RECAP

Kunal is leaving for Paris and Anushka decides to drive him off to airport. Zunaid, Kunal’s best friend is also driving in a car just behind them, going to his girlfriend’s place. They meet with a nasty accident en-route


CHAPTER 8

Zunaid could hear the faint sounds. It was as if they were coming from deep under the water, floating over him. His eyelids felt as if they were made of lead.

“Zen!!   Zen!!  Zunaid. Are you awake?” he could hear a voice, getting clearer as the moments passed. It was Tina, his girlfriend. It took him some moments to realise that he was in a hospital, lying on a bed. It was his hospital.. the place he worked at.

The whole accident was as if rewound like a tape in his mind. He could once again see Kunal and Anushka’s car getting tramped under the Bus and then his own car colliding with the wreck. He could see the huge pile on that resulted in just few minutes. With this, came the fear. Fear that stabbed him deeper than any wound could reach.

“Where is Kunal? And where is Anushka?” were his first words. He could feel the numbness in his swollen lips, but he ignored it, just the way he ignored the pain shooting up his limbs, making him aware of every fibre in his body. His right arm was in a cast. Obviously broken.

“Anushka is almost out of danger, but they are trying hard to hold on to Kunal. They didn’t give me all the details.” Tina replied, her eyes full of tears.

“And what about Shivani? Has she been told about it?”

“No, i can’t bring myself to go and tell her. Its almost 6 in the morning. She must be getting up by now.”

Zunaid sat up and started removing all the IV tubes.

“Zen, don’t do this. You are in real bad shape. The doctors...” Tina was cut short by the look in his eyes.

“I am the most senior doctor in this hospital. I don’t think the doctor in-charge will counter my decision. I will be just fine.”

It was then that he saw a girl standing in the corridor, frantically searching for someone.  It was Kelly, Anushka’s best friend.

“Kelly. Here.” Zunaid called out to her, as loud as he could.

“Oh Zunaid, I saw it all on the TV. They were saying that Anu and Kunal are critically injured. I left everything and came here. Where are they? Are they OK?” Kelly was almost hysterical. “And oh god! You are so badly injured too. Were you also in the car?”

“They are going to be just fine. Don’t worry.” Zunaid ignored the question she asked about him.

“There is something you must do for me. Go to their home. Shivani will be all alone. Someone needs to be there with the kid. I will be here with Anushka and Kunal. You please take care of Shivani. Don’t let her watch the news and tell her that Anushka has gone to Paris with Kunal. It will keep her occupied for some time. I will try to visit later in the day”

“Ok. I will go right now.” Kelly turned back.

“One more thing Kelly! Do you have Anushka’s mother’s number? I am sure it will be better for them to know the news directly than to hear it from TV, if they haven’t already.”

“Yeah sure!” Kelly gave him the number and then left for Anushka’s home.

Zunaid’s phone was wrecked and unable to make any calls so he borrowed Tina’s cell phone.

It was tough to make the call.

Zunaid was not even sure if he was doing a right thing by calling Anushka’s mother, but he couldn’t  do otherwise.
The phone was picked on 3rd ring.

“Hello” it was a male voice, sounding tired and broken. It was Anushka’s Grandpa.

“Sir, this is Dr. Zunaid, calling from Mumbai. I am sorry to disturb you and this is perhaps an unsolicited call, but I just had to inform you. Its about Anushka and her husband Kunal.”

Zunaid was sure he heard a gasp on the other side.

He went on..

“Kunal is my friend. He and Anushka were in a nasty car accident last night. Doctors are saying that Anushka is almost out of danger, but Kunal is really critical. I think they need you and Anushka’s mother more than anyone else at this time.”

The silence on the other end continued...

“Their daughter is all alone at home. You have to come. I know you have had you differences with them but now its time to forget it all. Your kids need you.”

The phone was disconnected. Softly.

“Damn the crooked old man!” he was furious now.

Few moments later, he was talking to the doctors attending to them. Aushka had suffered some broken ribs and a fractured leg. The main concern was that she had suffered massive blood loss.

It was Kunal’s reports that punched the air out of Zunaid’s lungs. Kunal’s spine was badly injured along with multiple fractures all over his body. A part of his skull had broken off and speared into his brain causing massive haemorrhage. It had to be operated as soon as possible.

The hospital was the best one in the whole state and the best doctor for this kind of surgery was available in the hospital.

The doctor was Zunaid.

And there was no way he could perform the surgery with a broken right hand. There was no time to take Kunal to another city. All Zunaid could do was to supervise the procedure while someone else held the scapple to his best friend’s brain.

He had never felt so helpless in his entire life.

By midnight, Anushka was finally out of danger but Kunal continued to be in a coma. The surgery was done in the afternoon.

Zunaid sat by his side. The pain of his broken body drowned in the pain he felt seeing Kunal in that condition.

Finally, gathering some strength, he went to Anushka. She was slowly waking up. He hated to see her little frame all battered like an injured sparrow.

Her beautiful eyes were swollen, her face full of tiny stitches made by expert surgeons.

No she didn’t deserve this. None of them deserved it.

                        To be continued...