Page 114 - FATE & DESTINY

FATE & DESTINY

“Mongar,” said the ambulanceman.
“How long will it take from here?”
“Half an hour, at the most.”
I sighed. “Thank God.”
The ambulance stopped in front of the emergency ward. It was a quarter past twelve.
“Baby first,” said the medic.
“Get up, Ama,” I said, nudging her with my elbow.
Choki groaned, resting her chin on her palms. “Where are we?”
“Mongar hospital. Come, let’s go.”
The ambulanceman helped Choki into the emergency ward.
“To the pediatric ward,” said the nurse.
We followed her to the inner room. There, she placed the baby in the incubator and took his
temperature. “I’ll call the doctor. Meanwhile, register the baby at the triage, please.”
After the registration, I returned to the ward. “Where is the mother, nurse?”
“In the next ward,” she said.
I went to see her. She was wincing in the bed. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Where is the baby?”
“He is in the incubator,” I said, spreading the blanket over her. “The pediatrician is coming.”
A young female pediatrician arrived half an hour later. “Your baby?” she said.
“Yes, doctor.”
She checked the heartbeat. “The baby is serious, okay?”
I shook my head. “How serious, doctor?” I asked.
“Very serious.” She wrote on the prescription. “Take him for an X-ray, okay?”
I nodded in apprehension. A ward boy came with a file tucked under his arm. “Let’s take the baby for
an X-ray.”
Just five days old, who couldn’t even hold his neck up, cried as we held him straight against the freezing
X-ray plate. My heart wrenched.
“Done,” said the radiographer. “Hurry, wrap the baby in a blanket.”
His little limbs shivered. I cradled him in my arms and followed the ward boy back to the pediatric
ward.
Minutes later, Choki shuffled in me and leaned on my shoulder. “How’s my baby?”
“He is doing fine. You may lie down.”
“How could I?” she said, tears glimmering. “What did the doctor say?”
“She said he was fine. Don’t worry.”
“No need.” She sat on the cement floor. “I want to sit with you.”
“Don’t sit on the cement.” I pulled her up. “It’s freezing.” I spread her shawl and helped her lie down
on it.
The pediatric ward was congested. Two young mothers were fast asleep, facing each other, and two
young men were lying on the mattress on the cement. They got up, seeing us shuffling around.
“Oh, sorry for waking you up,” I said.
The tall guy with curly hair rubbed his eyes and said, “Never mind. Where’d you come from?”
“Samdrup Jongkhar Hospital,” I said.
“What happened to your baby?”
“Distended abdomen.”
He clucked his tongue. “My goodness.”
“Go back to sleep, please,” I whispered. “Everything is done now.”

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