The Greatest Villain of All Time

Chapter 11: Onkar

I never repeat the same mistakes. Never.

But it feels like I'm doing the same thing.

I'm in the hospital. The sick children are being placed on mats down on the floor as there are no beds available. I kneel by a kid who is still not checked upon. His sudden coughing spilled more blood out of his tracheas, his skin getting paler by the minute. My hands are shaking– urging me to do something. I want to grab some Triphala and Kalmegh roots and provide their extracts to the ailing boy. But I can't. Apart from helping Appa with small chores of his work, I've infinite knowledge which I can never use without having a proper license.

It's repeating. The past has come back but in a different shape and form.

It hasn't even been more than a week since Biju's death that these events are taking place. Why did an epidemic have to first affect Biju out of all the people? Could it not affect someone else like an old person who is destined to die soon? Or someone else– it could be a delinquent. Or it could be anyone in this world, I don't even care. But it was Biju, my best friend. And now these kids... they don't deserve to go through all this.

Amidst all the chaos, Appa rushes to us when he spots me. He looks at me in a state of alarm. "What are you doing here? Why are you here? Are you okay?" He shakes my shoulder when I don't speak anything, just letting the tears flow through my eyes on their own.

"He's alright uncle. We're okay." Kartik reassures. "You should check the children."

Appa flickers his eyes to the child below. He heaves a sigh. "You both leave this instant. We'll take care."

Kartik helps me get up and I do it very reluctantly. Sniffling, I and Kartik make our way through the busy hospital. It was odd to say it but the smell of antiseptic mixed with the medicines that roamed in the air of the patient floor calmed me down. Made me realize that if Biju couldn't survive, it doesn't mean others can't. They can. Physicians like Appa can heal them.

Like I would, one day.

But for now, I exit the hospital premises and meet with a bunch of parents outside the gates– weeping, grieving for their ill children. I can't do anything but feel pity for them as I pass through the crowd that is forming in front of the hospital.

"Onkar! Kartik!" Someone calls out our names from the crowd. We peek to look at the person and find Arun, our classmate.

"What're y'all doing here?" He asks.

"We just–" I look at my wet clothes, not able to distinguish if it's soaked with water or my sweat. "You know what happened now..."

"Ya. It's unfortunate and so confusing."

"Why're you here?" Kartik asks.

"Um, actually my father just got infected too." He bites his lip.

"That's terrible."

"How did that happen?" I question.

"He'd gone to my grandfather's crematorium rituals. Soon after he fell ill."

"Where were the rituals?"

"At river Kranti."

River Kranti. A tributary of river Amrit.

Something clicks in my brain. After offering my sympathy to Arun, I try to talk to other people near the gates of the hospital. The family members of the patients inside. One by one, in the masks of consolation, I try to dig into the reason behind each one's catching this unknown disease.

"My son was swimming in the river with his friends when..."

"My mother went to wash the cows and at night she was coughing blood."

"My father's a farmer. Not only did my father get ill but all the crops died."

For each reason, I find one thing in common. Water. Especially the rivers. Most people seek the waters of river Amrit as its tributaries spread far wide across the kingdom. It could be possible that river Amrit is the source of this disease. But the accusation is vague. There are still many rivers that aren't connected to river Amrit. What about them? They could also be contributing to increasing the number of patients in the hospital.

Well, there's only one person who can answer me. I run back inside.

"Where are you going?" Kartik stops me but I enter the premises yet again.

My eyes desperately search for Appa and catch him talking with a nurse like a hawk's eye. "Appa," I get his attention. "Did you know that this disease is spreading through water?"

He didn't answer. First, he grabs my arm and pulls me to the exit of the hospital before he starts yelling. "What do you think you're doing, huh? Do you think roaming here freely would cause you no harm? It's the time of an epidemic. It can be infectious and it can affect you too. Don't you know that?"

I stop the urge to roll my eyes. "Appa, I'm just asking you one question. Answer me and I'll go."

He grunts. "Yes, it's likely that the disease is spreading through means of water."

"Then we should inform people to stay away from the rivers. We can't risk–"

"It's out of our hands. Let me do what is in my hand. You go. Now." With that, he strides away. However, seconds later, he walks back.

"And don't you dare go near those rivers."

I thought about doing the exact opposite. 

***