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Chapter 6

It was around midnight. The hospital was still filled with people most of which were the staff jostling around from room to room. For them, it was just another night shift at work but not for Raghu.

The 3-hour long operation ended just 15 minutes ago and everyone was taken aback by everything they had heard.

Raghu played back everything in his mind, that the doctor had said to them.

His condition is severe. 5 broken ribs, multiple fractures on his hands, legs and skull, a broken leg and a major concussion.
But the worst was his internal bleeding.
The impact was so great that his ribs broke inside and the shrapnel of bones damaged the lungs and caused them to bleed.

The doctor referred to it as a pulmonary laceration.

They had tried their best to stop the bleeding and put his on a very high dose of morphine which was not the aptest choice going by his blood pressure and blood sugar level. But they had no other option.

In the end, the doctor added that all they needed now was a miracle and a lot of prayers.

After hearing all this everyone there had the ground slip beneath their feet.
Raghu's mother almost fell but other caught her.

In all this Raghu was the one who was not crying. He was not ready to give up hope. Even if the probability of his father walking out of that room was minimal, he was ready to hold on to it.

"Can we meet him?" He had asked the doctor.

"You can see him but right now he is knocked out by the morphine", the doctor went.

Raghu put a hand around his mom and held her and took her inside. Followed by everyone else.

The first thing they heard as they entered the whitewashed room was the heart monitor. Somehow the sound was reassuring to Raghu. But the sight was painful none the less.

His dad was on the ventilator with the mask covering his face. Needles pierced his skin and bandage on his head.

The scratches on his face were still fresh but not too deep.

Tears left his eyes as he saw his condition. His mother cried in his arms and covered her mouth with her pallu.

" excuse me"said the nurse.

Raghu turned to her.

"You need to fill this form and pay at the counter on the ground floor" she handed him a paper.

It was a form that stated that the hospital no longer took responsibility for the survival chances on the patient."what the hell" thought Raghu but resented from saying it outloud.

The aunts came to the front and Raghu went out of the room. He wiped the tears from his face with his hand.

As he got in the lift he took his phone out and googled pulmonary laceration.
He went through every website and all probable survival scenarios. He was searching for a reason to believe that their was still hope and a way.

As he reached the counter , he took the pen from the stand on the table and started filling the form up.

After 5 minutes he was through with the form and went up to the counter and handed it over to the receptionist. The receptionist went through it once and then logged the serial number and other details on to the computer.

A slip was printed with the amount due for the operation and all the medicines.
He took a look at it and the price on it for a human life made him feel that maybe the poor didnt deserve to live. He felt disgusted by the overratedness of all this. But he had no other choice than to comply, without a word.

After getting done with the procedure , which took him 1 and half hour of waiting in a line and watching the guy behind the payments counter typing each key of the computer with such slowness and seriousness as if his life depended on it. He must have been in his 60 and his face reminded him of his father. Crinkled and worn out by the long office hours yet a hope to see his family and children at the end of it. He didnt mind waiting.

It was already 1:30 am. He went back to his mom and found her sleeping with her head on his aunt. Probably she cried to sleep. He went back outside of the hospital. The road was completely empty and the sky was full of stars looking down upon him.

It reminded him of the times when he and his father would sleep on the balcony and count the stars when he was little. A smile came to his face as the memories flooded his mind.

He loved his father more than anything else in the world.

He sat down on the pavement with his hands crossed over his knees. The silence and the breeze was helping him calm himself. The chill gave him goosebumps. He kept his forehead on his hands looking down. And blinked his tears away.

His father always told him that he was gifted and that this gift is not for his personal benifits but he should use it for the benefit of the world. It's no longer his to enjoy but meant for a greater good.

'I may not be with you someday but never let that bring you down. Remember that you are meant to do something and until that something happens you can't let anything bring you down. And well your old man has lived his life and now it's your turn to live yours. I know you will make me proud. You always have.'

It was 5:00 am. Everyone was sleeping. They had a long night after all.

Raghu was next the ventilator. He was feeling a little sleepy but he could not sleep.

Just then he felt a little tap on his hand which was next to his father's.
He looked up and found his father looking at him.

He took his hand in his.

"Baba(dad)! You are awake!" His happiness was genuine.

His father said something but it was hardly audible.

"Dont say anything take rest!" he kept his other other hand on his fathers.

"Beta...(son)" Said his father in a faint voice and tears rolled down the side of his eyes.

Raghu couldn't control his tears either.

Suddenly his father's grip was loose and a deathly stare in his eyes. Just seconds later the monitor confirmed what Raghu just realised.

His father hand, still in his. He didn't want to believe it. The eyes of his father were looking at him blankly which were once filled with life. The world felt crumbling down around Raghu. He felt sick and his eyes started tearing up.

He closed the eyes of his father.

"Baba.. " he said placing his head on his hand. His hands were still warm but slowly fading. In his mind he pictured his father. Smiling.

***
What's next?
-- we want what we can't get ...ALWAYS.--