Dr. Bhatti kept talking to the Mariamma as he cleaned her abdomen with Iodine. It was as though both of them have known each other for years. Mariamma was laughing and at one time when Dr. Bhatti spoke about Rajkumar, Mariamma was giggling and I was sure had she been fairer, I could have seen her blushing.
Ramesh and I were just spectators, watching yet not belonging.
It was something I wanted to learn. To make a patient comfortable. I wondered if I would ever be as successful as Dr. Bhatti. I knew the key word here was not If I would be, it was I will be.
After he did the procedure and the fluid started to drain in to the bottle, he spoke to Mariamma
“This will take another 30 to 45 minutes. You don’t have to do anything but lay down. You can sleep if you want to.”
Then he looked at me
“You can do the rest of the procedure” And walked out.
Excuse me. do rest of what procedure? I wanted to ask him. But he was already out of the day treatment room. I looked at the nurse and she smiled.
I thought of telling her, i don’t want your damn smile, tell me what I should do. Instead she handed me the patients chart and walked out.
I looked at Ramesh.
My friend, my ally.
He checked his watch. “I think I will go back to the hostel” He spoke
I didn’t want him to leave me alone and go. I was so angry with him 30 minutes ago and right now I would have done anything for him to stay back with me. Nah, not everything, but at least I would tell him the next time I was invited to watch a procedure.
I didn’t want to beg.
I couldn’t beg.
“Bye Nina” Ramesh spoke
“Bye” I mumbled.
He closed the door after him and I felt so alone.
I looked at Mariamma and noticed that she was looking at me. I could see that she was worried.
i was pretty sure, She was wondering if this junior doctor was going to kill me.
I wanted to convince Mariamma that her life is safe with me. But the thing is, I wasn’t so sure myself.
It was not easy to play with a patient’s life.
I felt suffocated.
I looked around the room. There was a window by the side of the room and I walked towards it and opened the window. There were so many people waiting outside the hospital, all waiting for the door to be opened for the morning visiting time. Down the road, I saw a larger crowd in front of the ugly old building that I have always avoided. I knew what was going on. Anytime you see a large crowd near the mortuary, you know it was yet another repeat of life’s cycle.
I quickly closed the curtain, so I don’t have to see what was going on.
Doctors and death are interlinked. Both started with the letter D.
I didn’t want to deal with Death. not yet.
Besides Mariamma was not going to die. She was hail and healthy. I turned around and walked towards Mariamma and sat on the silver round stool, making sure it was not turned to the very top. Because the last thing I wanted was to fall down from the chair in front of Mariamma.
Does anyone here knows how to fix yeast cells on a slide? Yaya is doing a science fair project on yeast.
Thanks