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An Accident !!
Siddarth was walking down the busy road. The twilight was a beautiful thing to see on that road. That was why the road was famously called the ‘twilight zone'. His leather bag was flung around his shoulder and he was speaking over his mobile phone. He was talking to Vinay, his colleague and was discussing about the month end figures, the Holy Grail concept of every marketer.
He was standing at the pedestrian crossing, waiting for the green signal. He looked up to see the signal and right next to it stood a young woman. She was standing at the other end waiting to cross the road. She also had a canvas bag flung around her shoulder and she was on the phone too. Her conversation wasn't happy. Her face was pale.
As the green signal flashed, people at both the ends began to move forward. She did not move. She still stood by the signal and kept talking over the phone. Siddarth reached the other side and looked at her face. She had tears in her eyes.
Having realized the green signal, she quickly stepped forward not realizing that the signal turned red. Siddarth began to walk away. As he moved forward he heard a deadly screech of wheels on the road. He quickly turned back. The scene was chaotic.
There was a car stranded in the middle of the road. Another car had bumped into it from behind. Glasses were strewn all over. She was not to be seen anywhere. Siddarth couldn't understand for a moment what was going on. His mind wouldn't grasp it quickly. It was an accident.
He quickly ran before the car and there he saw the young lady. She lay there like crumpled paper on the floor. Her beautiful hair covered her face. She still had the mobile in her hand. Siddarth immediately hung up the call with Vinay and knelt beside her. The driver of the car stood beside her not knowing how to react. People gathered around the grave scene. Nobody came forward to take quick action. They stood there watching.
“Is she alive?”
“It was her fault. She did not see the red signal”
“These days' young men and woman forget their world when they carry their cell phones”
Siddarth heard all those voices from behind.
“Can you call an auto rick, so that we can take her to the hospital?” Siddarth asked.
“We can take her in my car” one of the ladies in the crowd volunteered.
There was no blood to be seen anywhere on the road. Siddarth lifted her gently and then he felt something warm and slimy on his hand. Blood was gushing from behind her head. As he carried her, she moaned. She was still in her senses. Her flowing hair covered her face and the blood and sweat were all over it. Little pieces of glass were buried in her lustrous hair.
In a minute they were on their way to the hospital. Siddarth had her head placed close to his chest and he used his hanky to stop the gushing blood. She still held the mobile. Siddarth softly moved the hair from her face. It was all sticky and he could see traces of blood. It had already stained her pristine skin. She looked beautiful.
Siddarth kept looking at her face. The flawless skin. The straight and silky black hair. As he kept looking at her, she softly opened her eyes. They were pained and the stagnant tears escaped out.
“Please save me”, she said and held his shirt. She began to feel the pain and held his shirt tighter.
“Who are you? Whom should I call? Give me a number” Siddarth said hurriedly.
“Please…. save…” she said and collapsed in his arms.
Siddarth felt helpless and looked at the lady who was driving.
“How far are we from the hospital?” he asked.
“We are round the corner. How do we inform her parents?” she asked.
Siddarth was silent. He immediately picked the mobile from her hand. It was broken and the shattered pieces had pierced her palm. It was bleeding, yet she held the mobile intact. He quickly removed the SIM card from the mobile and placed it in his. By then they had reached the hospital.
In five minutes she was inside the Emergency Ward. Siddarth scanned through the phone numbers in her card and finally spotted ‘Home'. He called that number,
“Tring… Tring…”
Nobody answered. As he was about to hang up…
“Hello”, a frail old female voice.
Siddarth didn't know her name. He didn't know how to start a conversation and what name to mention.
“Hello. I'm calling from Roy Hospital. Somebody in your house met with an accident. She is a young lady and she had this number on her mobile phone” he said.
There was silence at the other end.
“Hello?”
“What number do you want?” the voice asked.
Siddarth confirmed the number.
“Whom do you want to talk to?” the voice asked.
“I don't know the person's name”, he then explained the same thing.
There was silence again.
“Is there anybody else at home?” he asked.
“No. Mansi and Rohan have gone to office. Their parents have gone out shopping for Mansi's wedding”, the voice said.
“Who are you?” Siddarth asked. He also presumed the young lady to be Mansi.
“I'm Baarghavi”, the voice said.
“Baarghavi who?” Siddarth lost his patience.
“Mansi and Rohan's grandmother”
“Ok. Grandmother. I'll call later”, he said and hung up before she could respond.
He continued to scan her address book and spotted the name Rohan. “This must be her brother”, Siddarth presumed and called the number.
“Hello?”
“Hi, This is Siddarth. I'm calling from Roy hospital. I have just admitted a person at Roy hospital who met with an accident just a few minutes ago. On her mobile, I spotted your number. I presume it to be Mansi”
“Mansi? What… what happened to her?” Rohan was panicking.
“I'm on my way” Rohan said and hung up.
Siddarth was relieved. The police procedures were done with and Siddarth was free to go. He looked through the glass doors of the emergency ward. They were wiping the blood and grime off her beautiful face. She still had the radiant looks. Her teary eyes flashed before him. “Please save me”, he heard her tell it to him again.
He sat down looking at her. “I will not leave until you are saved” his mind read.
Rohan ran in frantically.
“You must be Rohan” Siddarth stood up and said.
“Yes. Where is Mansi?”
Siddarth showed him the emergency ward where Mansi was lying unconscious.
“What happened?” Rohan asked.
Siddarth narrated the whole accident.
Rohan immediately called his parents. In half an hour the hospital was filled with family and friends of Mansi.
“She is getting married in a week. She was very unhappy with that. She didn't want to go to the USA after her wedding. She complained. Today was the last working day at work. This must have happened after the farewell at her workplace” Rohan told Siddarth.
Siddarth felt something was wrong within him. He should have left. For a few moments he was carried away by Mansi's beauty. He wanted to save her and take her away with him. He wanted to wipe those teary eyes and bring joy to her life. After seeing her collapsed state on the road, with glass pieces strewn all over her and around her, he knew it was the last time it ever happened to this beautiful lady. It was an accident, and he fell for her accidentally, from that critical moment.
“I'm sure she is going to be fine and the wedding is going to happen as planned” Siddarth promised.
“Thank you very much Siddarth. We owe you a lot” Rohan shook his hands with Siddarth.
“Never mind. You must also thank Mrs. Sameer who drove us to the hospital. She has already left.”
“Do let her know our thanks”
“Sure, if I ever meet her again. I'll leave now. Please give me a call and let me know about Mansi” Siddarth gave his card and left. He looked back at the emergency ward. Mansi was already taken to the operation theater. He wanted to see her for one last time.
That night, he sat by the seashore and looked at the never-ending horizon. The waves kissed his feet time and again. Everything seemed like a quick nightmare, but Mansi was a beautiful dream in it.
“You must be crazy. You just helped her. That is it. You can't even claim anything more” Vinay said.
“I know. My mind understands and accepts what your saying, but it is the heart that rebels” Siddarth said.
Just then his mobile phone rang. The name ‘Akash' flashed on the screen.
“Hello?” Siddarth said wondering whom Akash was.
Nobody spoke.
“Hello?” he said again.
“Mansi. Can I talk to Mansi?”
“Mansi?” Just then Siddarth realized that he still had Mansi's SIM card on his mobile.
“I'm sorry. Mansi met with an accident. She is at the hospital. I have her mobile. Will be returning it to her parents in a while” Siddarth said.
“Accident?”
“She is at the Roy hospital”
Siddarth and Vinay went to the hospital to give her SIM card to Rohan.
There were more people that night. Akash and other colleagues were already there.
“I'm sorry, I walked away with her SIM card” Siddarth gave it to Rohan.
“How is she now?” Vinay asked Rohan.
“They have done a surgery behind her head. She is still unconscious. The doctors' sound positive” Rohan smiled.
Siddarth knew everything was going to be fine.
Siddarth couldn't sleep that night. Glimpses of the twilight zone, the pedestrian crossing, the green signal, the tears in her eyes, the mobile phone, the shattered glasses, the people's voices, her teary eyes, the blood running down his hand, rushed through his mind.
The next day, he stopped by the hospital before he went to office. She was at the Intensive Care Unit and she was recovering. He felt happy that he had saved her.
A week passed by. His work kept him busy and every now and then he would think of Mansi and those teary eyes. One day, he received a call from Rohan, Mansi's brother.
“Hi Siddarth! Mansi is doing well. She wishes to see you. Can you come over to the hospital sometime when you are free?”
“Sure”
That evening, Siddarth and Vinay went to the hospital. He had brought her some flowers.
“How are you doing?” Siddarth asked her. She looked fresher. Her eyes were clear but there were still traces of pain.
“I'm feeling good. Thank you very much for bringing me to the hospital” she smiled.
“I've never seen you smile. Now that I have, I will leave this place as a happy man. Million dollar smile, that is”, he thought to himself.
“Her wedding has been cancelled. That is why such a radiant smile” Rohan said.
Siddarth looked at Mansi who was grinning.
“Taking it for bad omen, her to-be in-laws have decided to look for a better bride” Rohan added.
“Yeah right! Better bride! I'm glad anyways” Mansi said.
Siddarth did not know what to speak.
“I don't remember anything. I remember talking over the phone to one of my colleagues. I was crying because the farewells made me feel really low. I noticed the green signal and stepped on the road. And then… boooommmm…. something hit me. Somebody carried me. And then I woke up at the Intensive Care Unit”, she said.
“Someone carried me” it echoed in Siddarth's mind. “She asked me to save her. She held my shirt and asked” Siddarth's heart recollected and his mind asked him to leave.
A month passed by. His work took over. His memories of Mansi faded. The moment of accident, the moment of falling in love accidentally, everything faded. His was after the holy grail concept all over again.
Accidents happen. Leaves indelible scars behind. They might even leave short love stories behind!
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