By Muskan Dahiya
Time passes promptly,
Like snow is thawed by the sun's
warmth.
As much as it gives,
As much as it snatches away.
That evening,
When I came home after my father's ultrasound,
Found something undreamed
'Cirrhosis'(the last stage of liver disease),
as his report revealed.
My maa and grandparents didn't know this.
Next morning,
he was admitted to the hospital.
As an alcoholic, he suffered from
Insomnia,
Anxiety,
Nausea,
Seizures.
Seeing things that weren't there,
Hearing sounds that went unheard.
He saw-
A man holding a large knife,
Bloody walls and wildlife,
A widow walking with one hand,
Putting on him crematorium's sand.
Doctors took him in the ICU.
Yes
The ICU...
the place we all afraid from.
He was on ventilator
with a pipe on nose.
When I went to meet him
He said,-
"Ah...I don't know you.""
and closed his eyes.
I stood straight with tears of separation.
The tears of a daughter
Like brownish blue water.
He spent eleven days in the ICU.
His health improved and he was discharged from the hospital.
We took him home.
After some days,he started going to school to teach children.
After one month,
At midnight
he started vomiting blood (hematemesis).
My brother,sister and I were sleeping
Only my maa was witnessing that awful scene.
My father said,-
""Now,I won't survive more.""
We all woke up,
Looking at our father
His innocent face bemoaned him
Soon,he'd meet God,who owned him.
Again,he was admitted to the ICU
with pale body,
with funky mouth,
with nobody,
with emotional drouth.
After three days,our poignant grief..
His nostrils palpitated
His neck cracked
His voice ceased
He wanted to say something but couldn't.
We couldn't see his palpitation
We decided to transfer him to another hospital.
Prepared the files,
pay the bill's.
Two doctors took him outside the ICU
His blood pressure went down
He was silently looking everywhere.
Before his eyes were pulled,
Looking as often as he could.
He didn't recognize us
Might be thinking that we were those who put him on the ICU bed.
They kept his bed in an ambulance.
After half an hour,
We reached a new hospital.
Again,
But the last time..
admitted to the ICU
The terrible ICU
The hopeless ICU
The emotionless ICU
The lifeless ICU...
Where they were warming up the body which had already grown cold,
Where they were giving oxygen to the body which had already stopped beating,
Where they were reviving the body which was already dead.
Alas!...
...a lifeless body on ventilator
just to make money from his family.