The Life Of Myra - Chapter 10

I reach the hospital at 8: 05 pm. The hospital is abuzz with a different kind of energy today. Nothing like this has ever happened in our hospital before. The place is still buzzing with police and hushed gossips.

“You know what happened to Dr Samira?” Rasika asks me even before she can begin giving me my over.

“Yes, I saw it on the news,” I say.

“Horrible, right?” she asks.

“Yes, I wonder who would do something like that,” I say, my voice sounding alien to me.

“They gave Dr. Shantanu a clean chit. But he has been asked not to leave the city till this case is solved,” she says.

Of course, I can never imagine Dr. Shantanu harming anyone like that! Or can he?

“By the way, what were you doing at the hospital today?’ she asks, startling me.

“What? When?” I ask.

“Afternoon, I think. Around 3: 30 maybe?” she says.

I can’t find my voice. It feels as if an invisible hand is choking me and I can’t get rid of it.

“Are you sure it was me?” I ask her. She has to be mistaken. There is no way I was in the hospital this afternoon. I was fast asleep at my home.

“Of course, I can recognize you from anywhere,” she laughs.

I don’t know how to respond.

“You seemed oddly dressed though”, she adds casually.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“You know, the black overalls, hoodie even. You don’t wear such clothes to the hospital, right? So, it felt odd,” she says.

She proceeds to give me over of all the patients one by one. I can see her lips moving as she animatedly tells me which patient needs which change in antibiotic and which patient needs what reference. But I don’t hear anything. I feel a strange buzzing in my ears.

Once I get rid of Rasika, I finally go to the pantry. Thank fully I am alone here. I breathe heavily, as if I am having a panic attack. I can feel sweat on my forehead. I sit down on a chair. I don’t know what to do.

I take deep breaths and try to calm my nerves. I need to be able to think this over.

Who could it be, who had come to the hospital disguised as me? Could it be the same person that has harmed Dr. Samira? What if they find no one else and blame it on Dr Shantanu?

“Myra, the head nurse is calling you,” Reeya informs me. I take a few deep breaths again, gather myself and make my way back to the ICU.

That night, I call Mayank again. But he doesn’t pick up the phone. I am getting worried about him. Should I ask Mahika when she last spoke to him?

I message Mayank asking him to call me back whenever possible.

The only topic we nurses discuss tonight whenever we meet, is what happened to Dr. Samira. However, no one else asks me what I was doing at the hospital today afternoon, so now I am convinced Rasika was mistaken.

The night shift goes comparatively heavy and I am totally drained and exhausted by 9 am the next day, after I am done giving over and relieved.

But I keep feeling restless. I know Dr. Shantanu. And I can vouch that he would never do anything like this. He is a gem of a person. But then, who else can it be? Of course, I don’t know Dr. Samira personally. She may have had any number of enemies.

As I am walking along the corridor, I catch a glimpse of Dr. Shantanu rounding the corner. And before I know what I am doing, I begin following him.

He goes into the female medical ward, checking patients, and I keep loitering in the small garden beyond the corridor.

Once he comes out and begins walking along the corridor, I start following him again.

Dr. Shantanu heads to the parking lot and goes to his Tata Sierra. I hurry to my car, and as soon as Dr. Shantanu steers his car out of the parking and on the road, I keep following him at a safe pace.

As I look in my rearview mirror, I see a red Sedan. Is this car following me?

I shake my head. I should stop being paranoid. What are the chances of someone following me while I am following Dr. Shantanu? I almost laugh at the irony of this.

Dr. Shantanu parks his car outside Sapphire hospital and goes inside. He must have gone to check on Dr. Samira’s condition. I feel a weird sense of jealousy all over again. She is so lucky! Of course, not for the coma she is currently in!

Fifteen minutes later, someone emerges from the exit of the hospital. For a moment I think Dr. Shantanu is back. But my breath stops as I see Viraj casually getting out and standing on the pavement as he hails a cab. A he gets in the cab, I put my engine into ignition and begin trailing him instead.

In the rear-view mirror, I can still feel the red sedan following me, but right now, finding out what Viraj is up to is more important for me that finding out who is following me.

My heart almost comes to a stop when the cab stops bang in front of Madhumita’s house.

I want to go and confront Viraj. But I know that won’t serve any purpose.

I take my cell phone out and click a picture of Viraj entering Madhumita’s apartment.

Now I can prove that Madhumita is the one behind everything. She had sent Viraj to play with my mind, she was the one who sabotaged the painting and blamed it on me, and she must be the one who has entered my apartment posing as Lisa K.

Suddenly, I remember something. I quickly open my Facebook account (that is the one I am using to follow Madhumita). I start scrolling through her photos. I know exactly what I am looking for. My finger trembles as I use it to swipe picture after picture, each adding to the pit in my stomach as I see her enjoying her life – my life, the one I was supposed to live. And there it is, the picture I am looking for.

Madhumita smiling widely, that evil shine in her eyes, dressed in black overalls, hoodie over her head!

So it was her! This is her doing! In addition to scheming together against me with Viraj, she also went to the hospital disguised as me and attacked Dr. Samira!

I need all the proof I can collect. I download the photo and save it to my gallery.

I debate following Viraj all the way up to the house, but then decide against it. I need to be prepared for whatever she is planning for me next. And this time, I am the one who will be doing the first strike.

I have read yesterday about the musical event she is going to attend tonight. I have to figure out what to do next, before she strikes.

I drive back to Sapphire hospital. Dr. Shantanu’s car is still here. I wonder what he is doing so long. I wait another twenty minutes, but slowly the exhaustion of the night duty and hunger pangs begin taking their toll and I decide to head back home.

As I begin driving home, I realize that he red Sedan is still following me.

What the hell? Has Madhumita kept spies after me?

I stop the car unexpectedly on the side of the road. The red sedan also follows suit.

I have had enough of this.

I get down and go straight to see who is inside the car.

I tap on the passenger side window. The window slowly rolls down.