Is It (H)uman?

Is It (H)uman?

The next day Varun woke up tired and worried. He had had a very troubled night. He had woken up several times because of the nightmares constantly haunting him, each one more frightening than the previous. Finally, he got out of bed at 6 AM and after having a bath and breakfast he stepped out of his room and made his way to Anandi’s room. He found Anandi was still asleep. The attendant nurse informed him that Anandi had woken up several times in the night screaming with terror and they had repeatedly given her injections to keep her under sedation.

Varun sat by her side and looked at Anandi’s heavily bandaged face. Initially when he had met Anandi, he had found her to be a very happy go lucky girl who was full of fun. She was also very gentle. For the life of him Varun could not fathom what she had seen in him. They had fallen for each other like a ton of bricks and dated each other for two years before getting married. The magazines and papers were full of their romance and sometimes Varun had found it very difficult to tolerate the odious comparisons between their status in society.

Anandi’s friends had warned her that he was a gold digger and was only after her money. But Varun genuinely loved her. And Anandi reciprocated his feelings. Their marriage was a simple civil wedding, but it made headlines. Varun sighed and looked at her and gently caressed the bandage covering her face. Her eyes opened suddenly and shone with the usual red hue.

She said in a harsh and grating voice, ‘Don’t you dare.’

Varun was taken aback and hurriedly pulled his hand away and stood up. Soon Gayatri arrived at the hospital and met Anandi. At first Anandi did not recognize her but after looking at her for some time, she said, ‘I don’t want you here. Get out this minute.’

Gayatri held her temper and said, ‘Listen Anandi, I am here to help you. Whatever differences we may have had in the past, I will stand by you. Varun also needs help in this situation. Please let me do whatever I can for you. All said and done, I am your elder sister. And I want to take care of you.’

Anandi clamped her lips tightly and did not say anything. Soon the doctors were in the room and Varun and Gayatri stepped out. Varun said to Gayatri, ‘How about a cup of coffee somewhere. I am having a splitting headache.’

He had been drinking the coffee provided at the hospital and had gotten totally fed up with it.

They chose a restaurant with good ambience. A soft and romantic song was playing, and they seated themselves in a corner. They ordered two Cappuccinos and some sandwiches. Varun found himself observing Gayatri. She was pretty but not in the same class as Anandi. She had a nice, homely face and was perhaps two inches shorter than Anandi’s 5 foot 7.

‘What are you thinking, Varun?’ Gayatri asked suddenly.

‘Just wondering why you were so dead against Anandi marrying me? In fact, you went out of your way to show your extreme dislike of me. It was somehow a bit too much. You knew I really loved her, didn’t you?’

‘Yes, I did. I did then and I do now.’

‘Then why?’

‘Shall I tell you the absolute truth?’

‘Please do.’

‘I wanted you for myself. I could not bear it when I found you were besotted with Anandi so much that you did not even notice me.’

Varun looked at her stunned. They did not talk much after that. They finished their sandwiches and headed back to the hospital. They entered Anandi’s room and the attendant nurse said, ‘Dr Peter has asked me to tell you that he wants to meet you. He is available in his room.’

The two of them made their way to Dr Peter’s room and his secretary ushered them inside. Dr Peter rose to shake hands with Varun. Varun immediately noticed that his face was grim. He said, ‘Hello Mr Varun. How are you? And this lady is your sister-in-law?’

Varun introduced them and finally when they were seated Dr Peter spoke.

‘As I told you before we have made efforts to identify the yellow liquid inside the pustules on your wife’s face.’

‘Is it pus?’ Varun asked.

‘Yes, it is a liquid like pus. But we have sent it for further analysis to our lab in Bombay.’

‘What is the need for that?’

‘You see Mr Varun; we must answer a question before we decide on a course of treatment. You see, we have to find out if it is really pus or some liquid not ever secreted by human beings…’

                                                                                           To Be Continued...

This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z 2023

#AtoZChallenge 2023 letter H

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