That Day

A pale-looking twelve-year boy was standing on the side of a road. He was wearing a black striped t-shirt and light-blue colour jeans. His face was as pale as a white paper, with no colour on it.

He was looking here and there, it seems he was waiting for someone. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours, still, no one came for him.

All of a sudden, he felt water drops pouring on his face, it started raining. However, he didn't budge an inch. He felt cold though, still, he stood there like a rock.

After a while, he can hear someone chatting and people walking fast here and there. 'What's going on ' he thought to himself. He realised his eyes are closed, ' when he closed his eyes and for how long?' he was bemused. He can smell a strange odour like there are medicines everywhere, 'but how can that be ?' he was on the side of the road.

He opened his eyes with some difficulty, the light in the room was bright. He saw a middle-aged woman, who was talking to a nurse beside him.

He tried to look around, " Oh! You woke up, how are you feeling now?" the lady cried out and rushed towards his side.

It took him some time to realise she was talking to him.

'Who is she' he thought in bafflement. Grey hair, slim figure, fair skin, wearing glasses and a blue - colour salwar - suit. He hadn't seen her before, in his life.

"How are you?" she asked again, she was looking worried.

"I am feeling better," he replied politely. " But can you please tell me, how I came here?" he wasn't sure what was going on, why and when he came to a hospital. He can't think straight, his thoughts were muddled with anger and distress.

"I brought you here, two days ago I saw you lying on the footpath. I tried to wake you up, your body was hot because of a high fever. I searched for someone who knew you, however, there was no one. So, I couldn't leave you there all alone," The lady told him everything she knew.

"Two days?" he was astounded. ' That means no one came that day, for him. So, he had been abandoned, they no longer need me,' he thought to himself. Tears rolled onto his cheeks. 'Where will he go now? what will he do?' he was musing on this.

Seeing the tears in the child's eyes, the lady felt anxious and leapt toward him. She wiped off his tears, she didn't know, what have happened to this child and who is he. However, she felt some sort of connection and sympathy for the kid.

" Why are you crying, do you feel pain or discomfort in any part of your body?" she asked the boy and tried to comfort him.

No word came out of his mouth, his thoughts were a jumbled mess and he can't come to any conclusion.

The lady was worried for the boy, so she asked, " Kid, how can I contact your parents? so they can take you home."

The boy started sobbing even hard, what was he supposed to say to this question, he couldn't lie to this lady. He has to tell her, about his parents, he looked up, " I don't have any parents," he said in an affirmative tone.

The lady was baffled, after hearing his revelation. She thought 'It would be hard for the kid to live on his own. She wanted to help him but how?

At that moment, a nurse came, " How are you feeling now?" the nurse inquired. " Any dizziness?"

"No, I am feeling fine," the boy replied honestly.

"That's good to hear, now you can go home. Anyone is coming to pick you up?" the nurse asked.

"No," the boy said firmly. For a moment, an awkward silence came in between them. Then the nurse cleared her throat, " So, should we call any one of your relatives?"

"No," He was saying only one word and it was getting hard to force out some other words from his mouth.

" Then, where would you go, after leaving the hospital?" the nurse was asking him.

The boy pondered on this for a while, and he realised he has nowhere to go.

"I don't know," he said.

The nurse and the lady exchanged a look.

" I think we should start with the name, right? My name is Neelam and yours?" The lady said.

" I am Arjun," he replied.

"It's a nice name. So, Arjun where do you live, I can take you there," Neelam was saying. ' There must be someplace where he had lived for so long,' she thought.

"I was thrown out of the place, where I have been living," He was trembling, recalling the incident, which had happened at that place, he called home. Tears were stinging his eyes again.

Neelam felt her heart start to throb so rapidly, what had happened to this child she can't even imagine.

She can't keep up questioning him.

The nurse understood and began to question the boy, she also doesn't want to ask him anything and bring up his painful memories back. However, she has to do the dirty work because it's her accountability.

"So, should I call an authority to take you somewhere you can live???"

Arjun didn't reply, " I'll take it as a yes," The nurse said and leave the lady and the boy to their demise.

They looked at each other for a while, Neelam felt he was gazing at her with expectations in his eyes.

However, the boy turned his head before she could be sure about anything.

After a while, Neelam went to get something to eat for herself and Arjun. When she came back, she saw a police officer and a middle-aged man beside him, the nurse was with them too.

" What's going on?" Neelam asked as soon as she came closer to them.

" This is Mr Mehta and Mr Rahul," the nurse said to Neelam, pointing at the police officer and the man with him.

She continued, " Mr Mehta is a police officer as you can see and Mr Rahul is an orphanage worker. They are here to take this kid with them."

Neelam glanced at Arjun, he was sitting there, looking neither happy nor sad. He can hear what was being decided for him, however, doesn't seem a bit interested. What was going on in his head, was hard to guess.

"But is it ok? I mean he hasn't recovered yet though," Neelam tried to remind them.

"He is fine now, there is no need for him to stay in the hospital. That's why we have completed all the formalities," the nurse reassured Neelam.

Arjun stood up and started walking with them. Neelam didn't know why her heart clenched, it felt like she can't breathe anymore. She has no child, but towards this kid, she has motherly feelings. Maybe this is an omen from God that she met this cute little boy.

She realised, she has to do something, she can't let go of this little boy.

"Stop!," Arjun heard this and looked back, he saw Neelam, who was staring at him intently.

It felt like, they both had made up their mind.