SAY YOU SAY ME

CHAPTER 11

It took almost an hour for Ahaan to reach to the lanes of the Garden City. The roads were over congested, and the traffic was really bad. Throughout the whole journey, Ahaan was frantically calling Arushi. She didn't answer any of the calls. It was a very critical situation, Ahaan was continuously getting reports from the radio. Cars and buses parked at the roads were set on fire, the shacks of the slum were destroyed.

Ahaan reached the gates of the Garden City. He was flabbergasted to see the devastation in his own eyes. The shacks were burning, and so were the cars and buses. There were people running frantically, in any direction they could, to seek refuge. The streets were laid with glasses, burning tyres and blood. People were injured, some pretty brutally. Ahaan was about to drive in to Garden City when he tried calling Arushi for the last time. This time the call was picked up.

"Hello, Arushi?"

"I am Anju. Arushi didi is very badly hurt. Please come fast sir."
Anju gave proper directions to Ahaan. It took Ahaan 5 minutes to reach there. He knocked on the door, slightly.

"Who is this?" Anju's voice was shaking. Ahaan could very well understand how scared they all were.

"It's me, I called sometime earlier. There's no one here, you can open the door."

Anju opened the door, and closed it immediately after Ahaan entered.

Ahaan entered the shack, which was a small one, with almost 100 of the slum dwellers in it. They were all in a clumsy situation, one over the other. The shack they were in, was very well camouflaged by the climber plants that had formed a shed over it. Unless you knew there was a shack, it would be difficult for you to identify one.

Ahaan's eyes were searching Arushi when Anju asked him to follow her. Crossing through some people, Ahaan could finally reach to one end of the shack, where Arushi was lying unconscious, alongside Tiku who was frantically asking her to wake up. Arushi had suffered a severe head injury on the left side of her forehead. The bleeding was profuse, and her body showed no gross movements.

Ahaan quickly went to Arushi, and put her head tenderly upon his arm. The slightly elevated position would not let a blood clot to form. Ahaan checked Arushi's pulse, it was pretty low. Arushi had several injuries in her hands, scratches and bruises. Ahaan was a doctor, and he had handled many accident cases in his career, but seeing Arushi in that state made him repent.

Ahaan came to know of the entire incident that had taken place from Anju. Arushi was completing her field visit questionnaire, when they all heard cars and buses being damaged, and saw people burning the shacks. Arushi and Anju, along with Tiku collected the residents of the nearby shacks, and made their way to this one.

But Tiku had stopped middle way, his toy had been left out. Arushi had gone to take him, when she saw a man about to hit him with a rod. She had taken the blow for him, but had been able to come back to the shack, silently. But on reaching the shack she had collapsed.

Ahaan understood that Arushi needed immediate medical intervention. Otherwise, blood clot could form, and that could be fatal. He always knew how Arushi was, and how she could in no time put anyone above her own life. But all Ahaan wanted now was Arushi to wake up. With her not waking up, and a profuse bleeding occurring, Ahaan couldn't help but feel helpless.

"Sir, please take didi to the hospital. She has lost lot of blood."

"But what about you all? Where will you go?"
"This is a daily thing in our lives, we are used to it. Didi saved my Tiku, and for that I will forever be grateful. Please take her away sir."

Ahaan made Arushi sit in the front seat, and wrapped the seatbelt properly. He couldn't let her lie down anymore, the blood clots should be restricted at any cost. Sitting straight up was much better for her, especially when she was unconscious.