Those 5 important minutes

I was plugged into my earphones listening to the song of yesteryears "suhana safar aur ye mausam haseen". In reality neither there was a delightful travel nor the weather was kinda congenial.

There was a knock at the door. My neighbour's nurse whose frantic summon, led me to her mistress was severely suffering from a health ailment. She said she’d been persistently coughing and that she wasn’t able to swallow the soft food given to her. 

Aunty urged me to send a WhatsApp message to both her sons in the US and request them to scurry to India, for she was feeling miserably sick and helpless.

Though it was day time for us, the US time showed 12 in the midnight.

I was reluctant to forward a tensed message at this earthy hour of theirs.

Instead I chose to convince aunty to get a thorough medical investigation done, to which she heeded instantly.

She was quite bulky and could not walk nor could she breathe properly (asthmatic) given the severity of her medical condition. Moreover we were residing in the first floor and it involved descending many steps, which complicated the situation even more.

 It was decided to hire an ambulance for aunty to be taken to the hospital within our immediate reach. In the meanwhile aunty was dressed to be presentable.

 Ambulance arrived. Four persons towed along to carry aunty in a stretcher. But aunty refused to lie down on the stretcher as it would worsen her respiratory disorder. She was assigned a chair. She sat on it and the 4 persons carried her downstairs gently and shifted her to the ambulance. A Herculean task that.

Reached hospital.

The receptionist counselled us to get her admitted in the casualty. Aunty was repeatedly nagging, if I informed her sons about her worsening health condition. I was indeed checking for their online status constantly to make sure they read my message with immediate effect. But hard luck. They might have obviously slipped into deep slumber for the better part of their night.

The doctor at the casualty checked aunty. He said all her vital parameters seemed deteriorating. And put her on intravenous drips , while administering steroid injections and then attached a nebulizer as well. The most serious aspect of her health was of her oxygen level in the blood. It manifested dangerous levels. So she was also connected to an oxygen cylinder.

With all these and more she was wheeled to the ICU for further care. She was all the time signalling me to ask her sons to be present here.

My heart was palpitating unabated. I was terribly caught between auntys serious health condition and her sons instant presence for the same.

Fortunately for me, an impulse sneak into WhatsApp showed her son's online presence. Without wasting a second I conveyed the message to him and he also read it simultaneously. Unable to control his anxiety, he called me over the phone to be informed clearly about his mom's condition.

He said he would book his tickets by the earliest available flight and visit his mom. As his visit would entail a two day travel he insisted that I take charge of his mom for the next two days too in the hospital and thanked me profusely for the same.

Outside the ICU, we were grappling with fear of auntys health condition. Doctors were trying their level best to revive her. Nurses kept updating us about her slow progress. 

During the visiting hours, aunty was desperately waiting for her sons arrival. We comforted her by saying that he would arrive anytime soon. Any other member's presence failed to impress her.

Her BP was shooting up due to her high levels of stress.

None of the vital signs were showing any improvement. It was already the second day into her admission. We were earnestly praying god for her normalcy and expected her sons arrival.

He had landed safely and called me to know the latest. He also said he would hire a cab and rush to the hospital venue within an hour.

Through the small window at the door outside ICU, I waved at aunty and mentioned about her much desired wish being fulfilled. It was the first time her face brightened up in these two days. She also smiled.

The moment her son barged into his moms chamber, there were sequence of miracles happening. The next 5 minutes were very crucial.

Slowly but steadily the BP started reading normal. She was relieved of her breathing issues gradually. Her oxygen levels in the blood began improving steadily!

The doctors around were flabbergasted. They remarked, there’s always a special bonding between the blood relations, which is purely psychological in nature. The moment aunty met her son, her health showed dramatic improvement, which any amount medicines administered to her, failed to achieve. 

This is the act of supernatural power, which goes beyond the medical treatment to heal a patient. The merging of our two palms for a heartfelt prayer always yields returns in bounty!! God has his noble ways of extending his benevolence!!

That five minutes of priceless bonding  time, goes a long way in healing, establishing and reliving human connections.

The hospital at the ICU ward was filled with incredible moments of miracles and memories, fit enough to be cherished for a long time.

Aunty was successfully discharged in normal health. Both mom and son left for home with happiness peaking.