Thanksgiving

Gauri

"Sir, Sir! What is happening to you?" He looked at me with half opened eyes while coughing vigorously and patting his chest.

"Oh my god, are you having a heart attack" he nodded painfully. His trembling finger pointed towards the back seat where a duffle bag was lying on the seat.

I found medicines in it and showed him all the medicine one by one. He nodded at one strip of tablets but it has only one tablet left in it.

'Oh come on, something is better than nothing' my inner self encouraged me to act fast.

Thankfully I had attended the first aid class and I knew what to do in such an emergency. I made him sit on the road with knees raised. I made him calm and loosened his shirt a bit by unbuttoning first two buttons. I pushed the tablet and closed his mouth so he couldn't throw it out during a cough. Eventually, he swallowed it and after a minute his breathing become little normal.

But he was still not looking fine. I settled him in the back seat and took the driving seat. I drove the car in full speed (thank god, I have learned driving a month ago from father). I was nervous at first but I gained confidence. The road was clear and I headed towards the same clinic where we have admitted Vibhu a few days back.

I pulled the car in front of the clinic and shouted for help. The staff picked him up and lay him on the stretcher. Everything happened so fast that I didn't get time to inform anyone.

"You brought him at the right time, if you got late by a few minutes then we could not save him" Doctor recognized me when he met me outside the observation room.

"Thanks, doctor, when he will be conscious enough to talk"

"Most probably in an hour"

"By the way who he is, he was not looking Indian" I decided to tell him the truth.

"I don't know him sir, he was in bad condition when I spotted him" I explained.

"It's okay, I got this phone from his pocket. Check it and inform his family about him. I have to see another patient" he handed over the phone to me and left to see other patients.

I never saw a phone without buttons. Mrinal had the latest model of mobile but it was also with buttons. I looked at the phone and turned it upside down and to every possible angle but could not understand that how to operate it. There were no buttons in that rectangular slim device. I called a ward boy and asked him if he knows how to operate it.

To my surprise, he said yes. He took the phone from me and god knows how he switched it on in a second. He did something and the contact list was in front of me. He guided me on how to operate it and I thanked him.

It was showing 6:45 am and it was not good to call randomly. I checked his mobile and found categories. Finally, I found the category FAMILY.

I opened the folder and found three names Rose, Princess, and Chipmunk. Rose and Princess might be the female members and they had not any local contact but the Chipmunk had a local contact so I decided to inform the person with that weird name

'Gauri don't laugh, his relative is admitted here.' My inner self chided and I stopped giggling.

"Hi dad, why are you calling?" A sleepy voice with thick British accent came over from another side.

'What were you expecting? Hindi.' My inner self mocked me.

"Hello, Am I talking to Mr. Chipmunk" I asked in a serious tone although I was laughing in my mind.

"WHAT? Who is this?" I must have startled him because he sounded surprised and alarmed.

"Umm, actually your father has got a heart attack BUT he is fine now. He is admitted in Live life clinic. I found your number in his contacts in the family category that's why I called you. Please come to Live Life clinic at Chanakya puri." I explained in one breathe.

"Thank you, thanks a lot. I am reaching there, please stay wherever you are." He answered in hurry and disconnected the call.

After 15 minutes, a screeching sound of car disturbed the morning silence and I rushed outside so that his son need not waste time in finding me.

I saw a guy coming out from black Mercedes. He was in black body-hugging t-shirt, brown shorts, blond messy hair, and blue sleepy eyes. BLUE EYES? Oh no! Miller again!

"Miller" I shouted and waved at him.

"Gawri" he jogged towards me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a surprising tone.

"Okay just tell me, are you chipmunk?" I asked him straight away.

"Yes, No, oh yes but don't call me with that. Dad used to tease me with that. How did you find him, what happened?" he asked me a series of questions in one go.

"Hey take a deep breath! Just calm down Miller, he is okay. The doctor has given him an injection, he will be conscious in 15-20 minutes. I spotted him when I was going to temple. I gave him a tablet but his condition was still serious so I drove him here." he was shocked at my explanation.