Private practice

Vishal Sharma

An old and frail man lay on the bed of a cardiology department in a government hospital in deep anguish. Every now and then he would grimace and turn and toss in his bed, making low and growly noises. Whenever the old man made painful noises, Ramu, his son, who stood by his side, would look up from his mobile phone, lean over him and ask him.

" Is the pain too much to bear, baba?"

Drawing no response from him, he would clutch his hand, meet his unsteady gaze and then bat his eyelashes reassuringly at the old man.

No sooner did the old man overcome the bout of unease and eased into quietude, Ramu would go back to seeing reels on his phone until a little while later he was again interrupted by the old man's wails.

As their wait stretched on, Ramu, wearied of the sameness of the last few hours, approached a nurse sitting behind a glass partition in one corner of the hall, furiously jotting down on a paper.

" We have been waiting since morning for the specialist doctor. When is he expected? My baba is in excruciating pain."

" Not earlier than three in the afternoon," replied the nurse without so much as even bothering to lift her face to look at him.

Ramu looked at the wall clock right behind the nurse. The hands of the clock lay on top of each other pointing towards twelve.

A good three hours before the doctor arrives, he thought to himself, and went back to resume his seat by his baba's side.

***

At fifteen past three, Dr Arun Kumar arrived, accompanied by two junior residents and his private assistant, for daily tour of the ward. For a man, who weighed around two and half stones more than someone of his height, Dr Kumar moved around with a lot of energy. Before long, he was with Ramu's baba. Dr Kumar lifted the wrist of the old man and held it between his fingers and thumb for some time even as he looked at his wrist watch. Thereafter, he leant over him and dragged down the lower lid of his left eye with his thumb. He then examined his right eye.

" Who's with him? You?," turning towards Ramu, he asked him.

"Yes."

Putting the earpieces of stethoscope into his ears, Dr Kumar lifted the shirt of the old man and placed the chest piece on his chest. He then turned him to the other side and placed the chest piece on his back. Thereafter he made some observations in his diary and turned towards Ramu.

" His heart is functioning at forty per cent of its capacity. I recommend immediate surgical intervention. My private assistant will guide you regarding the subsequent measures."

When Dr Arun Kumar was gone, his private assistant began talking to the attendants of the patients. He talked animatedly, at times even using his hands to make his point. When the private assistant was done talking to them, he signalled to Ramu to come over to his side.

" Doctor sahib is of the view that the patient will have the best treatment in his private hospital. As it is, this Government hospital is short on essential drugs and some of the diagnostic instruments are also out of order."

" It will cost us a fortune. Won't it?"

"Around Rupees twenty lakh. But I suggest you look at the entire complement of service the hospital offers."

" All in one fell swoop?"

"A down payment of thirty per cent is all you have to make at the time of admission."

***

Later in the evening, Ramu spoke to his wife about his conversation with the private assistant of the doctor.

" The doctor wants to treat baba in his hospital."

"Why does he not treat him in the government hospital? Is he not drawing his salary from the same government hospital?"

"What can I say? But we aren't the ones being poached. His private assistant is the frontman. He is doing the illegal solicitations on behalf of the doctor."

" Rupees Twenty lakh is a huge amount. We have nothing left now except two acres of agricultural land."

Ramu became quiet for a while and then said. "Let's see how much money can be raised by selling this land."

****

A month later, Ramu's baba lay recovering in Dr Kumar's hospital. He had been operated upon successfully. Ramu did not think it apt to tell him that he had sold off the only piece of land they had to raise money for his treatment.

" Baba, how do you feel today?"

" Quite well, beta."

" It's just a matter of a few days now, baba. We will be home soon."

A beaming Ramu then went to see the ward nurse to discuss his baba's discharge from the hospital. On his way, he ran into an attendant of another patient whom he had seen in the government hospital a month ago.

" You are here, too?"

" Yeh, there was no option. The doctor's private assistant said my mother's best chance of making recovery was in this hospital only."

" And."

" Her health is on the mend now. Who knows they may have killed her there? People say that doctors should not be allowed to do private practice. Come to think of it, but for it, where will we be? "

*****

The clock struck three in what was a hopelessly windless afternoon. The sky suddenly turned grey. Within no time, it turned ominously charcoal grey. But there was no sign of rain. It was the second occasion that the sky had become sooty grey in the city in the matter of a couple of weeks. A canopy of darkness covered everything and there was a deafening, eerie quiet. When one looked at the sky, it appeared a gaggle of demons was champing at the bit to devour the life below.

Finding it difficult to see the way ahead, Ramu turned the headlight of his scootie on, and sped towards the hospital. A couple of fire tenders came from behind in frenzy and rushed past him. As he neared the hospital, he saw fire on the third storey of the hospital. He stepped on the gas and reached the hospital in no time. Throwing his scootie on the ground, he rushed towards the main entrance to the hospital. The fire personnel stopped him from entering the hospital.

" My baba is on the fifth floor. I have to get him out of this building." When his desperate pleas were ignored, he pushed the guards aside and forced his entry into the building. Inside, fire had assumed the shape of an inferno. The thick blades of fire moved relentlessly like the blades of a saw mill and formed an impenetrable wall in and around the staircases and long narrow corridors of the hospital. The plumes of smokes filled all the rooms, halls, dormitories and the corridors, making breathing near impossible. Ramu took a long breath of air and ran through the blaze and dashed towards the fifth floor. Enroute he saw people running helter and skelter for life. A few patients had been lifted on their shoulders by their attendants, but the latter could not get them out of the building as the blaze had now engulfed all the exit points. They stood there desolate and awaiting death even as their wails and prayers echoed through the building.

Despite his valiant efforts, Ramu could only reach as far as the third floor. As he made for the fourth floor, his lungs choked, forcing him to pause. It was then he heard the laments of Doctor Kumar. He gathered himself and looked around to see where he was trapped. Another round of lamentation, and he quickly figured out that he was in OT.

Ramu tried to push the thick metallic OT door open, but it would not yield. He scanned the area for other entrance points. It was then he saw a mini glass door to the right of main OT door. He grabbed a chair and hit it with full force and broke the glass. Ramu jumped in and saw Dr Kumar lying on the ground. Unconscious and immobile. He lifted him and ran towards the exit. With great effort, he reached the first floor. All exit points were up in flames. He saw a window and an idea struck him. Setting Doctor Kumar down, he opened the window and saw a car parked plumb below in the parking. He quickly lifted him and jumped down on the roof of the car all the while ensuring that he landed with his back down.

*****

A week after the fire accident, Dr Kumar got up from his bed in the Burns ward and limped off to the Bone and Joint ward of the Government hospital, helped by his son.

" How are you, Ramu?"

" Doctor sahib." Ramu had suffered spinal fracture from the fall and could not sit up in the bed.

" Look, what's happened to me? The owner of the state of the art hospital in the city under treatment in a government hospital. My deeds have caught up with me."

" Doctor sahib, it's all pre-ordained. I couldn't save my baba that day. I have lost everything."

"Don't pity yourself. You have helped me rediscover the true meaning of life. You have opened my eyes."

Doctor Kumar leant down and kissed Ramu's forehead and then buried his head in his chest.