Abhira Off-Tracks: Short Stories

The Fate's Lesson - Part 2

The Fate's Lesson - Part 2

Another round of investigations for the day by the chief invigilator Dr. Mahima Birla had been just as boring for her as it always had, until she caught the sight of Akshara consoling a girl drenched in blood. Before she could walk up to them, she found the senior neurosurgeon Dr. Rishabh Jain walk out of the OT with a smile on his face.

"The patient is out of danger," Dr. Rishabh smiled at Akshara, "and that's only because you could keep him conscious, or we would have lost the case."

Akshara folded her hands and sent a silent prayer up.

"Dr. Jain," Mahima cautiously walked up and glanced at Akshara's face filled with relief, "what's the condition?"

"A traumatic brain injury, a blow on the medulla oblongata, but the patient is out of danger now."

Before Mahima could say anything, the girl Jiya leapt onto poor Akshara and hugged the life out of her.

"Thank... thank you so much! Mm-main aapka ehsaan... kabhi nahi... chuka paaungi!" The girl, Jiya, cried in her arms as Akshara softly patted her back.

"Ismein Akshara ne kya kiya?" Mahima furrowed her brows, "General cases mein bachane wale doctor ko thank you kaha jaata hai." She hurled a snide remark.

"No no, Dr. Mahima!" Dr. Rishabh intervened, "This girl, Akshara, she deserves the credit. She kept him partly conscious with her music, agar yeh nahi hoti... we might have lost the case."

Mahima shifted her glance between Dr. Rishabh, Akshara and the girl.

"Kuch bhi." Mahima half-chuckled, "It's your win, Dr. Rishabh Jain. Please don't be so humble!"

"Oh no no!" Dr. Rishabh vehemently shook his head, "My morals don't let me deny her contribution." He turned to a confused Akshara, "Until the brain fully hasn't lost conscious, it is possible to revive the patient, and music therapy is one of the very wonderful ways. Am I right miss... Akshara?"

Akshara softly nodded.

"Are you a music therapist?" He asked, catching Akshara off-guard.

"I.. uh.. no, I mean, ye..yes." Akshara fumbled.

Dr. Rishabh raised a brow, "Your melodious voice kept him awake all the way till the OT, you sure know something about music therapy, don't you?"

Akshu hesitantly nodded and glanced at a wonderous Mahima staring right back at her.

"I... I haven't started my practice yet." Akshara almost whispered.

Dr. Rishabh patted her back, much to Mahima's surprise. 

"Good work girl, you just won your first case!"

Mahima shifted her glance between Dr. Rishabh, Akshara and the stretcher being rolled out of the OT. The girl, Jiya, who was supposedly the patient's wife, ran up to the stretcher to take a look at her husband. Dr. Mahima had never dealt with such a situation in her life. For an honorary heart surgeon as herself, Dr. Mahima respected only those who had earned a degree with all their blood, sweat and hard work and rightly so, she never threw a second glance at those who did not choose to work their way up the career ladder to a glorifying degree.

But what she hadn't realized was that passion never needed a degree. Serving people never needed a degree. Saving a life too, never needed a degree. Akshara Goenka was one of the few people who had taken the risk of not being defined by a socially acceptable degree, and had chosen to tread upon a path that had hardly been discovered by some. Akshara's goal was no different than any medical professional, she simply wanted to heal others.