The Quacks

 

Huzza! The school was closed. The vacations had begun. Veeir, Sandy, Jack and Katie planned a day and night out with Aryaveer, Samar and Lisa. There were special offers for teenagers at Rabbit’s Secret Place. Veeir’s gang pooled the money for cover charges and got in the theme party. The place was full with highschoolers and university students. The theme of the party was water. Veeir’s gang jumped into the swimming pool to chill from the sultry summer of Delhi. Aryaveer, the naughtiest of the gang, tried to taste a hard drink.

Aryaveer asked the bartender, “Hi, can I have a mojito please?”

The bartender replied, “Sir, can I have your credit card please?”

Aryaveer said, “I am afraid, I am not carrying my card. Would you mind if I settle the check in cash?”

The bartender said, “Certainly, cash is acceptable here. Can I see your personal identity please.”

Aryaveer knew he couldn't show his identity as he was underage for buying a drink so he tried to influence the bartender with his father’s position in the Delhi government; nonetheless the bartender remained firm to his decision.

He cleverly got friendly with a group of youngsters who had a great influence on the bar manager. They bought a few drinks for Aryaveer, Samar, Sandy while Veeir, Katie, Lisa and Jack enjoyed their mocktails. 

The fun was at its peak and the party was about to close in a few minutes. 

The complimentary drink was offered by the bar manager to Veeir’s gang. The group fell unconscious after the drinks in a fraction of seconds. 

 The gang woke up in a hospital the next day which was completely deserted. Except the seven of the gang, there were none. 

Veeir asked Katie, “Who on earth brought us here and why?”

Katie said, “I hardly remember we lost the sense after having the complementary drink.”

The gang took out the tour of the hospital. All exit doors were closed. The place was managed by robots. There were multiple operation theaters .

Veeir said to the gang, “This looks like a ghost hospital. Why are we brought here?”

Katie tried to open one of the laptops placed on the side table. The clinical notes for the gang were on the screen one after another. The clinical notes were read out by her, “Five boys and two girls were brought at 1 pm on 19th Feb 2019.They are in good shape physically and vital body organs could be transplanted. 

The donor description - Aryaveer Tandon, a tall well built teen, is a 16 years old boy. His vital parameters are good. 

Heart Rate - 95 bpm

Respiration - 16 bpm

Blood Pressure 120/75

Body Temperature - 98.6 F

Case history - Unknown

Physical examination results - Professor (Dr.) Rita Sood examined the patient at 1:30 pm on 19th Feb 2019. The patient is in good physical and mental condition. No serious illness and past surgeries detected. Family medical history unknown. No liver disease, diabetes, heart disease or cancer detected during the physical and pathological examination.

Results of pathological tests and other investigations - 

Immunological test (Blood typing ABO tests) - B positive… matches with donee Nuno Gamboa seeking blood type B.

Tissue typing - Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) - matches perfectly with donee Nuno Gamboa.

Crossmatch Serum Testing - Negative

Surgery planned for 21st February 2019 at 11 pm.

Donee will be admitted on 20th Feb at 8 pm.

Chest X-ray was conducted to check the abnormalities of the heart, lungs, bones and blood vessels in the chest.- (Findings-No abnormality )

Abdominal CT scan - Abdominal CT scan done to study organs and blood flow within the abdomen for signs of injuries, tumors, or other diseases. (Findings - No abnormality).

2. Donor Samar Singh, a medium built teen, is a 16 years old boy. His vital parameters are good.

Heart Rate - 92 bpm 

Respiration - 165bpm

Blood Pressure 118/74

Body Temperature - 98.4 F

Physical examination - Professor (Dr.) Rita Sood examined the donor extensively. The vital parameters are absolutely fine. No identifiable medical problem detected. The donor is sound and healthy. The donor is able to handle physical and emotional changes associated with liver donation. No liver disease, diabetes, heart disease or cancer detected during the physical and pathological examination.

Blood type - A matches with the donee.

HIV - Negative

Tissue matching-organ from Samar Singh is compatible with Erik Hayser.

Chest X-ray was conducted to check the abnormalities of the heart, lungs, bones and blood vessels in the chest.

Abdominal CT scan - Abdominal CT scan done to study organs and blood flow within the abdomen for signs of injuries, tumors, or other diseases. (Findings - No abnormality found).

Donee - Erik Hayser”

Veeir said to the gang, “It seems, we are kidnapped by an international racket of organ trade. We were given seductives last night to bring here. They plan to take out our kidneys and livers tomorrow and sell them to donees. One of the donees sounds Portuguese and another from Spain or Mexico. We are in deep trouble and need to do something quickly to get out of here.”

Terror stabbed the hearts of Aryaveer and Samar. Their bellies cramped and they felt like they might throw up.

Katie and Lisa asked, “Veeir, we need to break one of the exit doors to get out of the hospital building first. We should break one of the ventilators and use the poles of it to break the door.”

Veeir said, “This is a remotely controlled hospital. We need to first dismantle the connection of the hospital with its handlers. Let us find the control room first.”

The gang found the control room without much difficulty. Jack and Sandy broke the cameras first and then unplugged all wires connected with the servers.

They took out the ventilators from one of the ICU wards and hit one after another with a nearby exit door. The door flew open after a few forced hits.

The gang came out of the hospital building. There were only some stray dogs, cats on the street. The place was completely cast off from the habitants. After walking a few meters, they noticed an old man relaxing on a bench in a park. 

They went to talk to him. “Which place is this?”

He said, “Sahab, it is a ghost town.”

Jack asked him, “What are you doing here if it is a ghost town? Who built a hospital here?”

The old man asked, “How did you end up here?” 

Veeir replied, “We don't really remember how did we land up here.”

   The old man asked, “Were there some people who met you at a bar and became your friends. Did they offer you a beverage and then you became unconscious?”

    Veeir said surprisingly, “That’s exactly what happened. How did you know that?”

 “I have met those guys. They are a bunch of quacks. They become friends with people, give them beverages, the people become unconscious and they put them in this abandoned hospital,” said the old man.

“So, this is an abandoned hospital in an abandoned city,” asked Samar.

“Exactly,” replied the old man.

Sandy asked, “What do they do after bringing the unconscious people here?”

The old man replies, “Please take off your shirts and check the scars and stitches on your chest to abodemen, if you see the scar, that means your kidney and liver was taken out and sold.”

Katie asked the old man, “If you know about this racket, why did you not inform the police.”

“It is a ghost town, neither police nor anyone comes here except the victims, memsahab,” said the old man.

“Please guide us how can we get a conveyance to connect with the railway station.” asked Lisa.

“Walk straight 10 km then you may find a village called Shyampur, you may get a bus for noida from there,” explained the old man.

Veeir's gang walked and walked until they reached Shyampur.     

The mystery of the ghost hospital remained untangled as their parents didn't pursue the matter with the police. However, Veeir read in the newspaper after one year, an international racket was nabbed who abducted the youngsters and extracted their vital organs and sold them at exorbitant prices to the richest people who desperately needed the transplant.