Bhagya-Sree

1

Sreenadh's boots clanked on the marble floor, the sound resonating even in a crowded hospital lobby, as he walked towards the emergency. His grim face and tightened jaw did little to conceal his anger. Today was not exactly a good day. None of his days were. Crime free days would probably put him out of work but it was the gruesomeness with which crimes were constantly being committed that surprised him even after five years in his line of duty. How can people be so casual about the things they do to harm other people?

The call about his mother meeting with an accident was the last straw drawn in his already darkened mood. The accident itself did not worry him to the extent that he thought it should have. He somehow sensed that things were probably not that bad. His feelings got affirmed after he met his mother. She had hurt her right elbow and wrist and complained about some pain in the hip. The doctors wanted her to stay so they could perform some additional tests just to check that her other systems did not get jarred by the accident. But his mother was quite vocal about wanting to leave, not understanding the fuss about a bruise and a scratch. She wanted to leave the hospital as soon as possible, which was not surprising given that she hated hospitals and always believed that she would never get so sick as to visit one. It took some effort and patience on his part to convince her to cooperate for some additional tests, just so that they were sure that everything was fine.

The fact that the girl who struck his mother in the accident refused to be taken to the police station was what set the steam off from his ears. Having learned that the girl was also injured in the accident he asked for a lady constable to come to the hospital so that the girl can be taken to the police station after having her wounds attended to. Shankar, Sreenadh's constable who drove him around, informed him that the girl's injuries were not severe and that she only needed first aid and a tetanus shot. Sreenadh had asked him to stay in the emergency and get back to him once the girl was ready to be taken to the station. After almost two hours his constable came back to him informing him that the girl refused to even speak to him without her father being present. What the hell was she thinking?!! That she would hit a police inspector's mother and get away with it?

Sreenadh stomped into the emergency department and looked around as if searching for prey that had just escaped. He saw the lady constable standing in a small sitting area on to the right of the entrance. Beside her, a young woman was standing with mobile to her ear. She was dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt with a red and white image of what looked like a sandwich. Her hair was disarrayed and fell loose around her shoulders. There were mud stains along the sides and in front of her jeans. She either fell onto her right and rolled onto her front or it could have been the other way around too. She had a wound on the backside of her right forearm, so she probably fell forwards onto her forearms, Sreenadh thought. The yellow-tinted betadine stain on her wound meant that her wounds had been attended to. The girl spoke exasperatedly into the phone and was loud enough for him to hear what she was saying.

"No. He is not here as yet!! I don't know how much time he will take." She looked down at the chair and kicked its leg lightly and sighed "I am almost done here. I'll come as soon as he gets here. Ok? Tell amma I am fine." She fell into the chair and rested her head in her hands. For a puny looking girl she spoke very firmly and had a strong voice.

Sreenadh's jaw tightened. She is going to leave, is she? Not an ounce of guilt for what she has done. The pampered and spoilt child of a rich somebody. Living carelessly off her parents' money and influence. He walked up to her and spoke in a very stern voice "Show me your Driver's license" he asked.

Bhagya hated it when people spoke to her in that tone of voice. It almost made her want to slap them. Even before she lifted her head to look at who it was she decided that the guy was bloody arrogant. She noticed his tanned boots first, looking up his tall frame her eyes finally rested on his dark, brooding face. His khaki uniform made it quite clear who he was. He was young. Not the pot-bellied, mustachioed, 40-something men, she imagined a police officer to be. He was older than her for sure but not more than five years tops. His physique suggested that he was the working-out type. Barring the fact that he was looking down at her with dark, intimidating eyes, Bhagya thought that he looked like a neatly-trimmed- mustachioed hero from a cop movie.