chapter 25

Chapter 25 Drama in the stormOut of nowhere, a car drove up and before they were aware, a man came up behind Ved. Ishiqa let out a shout , “Ved, careful!” alerting him to the horrible danger lurking behind him. Ved moved just in time as the dark, evil looking man struck him with a sharp knife that landed on Ved’s upper arm. Immediately blood rushed out of the deep gash, ripping through his muscular arm. He tried to catch the man but he ran away. Ved chased him. He had not run very far when a loud noise pierced through the sound of the howling winds. It sounded like gunshot. Ved stopped in his tracks and turned and looked back to see where Ishiqa was. “Ishiqa? Where are you?” he called out, worried as he couldn’t see her.Tensing, he traced back his steps to where they had been standing. Visibility was poor, but his intuition told him something was wrong.He stopped as he felt his foot touch something on the ground and immediately dropped down to the ground. He saw his love, Ishiqa lying on the ground unconscious, blood pooling around her left arm. He raised her head, rested it on his lap and tried to revive her. “Ishiqa, Ishiqa, say something,” he cried out desperately. He rubbed her hand vigorously and checked her pulse. To his relief, he felt her stir as her chest came up in a spasm for air.He found a handkerchief in her purse and tied it around her arm to staunch the flow of blood. He could see the wound was not deep and realised that the bullet had missed her heart by inches; however, it had hit her arm, grazing her flesh and then hitting the wall behind her. He lifted up her limp body, unmindful of the searing pain in his upper arm, carried her back to his car and gently laid her on the backseat. He drove like a maniac and raced to the nearest hospital, where a stretcher was quickly brought out and Ishiqa was taken in. The nurse on duty declared that it was a D.O.A case. Ved looked at her in horror, as she spelt it out for him, ‘Dead on arrival’. No, he could not lose her! He caught the nurse’s hand in desperation, “Please check again, it can’t be! Where is the doctor who is supposed to be on duty?” he demanded. The nurse uncaringly replied, “He is out of town.” Desperately he called his family doctor and paced up and down, waiting for the doctor. Unable to bear the suspense, he went back to the stretcher to hold Ishiqa’s hand as the nurse bustled about, pretending to be busy. The doctor arrived and rushed in to check her pulse. He checked her eyes with a torch and bellowed to the nurse and the ward boy. “Wheel the stretcher to the emergency room fast. Move it. She definitely has a pulse.” He gave a reassuring squeeze to Ved’s shoulder. “We will try our best Ved,” and then to the nurse standing beside him, “Please fix up the wounds on his arm.” He instructed Ved, “Please follow her to the O.P.D.” Ved pleaded silently to the doctor to save his love. The doctor nodded.The doctor quickly attended to Ishiqa’s arm doing the needful, cleaning the wound, stitching it up and bandaging it. His major concern was the shock her body had gone into due to loss of blood from her arm. A nurse rubbed Ishiqa’s feet vigorously to keep her warm and covered her with blankets. The doctor checked for fractures, if any, but there were none, so he attended to the minor bruises and scrapes. She had started to respond to the treatment, so issuing further instructions, he came out of the emergency room.Ved was waiting for him there, holding his breath so tight that his muscles ached. The doctor put a hand on his arm, “We have stitched up the wound. Immense loss of blood had occurred. Everything has been taken care of and we are still keeping a watch. She moved and was in severe pain so she has been put on a sedative, so please do not worry and go rest your arm. Too much strain is not good for you either.” Ved pleaded, “Can I see her once? Please.”The doctor hesitated but agreed. “Okay, only through the glass out there. Then please go rest.” Then added more thoughtfully, “I apologise on behalf of the nurse for wrongly informing you that the patient was dead. There was a sure pulse even though a little weak. Can I know the nurse’s name?” Ved had seen the name tag and so was able to tell the doctor, and then he went in to see Ishiqa.Â