Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19
She was lying on the only bed that the small Dispensary had. The nurse made an intra-venous access with a cathetar which was inserted into a peripheral vein in her right hand. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the swift puncture and was angry with the Nurse for doing it in a hurry. She then hung a transparent liquid in the drip chamber with ease that it dropped few initial drops in quick succession which she adjusted. Her Dad took a step near her,
"Can't you do it with care?"
The nurse looked puzzled. She didn't say anything till she adjusted the arrangement.
"I know what I am doing."
Her Dad didn't speak anything, hung his head and stood next to the bed. My Uncle stopped the Nurse and asked her about the patient's health and she explained everything she knew with patience.
Finally she said, "We have many years of experience and I know how to handle these things. Anyways I don't think any of you had cared about the girl's well being."
She shook her head as a sign of resentment and left the room.
The whole lot looked ashamed at each other and my Uncle conveyed that she is getting an Intra venous shot to overcome electrolyte imbalance and the blood tests are being done. I went near her and wiped away the saliva that had spelled from her mouth and sat next to her. The plastic Canulla and the small red spot in it signifying blood drawn out were sending chills and I held the fingers in that hand. She was unconscious, but the slight warmth the fingers had, sent comforting waves through my cold hands. I was looking at the tiny scar that her right thumb has. The scar had become the reminder of my birthday in second year of college. She brought a cake right to our department library and burnt her thumb when she tried lighting all the candles with a single match stick. I looked up to see her hair flying over her face inviting me to hold them and make them fall in the bunch.
I moved closer and kept my right hand on her right cheek much to gain back my composure than to comfort her. Loving her wasn’t tough. How often have we abstained from loving someone who has shown us how to live? But why did she go through all these troubles for me? Why should she risk her life? Life would have been much better without all these longings and sufferings if we had gone in our own ways. Well, we don’t have a choice in all encounters; we have to love the one who has it in them to break our comfort zones no matter how hard it is. After all, reasoning and rational analysis fails only in love. "Love happens" as much certainly as "Life goes on"
I was losing the idea of where I am now. I could see her sleeping in my hands and nothing else mattered.
I turned to see someone standing next to me when he kept his hand on my shoulder. It took a moment to realize the person.
"So. You are the one who stopped my marriage."
He had a wide smile for which I gave back an indifferent look.
"Hey, I was just kidding. She loves you more than she loves herself."
"I know." I said and a tear dropped from my eyes which I didn't allow to roll on my cheeks.
"Oh guys. Sorry. I forgot that I haven't told anything about her condition. She was completely out of danger. Actually she never was in one. She just had symptoms of Dehydration when we brought her here. Oral rehydration could not be given as she was unconscious and we arranged for Intra venous rehydration."
I was relieved a bit. "But Dehydration can't be this serious" the right brain was active again.
"It won't be. But she hasn't taken any food or fluids for at least 2 days. Increased stress and the smoke should have made the situation worse." the doctor said this as he came near to check if the Drip is set in the right gauge. He then turned to her parents, "How on earth can you guys leave her to this state when she is at home?"
They didn't speak a word. Her mother reached my mother’s shoulders whom my mom hugged.
"It's all because of me. I never understood the value of people. For me the rules that the past showed were indispensible and always thought what will happen in future if those were not followed. I never understood that am not living the present because of it. I never understood everyone here can make you feel small by loving you more than what you deserve." Her Dad said facing the ground.
My Uncle held his hand, "Better late than never." He said and gave a hug, may be as a welcome to rational world from myths and stupidity. I was watching them break free from centuries old barrier created to divide people. Just then my cousin signaled all of us to move out of the small room and wait outside. Everyone moved out without asking me to come out. I saw her lying, eyes shut and a small bend in her lips occurred as I touched her chin. We remained so for a few minutes.
"Come. Let’s discuss how we can arrange their marriage." I heard her Dad ask.
"Yes. There is no reason to wait any longer. We shall fix the date as soon as she gets well." My Dad replied with a smile.
"It should be as grand as possible; I now have many people to invite. For all these years I have not respected the people who have worked for me and with me in the name of caste. From now on they are as important to me as anyone else and I should call everyone."
"Yes, that will be a perfect. But let marriage be a simple one, we don’t have to spend on the unnecessary grandiose."
"Hmmm. We can discuss about it. I want this to be the best wedding I have ever seen."
I heard them go about discussing the marriage arrangements in detail and went out to tell them something I had in mind. I know they won’t like what I am going to tell but that is important.
"I don’t want this marriage now." I said looking at them who exchanged puzzled looks as they heard me.
"Why? Who is stopping you?" my Dad asked with a firm face.
"There has been a long break. We have to catch up with lots of things. We have to find out if our common interests and differences are still the same. I don’t want to end up like all those failed love marriages which end in a divorce or become a namesake union for the family." I leaned on the scribbled wall and was looking up at the heavy metal fan from the past century rotating slowly.
"Do you really want this? She will do anything for you." Her mother looked concerned and confident.
"That’s exactly what I don’t want her to do. I have been a reason for her to realize her wings. Now I don’t want to cripple them. Let her fly high with freedom and find her own sky. If that sky lies above my land, then we shall remain together lifelong making horizon as realty." I gave a quick smile and turned to see her lying on the bed still unconscious.
"Oh come on. You guys can never dislike each other." The intern came near and held my hand and said in a pleading tone.
"Yes! We can’t. Instead we will start locking our dreams and pretend to be happy, thinking it as a sacrifice. These sacrifices will then form the symbols of our love. I don’t want this; as any symbol for love should be love itself not an act that made us, refrain from doing what we love."
"Why are you doing this?" my aunt came near and asked me, pulling my head down and looking at my eyes.
"My life has never been predictable. I don’t want to take chances now. Look at her, she wanted to become a Designer, an Interior decoration expert but has become a software engineer. She had dreams and was living a life filled with happiness till I met her. She gave that life to me and has lived in solitude all these days to make herself independent. She has to gain back her dreams and start living a life that she loves."
"Why can’t those happen after your marriage?" my mom asked.
"Marriage is a bigger commitment; it has its own demands. I want her back not because I love her but because she alone can show me the meaning of my life. But before that she has to become that someone she was in college, she has to make herself dig out all those ambitions she had buried for me. She can’t do that when I am around. She can’t take risks when she has a dependant."
The nurse came out from her room and said
"What kind of people are you? First you let a girl become ill of starvation, then you bring her here unconscious and now when she has regained her conscious, no one is near her"
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