Shards of Love

Chapter 9: The stars collide

July 25, 2020 11:35 AM Saturday

Arnav started walking towards the psychiatry ward and he took the stairs and came to a dead end. He must've missed the directions somehow. But he believed he went in the right way.

He retraced his steps and tried a couple more times, only now he felt more lost than ever.

He usually hesitate asking strangers for helping him with directions. After exhausting three failed attempts and his social anxiety started spiking a little as the spotlight effect took hold of his internal mechanism, he decided to ask for help rather than embarrass himself by walking swiftly here and there.

Then came the next part of reaching out to the right person that would actually offer a helping hand as in his experience, mostly people would shrug off helping out strangers.

"Don't know, sorry. Ask somebody else", was the common phrase. Now that COVID was wreaking havoc all over the world, people hated people. People were afraid of people. Everybody had a sanitizer and mask always on them. Social distancing was the new norm. If you came alongside another human, instinct told to slightly distance yourself.

He walked a few metres checking out people who were sitting, analysing whom to seek out help, but couldn't find any decent men. He subconsciously avoided women as her knee they would be the first to turn their heads away. Men would always strive to be useful in day to day lives, so they would help out strangers in actual need. Family men were diluted as all their source of providing care for redirected in a selfish way of protecting his own family of wife and children. So, Arnav was looking for some young men who were bored or some older men who needed to be acknowledged.

He saw someone sitting alone on their phone near a pillar with black mask on. That guy seemed to be a regular at this place and Arnav walked in the general direction toward him.

As he tried to navigate a turn to get to him, he collided with someone and the only thing her registered was a shooting pain on his right temple.

"Oww!" He cried.

"I'm so sorry. Didn't know you were there while turning", said a voice. A girl's voice. Not beautifully sweet nor coarsely mannish.

"Can't you watch where you are going? I am seeing spots", he said vehemently.

"I was late for my OP visit and didn't think someone would come directly into me from behind the turn. Otherwise I wouldn't have played with my stethoscope which hit your head. Sorry", said the voice.

Out of some welled up tears, due to sudden sharp pain, Arnav saw a girl, near his shoulders in height, wheat complexioned and had thick, long hair that was genetically straight. She had playfully bright eyes that oozed genuineness. Chandan and kumkum smeared neatly on her forehead, doubled her attractiveness. She wore a long white coat over her dress and had a stethoscope gripped in her hands.

For some reason, Arnav wanted to continue the encounter a bit longer.

"You hit me with your stethoscope? A doctor playing with a medical instrument?" He asked sounding incredulous.

Now, her forehead creased a little. Maybe he hit her ego a bit.

"I said am sorry. It was an accident", she said and simply turned back and walked in her direction, not even looking back at Arnav once.

"What an attitude!" said Arnav aloud, seriously displeased.

He then went ahead, gently nursing his temple, massaging with two fingers. He went near the young guy who seemed oblivious to the accident that just took place, blissfully listening to whatever song was playing in his headset.