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CHAPTER 5

Inside a hospital ward.

"Let me know if it hurts," the nurse asked, taking the blood sample of a young woman.

With her almond-like eyes, she looked at the nurse, nodding her head with brunette hair. "Hmm."

After adjusting the machine beside the woman's bed a little, the nurse said, "So, miss," looking at the documents in hand. She continued, "Anika, press this button if you need anything," pointing towards a button on the side drawer.

"Okay," Anika replied, loosening her shoulders a bit, as she slipped comfortably onto the bed, looking at the LED in front.

"A police car noticed it over-speeding at first, but even after repeated warnings from the cop, it didn't slow down," an anchor reported, as the LED was displaying a news channel.

"Breaking news, we just got the live report that the concrete mixer truck had just bypassed the highway and turned towards sub-lane 1, entering right into the city premises." The anchor stood up abruptly, displaying the chase behind her.

<'TUT'> Before any further, Anika turned it off. Letting out a sigh, she picked up a book from beside the drawer.

She opened it to some page, where magically the text appeared on its own. She read it.

–Controlling her apprehensive curiosity, Anika turned the TV off. Somewhere in her mind, she thought her messed-up life was already enough for her, and she didn't want to add more to her mind. After that, she picked up the book—"--

Anika closed the book. "It really needs censorship, but well, looks like I am slowly adapting to it now, that I can read this much of this cringe," she said, exhaling. "It was really awkward to read all this raw earlier," she recalled when she first found the book.

**** 

On the same evening she was admitted, she found it in the side drawer. It seemed like an old book, with a hard cardboard cover—nothing special—so she just ignored it earlier.

But the next day, When, out of curiosity she opened it, seeing it writing itself and on-top writing about her very actions and emotions, she really got white. 

****

"Although at first I thought it was some sort of weapon or something like an advanced technology, but it was just a useless thought—like why would someone invent something like this?" she thought.

"The nurse can't even see what's written, and it didn't even function when in her hand, only to me...ugh, it's creepy."

Anika placed it back onto the drawer and picked up the water jar. It was empty. She pressed the button to call the nurse.

"Nobody's coming?" But no one came. She pressed it a couple more times, but still no one was coming.

"What happened, why isn't anyone coming, even to the VIP ward?" she thought as she could faintly hear lots of rustling outside the window of her room.

Finally, she stood up, removing the finger clip and all other things attached to her, dragging her IV stand with her out of the room.

Downstairs was a real mess—everything was chaos. Screaming, yelling, injured people covered in blood and injuries were coming one after another, dragged straight to the ICU at the front over stretchers.

Some had really bad conditions, missing a body part or covered fully in blood and dust, while some had minor injuries, but some seemed lifeless already.

The doctors and nurses were rushing to all emergency areas. Phones at the reception were ringing nonstop as more and more injured people were coming from the ambulances outside.

"Please give way, please give way," the nurses shouted, telling the people standing in the corridor to move aside. Anika also stepped aside, moving her IV stand near the wall.

A stretcher came. The nurse shouted, "Blood loss, significant, hold tightly." The doctor asked, "Take the blood sample, and get ready for blood transfusion immediately."

Another stretcher came. "BP dropping," "A.B.C. done, no change." "Get the vaporizer ready and get the dose of Dobutamine from the pharmacy, quick."

"What's happening?" Startled by the situation, Anika's body began to tremble. Never had she seen such a situation and this many injured up this close.

"Ugh," it was really nauseating for her, as some really critically injured passed by her sight.

Suddenly, she recalled the news she had just seen a little while earlier. "What? That—ahh, god—" nothing fully came out of her mouth, as she gasped, putting her hands onto her mouth. "But why?"

"Oh, god, my child...my child." Soon her attention was drawn upon a grandma crying over an injured person who had just been taken to the ICU.

It was a small boy, probably about 10 years old. As shocking as it was to Anika, she moved to the grandma, comforting her. "Don't worry, grandma, he is gonna be alright." Not saying much, Anika hugged her, rubbing her shoulders.

She made the grandma take a seat and brought a bottle of water to her. "The doctors will save him. Calm down, okay?" she said softly to her.

Soon after helping the grandma calm down a bit, Anika took her phone out of her pocket.

"Mr. Bobby, I want every doctor who is free to come right into the emergency department," she said, right after it was picked up.

"Yes, ma'am, we had already, even from the VIP ward," Mr. Bobby, the hospital director, replied.

"Ask from other branches if you are short. I will handle all the aftermath," Anika said authoritatively.

"Ah! Yes, ma'am, right away."

"Phew" She had just taken a breath of relief when suddenly a voice came from behind, "Please step aside," a nurse called, pushing a stretcher.

A man, covered in blood and dust, was lying on top, with the nurses pressing his head and abdomen. "Stay still, don't move," the nurse said, pressing his head down, as he tried to move it.

"What's the 'Primary Assessment'?" a doctor asked.

"Deep cut in the abdomen and a wound in the back of the skull," the nurses replied. "BP dropping," another said abruptly.

"Take him to OT," the doctor instructed, and the nurses followed.

But just as they were taking him to the OT, passing by Anika, the man grabbed her hand.

"What!—" Startled, as she felt a jolt, Anika instinctively tried to pull it.

"Please don't pull it, let me remove his grip," the nurse said to her, fearing there might be some issues with the patient's body if force was applied.

"AH—yes," calming a little, Anika slowly tried to remove his grip.

"Please, don't leave me," the man said softly.

These words rang deep inside her mind. She felt as if the world had just become too fast and she had frozen in one place, watching the stretcher move away from her. She looked down at her palm, which was just warm from the hold of some man she didn't know. Opening her palm, she noticed it was covered in blood, along with a 20 rupee note.

Still confused by what this feeling was, why this stranger seemed like he took a part of her along with him, or if it was due to some other reason she was feeling this way, she couldn't tell.