One Night in the Hospital

Ravindra Chauhan was driving to Jaisalmer at midnight as the freezing temperature of January forced him to wear his leather jacket over his sweater. Ravindra was a middle aged man of about 36 years with a moustache and long beard. It is especially cold in Northern India during the tough winters and the Thar desert makes the areas of Western Rajasthan even colder at night. He switched on his smartphone and asked about the temperature in Google Chrome. He was astonished to find out that the temperature was 7 degree Celsius. He drove through the deserted roads as a feeling of creepiness gripped him. He took a look at his wrist watch as it was 12:10 A.M. of 3rd January 2020.

He started feeling feverish all of a sudden as his body temperature rose to 101 degree Fahrenheit. He thought of consulting a doctor if he could find one. But finding a clinic or a hospital in this remote area and at that time could only be a miracle. He drove for another 30 minutes. Suddenly, he was startled to find a hospital in the right side of the road. It seemed to be a very old building and parts of it were in ruins. The hoarding displayed the name of the hospital as RANA SIN…., as half of it was broken. He stopped his Mahindra Scorpio by the side and got down from it. As he got down, he was filled with an unexpected feeling of terror. There was deep darkness all over and there did not seem any sign of a living soul inside. The environment around him made him terrify.

But he continued to walk towards the entrance and he pushed open the creaking main door. He walked in. There was complete darkness inside and he could not figure out anything. He stayed there for the next ten minutes and finally thought of returning back. As he was returning, the lights illuminated as he was welcomed by a group of doctors and nurses. Finally Ravindra breathed a sigh of relief.

"No patient ever comes here and over the last few years it has been in ruins. You are our first patient in the last five years," a doctor said.

"I was just feeling a bit feverish and was thinking of consulting with a doctor about it," Ravindra said.

"It would be our pleasure to serve you. We suggest you to stay for a night here. Travelling in the night in this area is not safe," one of the doctors said.

Ravindra agreed to their proposal. He noticed that the hospital was not much developed and had facilities as hospitals of the present age. "It is not unusual for hospitals in these remote areas," Ravindra thought to himself. After getting the treatment required, he was guided to a room where arrangements were made for his comfortable stay. After that, the other people left the room as he was all alone in it. He switched off the lights in the room as he slept.

He had a sound sleep after driving for 5 hours throughout the day. But soon he woke up as he felt thirsty. He reached for his chappals and walked out as there was no water in his room. As he stepped outside the room, there was complete darkness just like it was when he first entered the room. He started feeling creepy and an unknown fear gripped him. "Is there anyone? I want some water," he called. But there was no response. He was now furious at the hospital service and decided of leaving the hospital as soon as possible. As he returned back to his room, he was terror struck to find a nurse seated on the bed. She did not seem like a human and her look terrified Ravindra.

He fled from there immediately and he was running through the staircases to reach ground floor. But he stopped as there was a nurse seated in the staircase singing in an inhuman voice. Sweat poured down from his forehead as he ran as fast as he could. He soon came across a portrait in which was written below, "Ratan Singh, the founder of the hospital." The portrait featured a bald man with a big moustache seated on a wooden chair. As Ravindra looked at it, the portrait's colour started fading. The expression of the man in the portrait turned serious and was gazing at Ravindra. He started shivering as the man in the portrait approached towards him out of the portrait. Ravindra did not wait for another second and he fled and locked himself in a room which seemed to be a store room.

There were cob webs and lot of dust in the room. Ravindra sat in one corner of the room and was weeping wishing that it is a nightmare. Suddenly, he noticed a picture covered by a brown wooden frame. In it he saw Ratan Singh with the team of doctors and nurses he met. He was surprised to read what was written in the backside of the frame. In it was written:

                   REST IN PEACE

Ratan Singh, the man who worked all his life for the people of the village and the team of dedicating doctors and nurses who died because of political conspiracy.

                           1967

Ravindra threw the picture on the ground as he started shaking. He knew the truth but it was too late. He was terrified to find Ratan Singh and around 20 doctors and nurses at his feet. He froze on the spot as the spirit of Ratan Singh approached towards him and Ravindra was lynched.

After 3 days, an FIR had been lodged by the family members of Ravindra. The police made a vain attempt to find Rajendra but he had vanished without a trace.