EPIPHANY- PreRish Short Story

CHAPTER 2

"Ram, Fortis Hospital.. Quick" instructing the driver she sat in the back seat mumbling to herself 'I am coming Mr. Bajaj.. I am coming.. Rishab…’

She tried to call Mr. Mehra again, as she left the conversation in the middle in a rush to leave, but he didn’t pick up her call this time. She panicked as she had no idea of what had actually happened and what kind of accident was her husband involved in. Just 25 mins back she had him right in front of her eyes and now an accident. She just kept praying all through her way.

"Ram.. aur kitni der.." she almost screamed, losing her patience now.

"10mins Mam" Ram replied trying to drive as fast as he could. Both Ram and Prerna’s personal security guard sitting next to the driver looked at Prerna who could burst into tears at any moment.

Prerna’s car came to a halt. Without wasting even a fraction of a second, she ran towards the hospital’s entrance, trying to find Mr. Mehra who was supposed to be waiting for her. 

She found him near the reception with worry and stress written all over his face. Mr. Mehra had been known for tackling any issue without a single crease on his face. But today he looked like a different person. His face looked pale and tired. Prerna was so focused reading his face that it took a couple of minutes for her to notice his tan blazer stained brown. She felt as if she had been hit hard in her heart, thinking it could be her husband's blood on Mr. Mehra.

 
“Mr.Mehra.. Mr. Bajaj.. Where is he.... you have so much .. bl..blood on your clothes.. Where is Mr. Bajaj... Rishabh kaha hai Mr. Mehra.. Where is he?” Prerna clutched his jacket sleeves tightly and attacked him with her questions, trying to find answers in his tired and apologetic eyes.

 
“Mam, please come with me” Mr. Mehra didn’t say much and directed her towards a corridor on the same floor ending in a room that had a red light ON, above a signboard that read “OPERATION THEATRE”. She was following Mr. Mehra in the hope that she wouldn’t find her husband inside that room; only the thought scared her to death.

She lost all her strength when Mehra stopped right in front of the OT and she no longer could avoid the fact that her husband was in there. Mehra helped her sit on the bench outside the OT and rushed to get her a glass of water.

 
“Mam, please have some water. I know what you are going through but we need you to be strong.. Mr. Bajaj needs you to be strong” said Mehra standing in front of her with a glass of water. Prerna sat with her face down, covered with her hands. She lifted her face and wiped her tears. She took the glass from Mehra and gulped the whole thing in one go.

“You are right Mr. Mehra, I need to be strong. I can’t break like this” taking a deep breath she said with a determined face. Mehra noticed the change in her body language. She was no more a broken Prerna, wife of the man struggling for his life inside the OT, but the fierce Prerna Rishabh Bajaj who took charge in the worst of situations at work. But for how long would she be able to not give in to the chaos around her, none of them had an idea.

 
“Mr. Mehra, thank you so much for being there for Rishabh and me always.. Now Please tell me hua kya hai aur kaise?” she asked.

 
“Mam, after sir left from BM, at about 8.15pm a man  on a bike appeared out of nowhere and opened fire at his car. This is what the driver told me, when I reached about 7mins after he called me and we got him here. Your driver escaped with minor injuries that only means Bajaj Sir was deliberately targeted. Who and why we don’t know yet..” Mehra stopped as he saw Prerna falling back on to the bench. 

 
“Someone sho..” those were the only words she could speak when she heard her husband was shot at. Someone tried to kill him, but why? Who must have done that? He was one of the most feared men for his business tactics but could that make someone try to kill h.. She had too many questions but no answers. 

 
“Mr. Meh...” before she could complete, they both saw a nurse coming out of the OT. Both Prerna and Mehra stood expecting some update on Rishabh.

 
“Nurse...how’s my husband? Please.. tell me he is going to be okay?” Prerna almost pleading to know something about him.

 
“Dekhie patient is very critical and kafi blood loss hua hai… mujhe urgently blood bank se blood leke ana hai.. So I am sorry I can’t talk to you right now and please Mam let me do my work. Doctor will soon come and update you” saying that she gestured to Mehra to take care of Prerna and left.

 
Mehra made her sit on the bench and said, “Mam, aap please yaha baithiye.. hume doctors ko unka kaam krne dena chahiye.. Mr. Bajaj ko kuch nahi hoga.. aap please sambhalie khud ko”. Saying this Mehra also grabbed a seat next to her and they didn’t know for how long they saw nurses go in and out of OT, sometimes with blood bags. They both lost track of time, not aware of how long they sat in silence on that bench, when she saw some of the medical staff move out of the door, followed by a team of doctors and nurses. Prerna and Mehra left their seats and stood anticipating an update on Rishabh. That’s when she saw one of the doctors approaching them. Prerna walked towards him and asked “Doctor Mr. Bajaj, my husband.. how is he?”

 
“Mrs. Bajaj please come with me and then we can discuss this in detail in my cabin. Please come”  doctor lead them both to his cabin.

 
Doctor’s Cabin 
“Please have a seat.. do you need something? Water, coffee?” asked the doctor. Removing his apron he took a seat in front of two sets of eagerly waiting eyes.

 
“We are good doctor.. can you please update me on my husband.. how is he? When can I see him?” Prerna asked not able to control her emotions, which were all over the place by now. 

 
“Mrs. Bajaj, I’d be honest with you. Your husband’s condition is very critical. We have removed 4 bullets from his body; one each from his right shoulder and abdomen and two from his chest area. Out of the two in the chest, one was very close to the heart, almost missing the organ. He had a massive blood loss and his left lungs have been affected, in fact we are surprised how he made it to the hospital with such grave injuries. We have transfused blood but we might need more depending on the recovery. At this stage Mrs. Bajaj, it will be difficult to say anything and the next 48-72 hours are very crucial for us to give us further clarity, because we need to see how his organs are receiving the treatment. We’d be shifting him to ICCU in the next half an hour. We will only be able to allow you to meet him by tomorrow or the day after because right now he is prone to infections due to surgery and we can’t take any chance. Hope you will understand” he took a pause giving her a moment to seep in all the information he just shared, as she was blankly looking at him all this while.

 
“I know whatever I just shared isn’t what you must have been expecting. So please feel free to use this cabin for as long as you want.. I’ll go check on him. I will have someone sent to inform you once we shift Mr. Bajaj to ICCU” Saying this he left the room, leaving behind a stunned Prerna and worried Mehra.

 
Prerna sat there  like a statue and Mehra waited for her to say something, giving her all the time she needed to grasp everything.