Readers, I seek your guidance on this monumental question which has been tormenting me lately. Due to the good I must have done in my previous lifetime, I landed up at Fortis hospital. All was fine, and by that I mean nothing out of ordinary happened, till the shift of the nurses changed.
The clock said 8 pm and in she walked into the room and hence my life. I was barely in a position to stare. I was waking up just for going to the washroom and planned on going back to sleep. But just like out of a story, I was awake at the precise time she entered and could do nothing but stare. That was the first encounter. You`d think that the last thing a person with dengue would have on their mind is checking out their nurse. Well...u thought wrong.
The next day was spent scolding myself for not paying attention to her name tag. Ahem, you see, I was too busy looking at her face. She had a kind of face which is always smiling no-matter when you look. Her smile lit up the world. And the radiance just forces you to smile back. Oh, and don’t even get me started on the cute pony tail she had. In short, I think I had fallen head over heels for her. She came, she saw, and she conquered and I still did not have the name because alas, I couldn’t read without my glasses. Dengue patients wouldn’t normally need glasses. The classes were in some goddamn cupboard.
The next day and I almost asked the day nurse what the name of night nurse was. But then that would be making it too obvious. I just held back. I was in far better shape when she came in next. Had been improving by leaps and bounds. I made some small talk. Where did she live etc etc. My Father jumped into the conversation suddenly . He had been stoically at my side since my illness, making sure everything works out. But alas, he is better at conversation. ‘What now?’ ,I thought. ‘Do I have to compete with my father for attention. Father, go back to your paper please.’
Shit. Another night had gone and I still did not know her name. My health had improved a lot. That night would have probably been my last night .I was desperately waiting for 8 pm. Father wasn’t there. He had gone to grab a bite. Finally, I thought I would make some conversation. 9 pm -dinner came in. 10 pm -no clue of her. 11pm -another sister comes in to give medicine. I painstakingly realized that my last day was her off day too.
I got discharged the next day. Just as I was leaving on a wheel chair, she was coming in. she probably had a day shift. I accused her of abandoning me the night before. She said it was her night off. All I could say was bye. She raised her hand in greeting and off went my chair.
I just remember a particularly trying time in my illness when we all had a scare. My platelets count fell down a lot and I needed an infusion. She was there, gently caressing my arm, so that the liquid could go in faster, and her radiant smile reassuring me that it would be okay.
Did she do that for everybody, the smile, the hop, the calming conversation? I guess so. But maybe, just maybe, I was special to her too. By the way, while I was waving to her, I finally did get the name….
Alas, I saw the video when i came back home :(
I was lucky enough that my Dengue fever cured after just 1 transfusion. My neighbour is suffering from Dengue and she already has had 3 transfusions. And my doctor told me that she recently had a case who required 21 transfusions. If given a chance please do donate blood. it can make a lot of difference to somebody
2 comments:
it's okay to ask your nurse out...if you do it the way my grandad did :)
famously, he vowed to come back to get her in his next life.
he was 80 at the time. she would be around 34 today.
Famously, Iqbal said
ye jannat mubaarak rahe zaahidon ko,
ki main aap kaa saamanaa chaahataa huun
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