21 Days - Day 20

"Good morning Smita" I chirped as I entered her room.

I hadn't knocked or waited to enter before I shouted out my greeting, so I was slightly taken back by the sight of her mom in the room.

"Good morning Madam. How is she today?" noticing the sleeping form of Smita on the bed.

"She is fine. She got up, had her breakfast and went of to sleep. Should I wake her up?" she replied.

"No no no...let her sleep. I will just check on her vitals and the charts.", I said, taking my scopes out.

The thing about being a patient in a hospital is the ease with which you get used to the constant probes and tests that are done on you. A week or two in the hospital and you wouldn't even wake up when somebody checks your pressure or does a blood test.

I went about my work and entering the values and checking the earlier values entered in the charts. She was doing good. Her pulse was normal. No other issues had cropped up. Yesterday had been the last day of chemo and radiation. The lab guys had come early morning and taken the blood samples.

" We are not splitting up"

The sudden statement caught me off-balance. Not that it was shouted out. But in a silent hospital room, even a whisper can be loud. The nature of her statement added to the deafening resonance in my ears.

"uhh...what?" I asked.

"We are not splitting up. Me and Jay. I know that you heard us arguing the other day and talking about divorce. We decided not to divorce, for Smita's sake. We think that is the best course."

I didn't have a ready reply to that. Of course it was the best decision. I couldn't even imagine the additional trauma that such a thing could do to Smita. I wanted to hug her and say thanks. At the same time I wanted to give her a tight slap for even considering something like that at a time like this.

All that I said was," Hmm hmm"

"Jay and I talked it out. We had some issues, with his absence and other things. We have decided all that can wait. What is important now is Smita...and her health. "

"Hmm hmm.. If you want I can ask our resident psychiatrist to recommend some marriage counselor. That really works. Atleast you should be in a support group. There are lots of support groups for parents with affected children. It might be very helpful."

"Yeah yeah, maybe we should do that." in a very nonchalant way, which made me think she isn't going to do that anytime soon.

"Listen, Mrs. Jayakumar, I know how tough all this is on you. Shuttling between home and hospital. A sick child...that too at this young age. It takes it's toll on you. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad idea. Just consider it.", I said, surprised at how intrusive and bold I had become.

"Yes. I shall surely consider it.", she replied.

"Mommy, where is dad?" suddenly a small voice came out.

Smita had woken up. We both turned to look at her.

"He is here only, baby. He will be here only" , her mom replied

I turned and left the room.

Day 21 - The Finale