St. Agnes Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
Walking up to the counter, she asked the sleepy clerk, "Have the reports of patient number 147 come?"
"From?"
"East Town Hospital."
"No."
"When?"
"Don't know."
Sighing, she walked to the coffee machine, deciding to wait till the reports came.
Pressing the buttons, she settled on making herself a coffee. Strong. She needed it.
"Hey what's up?"
She raised her head, observing the chestnut hair. Maya.
Maya and Keerti go back a long way. Right from nursing school.
"Waiting for the reports. Also, coffee," she replied, lifting her cup in the air.
"Nah. There's something else. This is something we have been doing for ages!"
Choosing not to reply, she settled down on one of the chairs, Maya mimicking her actions.
The former inhaled the strong scent of her coffee, taking a careful sip and clicking her tongue the next second. Ignoring the burnt tongue, she gulped down the entire cup in a go. The latter stared at her colleague, curious.
The silence was shattered by Keerti, she could not help it.
"Hemant and Ma are not getting along lately. She wants us to go back to Delhi but how can we? I mean our careers, kids and their education, god I don't know!"
Tossing the empty paper cup into the dustbin, her aim perfect, she looked at Maya, her advisor.
"If you can't go there, try bringing her here?"
Staring at the lights, she let out a groan.
"As if! Ma would never put a step out of Delhi. She's very connected to that place and stubborn at the same time. Hemant is all worked up, guilty of failing to be a good son. Ma is all alone in Delhi."
Pausing, she continued.
"And Ma and I don't get along either."
This time, Maya sighed.
"Try keeping a maid or a home nurse for her? She doesn't take care of her health, right? She doesn't support you working? Is that why you don't get along?"
Eyes wide, Keerti was quick to speak up.
"No and no. We have tried keeping a maid and a home nurse. The last we heard from the neighbors was how she chased away both of them, running behind them with a pan. She has no problem with me working. She herself was a primary teacher, that's how she survives on her pension now."
Confused, her friend, asked, "Then why don't you get al—"
Tracing patterns against her pale blue scrubs, she answered meekly, "Hemant is her only son. Her only treasure left. And she doesn't like sharing. Every mother is possessive, that's it."
Slouched against the dirty chairs, both of them sighed.
A circle. No ends.
"What are you people still doing here?"
Standing upright all of a sudden, they replied in sync, "Chief, we were just goi—"
"Then get going!"
As they rushed towards the opposite direction, the white walls regained its melancholy.
