Page 120 - FATE & DESTINY

FATE & DESTINY

“Let’s have lunch,” said the medic. “I am hungry.”
“I think we should continue. My baby won’t make it if we stop.”
“Fine. I will tell the ambulanceman to follow us.”
“Please hurry.”
My heart wouldn’t stop thumping inside my chest. Choki slept all along the way. I didn’t wake her
fearing she would suffer motion sickness. Only the baby’s feeble groans concerned me.
“Thimphu, one hundred ninety miles?” I said, reading the milestone. “How long will it take to cover
one hundred ninety miles, driver?”
“Maybe three hours,” replied the cabbie, eyes focused on the road.
A few miles away, the taxi weaved and shuddered to a halt at the edge of the cliff. The cabbie fidgeted.
His face and ears went red and sweat dripped from his forehead. How queer it didn’t wake up the medic.
“What just happened?” I blurted.
The cabbie got out. “Oops, the spring is broken,” he said.
“What? Oh, no!”
“Don’t worry. I will fix it.”
“Hurry, mend it fast,” I said, turning around to find a means.
I stood by the roadside and waved at the vehicles. “Lift, please. Emergency!”
Cars and buses zoomed away. Minutes later, a sliver minivan stopped beside me.
“A lift, please,” I said with my quivering lips. “My baby… I think we are losing him!”
The woman got out of the van and said, “I will come in that taxi.”
“Faster,” said the chubby driver who wore black goggles.
I scurried back to the taxi and said, “Hurry! We got a lift.”
The medic fastened the IV line to the neck of his seat. “Let’s go.”
“Thank you, Aunty,” I said, heaving a sigh of relief. “Driver, follow us to Jigme Dorji Wangchuck
National Referral Hospital, okay?”
He nodded.
The minivan driver drove at his pace. It moved like a loaded truck. I peered into the distance, trying to
read the milestones.
“How long will it take to reach Thimphu?” I asked.
“Maybe two hours,” said the driver.
“Drive faster, please.”
“I am trying.”
Closing my eyes, I muttered, “Ken-cho-sum kheno! Chab da gyen zi shi!”
My phone beeped. “Yes, Aunty?”
“Where’d you arrive?” asked Aunt Choden.
“We’ve crossed Wangdue.”
“How’s the baby?”
“Not so good.”
“Faster. We are waiting here.”
“We’re trying.”
We arrived at JDWNRH at 3:20 pm. The driver drove us to the old emergency block.
“How much is the fare, sir?” I asked.
The driver replied, “Three hundred ngultrum.”
“Thank you, sir.”
He gave me a radiant smile. “You’re welcome.”
I shuffled after the medic into the emergency ward with the baby in my arms. A young bespectacled
doctor was at his computer.
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