Beneath the Golden Chain (BtGC)

SORE

'Rad, why did you skip classes today?' Mom asked. I looked at her shockingly. 'Don't give me that look. Your daughter Radhika Ramesh was absent during the following classes and more bla bla blas... that's what I received from your mentor,' she said. 'Oh, so that's how it is,' I said. 'You aren't going to give me an explanation?' she asked. 'To be brutally honest...' I started explaining the entire thing and she was satisfied. It took hours and I was already tired.

'Rad, come here fast,' I heard Mom. I jumped over from my bed on hearing her scream. 'What happened?' I shouted while hurrying downstairs. 'Dad's feeling sick. Hurry, help me take him over to our car,' she said. 'Dad...' I called him. But he suddenly fainted. 'Oh my God, he's unconscious now,' she cried. 'Mom, get a hold of yourself. Calm down,' I tried to comfort her. My heart was racing but I knew I should control. Otherwise things would have been worse. We managed to take him to the car. 'Rad, I don't think I can drive. My hands are shivering,' she said. 'Mom...' I cried. She also started crying. We didn't know whom to call for help because it was already late. Plus, we were scared that we didn't know what to do. This was not expected. So things were getting out of hand. 'Mom, you have to be strong. We have to help him. Delaying things will only put him at risk. Please be strong. Drive the car. Nobody is going to help us other than us,' I told her, though I was very weak inside.

She managed to start the car. The nearest hospital was just a kilometre away, saving us from more risks. We reached there within minutes. Her eyes were filled with tears. They came over and took him in a wheelchair. I came back to normal then only. We walked forward with them. 'Please wait here,' the doctor said. They took him into the observation room. We were walking forward and backward with tension. 'God, please save my Dad. He is such a nice human, a sweet husband and a lovely father. I haven't spent enough quality time with him, I haven't finished loving him. I haven't made him proud. I want to grow old with my parents. I want to take care of my parents. I want to make them happy. Please give us more time,' I prayed.

'Hi there. He is out of danger. It was excessive stress induced blood pressure. He didn't take his medicine today. So that too caused this high blood pressure. Please be careful to give him medicine on time. If this treatment got delayed, it might have even ended in a stroke. You did a good job by bringing him on time. I'll prescribe some medicine for him. But the best medicine without side effects is love and peace. Please give him more of that,' he told her. She listened to him with a mournful face. 'Are you his daughter?' he turned to me. I nodded my head. 'Take care of your father,' he said. I smiled. As per the doctor's advice, we planned to stay at the hospital for two days so that his BP level can be observed regularly.

Mom asked me to go back and pack some clothes with other necessary items. I called my friends and informed them that I'll be absent for a few days. I took a rickshaw to my house. 'Radhika, why are you here so early? Where are you coming from? Where's your parents?' Amina aunty next door asked. 'Aunt, yesterday night, my father collapsed suddenly and he was hospitalised,' I replied. 'Oh my God. Why didn't you call us? Uncle was here yesterday. You should have called us when something big like this happened,' she said. 'Amina, who's there? What are you discussing so early?' Sarojam aunty raised a question from her terrace. And then, Rishika aunty who was out to collect her newspaper, Malini aunty who was out taking her milk bottle and Veena aunty who was out jogging, all joined the discussion. Amina aunty explained everything to them. And they all were like: 'you should have called us, why did you handle it all alone?'

I took a quick bath and packed the necessary items. Then Reyansh called. I told him everything and hung up. I hurried back. I was locking the front door and then Amina aunty appeared. 'Kid, bring this too,' she said. 'What's this aunty?' I asked her, though I knew it was some kind of food. 'It's some idli and sambar. I cooked it this morning. Your father hates food from the hospital canteen, right? Just take this with you,' she said, giving me the dishes. I thanked her. She was too kind to remember his habits and do so. Because of the traffic, it took almost an hour for me to reach the hospital. It was a busy morning. School buses, private buses, cars, rickshaws, taxis, trucks and even motorbikes were showing the hurry to go signs.