It was exactly 11;30pm when Abhimanyu entered the emergency unit and relieved his fellow colleagues of their duty. On sight today, completing their regulated emergency unit hours for the month were Dr. Rohan and Dr. Mayank.
Normally, the night shift at the emergency unit wasn't that difficult or exciting for the lack of a better term. Other then the once in a blue moon accidents amongst drunk drivers which usually ended up in stitches, there wasn't much going on.
After doing rounds and spending time checking out patients which needed his care, Abhimanyu decided to grab a quick nap.
It was around 6am in the morning when he heard a knock on his door.
"Come in." Abhimanyu yawned, sitting up on the makeshift sofa bed.
Dr. Rohan entered carrying a cup of coffee in his hand and handed it over to Abhimanyu. "Here you got, Sir."
"Thanks." Abhimanyu took the coffee and began blowing on it to cool it down, before sipping on it slowly. "How are things out there?" Abhimanyu inquired, getting a bit of his energy back.
"Quiet as quiet can be." Dr. Rohan chuckled.
Abhimanyu's chest let out a silent rumble upon sharing the inside joke with Dr. Rohan. Night shits at the emergency unit really were the worst.
"You and Dr. Mayank can take some much needed rest, I can handle it for now." Abhimanyu offered, feeling much more fresh and awake after his nap.
Before Rohan could reply, their pagers went off. Abhimanyu and Rohan passed concerned glances towards each other before rushing out of Abhimanyu's cabin.
~*~
Dr. Mayank joined Abhimanyu and Dr. Rohan in the hallway as they headed towards the nurses station. The entire Birla Hospital was buzzing with ambulance sirens with the paramedics wheeling in patients with burn marks, glass shards, blood and bruises covering their bodies.
This was one of the times when it was a healthy mechanism to detach oneself from the gruesome scene unfolding in front of them. Panic wouldn't do anyone any good. So it was better to think with a calm, composed brain. That's what they were trained to do as doctors.
"What happened here?" Abhimanyu asked the head nurse on duty, Nurse Sakshi who was busy handing out intake forms to the other nurses.
"Nothing is clear yet but from we are being told there was a massive 5 car pileup on the highway caused after an over-speeding drunk truck driver crashed into them." Nurse Sakshi explained.
"Any casualties?" Abhimanyu asked, gearing to take charge.
"There don't seem to be any casualties as of now, but many of the patients are suffering from life threatening injuries as informed to us by the paramedics."
Abhimanyu nodded his head. "Clear the ward. Get the patients settled into a room, split them up by severity first and take their vitals. We deal with ones requiring immediate attention and then work our way down."
"Yes, Doctor." Nurse Sakshi understood Abhimanyu's instructions and made way towards the entrance to do a head count and do as she was told.
Abhimanyu turned to face Dr. Rohan and Dr. Mayank and began delegating the work. "One of you make sure the operation theaters are set up and ready to go in case of emergency surgeries."
"Yes, sir." Dr. Rohan replied.
"And Dr. Mayank, you stay out here and help the nurses in case they require it."
"Yes, sir."
Abhimanyu nodded his head and went back to his cabin, preparing himself for what seemed like would be a hectic morning.
~*~
It was 11am by the time Abhimanyu, Dr. Rohan and Dr. Mayank had finished examining all the patients whose injuries were attributed to the massive 5 car pile up.
Out of those 30 people, about 10 of them needed emergency surgery.
"Doctor B, Patient C in Ward 2 who needs emergency surgery, we were able to get a hold of his parents. His mother is waiting for you in your cabin." Nurse Sakshi informed Abhimanyu as he came out from examining the 16 year old minor boy who had glass shards cutting through his rib cage, his bones sticking out of his arm, second degree burns and a broken leg. Over all, the boy looked to be in terrible shape. It was a miracle he was still breathing.
The Birla Hospital's other trauma surgeons were busy conducting other surgeries leaving Abhimanyu no choice to take charge and operate on the 16 year old boy himself. Despite him being a cardiac surgeon, he had spent time working the trauma unit during his internship, in preparation for exactly a moment like this.
"Okay, thanks." Abhimanyu gave Nurse Sakshi a stressful smile as he made way to his cabin.
Abhimanyu closed the door behind him as he began introducing himself. "Hi there, I am Dr. Abhimanyu --" Abhimanyu's words were clipped and his tongue tied on itself when he came across the woman sitting in front of him.
"Maa..." He whispered, his world tilting around him just as the woman turned to face him.
"Doctor! How is my son? Is he going to be okay?" She cried, getting up from the chair and walking over to a shocked Abhimanyu, who stayed rooted to his spot on the floor.
Son. Son. That 16 year old boy, fighting for his life –that is whom she was referring to as her son. Not him.
"Maa..." Abhimanyu spoke again, unable to get any other words out of his mouth.
Manjiri stopped in her steps, looking at Abhimanyu, quizzically. "Maa? I am not your mother. I don't...I don't even know you. My son –he came in –the car accident –you guys called –telling me he needed immediate surgery! Where is he? How is he?" She pleaded.
She didn't recognize him. Manjiri –his own mother did not recognize him.
"You don't...you don't remember me?" Abhimanyu's world stilled around him as the knowledge dawned upon him.
He was a stranger. A literal stranger. To his own mother.
"No...who are you? Why are you looking at me like this? My son! We are here to talk about my son! Yuvaan!"
"Abhi...Maa...I am Abhi, your Abhi...little Abhimanyu..." His voice was soft, fragile. The last 20 years of his life that he spent missing her, wondering about her –worrying about her –they all came flooding back.
No. He wasn't a 28 year old world renowned cardiac surgeon anymore. He was a 9 year timid, shy, boy, wanting nothing more than to lay down in his mother's lap and sleep as she sang him lullabies.
"Abhi? Abhimanyu..." Silence dawned upon Manjiri as she began to recollect the memories she had buried deep down in her chest. Memories she never once thought about. Memories she never wanted to remember.
"It's you..."
Abhimanyu nodded his head, tears prickling his eyes as they rolled down his cheeks. "It's me."
"Look at you, you have turned out to be so big. And a doctor too." Manjiri smiled at Abhimanyu, praising him.
Abhimanyu waited for a hug, an embrace, or even the slightest caress of his arm or shoulder, but it never came. Instead, all he saw was Manjiri trying to distant herself from him.
Before Abhimanyu could say anything, the door to his cabin opened and man, about Manjiri's age, or a bit older walked in, ignoring Abhimanyu's presence completely.
"They wouldn't let me see him. They said he is in critical condition. Why won't they let me see my son?" The man huffed, clearly tensed by the situation he was in.
Abhimanyu's brows furrowed as he watched Manjiri pat the man's shoulders, comforting him. Abhimanyu wiped his tears, putting on his stoic neutral face as he looked towards the man and woman in front of him.
"Yuvraaj, this is Dr. Abhimanyu Birla. He is here to update us on our Yuvaan's condition." Dr. Abhimanyu Birla –not son. She did not call him her son. Manjiri then turned to face Abhimanyu. "Sorry about that. This is my husband, Yuvraaj Ghosh. He –he loves our son a lot. He can't see him in pain." Manjiri explained, giving Abhimanyu a hesitant smile.
But what about my pain. Maa? Abhimanyu wanted to scream.
How could she treat her own son like a stranger? She even refused to acknowledge him. To her –he wasn't her Abhimanyu, he was Dr. Abhimanyu Birla.
She was married. She had a son.
It felt as if he didn't even exist for her.
"It's okay. I understand. It can be hard to see your kids in pain." Abhimanyu gathered courage as he went to take a seat at his desk. "Please, sit."
~*~
Those 20 minutes which he was in the room explaining Yuvaan's condition to Manjiri and her husband were the hardest minutes of Abhimanyu's life.
"...and this is why, we have to do emergency surgery on him." He explained, pulling out the paperwork and laiying it out in front of Mr and Mrs. Ghosh. "As you know, there are risks involved with every surgery and since Yuvaan is a minor, you as his..." Breathe Abhimanyu. Breathe. "...as his parents have legal authority over him. So once you are done reading the bulleted points, please sign at the bottom of the page."
Manjiri nodded her head as both her and Yuvraaj read through the set of documents. Abhimanyu stared at Manjiri, tears threatening his eyes as he watched his mother be completely oblivious to his pain.
"Please, please take care of our son." Mr. Yuvraaj Ghosh pleaded with Abhimanyu.
"I am a doctor, Sir. I can only do so much. But rest assured, I will try my best. But I don't want to give you false hopes. He...he really is in critical condition."
"Can I see him?"
"Unfortunately, policy does not allow you to see the patient or meet with them, but you would be able to watch him from afar as we wheel him towards the operation theatre."
Abhimanyu dialed the Nurses' station on his cabin phone. A few moments later, a knock sounded on the door as Nurse Shardha walked in.
"Shardha, here are the signed forms. Tell Dr. Mayank to get the patient prepped for surgery. I will be there shortly."
"Yes, Doctor."
"And Mr. Ghosh, you may follow Nurse Shardha, and she will take you to see your son."
"Thank you, doctor. Thank you so much." Mr. Ghosh thanked Abhimanyu profusely as he followed Nurse Shardha out of Abhimanyu's cabin.
Abhimanyu gave Manjiri one last disappointed look before he got up from the chair and was about to make his way out.
"Abhimanyu...we need to talk. I can explain...I can explain everything."
At this point, Abhimanyu realized he did not care. Not anymore. "We can talk later. Right now, I have to go operate on a patient of mine who needs my immediate attention. Who also happens to be your son." He added with a clipped tone as he exited his cabin, letting the door slam shut behind him.