BALI 100 KM (Book 1) ✔

Chapter 8

It was a dream, and Bandu lived it, and it haunted him even now. The grown crop camouflaged him as he ran blindly forward, trying to escape the horrible face laughing at him for his efforts and calling out, "Can you run away from me? I will find you one day". The voice seemed to catch up with the little boy as he frantically increased his speed, his bare tired feet now hitting the concrete unending, empty road. He now stopped feeling his legs, but his father's call was to run, so he had to run no matter what. He wanted help, but no one would understand that he had to keep the secret. He stumbled, and he screamed, "OH GOD! HELP ME!"

He opened his eyes with a jerk to an unfamiliar world, but he was alive. It took a few seconds for him to revive his memory which soon flooded with the horrible events of the night. The last he had heard before fainting was his name, and now he was here in the hospital and alive. Someone had saved him, and he was not sure if it was for good or bad. The unpleasant odor of medicines and disinfectant cringed his nostrils, but he was too weak to care. He closed his eyes and escaped into the realm of sleep.

He woke to a nudge this time and saw a woman in white staring down at him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, checking his pulse.

"Very sleepy," Bandu replied, fighting his way to open his eyes.

"That's alright the medications have that effect," she clarified.

He managed an "Ok" with his parched lips and dry throat. Even his saliva seemed dry, so he motioned the nurse for some water. She rolled the bed upwards and fed him few sips of water. That was cool and energizing enough for him to ask the elderly nurse a few questions.

"Who brought me here?"

"I don't know the man who brought you here. You may check the register at the reception desk later or ask the man himself when he comes again,"

"Again?"

"Yes, he was here all night and left only in the morning after you regained consciousness," she informed, "he even paid in advance for your treatment,"

That bit of information surprised him. He was not sure what to make of the person, friend or foe? Life was taking a turn every now and then for him that he surrendered himself to it.

"Do you need to inform anybody regarding your hospitalization? I can do that for you," she volunteered.

"No, I live alone" he was too weak to give details, and the nurse seemingly understood that and left him alone to attend to another patient. He lay awake for a few minutes, and then his eyes scouted the room wanting to locate a timepiece, but there was none in sight.

Although his head felt heavy, he was sure a walk to the washroom would not be strenuous. He moved his heavy limbs only to realize that tons of painful sensations woke up with it. His whole body ached, and a groan escaped his lips.

"Are you hurting too much?" the nurse was by his side, "Do you need something?" she asked.

He was too embarrassed to say it.

"The bathroom is to the left in the corridor. If you can't manage by yourself, then you call for the ward boy to help you. You can press this button here to call for him," she said, pointing her finger at the switch on the wall beside the bed.

After giving him his medicine, she left to attend to the coughing, moaning and complaining wretched creatures who wanted a piece of her to appease their pain and grudge. He managed to sit up at the edge of the bed and levered himself to a standing position while suppressing a groan. Instinctively his hand crept to his stomach where it ached the most and held his breath for a few seconds before slowly releasing it as he walked forward towards the corridor.

Even though black and blue, he could recognize his face in the cracked mirror, and with his ruffled hair, he looked weird to himself. He splashed some water on his face and hair, trying to tame his long mane to be presentable. He realized he was wearing the hospital clothes, and they were too uncomfortable for him, being used to his dhoti and kurta.

Wanting to rest his aching body, he slowly limbed towards his bed, where a visitor in uniform awaited him. A smile-like feature appeared on the man's face that turned into a full-fledge grin as Bandu neared him. Either he was making fun of his plight, or he was genuinely happy to see him alive Bandu couldn't tell.

Bandu greeted the waiting inspector, who acknowledged it and watched him as he sat down on the bed.

"How are you feeling now, Bandu?" there was a note of compassion in that question.

"Physically painful and mentally lost to any understanding of the situation," Bandu said.

"The situation is no doubt confusing, but we are trying to solve it to the best of our abilities, and I must say that I am glad that you are safe. Do you know the person who brought you here? We only have his name and address as of now,"

"Actually, I haven't met him as yet to answer that. It was the nurse, who informed me that he was here all night, and even paid in advance for my treatment. What do you make of that? He certainly didn't want me dead, but I am not sure who rescued me, so my savior, whoever he is, must be thanked,"

"We will decide that later after I have heard your story, so if you are up to it, please narrate what happened and like I always say, without missing any details,"

And that was what Bandu did, narrated everything in detail from the time they took him, prisoner until he lost his senses. The visitor was in deep concentration listening to every word that came out of Bandu's mouth.

"So you could not see your attackers," the inspector asked after the story ended.

"Yes"

"Do you recognize anyone's voices, or did they take each other's names during this time"

"No, I did not recognize anyone's voices and spoke amongst them in a low voice. And I can't ascertain how many people were there too,"

"So they too are after the documents, and like me, they too suspect you to be the keeper,"

"But I don't have them, sir, I, beg of you to believe me...I don't have it,"

"Ok, Bandu, let us take it like you said that you don't have it, but I will still have to search your house and shop for more clues,"

"My home? Why? You don't trust what I said?"

"Our work is not trust-based, but the proof and fact-based, and to find it, we have to upturn everything and search."

"But my shop I have just built a new one. Are you going to dismantle it again to find your proof?"

"No, we are going to watch over it. It is our trap to catch the mouse,"

"What?"

"You rest your brains, and when your savior comes to meet you, ask him to come and meet me. We need to take his statement too," the senior inspector left, giving Bandu a lot of things to think and stress about it.

The breakfast had arrived while he was talking to his visitor, and although he had no appetite, his stomach thought otherwise and was vocal about it.

He fed himself the plain palate devoid of any spices to sate his hunger and laid down thinking about the conversation he had with the officer. Shortly after, the doctor came for his rounds and, after examining him, informed him that they would discharge him the next day as he only needed rest and medication, which he can do even at home. That was a much-needed relief for Bandu as he had an unknown dislike for this facility because of its peculiar odor and his heart felt overwhelmed at the sight of sick, distressed people.