The Favor

There were two days left for the week long state holiday. Nitu and her dad waited with tens of other patients for a final checkup which was an integral part of the surgery. Everybody hoped that their checkup would be over soon despite being cognizant that the appointment time wouldn’t change. Nitu disliked scrolling through the Facebook or the Instagram page when she was idle – she chose to talk to her dad and in between the conversation, observed those around her.

After about an hour’s waiting, a couple walked in. They took the seat in one of the very few vacant rows. Barely after a few minutes, the lady walked out to take a phone call. Soon after, the number of calls increased and the lady excused herself out of the room every few minutes. It happened non-stop although her face expressions were nonchalant. The man who she had accompanied seemed to be worried and asked her many questions. The lady’s only response was a few nods and “nothing-so-significant” assurance. Noticeably, the man was the patient since his eyes had the dressing as a remnant of the surgery.

After another two hours, an assistant doctor came to announce the lunch break. By now, few of the patients had finished their checkup. Everybody started to break for lunch, Nitu too followed her dad. She stopped when she saw the doctor leading the couple to the doctor’s room. Nitu overheard the doctor saying, “The senior doctor is willing to finish your appointment and then you may leave. I see you were on the phone. May be it is urgent?” The couple was visibly glad with the offer; the lady seemed more relieved than pleased.

Post the lunch, Nitu promptly went to the assistant doctor; she bought a moment when the doctor’s hands were free.

“Ma’am, I respect your presence of mind since you saw that the lady was on phone all the time and therefore, allowed them to finish their checkup much before their scheduled time. Nothing of it affected any of the others since we were all aware of the lunch break and our appointments have no major amendments whatsoever. I am just curious- Why that bias? Why that favor to the couple? I mean yes, she looked busy. Perhaps, some of us did not portray that we were busy and had put off the phone for a later moment. There were others who were also in a hurry since the patient was old or the patient was not feeling very well. Why only the couple?”

The doctor responded rather patiently.

“I am so glad you asked and did not assume. This is rare! I surely owe you and the rest of them an answer. The couple in question is in no way related to me or has been referred to me by any one dear to me. I am a doctor and have a learned way to heal people; I do not have any sixth sense, I promise."

The doctor took a deep breath. Nitu listened to her.

“The couple has a son who met with a terrible accident this morning. The parents are totally unaware. They came to the hospital as usual for the man’s checkup. The son is admitted in the hospital and is in a critical condition. A relative tried persuading the lady to come near the hospital without telling the real reason. The relative wished to reveal it later since both the parents are heart patients. But since the mother is here for a checkup, she convinced the relative that they cannot hurry since everybody’s time is important at the hospital. Unable to figure out any other subtle way of conveying the urgency, the relative sent us an email, shot a message and even called us to do something from our side. “

“As doctors, we know the difficulty in handling the lives of people. Immediately after the news came to our knowledge, we did the best what we could. The senior doctor preponed the lunch immediately and asked me to bring in the patient. I couldn’t convince the lady in any other way other than lying to her. And so, I used the fact that she was on phone for most part and handled it. I really hope the son is fine.”

Nitu was astonished by the kind gesture and the manner in which the doctors had handled it. She praised the doctor for the keen observation and how the phone usage was used for the most appropriate purpose. You do not have to do the right thing always; you must do the most appropriate thing, though. Nitu thanked the doctor for sharing the information and also prayed hard for the boy.

“Sometimes in life, we believe that our neighbors or acquaintances are lucky, that they have it all, that they have an unjustified favor! Little do we realize that, perhaps, they need the favor a little more than we do?”