21 Days - Day 2

Previous day


“ How long have I got? “

I turned back to look at the girl lying almost missing in the huge bed, covered by the drab blue colors of the hospital linen. I had thought she was sleeping and had proceeded to check on her vitals and was noting them down on her chart.

“excuse me..what did you say”, I flustered.

“ I know I am going to die, right? Soon? I could hear the doctors tell my mom last night. Just
wanted to know how long I got.”

I looked at her, not sure as to how to answer this query. It was a tough question to answer, even to an adult. There is never an easy way to tell a person about their mortality. It gets extremely difficult when the question is posed by a child.

“ I am not sure. We are still waiting for the results of some of the blood tests we did yesterday. I think you will be healthy and going home soon.”, I managed.

“oh you are one of those..forget that I asked..”, she dismissed.

“one of what? I don’t get what you mean”

“ Look, I can see what you are trying to do here. I don’t need this ‘kindness’ from you. I am tired and old enough to understand things as I see them. Forget it”

I stood there stunned by this outburst. I must have looked real dumb and sorry-looking, left with my foot in my mouth. “Forget it” she said. “Forget that I asked”.

“uhh..I don’t have any answer. I don’t know the specs. I am just checking on your stats. The chief specialist would be coming in tomorrow. We are doing what we can.”

“ Oh forget it…I know that even if you know you wouldn’t tell me.. I hate this place. I hate everyone looking out for me. “

She couldn’t turn away because of the IV lines running to both her arms but flipped her head away and dismissed me just like that. I stood there for a while, thinking whether to continue or to walk away

I turned and left the room.



“How many times have you kissed a boy? “

I had come back to see if the IV had finished and read up on the lab reports. I tried to ignore the weak voice and continued to check on the glucose IV.

“Just curious… not that I want to intrude upon your personal stuff..”, her voice trailed off.

I looked at her “yeah I have kissed before …don’t know the number though”

“How is it.. I mean , Lavanya said it was gross…she met a boy at the last summer camp…said it wasn’t anything dazzling as she expected..wet and smelly is what she said”

“ it all depends on the moment I guess…if it’s with the person whom you care about its like wonderful..hmm I am not sure I should be talking to you about this.”

“ oh what is the big deal…everyone does it…everyone knows about it…just that I never had a chance…I could have , you know..before this wig and before I had to quit school”

I smiled at her, not wanting the feeling of sadness and despair to come out. I wanted to reach out to her and hold her.

“oh you will get your chance yet…plenty of opportunities still..you look beautiful and any boy would love to kiss you..”

She looked at me with an expression as though I was drunk and blabbering “are you really stupid or is today some special day. How do you think there can be a chance…do you think I am stupid…oh just forget it …my mistake”

“ why are you so angry…why do you blast out…I just said what I said because …because I thought so. There isn’t any need to get so angry about it…relax..see..take a look at your pulse rate..it is peaked out here…”

“just leave me alone….” And she turned the other side, looking resigned and tired.

I checked her charts, put in the values and left the pad hanging on her bed. I turned around and suddenly realized I wasn’t alone. Her mom stood there.

Day 3