The Last One

“Sir”, said the doctor’s assistant, “I think there is another body named D’souza, to be sent. A woman.” “How many more, Satish?” asked the doctor impatiently. He had been working at the hospital since the earlier night without a wink. Such incidents rarely occur when a hall full of people fall prey to the fatal carbon monoxide gas, at one go. The air must have been contaminated somehow, he had thought. But after all, it’s the work of the police to look into that matter and solve the case of this mass death!

The doctor had tirelessly worked on the examination and sending the bodies for post-mortem. All the reports were the same: CO poisoning.

“The last one, Sir”, Satish said. The doctor looked suspiciously at his assistant for a moment and then rushing to his desk, pulled out the list of people killed, as was mentioned by the sole survivor of the attack, Amar Desai. He was in his sixties and was still weak. He was being attended to by some other doctors. Nevertheless, he had agreed to cooperate with the detectives and tell everything about the incident. The doctor flipped through the pages of the file. Sadly, it was a family reunion of nineteen people. All but one had perished! 

Taking a deep sigh, “Satish bring it in”, the doctor said at last. His assistant hurried away and was joined by a frantic nurse. The doctor mopped his forehead with his sleeve. After all, he is a doctor, he had to be steady. Suddenly, a faint commotion arose at the end of the corridor.

“........ Please! Please! Let me see my brother! I’ll just see him for one last time, please!” 

The doctor stood up. He followed the noise and reached the reception desk area. A young woman was quarrelling with the receptionist. She was crying and pleading with the lady behind the desk, who was throwing nervous glances at the hospital staff gathered around, and was sometimes faintly saying, “Madam, please stay calm. When the doctors are free, we shall give you a time slot. Till then....” “NO!! I want to see my brother, RIGHT NOW!” the woman screamed fiercely.

The doctor, alarmed by her behaviour, approached her. He asked, “Is something, wrong Madam? Who do you seek?” “M-my brother. Aniket... Aniket Desai...age 28...dead...” the woman replied between her poorly suppressed sobs. The doctor recognised the name. It was from the list of the people who died in that CO poisoning incident. Seeing her swollen and blotchy face, he said, “Follow me.” The woman hurried behind him wiping her face with her scarf as he went towards the morgue.

Reaching the door, the doctor hesitated for a while but opened it. The cold room was full of bodies kept on dull, grey high-tables. He went ahead to the third row and led the woman to the second body from the left. Removing the white sheet partially from over the face of the dead man, the doctor let his sister have the last look. The woman and his brother had strikingly similar features. 

Suddenly a thought came to the doctor’s mind. Had he seen the woman before? He might have; there was nothing strange in it for he was used to seeing hundreds of people in the hospital and while driving down the road. The woman caressed her brother’s brown hairs and whispered tearfully, “You were a very good friend, a brave man and a loving brother, who had always taken care of me like a father. Rest in peace, Ani. I hope we meet at the same place. Goodbye....” 

The doctor said in a low voice, “Let’s go Madam.” The woman agreed as the doctor led her away from the morgue. After some moments of silence, the woman spoke. “ I am Sunita. My husband is among those dead too. But I don’t want to see that torturous brute anymore.” The doctor was astonished but remained silent. Eying the floor, he spotted a bit of paper sticking out of the woman’s right shoe. “Excuse me. Would it offend you to ask what is sticking out of your shoe? Must be some important note misplaced. Isn’t it?” he asked. 

Sunita stopped in her tracks. She had a queer expression on her face. She suddenly started scrambling down the stairs. The doctor, without much thinking, ran after her. She went down the alley and went inside the third-floor storeroom. Taking deep breaths, the doctor soon rushed into the darkroom. Nothing was clearly visible. He went on bumping into the cupboards and shelves filled with bottles of medicine. Some fell down and crashed in the impact. In a corner he could faintly see Sunita, sobbing. She cried while she spoke. “Do you know why I hate my husband? He got together with my father to kill all our family members. That’s what they thought best to hush up the secrets of their illegal business. But a lucky fellow he is...in death he found his way out from the punishment. But my father has a long way to go and many things to see!”

“Oh! So you managed to escape?” asked the doctor, trying to clear the heavy air.“I think if I am not mistaken, I have seen you somewhere. But where that I can’t remember.” 

Sunita smiled. She replied, “Did you not see a name tag tied onto my brother’s right toe? A doctor must have a good memory.” “Yes, why do you ask?” questioned the doctor inquisitively. “Well”, she said while uncovering her right foot, “Is it like this?” A similar tag hung from her right toe, labelled ‘Sunita D’souza’! 

The doctor seemed to wake up from a trance. Everything was crystal clear. It was the last one. Satish had told him so. His brain, limbs and heart seemed to cease working. He collapsed on the floor while watching Sunita dissolve into thin air, saying, “ It’s my brother I wanted to see, you know........”. His head hit the cold marble floor and he could remember no more.