Page 96 - FATE & DESTINY

FATE & DESTINY

I dodged the baby’s head.
Triage was in the second room, straight ahead. Two nurses were on the steel chairs, warming their hands by the
room heater.
“Emergency,” said the medic.
The fat nurse said, “Where’d you come from?”
“Mongar Hospital,” said the medic. “Where should we keep the baby?”
“Follow me,” she said.
We shuffled after her to the last room on the left.
“Over there. Keep the baby in the incubator.”
The medic placed the baby in the incubator and measured his abdomen girth. “Attend the baby. I’ll come in the
morning.”
“What’s the measurement?” I asked.
“Forty-four centimeters.”
“Forty-four centimeters?”
“He will be fine.”
Choki held her breath as the medic walked out of the door. “What’s happening?”
“Medic said the baby would be fine. You can sleep.”
“Are you sure?” she said, lying on the shawl I had spread on the floor.
“Yeah.”.
I curled up beside Choki and thought about it. “Forty-four centimeters? Can he make it to Thimphu?”
The baby cried. I brought him down and woke Choki. “Ama, feed the baby, please.”
She fed him milk, but the baby wouldn’t take it. He wailed. So, I rocked him, pacing around the room.
He again winced at 5:00 am. I got up and checked his abdomen. It had increased in its girth.
“Choki,” I said, tapping her shoulder. “I think I should inform the medic. The baby looks deteriorated.”
“Go, but come fast,” she said.
I groped along the dark entrance and knocked on the door. The medic opened the door, rubbing his eyes.
“The baby cried all night. You should come and examine him.”
He followed me and measured the baby’s abdomen. Forty–six cm was alarming.
“Let’s move. I will wake others,” he said.
We could start at half-past seven. Miles later, the baby shrieked.
“Oh, no!” I said. “He vomited. I don’t think he would make it to Thimphu. We are losing him.”
“No,” said the medic in his firm tone. “He will make it.”
“Driver, fast.”
The car jarred and screeched, but I didn’t care. My mind raced to reach the baby at Jigme Dorji Wangchuck
National Referral Hospital. We arrived at Nobding at noon. Lunch didn’t come to my mind, only the ailing face of
my baby did.
“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.

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