Chapter 2
"I told you she'll be fine," the doctor sighed on seeing shalmali asleep.
The slightly opened door was the one from where they saw her. Her face was luminous even when she was sleeping. Some strands of hair were kissing her cheeks, while she had rested like she was into an esoteric dream. Eyes closed, thick lashes. Her breath was warm when the doctor waved his finger close to her round nose.
A plethora of letters was found out from the same sender when the nurse opened the small drawer which was next to shalmali's bed. Some half torn, some crumpled and some were just thrown here and there. The nurse picked up today's letter from the ground and added it to the collection of letters in her drawer. They always keep her things appropriately, when she throws it here and there.
"Just clean up the remaining mess, I want the room clean," the doctor instructed the ward's maid who was cleaning the windows. She nodded.
Shalmali's ward was always dark, murky, with no lights and no sun's glaze. She might have liked to live this way because of her horrifying past or something that didn't want her to come into the glint.
"Just get out," A noise whispered.
The maid heard the whisper and turned rearwards, only then when she saw that shalmali was sleep-talking. Hearing the light mumble, the maid stopped her work and went to check on her. Shalmali was clenching her fists in her sleep as if she was about to fight something, her uneasiness in her sleep was apparent. The maid walked slowly towards her.
Boom;
Shalmali heard the light footsteps attaining near her in her sleep. She opened her eyelids like the demonic villain from the movies opens it when they pretend to be dead. And then what, she ran towards the maid and clasped her neck. At that very moment, the maid started crying out for help. Shalmali for the first time looked like she was not mentally retarded but a monster had possessed her.
"What happened?" the nurse came in, petrified by the maid's scream.
The moment the nurse saw the scene, she wailed too and screamed back, "Doctor, Doctor, come here fast, fast."
Meanwhile, the nurse ran towards them and tried to stop shalmali from doing so. But she was persistent and didn't back off.
The doctor came;
"Oh my God!".
"Shalmali, leave her."
"Doctor, we should give her an injection to make her unconscious,'' urged one of the ward boys.
"You don't know anything, just shut up, we can't give her an injection, because if we do so, her condition will be more wrecked when she'll gain consciousness," the doctor exclaimed.
"So what should we do, if we don't, she will kill her," Said the assistant doctor.
"On my count of three, together we'll pull her. Ok, Ready?."
"Yeah," Everyone retorted in unison.
"Ok.1, 2 and 3, come on," everybody jogged towards shalmali on the doctor's injunctions.
"Just pull harder."
They succeeded in separating shalmali from the maid, while the maid was gasping for air and coughing continuously after getting separated from shalmali's clasps. Whereas, shalmali's face was like an unsatisfied animal who was so close to its prey but couldn't eat it. She was growling as if she was hungry, trying to get out from the tight fists that held her. Her eyes showed anger and need. Her teeth clenched so tight, it looked like they could break any moment. They tied her up to her bed. Her hands and her legs were tied, they all left, letting her howl alone in that dark ward.
"What should be done with her? her condition is waning day by day," the doctor was tense.
Coming out of her ward everybody wheezed as if there was no air inside the ward. They all were sweaty and tired.
"I should do a shock therapy on her, that's the ultimate thing I could do," concluded the doctor.
"But it is riskier than an injection," said the assistant.
"I know but I have to do it. Let's see how she responds to it. If it doesn't work then I have to leave her at the same place from where I got her."