FF: Asleep - C1

The sun was shining brightly and the flowers were blooming. A young woman of about 21 years old rushed to the hospital muttering to herself. ‘This always happens to me. I am always late for everything. If that nurse leaves her station, what am I going to do? Rashmi Aunty will be so disappointed. I can’t do one thing right.’

She walked towards the reception and collided with a ward boy. He was mesmerized with the young woman. He scanned her and found her long dark hair tied in a ponytail to be appealing. He wasn’t too sure about the black Tshirt and the light blue jeans, but her hazel eyes were very striking. He could picture her in a sari or a dress and knew that with her height of about 5’7 and her striking features, she would outdo everyone.

She quickly said excuse me and walked past him. She went to the reception and asked for Ms. Mary. ‘Hi, I am Kripa. I came here to get Rashmi Aunty’s reports. She was busy so she asked me. I have a note from her giving me permission to get her reports. Did you get a call from her?’

Ms. Mary smiled. ‘Here, let me see the note.’ She scanned the note and saw Rashmi Aunty’s signature. She looked for the reports and gave them to her.

Kripa gave a huge sigh of relief. At least something was right today. ‘Thank you so much! I thought I’d miss you. Can I take a walk around?’

‘Sure, just make sure you don’t just wander in random wards. I don’t think that the patients will appreciate it.’ Ms. Mary said.

Kripa walked towards the corridor and mentally noted all the commotion that was happening. Yes, all this would be useful in her book. She knew that she wasn’t supposed to walk into wards but she couldn’t resist it. She walked into one of the wards and saw a man in a wheelchair. He had bandages on his head and his body appeared to be injured as well. He was staring outside.

Kripa walked to the man but didn’t see his face. ‘Hi, I’m Kripa. And you are?’

Silence.

She tried again. ‘I was just passing by and saw you looking outside. Would you like some company?’

She met again with silence.

An agitated nurse walked in and saw her. ‘Who are you and what are you doing here?’

‘Hi, I’m Kripa. I just saw this man staring outside the window and I thought that I should give him company. But he didn’t say anything. Who is he?’

‘He won’t say anything because he can’t. Nobody knows who he is and nobody comes to see him. It’s none of your business but I’ll tell you all the same. He was brought in the hospital a month ago. He was very badly injured. From that day, he hasn’t made any movement on his own. The only thing he does is opens or closes his eyes. And he can breathe on his own. Other than that, it’s as if he is dead.’

Kripa was horrified. She couldn’t imagine anything like that. And nobody came to see him? Poor man! What if she was in such a situation? She shuddered just thinking about it. She made a decision. ‘Do you mind if I come see him?’

‘It’s against the hospital rules for a random person to come see a patient.’ The nurse dragged a hand through her hair. But this poor man was lonely! ‘Fine, you can come see him. I just can’t see him like that. I was coming back to put him in bed anyways. Would you like to help?’

Kripa jumped at the opportunity and helped the nurse put the man in bed. She looked at his chiseled face and smiled. He had beautiful brown eyes and thick dark hair that looked like it hadn’t been cut in a while. He also had a beard that Kripa was sure hadn’t existed before the poor man’s accident. She wondered how his jaw and chin looked like. She shook herself from her reverie and turned to the nurse.

Kripa thanked the nurse and the nurse left. She turned back to the man, sat on a stool beside him, and began speaking to him. ‘Hi, as you already know, I’m Kripa. It’s really nice to meet you. I thought I was going to be late today to get Rashmi Aunty’s reports but I made it. Rashmi Aunty is my neighbor. She is a sweet 70 year old lady and she has nobody to look after her. She is a very strong woman though. She is one of the most inspiring women ever. She ran away from her abusive husband when she was very young. She had just lost her child because of him. Can you imagine anyone hitting such a sweet lady and end up killing their child like that? Not me. But anyways, she did such a fabulous job with her life after that, it’s just very touching.’

Kripa paused for a second. ‘I wonder what your story is. You don’t seem like the type to lie in the hospital with no one around you. I hope you get better soon. Oh, I haven’t even told you about myself. I’m 21 and I graduated from Delhi University recently with a major in English Lit and a minor in History. I know, I know, you must be wondering what the hell I’m going to be doing with my life with those majors. But really, those two subjects are the passions of my life. So right now, I work part time as a front desk receptionist. Blah, I can’t stand being so fake around the corporate types.’

She looked at the dull hospital room and frowned. ‘The room is so depressing. How do they expect patients to get well in this atmosphere? Anyways, don’t worry, when I come see you tomorrow, I’ll bring something to brighten this room a little bit.’

Kripa looked at her watch and gasped. ‘I really should get going. Rashmi Aunty’s going to kill me! I’ll be back tomorrow, OK? I don’t know what time because my life is a bit crazy like that, but I promise I’ll be back.’ She stood up from the stool and walked to the door. She turned back to look at him, smiled and said goodbye.

Kripa hurried back to meet Rashmi Aunty but she was thinking about that mysterious man she had just met. She hoped that she never ended up being like that. She ran up the stairs and knocked on Rashmi Aunty’s door. The door opened and a short yet strong looking woman smiled at Kripa with her grey head shaking. ‘I knew something or the other would happen. Why are you so late this time?’

Kripa sailed in the apartment and hugged the lady. ‘Hi Aunty, you know me so well. Anyways, this little boy was lost on the street so I helped him look for his parents. His parents were crying when we found them. It was such a sweet reunion. I went to the hospital and Ms. Mary gave me the reports. Here you go,’ she handed Rashmi Aunty her reports and continued with the story, ‘I just started walking around in the hospital and saw this man. Oh Rashmi Aunty, it was so sad! The poor man is banged up everywhere and can’t move or talk or anything! And no one was going there to see him so I just stayed there and chatted with him a little bit.’ Kripa sniffed a little bit and controlled her tears. She just couldn’t see other people in pain.

‘Oh Kripa, you borrow too much trouble. I do hope everything works out with that man. Anyways, let’s read my report.’ She opened the report and read it. She gave a huge sigh of relief. ‘OK, good news, I don’t have breast cancer.’

Kripa gave a squeal of joy, ‘Oh Aunty, I’m so glad you’re fine. I’m so happy everything’s alright.’

Rashmi Aunty sniffed as well. ‘Yeah, I was so worried. How would I have paid all the bills? It’s not like there is anyone to take care of me. I guess I would just have had a very painful death.’

Kripa shook her head with her eyes widening. ‘Aunty! Don’t say that! I would have taken care of you. Don’t ever say that again, OK!’ At this, both women hugged. When they pulled apart, Kripa looked at her watch again and gave an excited squeak again, ‘Aunty! I’m going to be late for that stupid job! Bye Aunty! Take care.’ She gave her a quick hug, ran to her apartment, changed, and hurried to get to her job.