The broken window

Chapter 20

“That morning, the ringing of the phone was overshadowed by Chinky's non-stop cry. I was focusing only on her, ignoring the ringing phone. After an hour she fell asleep. I adjusted her on the bed, creating some barriers using the pillows.

I rushed near the phone. I unlocked the phone to reach out for the thirteen missed calls. Those were from Kavyansh, who was Rohit's trekking companion. I fastened my thumb to dial his number. In the fourth ring, he received the call. Without an exchange of hellos, he informed a piece of news within a single breath – I yelled, aloud, “Whaaaaaaaaat?“

Tears rolled down, uncontrollably. I begged him to take me near Rohit. He tried to cheer me up by saying, he is with him, everything will be alright. I felt helpless as it was not possible for me to rush to Shillong along with Chinky.
I quickened down through my contact list to inform my in-laws with a hope that they might rush near him. After all, during such situations, the presence of family members plus their care alleviates the curing process.

But as usual, everyone gave a common response – “I'm busy… It is not possible for me to drive near him, urgently. Don't worry, he will be alright.”

I thought - If families are such then it’s better that I'm an orphan.

The way Kavyansh described the accident, made me visualize the scenes, repeatedly – the way he might have slipped off from a height of nearly ten feet, rolled down and hit his head on a tree trunk while they were trekking on the Mawphlang forest.
Now and then I kept calling Kavyansh to know his conditions. Every time he just said that Rohit's condition is severe. He had undergone excessive blood loss. But the doctors are trying their best.
The daylight got dimmer and dimmer, carrying down the darkness of the night. That day Chinky was quite enough, making sure, not to irritate me. Maybe, infants are born with some inner instincts that aware them if something is wrong. My ears were yearning to hear that Rohit is out of danger. The clock hand struck 10 pm but those words didn’t echo over the phone.

At sharp 11 pm, the doorbell rang. Chinky had fallen asleep on my lap. I placed her on the bed and flung near the door. I saw one of my in-laws through the peephole. Her sudden arrival at that time aroused my curiosity level.  The mind full of queries added more queries to it.

I unhooked the door for her to enter. She stepped in and said that her husband, who was Rohit's elder brother had sent her to accompany me tonight. I thanked her but I couldn’t help to resist my doubts – Why would she drive all the way alone from  Numaligarh just to accompany me? During my pregnancy sufferings, none of them bothered to reach us. Then what's the reason behind this drastic change today?
I didn’t try to clear my doubts regarding her. I offered her a towel to freshen up. Beyond my actions, my inner voice was just chanting the name of Lord Krishna, uncontrollably. I laid down near Chinky, closed my eyes and continued my chanting.

“Barsha, have you taken your dinner?” She interrogated, tapping on my back. I got baffled by her voice.

“Huh….” I stared at her blankly. After gaining my consciousness, I continued, “No, Archana di. But you might be hungry, right? Let me prepare something. Sorry, I didn’t even ask you.”

“No… no… You take rest… Let me prepare something for both of us. It seems like you have not in fact gulped a single drop of water,” her forceful action bowed me down to obey her words.

I rang Kavyansh with a ray of hope but he didn’t respond. I was feeling some extra undefined weight over my heart and mind. I rang him thrice and then finally he answered. According to him, the condition was not under control.