Page 14 - Till the Last Breath . . .

instead, her palms were clasped around the handlebars of her crutches. Her

legs buckled at the knees and seemed to have no strength at all to bear the
weight of her tiny five-foot-two frame.
‘Excuse me?’ he said and waved at the girl, who was in a robe slightly

better than his. ‘Can you call the fuc … ummm … nurse?’
‘I think I can. But you know, I could have been a doctor. I am still

studying,’ she said, and looked at Dushyant and smiled. Dushyant didn’t
know how to react to that. He didn’t remember the last time a girl had

smiled at him.
‘But since you’re not, can you call her? Argh.’

‘Being angry won’t help your case,’ she said, ‘but if you pull off that
needle with the blue cap out of your right hand, a little slowly, it might
help.’ She walked over gingerly to the bed next to him and drew the curtain

between them. And then pulled it away.
‘Excuse me?’

‘Do it. There’ll be no pulse. They will think you’re dying and I hope, at
least then, that someone will come running to check on you,’ she explained

and chuckled. ‘And well, if no one does, you’re in a really bad hospital.
You should get a second opinion.’

‘I am not going to do that,’ he retorted.
‘Then …’ she said and slowly limped over to his bed. She picked up his
medical chart which hung from the other end of his bed, her eyebrows

knitted, and continued, ‘You have to wait till three when a nurse comes in
and draws some blood for some tests. Not a long wait, just two and half

hours!’
‘Whatever,’ he said, closed his eyes and put his head back on the pillow.

‘Fine, bye. Hope to see you again. I might pick this room. I am here for
some tests, but they need to admit me for a little bit.’

‘Yeah, right. You won’t see me today. I will be out by evening,’ he said
rudely.
Pihu just smiled and walked slowly towards the exit. At the gate, she

looked at the number and whispered to herself, ‘Room 509.’ Dushyant saw