Save me

The hospital was silent with less than twenty patients. Doctor Kailash was doing his rounds of checkup on patients on their health and employees on their words to ensure that they do not jinx anything. There is a saying within The health-line worker’s community that they should never use the word ‘silent day’ or ‘no patient’ or anything similar at the hospital or it would become chaos for the rest of the day. Though Doctors are men and women of science they do believe that if we say those words it will be jinxed. With no internal jinxes, the hospital got a call for a request for an ambulance. The patient reached the hospital within twenty minutes with a head injury. 

“Patient suffering from a head injury and multiple scars on the face and back of the head”, briefed the resident student. 

“Or worse, a possible brain injury but let’s be positive and hope for the best”, said Doctor Kailash. 

The medical staff were fast enough to treat the wounds and save the gentleman in the nick of time.

After the operation, the injured patient requested to see the Doctor. The patient pointed at the scribbling pad as he was having difficulty talking. He took some time to write it and gave the pad back to Doctor Kailash to read it. 

Hello Doctor,

A huge thanks to you for saving my life. I do not have a family as my parents died long ago in an aeroplane crash. When I got married to my wife I was hoping to receive love after a long time but all I received was ungrateful talk, rude behaviour and questions towards my integrity as a husband. I tried a lot for a divorce but her lawyer does some malpractice every time to delay it. Without a lawyer, I alone would not stand a chance and they know I can’t afford one. She is deliberately going through all this with me and I have no idea why she is even married to me. This accident is my chance at freedom, Doctor. I saw in my chart that I have received a head injury. Could you please write it like a brain injury with a condition like amnesia where I can pretend I don’t know anyone to escape from my wife?

Doctor Kailash was shocked to see the request and told the patient that it would be against the oath he had taken. As he stormed out of the room the patient tried to catch him but fell to the ground. The patient again asked for a pad and this time he kept on writing on the paper quickly, tore it, showed it to the doctor and continued to write the next line.

Doctor please!

I do not want to go back.

Please 

Please

Please

I refuse to go back

If you discharge me I will find other ways to hurt myself and get back here. 

Doctor Kailash shouted at the patient for saying reckless things about human life.

“Sir, I deal with death every day. Do you know how many people wished to live right before their last breath? Why are you so desperate? It is just a marriage. Live separately until you get a divorce. What is so complicated about this?”, questioned the doctor after which he left the room 

Doctor Kailash regretted instantly the way he behaved after storming out of the patient’s room. He went to the break room for a smoke. He opened his phone gallery and was scrolling through the pictures of his daughter and stopped at the picture of his family. The doctor, his daughter and his wife. He had blurred out the part of his wife in the picture. While his doctor’s oath and the brain says not to help the patient his heart screams otherwise.