Page 88 - FATE & DESTINY

FATE & DESTINY

“You can.”
I rushed to the BHU. Abi, my mother-in-law and other relatives were sitting on the bench, outside the labor
room. I sat beside them and wiped the beads of sweat from my forehead. For moments, I sat tight-lipped. Choki’s
wails of pain resonated across the labor room. Silence prevailed soon.
What’s going on? I thought, gazing at the labor room door. What just happened?
“Did you start early?” said Abi.
“Yes, soon after the dawn cracked.”
“How did you know about it?”
“I had a weird dream,” I said, looking at the door. “So, I came. How’s Choki doing?”
“Go and see to yourself.”
Choki wailed again. I traipsed to the door and peeped in. Tshering Zangmo was holding Choki’s hands as she
writhed in agony.
“Come, hold her hand,” said Tshering. “I am exhausted.”
“Come in, please,” said the on-duty nurse.
“Thank you,” I said, grinning. “How is she doing?”
She glanced at the wall clock and said, “I think she would deliver the baby by ten o’clock.”
Choki squeezed my hand. “I can’t bear it!”
I closed my eyes. “Lha and suma, chab da gyen zi shi.”
At ten, the nurse checked on her and said it wasn’t crowning. “Oops, why is it taking time?”
My body shivered. “How long, nurse?”
“I suppose it’d take more hours more.”
“Ken-cho-sum, chab da thuji zi.”
The clock struck at eleven o’clock, and twelve. All along, Choki writhed.
At 12:30, the nurse said, “I am going for lunch. I will return soon.”
Choki used all her energy yet the baby won’t come out.
The nurse returned from her lunch. “Any sign?” she said.
“No,” I said.
Two hours later, the nurse checked on her and said, “It’s high time you delivered the baby. You must deliver the
baby in ten minutes or there lies a risk.”
“Oh, really?” I said as my mind raced a mile a minute. “Come on, Choki. You can do it, push!”
Abi and Tshering Zangmo came in and held her other hand.
Choki pushed, gritting her teeth. “Ouch, I can’t,” she said and stopped pushing.
“Oh, no!” said the nurse. “You are choking the baby. Push!”
Choki took a deep breath and pushed the baby. “Aah!”
“It’s coming, push harder.”
“You can do it,” I said. “Push.”
Choki stopped pushing. “I can’t do it. Let me die.”
“Oh, no!” said the nurse. “The baby is choking!”
Abi shook her hard. “Push, Choki!”
The last few hours were weaves of unrelenting misery for her. Her entire body trembled as she gave a long push.
“Aaahhh!”
The baby gave a long shrill cry. “Waah!”
“Look,” said the nurse, smiling. “It’s a healthy baby boy.”
Tears brimmed my eyes as the baby kicked his limbs. “Thank you.”
The nurse cut the umbilical cord, hung him upside down, delivered a few pats on his back, and took him to the
other room.
“Where are you taking him, nurse,” I said.
“For suction,” she said. “Don’t worry.”
“Fine,” I said, embracing Choki. “I love you.”
As she sobbed, tucking me to her bosom, I pecked on all over her face.
The nurse returned with the baby and said, “Wrap the baby in a warm blanket.”
Abi wrapped him. A ward boy shifted her to the general ward at the end of the block.
At night, the nurse said, “Feed the baby on colostrum. It supplements all the nutrients a baby needs.”
“Oh, I see,” I said. “Feed him, Ama.”
Choki fed but the baby cried. “What’s the matter with him? He didn’t take a drop till now,” she said.
An old man, a young girl’s attendant, next to Choki, said, “Some babies don’t take milk for weeks. That should
be normal with your baby.”

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