before their story has begun. It's as though their story starts at the end... I cannot remember their faces (like always), but I know the attributes. The girl, she's in her early twenties - beautiful, charming, well-mannered, shy... but there's something very quiet about her... something were deep, very unseating. The boy is full of life - smart, casual, easy... but there's an air about him that I cannot decipher. There's something wrong with him that I cannot place. This is really unnerving. I'd barely begun to figure Love out and now this!
God, why can't life ever go easy upon me?
If life is a mystery box, then my dreams are no escape either. People say that dreams are an escape from reality, but my dreams are falling into even more complexities. If I'm learning to swim through life in the day, then I'm learning to fly in the night. Oh, it's strange... very strange. It's as though my dreams give me the motivation to spread my wings open and fly, making me realize that there was a lot to learn and cherish.
As a child, Maa used to tell me a lot of folklore. Amongst them used to be about a bird who didn't have a lot of feathers. All the other bird laughed at him because he couldn't fly and would only find ways of putting him down. But the bird wouldn't lose hope. He'd try harder and harder against all odds each day, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. The other birds would jeer and laugh at him, but he would use those jibes and insults as his strength to try harder, to persevere harder.
One day, a storm approached as all the bird were happily flying into the sky, showing off with their friends about who could fly better. The water made their feathers heavy, forcing several of them plummeted to their deaths, while several others had to take shelter in caves. And as time passed by, they grew hungrier and hungrier, but the storm only grew more terrible. There was no food, and the only option would be to fly through the storm to where they had stocked all of their reserves.
All the remaining birds of the clan stared at the violent skies in despair when something caught their attention - a flying messiah. They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw something fly through the shadows, even much less so when they saw the bird they'd made fun of fly through the stormy skies like a warrior, dodging away all the bolts of lighting, while the thundering rubbed no effect upon him. His lack of feathers was his advantage, and the will to survive burning as a talisman as he soared through the skies, triumphant.
He brought back food for the other birds hiding in the cave, but by the time he got there, it was too late. He was the only one who survived, the only one who had learnt to fight against all odds. The others had let the fighters in them succumb under the weight of their plush feathers, letting their arrogance cloud their judgment about life. And as the bird stared out at the uproarious sky, he smiled to himself.
He'd finally learned to fly.
And it was on this note that Maa would tell me how one must always keep trying over and over again until they succeeded. They must never let the world's harsh insults or degrading comments get to them, but must use it as a mean to strengthen themselves. One must never give up, ever. Not until they'd achieved what they striven for. To be courageous, to be brave to dream...
It was my favourite story during my childhood. But it was only as I grew older did I realize the irony.
This is me. This bird, its journey, its will to survive, and its battle to victory... this is my story. And every time I soar triumphantly over a stormy night, I know that I'm learning to survive a little more. I know that it's another battle of life that I've conquered, only leaving me stronger and more experienced. My journey has just begun. I've still got a long way to go, a lot to achieve. And this is not just for me, but for Ishaani as well.
But with every passing day, we're learning to fly a little more.
Constructive criticism will be more than welcome and sorry for any typos. :D :D
Next chapter:
Interlude 11
Edited by LadyMeringue - 8 years ago
CID
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
