Page 183 - Till the Last Breath . . .

He looked around and was equally disgusted as he had been on the first

day when he found himself confined to a bed that a thousand others had
used before him. On his left, Pihu was staring at him and like always, she
was ready to spring into a conversation that would drive him to kill himself.

But he didn’t really mind that day. He owed his life to her, or whatever was
left of it.

‘Hi,’ he mumbled.
Pihu looked at him and showed no signs of anger or irritation, despite all

that he had done to her. ‘Hi!’ she answered excitedly as if she had been
waiting for him to take the initiative. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘The best in quite a few days, I think. I am not being torn apart and I am
awake, so that’s good I guess,’ he said.
‘Good for you!’ she shrieked and flashed a thumbs-up sign.

‘Why are you always so happy?’ he asked.
‘What’s not to be happy about?’ she responded.

‘The fact that I am dying? The fact that every time I try to get up, it feels
like I’m going to pass out because of the pain. The fact that it feels like

someone has reached down my guts and pulled out everything?’
‘At least you’re living,’ she reasoned.

‘Is this what you call living?’
‘I would happily switch places with you,’ she answered.
‘That’s because you’re crazy,’ he said and was perplexed. Why would a

girl who looks healthy and gets fancy tests done on herself all day long
switch lives with me? She never seemed in any pain nor did she ever bleed

herself to death or get herself strapped to a bed for days on end. Confused
and curious, he asked, ‘What’s wrong with you?’

The girl paused for a bit and then said, ‘Nothing serious, I am just losing
a little sensation in my limbs.’

For the first time, her voice quavered and she didn’t look into his eyes
with her own big, doe-like eyes brimming to the edge with hope and
happiness. He felt a little strange but didn’t want to probe. The last thing he

wanted was an annoying, crying girl on his shoulder. The next few words
came with a great deal of difficulty to him, but he knew he had to say them.