The Phone Call

Chapter 5

The next morning when Arjun reached the hospital, he found it quieter than usual. He looked around and saw that there was no one in the hallway except for the guards and a few of the patients. He noticed that most of the patients were in there rooms, waiting to come out.  He saw a group of patients being taken out and put into big vans outside. 

"Uh, what’s going on?" Arjun asked one of the guards patrolling the hallway.

The guard replied in a gruff voice, "We are moving out the old patients to a bigger hospital about a hundred miles away from here, so that we can move new patients in," saying that the guard shoved past him and continued guarding. Arjun thought about it for a second, and then he realized that Allison was going to leave too! He rushed passed the guards and reached her room. He looked inside to find no one there. He zoomed back to the entrance to see if they shipped her off. They started to fill many people at a time now and it was getting difficult to stand in one place. He scanned the area until he spotted Allison with some doctor. He shoved and pushed through the crowd and reached them. Allison's shaky hands were holding doctor's hands. 

"Oh please, please, please let me go home! I'm not crazy; I was just a little...hyper! That's all! Please let me go! I don't belong here!" Allison repeated over and over again.

"I understand. But I cannot let you do that. You need to accept it as it is, ok? Now please, take your seat in the van, we are going to leave soon," replied the doctor calmly. She threw the doctor's hands away and curled up her fists. Anger was evident in her eyes and she was about to lose, when Arjun grabbed her from behind. Allison's fists were flying all over the place and she tried to wriggle out of Arjun's embrace. Arjun was taller, bigger and stronger than her, so she wasn't able to do anything. She screamed in protest, but that didn't affect Arjun. He slowly put his lips near her ear and spoke in a voice that was only audible to her,

"Shh, calm down. I will take you home. Just calm down." Hearing that, Allison stopped protesting. She calmed down and Arjun released her from his embrace. "Doctor, can you please call Dr. Iyer? It's urgent." The doctor nodded and brought Tanya. "Tanya, can we talk in your office please?" Few minutes later all three of them were in Tanya's office. Allison clung onto Arjun making sure that he won't run away and leave her in this place.

"Tanya, I'm not going to beat the bush. I wanted to ask if I could take Allison home with me-"

"What? No! You know that is not possible! We can keep her hear if you like but you cannot take her home. Not at all!" Tanya interrupted. She had already broken the rules once, and she was not going to break them again. 

"How will fulfill my mother's last wish?" Arjun asked directly. Tanya couldn't counter that; you should always fulfill a dead person's last wish. She knew how important it was for him.  It would've been a risk to, but she was ready to take any risk to help him. She signed all the necessary papers, and Allison as released. The other doctors found it a little strange, but didn't say anything because they thought that the doctor knew what she was doing.

When Allison left the hospital, the sunlight blinded her. She jumped into Arjun's arms and hid her face in his jacket. Arjun was surprised by the sudden action and he didn't know what to do. Allison peeped out and slowly her eyes got used to the sun. She let Arjun go and slowly walked towards Tanya's car. Tanya let Arjun borrow it.  Allison sat in the car with a smile fixed on her face. She was finally going home! Arjun slid into the driver's seat and started the engine. It roared to life and they were off. He drove by the neighborhoods and the shops and stores. Arjun watched as the excited face was taken over by sleep. She looked beautiful as the sun shone on her face. She glowed in her sleep and Arjun couldn't help but keep looking that glow on her face. A smile rose to his lips and he tore his eyes away from her face and onto the road.

^^^

It was pretty late when they reached his home. He had stopped to buy something for Allison and him to eat. Allison was still sleeping and looked so tired that Arjun thought she would sleep for another day! He kept the groceries in the kitchen and then went back to get Allison. He hesitated at first, thinking that she would wake up, but then he gently picked her up. Allison moaned and wrapped her arms around him and snuggled. He could smell her sweet flowery smell. He walked her over to his bedroom, and slowly laid her down. He slowly slid her arms off and kept a blanket on top of her.  She grinned as she felt the soft bed beneath her and fell back into the world of dreams. Arjun shook his head with a small on his face and exited the room, leaving the door slightly open.

^^^

Allison was sleeping soundly in his room.  It was late in the night now and the moon shone with its children, the stars, shining around it. This was the advantage of living away from the city. No pollution, no loud noises and a clear view of the stars above. Arjun had always like this way. He and his mother used to sit on the roof and tell stories about angels and other magical things. His mother told him that when someone died, they went up to heaven and became stars. She pointed up at one particular star and said,

"Arjun, look up there! That is your grandfather. He is always watching you and giving his blessings." He remembered how fascinated he was when his mother said. After that day, he came up to the roof to talk to his grandfather endlessly. Most of the time, he fell asleep on the roof and his mother would pick him up gently and tuck him in. He was fourteen years old when he found out that his mother had blood cancer and since then he had worked hard day and night to save his mother. She was gone now. 

Arjun grabbed Allison's file from his desk and climbed up to the roof. He carefully walked across and sat down at his usual spot. He stretched his legs out and kept the folder in his lap. He looked up at the sky a tried to find the star that could've been his mother. His eyes searched the endless sky, until he found the star shining the brightest. That was his mother, he knew it. She always did shine; he thought and smiled up at that star. 

"Hi mom. How are you?" He paused for a second, hoping there would be a reply. But the star just twinkled. He continued, "Everything is good down here. I miss you a lot and I wish you were here, with me," Arjun blinked away the tears, "I know that I have to accept my life how it is now and I try, I really do. Maybe, there is a time for everything. Just bless me and give me the strength to get through this path I am about to take."

He took a breath and controlled himself. This was not the time to sit and think. This was the time to do. He opened the file lying in his lap and scrutinized it. Her full name, her age, her address and all her other personal information. There was also a list of all the calls she received and dialed. Four numbers constantly came up. Three of them were identified and the other was an unknown number. The three consistent callers were Jake Wonderland, Melisa Parker, and Mark. There was no last name written for Mark. The number which called Allison the most was the unknown number. Arjun overlooked it, thinking it was one of those insurance companies who call you all the time with new schemes. The name on which caught Arjun's attention was Mark. He found it odd that no last name was given. In fact, there was no other information about him, not even a photo! 

For some reason, Mark always annoyed him. He just got angry whenever Allison took his name. It was as if he did this to her. Arjun dialed then number and put the phone to his ear. It rang for a few minutes, and then went to a missed call. He hung up and decided to try again the next day. It was pretty late and he needed his rest too. He said goodnight to his mother and fell asleep in the guest bedroom.