REVATHI BHASKER

Drama Tragedy

3  

REVATHI BHASKER

Drama Tragedy

Sally And Philo

Sally And Philo

5 mins
213


It was past midnight. Philo lay motionless on the bed while Sally kept peeking in from the glass on the ICU door off and on. She was restless looking at her watch every other minute. Vishnu had promised to come but it was more than an hour since he was informed and there were no signs of him.


Philo had met with a very freak accident and was rushed to the hospital with head injuries, broken jaw and fractured bones. Sally received a call around 10 p.m., from the hospital where she had been reached in an emergency. Sally was unable to understand how the bizarre accident took place. She was told that Sally’s car had got under a truck when the truck driver applied the brake suddenly on a freeway and Philo, unable to control the speed just rammed into the truck.  


Philo and Vishnu were in love with each other for nearly five years and had only recently got the nod from Vishnu’s parents to get married. They were not happy with an inter-caste marriage at first, but Philo being a gem of a person, won their hearts over a period of time and everyone in their family welcomed her. That evening she was to have dinner with Vishnu to celebrate and when she had not returned home, Sally was not perturbed as she thought Philo was with Vishnu. It was only when she got the news from the hospital that she was badly shaken and tried to contact Vishnu, whose number she got after great difficulty.


It was Vishnu’s friend who had answered. Prior to the dinner with Philo, they had a stag party and though Vishnu was not known to drink, had a peg or two for company’s sake and it was some time before he could be informed about the accident and understand the seriousness of the situation.


Sally restlessly paced up and down the hospital corridor. The team of doctors had prescribed the line of treatment after various scans/X-rays and tests were conducted and wished to wait for her progress, if any, till the next morning before deciding the further course of action. Sally and Philo had lost their parents when tsunami struck. Both parents were fitness freaks and would regularly drive down to the beach and jog along the beach and then drive back home. As was their routine, they were jogging on the fateful day when they were caught unaware and both sisters lost them. 

Sally had an unhappy married life which ended in a divorce and after the tsunami tragedy, she shifted in with Philo to take care of her. Philo had now finished her M.B., B.S., and was planning to pursue her Master’s degree. She had met Vishnu, her senior in college and both felt that they had found their soul-mates. Sally was very happy for both of them and was sure that they were made for each other. Now, this unfortunate incident had to happen. The doctors had not given any encouraging information and sitting all alone, Sally was feeling lost.


Hearing shuffling of feet and the screeching of a stretcher being wheeled in, she turned around – what she saw made her scream! It was Vishnu, bleeding profusely being rushed to the emergency. Once he was in, Sally came to know from the police who accompanied him that Vishnu’s bike had struck a divider and overturned. The spot had for a long time been an accident prone one, but no action had been taken so far. The police said that his parents had been informed and that they were on the way.


Sally was crestfallen. She could not take any more. First her unhappy marriage, then her loving parents and now Philo who seemed to slip away. She picked up the rosary and started her prayers but was so disturbed that she could not even pray properly.

In the meanwhile, Vishnu’s parents had also arrived. They were surprised to see Sally and were all the more shocked to know about Philo’s accident. Vishnu too had suffered a head injury and the scan results were awaited. The trio huddled together in gloom hoping for the best. It was nearly 3 a.m.


Suddenly there was a lot of commotion – there were two sets of medical teams - one attending to Vishnu and the other to Sally. The nurses kept going in and out from the ICU, but would not speak a word to the anxious people waiting outside. “The doctors will tell” was their standard reply. All three of them felt hopeless and desperate not knowing what to do. The doctors came out of both cubicles and told them that both patients had suddenly become critical. Vishnu had a brain haemorrhage while Philo had suffered a cardiac arrest and was on the defibrillator. After parting with this information they went back to attend to the patients.


Sally looked at her watch again – 3.10 a.m. “Please God, please have mercy”, her lips kept moving. Vishnu’s parents were dazed and in a state of shock. In a few moments the doctors came out, removing their gloves. Sally had a premonition that it was all over – and the doctors confirmed it. The strangest thing was that Philo could not be resuscitated and both Vishnu and Philo breathed their last at 3.13 a.m.


Sally stared at the ceiling and at the clock – 3.13 a.m. The curtains parted and the strange smell wafted within the room. For 78 days Sally was trying to recollect what it was, but now she could recognise it – the smell of blood and the hospital. I am tired of living without you, Philo, she said to herself. I wish to join you. All of a sudden she suffered a blackout.


The next morning when no one answered the door bell, the milkman informed the neighbour. In some time quite a few residents in the colony had gathered and with the duplicate key deposited in the office, opened the door of Sally’s apartment. It was too late. Sally had joined her dear Philo.


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