Page 69 - Till the Last Breath . . .

her. The nurse asked if she needed any help and Pihu called her in. She felt

naked and embarrassed as the nurse tied the knots behind her back. But she
had been through much worse. Before she took the experimental drugs, she
was used to a nurse bathing her and seeing her naked every day.

‘I am going to die,’ she said to the nurse and smiled.
‘Don’t say that,’ the nurse replied.

‘No, I just said that because you might be the only one who will see me
naked before I die. That is, apart from the other nurses who have seen me

naked before. Why don’t we have hot guys as nurses? I mean, I wouldn’t
mind that. Even you wouldn’t, would you?’

The nurse laughed and Pihu laughed with her. ‘Shall we go?’ the nurse
asked.
‘Only if the knots are tight enough.’

‘They are,’ she said. ‘Which ward do I need to take you to?’ She picked
up her chart and read out the room number. ‘509 … Oh, seems like you

have another patient with you in that room.’
‘I know. I’ve met the guy,’ she said and grabbed her crutches.

She stopped by a few mirrors to look at herself. And prayed that her robe
wouldn’t fall off. Even with the flimsy robe on, she felt as good as naked, as

if everyone could see through it. The nurse offered her a wheelchair, but she
refused. She staggered on to her crutches and walked to the elevator, which
took her to the third floor. She didn’t know how long it would be before she

lost the strength to walk again. She walked towards room no. 509.
Hepatic encephalopathy. She read out the words written on the chart of

the guy who was to be her room-mate in her last, dying days. It’s curable,
she thought. In most cases.

‘There.’ The nurse gestured. ‘I will set you up and call your parents?’
‘Sure.’

She saw the guy again.
Dushyant Roy.
He was sleeping. She thought he looked gorgeous with his unruly hair,

four-day stubble and carefree arrogance. He drinks. He smokes. Probably
does drugs too. Hmm. Probably owns a bike and drives it really fast. Within