5. Relife: Faizan and Aarti first meet
“Doctor…doctor…the patient is awake” cried a nurse loudly calling the doctor.
“Where am I?” I enquired as I tried to lift up.
“Relax! You are in the city hospital. You are safe now,” replied the doctor.
“Thank you…Thank you very much…,” I replied to the doctor.
“Thank her. She is Dr. Aarti. She saved your life. You are very lucky. She brought you here just in time” replied the doctor.
I saw her and said, “Yeah… I remember… Thank you…”
“Do not move. You were brutally attacked by the mob. You must rest. Please lie down” she replied making me lie down to the bed. The doctor then asked me how I was feeling. I replied to them negatively and said that I felt weak and restless. The doctor informed me that I was unconscious for ten days.
“10 days?” I shouted out of surprise.
“Do not worry. You are all right now. Just take your medicines on time and cooperate,” requested the doctor.
The doctor further informed me that when I was hit by the mob, Aarti had immediately moved me to the city hospital and took care of me since then. I believe probably that was the time when we started coming closer for the first time.
“You are almost well now. You will be discharged soon. Happy?” she asked me.
“No”
“No?”
“I mean I feel comfortable here” I grinned. “Actually thank you for…for whatever you did to me. Thank you.”
“You don’t need to. Just get well soon. Your family would be worried about you,” she said as I turned depressed.
“Family huh (desolately)…” I said as glooming images of riot flashed my memory once again. “I even do not know where they are. I do not even know whether there is anybody alive or not. I do not know where to find them. Oh! I feel so helpless. I think I should start looking for them right now,” I said her trying to get up from the bed.
“Faizan relax! Lie down. You have not recovered yet, please don’t…” she insisted me trying to resist me to go. But I ignored her and tried to get up but fell down instantly from the bed. She further escorted me back to my bed.
“You are not well yet. You will be discharged soon if you co-operate us. Otherwise you will only worsen your condition,” she warned me but I was impatient.
“Help me find them. You know my family very well, right? What news do they have about them?” I asked her impatiently.
“There is no news about your family. They are all missing. It is very hostile conditions out there. The rescue operations are still on and it is still not safe out there. Listen, first get well soon and then we both will go to police to inquire about them,” she insisted me.
Aarti tried to convince me but I was too desperate. And just after two days when I regained some strength, I successfully convinced her to take me to relief camps where hopefully I could get some information. I desperately inquired about my family, Suzanne and her family; but I failed to gather any information about anybody of them. I even enquired in police station, my acquaintances, neighbors, but nobody had any information. It was undoubtedly a very tough time. I even did not know whether they are alive or not. I was alone. No one was there to give me strength. Even there was no one whom I could express my grief. No family, no friends, no one but Aarti. Only she was there in the whole world who alone had literally gripped the threads of hope for me to live. I had no reason to breath. I barely smiled, in fact wept sometimes when alone.
“I know its tough time for you. Failing in finding them does not mean that they are no more alive. You must not lose hope my friend. Live and believe in god,” she tried to convince me but I kept ignoring, ignoring her completely. But she did not quit. She often would come to see me, say about ten times at least. She would always enquire other doctors and nurses about my health.
“Nurse says you never talk, neither you eat anything. It is not good for your health,” she said giving me medicines. But I remained unresponsive. Therefore, she changed the gears to start some other conversation.
“O.K tell me something about your family, or may be Suzanne,” she insisted but I still did not even move my lips. Perhaps she understood that her attempts are useless and therefore, she took a deep breath, thumped my shoulders, and stood up to go back.
“She was going to be my fiancée… Suzanne. We had our engagement next month,” I said (in heavy melancholic voice). Aarti sat back to listen quietly.
“She was my colleague. We were in relation for about three years (I paused). Just few days before … I believe some two or three days before the riot, she proposed me for our marriage. And I introduced her to my parents the same day that disaster broke out… same day,” I said as I could not help myself shredding tears in between the talks. She tried to console me.“Everything was going good and everything got torn up in just few hours…everything.”
Later after the conversation she left me to take rest. Sad? Yes, she also looked sad for me. All she could do for me was to just give me those same old preaches- ‘Don’t worry. Believe in God. Everything’s gonna be all right’. And I would smile to her in return for being so concerned about me. However, maybe, it was this support which was all required at that time. And at times when everything was already sucked up, the cruel destiny still remained unsatisfied and kept pouring obstacles on my head. The worst was yet to happen.
The news of me being alive soon reached the ears of Junaid Khan. He rushed to Younis Khan to yell out the garbage against me in his ears.
“What are you talking about? I cannot harm him. He has nothing to do with all this. He is innocent and is not a threat to us in anyways. He never was. Already the city has turned into a hell due to our actions. I do not want any more killings,” expressed Younis Khan who now felt guilty for his mistakes.
Junaid Khan was surprised with the negative response of his leader but he didn’t quit and tried once again.
“Janaab, I know you are hurt. But believe me it is not your fault whatever happened to the city. Even I am too hurt for the people out there. But whatever happened there it was the entire destiny and we do not have control over it. But just think about it. The state needs a secular leader, just like you. If the power goes into the hand of opposition, these riots will be a daily scene. I just wish for your good future and of the city, nothing else, I swear.”
After a lot of argument, Junaid Khan cunningly motivated Younis Khan for his plan. Finally, Younis Khan gave him liberty to take care of me. Now Junaid Khan was a smart man. He always knew the consequences of directly involving into such criminal act. So he decided to kill me by someone who is very close to me, someone very faithful, someone like Aarti herself.
Aarti was sleeping in her house that night when the telephone rang.
“How are you ma’am? Is everything going well?” asked Junaid Khan, the caller.
“Who is this?” she enquired (yawningly).
“Oh! Just a well-wisher. I just wanted to ask you…mmm… would you like to earn ten lakhs of rupees overnight?” asked Junaid Khan with a cunning flavor in his deal.
“What nonsense? Who is this?” asked Aarti out of frustration.
“It does not matter who I am. It matters how you can earn rupees ten lakhs. It is simple. Just poison Faizan Ahmad Khan, your patient. I know he is admitted in your hospital,” explained Junaid Khan.
Instantly her sleep broke and she fired on him, “Who are you? You dare not to harm him.”
Junaid Khan laughed and said, “Look, if you do not do it, someone else will do it. But like I said I am just your well-wisher so I give this chance to you. Maybe I should increase the amount. Why don’t you yourself tell your price?”
Aarti got really angry. She got out of her bed and shouted at him, “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I clearly understand who you people are. Let me complain an FIR against you.”
It made Junaid Khan angry too. He shouted at her, “You think you can save him. There are many people in the hospital who will readily do the job for me. So you keep shut now.” He threw his cell down in anger and ordered his men to do the job themselves. Meanwhile Aarti was thrilled and she instantly rushed to the hospital before they reached there. She did not took chance to inform police, perhaps she knew they could be purchased since she was dealing it with a politician. She came to me, asked me to get dressed up quickly and come with her.
“What happened?” I asked. But she did not reply anyhing and asked me to quickly move with her.
Instantly, I saw outside the window few gunmen who were heading towards the hospital. It did not take me time further to understand what was going on. At such time only she was there on whom I could trust. We got out of the hospital from the back gate. We quickly got into the car and rushed off. They followed us. She drove the car as fast as she could but that was not enough as those people too followed with same pace. We had to think something different. Consequently, Aarti moved the car into busier road and then smartly took advantage of the traffic. Later we left the car in the traffic and disappeared from lights.
She spotted a truck and hence she asked me to jump into the truck before they see us. My mind was too jumbled to think. So I just did whatever she asked to and we both hid ourselves in the truck. It was very difficult for those people to find us in such big traffic. They looked for us everywhere but failed to spot us. Meanwhile the traffic got cleared and the truck started to move. We did not know what were we doing but there was no question of going back to the town at least for few days. We were very lucky that day to get escaped successfully, really lucky.
All the way she kept convincing me as someone like family. And I, I constantly stared her, thinking why would someone so unknown, whom I had met only few days before, help me and that too at the cost of her life. Nevertheless, there was something that made me feel very content- her presence. However, amid so much of mess I did not know when on the way I fell asleep.