I sat wondering, by my self, while i saw him snoring by my side...at first curled, his knees tucked in his hands and then stretching his leg straight. I was holding back a tear. It was a funny feeling...but suddenly Jitesh seemed dearer, all after that one dreadful night.
Last Thursday night, Jitesh called me around 10 pm that he was going to meet a friend. I asked him not to. Reaching home and not finding him there is not something i look forward to. But he went anyways. After a quiet dinner, i changed, made the bed, picked up the lap top all set to watch 'Tezab', tucked under the sheets. I heard him enter the house downstairs just before i put on the head phones.
Like many other nights, i increased the volume of my head phones and tried to concentrate on the movie. Jitesh entered the room, not so quietly. 'Kukki its hurting me in the stomach" he said. All i said in reply to that was 'So...?'.
But that was only the beginning of that one unforgetful night. Jitesh's pain only got worse with every passing minute. What started as an acute abdomen pain while he was sitting with his friend aggravated into a nerve throbbing, teeth clenching, fist throwing, almost blinding @#$%ing pain in the right side of his abdomen which gradually spread to his back and lower spine.
Thinking it was gimmick at first, seeking attention since i was mad at him, I only took him seriously when i saw his hands shivering in pain. After a Combiflame, a Digine, contemplating the pain as gas and then something else, i finally decided to call a friend so we could take Jitesh to the hospital. Yes! i could have driven him myself, but Jitesh's dearest 'Ram-piyari' was away for servicing.
So, at 1:10 am i called a friend who lives close by. He arrived 15 ENDLESS minutes later, during which we informed Jitesh's parents about his condition. Jitesh's pain got worse by the minute. As our friend, Narendra arrived, Jitesh managed to get in the car, i grabbed the front seat and daddy insisted that he wants to come too. The drive of some six kilometers was all it was but Jitesh would have tossed and turned like a 1000 times in that.
By 1:30 we reached the Emergency Room, where the first thing Jitesh said was 'Can i get a pain relief. I can't bare this pain any more'. An intravenous pain relief that was supposed to work in 15 minutes but took over 30 minutes. The doctor suspected it to be a kidney stone. While i was standing by his side, we suddenly saw a few guards entering the not-so-big ER and they came straight to where Jitesh was laying. "Please step out ma'am". At 2:15 am i was in not in a frame of mind to think straight AND i fought with the guards...:-)
Jitesh assured me that he was fine and then asked me to leave. Not allowed to stand in the passage way, the three of us were asked to wait out side the hospital premise. 'We will call you incase needed', was all they said. A row of benches, none of which were approachable or vacant. Family of all in the ER and the ICU patients had made themselves at home, right there. After resting our buts on different things, including stretchers, walls and the guard's seat, one of the guards took pity on us and sneaked us in to were there were cushioned chairs. Trying to find the perfect position in those chairs we spent the next two hours.
I once managed to go check of Jitesh, when i was returned from the door of the ER saying that he had gone of to sleep. From that time on what we were waiting for was the Sonographer. After all he was our man who would have confirmed one of the wild guesses of kidney stone or enlarged appendix. For the two hours that followed, i do not remember a moment of an heavy eye lid. Sitting wide awake in a hospital is not all that great experience and it can only get worse if you are sitting in the waiting lounge of the ICCU.
Hearing the numerous stories that were being spoken around where we sat was enough to give me goose bums and the next moment i realised it was 4:30 am. That was enough of time waste i could handle. At the first instant when i spotted the attending doctor of the ER i literally screamed that if your doctor of emergency duty taking freaking three hours to report to the hospital and attend to a patient, God save them.
It was then that the attendant confessed, "Only half an hour before you came, there was another case exactly like yours. The doctor had left the hospital only minutes before you came. We called him as soon as you arrived but apparently he took the call and then has kept the phone off the hook. We tried to get in touch with him again but could not get through. I will try again".
I was astonished by audacity of the attendant and the doctor. But luckily, before i could further mull over the thought further i suddenly saw Jitesh being rolled down the corridor on a wheel chair. A sigh a relief, a satisfaction that at least something was happening.
Narendra's and my fear came true - it was a kidney stone. It was amazing how a minute 6.5 mm crystal somewhere in the abdomen could turn a full grown adult into such a baby my god!
It was finally time to go. I could see a tiered but faint smile on Jitesh's face. It was enough for me to give him a wide grin in return. The drive back with a pain relief tablet in his pocket and the black-&-white photo of the stone in his hand, was much quieter, where he even managed to jock around - 'phat li thi meri...!'
As we reached our room, back at home, we gave each other a tight hug, more than glad that the night was over. After quick bath and a small chat, leaving me wide awake Jitesh closed his eyes. And then I sat wondering, by my self, while i saw him snoring by my side...at first curled, his knees tucked in his hands and then stretching his leg straight. I was holding back a tear. It was a funny feeling...but suddenly Jitesh seemed dearer, all after the dreadful night.
Even though the stone still remains and it was a night to remember for all wrong reasons, the only thing i am glad about it is that it made me fall in love with Jitesh all over again.
