A Pocketful Of Peace

20. A Couple Of Admissions

The daylight sifted through the canopy of trees and gently descended on her, giving a golden aura to her whitish skin. The patterns of sunlight enhanced her features and she glowed like a diva. A true beauty. A sleeping beauty. At some point in time, her pleated tresses had come undone and were now dancing freely with a few strands occasionally brushing past his face in the wake of the cool breeze. He could have stood there and admired her for an eternity if not for the fact that she was not really sleeping in his arms, but was actually unconscious and he was carrying her, on the way to the car. She needed a doctor and he was determined to get her a good one. So, reigning in his emotions before they made him go astray, he carried her and followed Prasanna Appa to where they had parked their car.

As if in an unspoken understanding, Prasanna opened the rear door of the car. He held the door open while Aman settled her down. Prasanna closed the door gently and he himself rounded the car towards the driver's side. He glanced at his co passengers in the rear-view mirror once and started the ignition.

Sandy was perched up in a sitting position against Aman's shoulder and he put a protective arm around her. The engine coughed and the relic that they had as a locomotive at their disposal, shut-off. Sandy lurched forward and Aman grabbed her just in time before her head banged on the back of the front seat. Prasanna swore under his breath and attempted to start it again. This time, the engine started smoothly and finally, they were underway to a better place and environment than what the farm house had been.

Aman guided Prasanna from the back seat on the online route map. Avoiding the year end tourist rush and the general crowded areas, they made good progress. They were enroute to a nearby hospital. Aman glanced at Sandy. During the initial jerk, her hair had landed all over her face. He gently brushed them off her face and a maddening thought crossed his mind. What if... they had not reached her in time? An involuntary shudder went down his spine. He gazed at the unconscious form lying vulnerable next to him, but this time a little more attentively, objectively trying to analyse the extent of her injuries. He ran a protective hand over her arms and his fingers landed over her wrists where deep red marks were prominently visible. An image of her being bound and gagged, at the mercy of a lunatic cropped up in front of his eyes and he shook his head vigorously to get rid of the mental image. For all he knew, this image was forever going to haunt him, throughout his existence.

Sandy was wheeled in the emergency for a thorough examination and one of the nurses guided her companions to the reception. The receptionist greeted them with a pleasant and sympathetic smile. She asked them for some basic information about the name, age, sex, address of the patient and so on. They gave answers and she went on tying in on her computer system. The exchange went on something like this...

"Name of the patient?"

"Sandy" replied Aman.

"Soundarya Prabhu" replied Prasanna.

"Age?"

"Twenty three years" Aman said.

"Twenty three years and three months". Prasanna said.

The lady glanced at both the men and continued further.

"Sex of the patent"

"Female..." they both replied in unison.

"I deduced that much." The lady replied. Then, she asked, "Your relation with the patient?"

"Frie..." Aman was replying, when Prasanna cut in with his own reply, "Father."

Surprised, Aman glanced at his uncle and wondered where that response would have come from!

The lady asked for the next set of information. Aman was too distracted to notice the further exchange but Prasanna answered them all, unperturbed. At last, she had all the information on her system and she directed them towards the billing section for the admission charges.