Once Upon a University Campus

Nothing to Be Said?

Annika had no idea how long she had been sleeping. The only thing she knew was that sleeping on a chair was very uncomfortable. Her neck hurt from all the leaning. She was partially awake but still too sleepy. She could hear some whispers. "Om!" She got up with a start. The room was dark but the light from the corridor was filtering in. She could see the silhouette of Om sleeping in his bed. The door was ajar, someone was trying to talk in hushed tones. She looked around Mr Outsider was not to be seen. "He must have left. His royal highness and his nakhre noor jahaan ke, his royal suit, his royal buffaunt, his royal expensive shoes and his royal attitude obviously do not fit here in here in the tiny room of government hospital. He must be soaking in a tub full of antiseptic now that he has walked these 'stinky' corridors. Good riddance." She went back to her chair but switched sides, her neck hurt bad on the other side. She was almost asleep that she saw a ward boy walking in. She assumed it must be to check on Om and tried to drift back to sleep. A loud thud woke her up. She got back on her feet unconsciously adjusting her hemline and neckline.

Two men were struggling to bring something heavy across the narrow doorway into the room. Annika's first thought was Om. Did she miss anything while she was asleep? Is he alright?. She bent over him in the dim light from the corridor. She could not see him clearly. She held her trembling fingers close to his nose, to check if he was still breathing. It was a relief to feel him breathing. What was this about? Groggy and tired, she just stood there wondering what it was about. The men had by now had succeeded in pushing the thing across, one of them was unpacking it, the other was picking up the packaging material from the floor. One of them came to her and ask her to make way for them. He took her chair with him.

"Arre,, Bhaiyya.. Wait" was all she could whisper lest Om gets disturbed. But the man had disappeared.

"Now where do I sit. So strange that they had to remove a chair in the middle of the night." She looked for her phone. It was just 10 PM, but it looked like the middle of the night to her. Within minutes, the two men were back trying to fit in yet another of the heavy package across the narrow doorway. This time they did quicker than the first time. One of them ripped the packaging material and the other one cleared it. The guy who ripped the packaging pulled a lever and lo behold it was a recliner.

Annika just stood there staring at them. Who on earth delivers furniture at this time of the day.

The first guy bowed to Annika, "Thanks you Ma'am. Hope you have a pleasant stay"

Annika was lost, "What? Is this some kind of a hotel that I will have a pleasant stay?" she hoarsely whispered but they were already out of the door.

"This is absolute madness. I better close the door" she thought it was a better idea to close the door before some else brought something else to disturb her sleep. As she approached the door, to her surprise just outside was Mr Outsider, handing over a crisp pink (Rs 2000) bill to the guys who delivered the recliners. A ward boy stood next to him.

"Sir, In my 20 years service, I have never seen a more generous person like you. Not only you gave such a big donation to the hospital but you also had furniture delivered overnight too? If you could consider getting something for our staff room, we would be grateful sir."

Mr Outsider acknowledged him.

" Hm, I will speak to the Dean in the morning. Any way I have to thank him for allowing the furniture delivery at this hour." Mr Outsider said nonchalantly as he signed on some paper, presumably the delivery acknowledgement.

Annika got an inkling. "It is him? His royal Highness is still sticking around here? And now these recliners?" Annika had to think on her feet. She could not use those recliners, not if he has paid for it. She quickly make space at the foot of Om's bed gently moving Om's feet to one side and made herself comfortable on the edge of the bed. She was now used to curl up on a side of the bed with Sumo on the other side any way.