But I Know Who She is
He looked anxious and worried. The long queue resembled him like a never-ending road, hard to tread along. Lukewarm sweat droplets from his wrinkled brow found their way down to the protruding chin ending up on the dusty floor. The dirty face mask that adorned his chin was soaked in sweat. He carelessly drained off those deep ducts like wrinkles, the trails left by his old age. Suddenly, a hard push from an unknown source almost derailed the line causing the old man thrown out of the never-ending queue. He managed to reclaim his position but was in vain. He even tried to convince the lucky ones who managed to stick onto the line to let him in, but they didn’t give in to his pleads.
Having lost all the hope he charged towards the
consultation room but was stopped at the entrance at once. The security yelled
at him for attempting to trespass like a shrewd thief. The old man was panting
like a thirsty horse and pleaded with the security to let him in. The nurse in
charge happened to overhear the commotion outside the OPD and asked the
security to let him in. He almost ran into the room breathless and said, “It’s
urgent”. The nurse replied with an irritant tone, “All have their urgencies,
you better be quiet and wait for your turn”.
“But ...but dear please ask the doctor to send
me off soon, I can’t wait here long”
The nurse refused to budge to the request of
the old man and asked the security to put him out of the room. The securities
pounced on him like hungry lions and dragged him out ferociously, while the old
man kept shouting, “please...please it is urgent…I can’t wait any longer”. The
people in the queue laughed at the old man’s state. But the doctor who came out
hearing this clamor and cries and asked him to be sent in immediately. The man
looked completely desperate, he reiterated to the doctor the same lines once
again like a slogan, “Sir it is urgent…I can’t wait any longer”.
“Okay, now that you are in here, now tell me
what is wrong with you”, the doctor asked him anxiously.
“Sir, here….look at this...” He raised his
wounded hands towards the doctor. His index finger had a deep cut, it looked as
if he was slit with a sharp knife.
“Were you attacked with a knife?” Doctor
enquired. “No sir…no it wasn’t an attack.”
While dressing up his wounds the doctor asked
him again…tell me, sir, why are you in a damn hurry?
“Sir, my wife is not well, I had agreed to come
back to have lunch with her.”
“Okay, but what is she suffering from”.
“Alzheimer’s sir”.
While saying this the old man was looking
through the window and his eyes were glowing, wanting to get back home at the
earliest. He was unaware of the pain caused by the needle which went in and out
through his wounded finger.
The doctor was a bit skeptical about his answer
and said,
“But sir, if she has Alzheimer’s, how would she
remember your promise to reach back home for the lunch”?
Without taking the eyes off the streets, he
said “I gave her the promise, now I must be the one who should strive to keep
it and even remember it”.
“I have always kept my word to her, she knows
that”.
There was a strange smile on his lips….slowly
stooping his head down he replied in a low voice, “Sir you asked me about her
memory, right? You know, she hasn’t been able to recognize me for the last five
years, but...but I know who she is to me…so I got to keep my word”.
And sir one more thing, she thought my fingers are vegetables….she desperately wanted to cook for me a lunch. But I know who she is……I got to go…
The old man got out of the consultation room and walked away hurriedly.....while the doctor was looking away through the window.......and the queue kept swelling up.
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