Sunday, November 17, 2013

The Abominable Lull

So when my friend, a good friend I must add, called me in an emergency and cried for help, I had no option but to rush out of work and get to the hospital as soon as I could... my mind wandered as I drove... Blood... that was what he had called me for... I had to donate blood... never once in my life had I done that... blotches of red oozed across my mind... my vision blurred... everything began to turn red... I had to stay focused...

The hospital's parking lot was full of cars, yet devoid of any life form... I had to take a good two rounds of the lot to find an empty space... I parked my vehicle and stepped out of it... the car was slightly out of line... I waited for an irritating usher to come running along and shout at me ordering me to park correctly... no... today was different... there was no usher, nor was there anyone to charge me for the parking...

I walked on, as the sky grew darker... a gust of wind ensured that the dust was kept hanging in the air... a single droplet of rain hit my arm... by the time I looked at my arm, the droplet had already split into several tiny fragments... I watched as they raced down my arm for a short distance and then vanished... my preoccupation with the droplets had prevented me from noticing that the sky had turned a dark brown... 'deadness' hung in the air...

I passed the gate and watched in amazement as there was no one there too... a sole security camera looked at me and followed me as I moved, making an occasional noise and a red LED blinking rhythmically... the deserted hospital lobby looked no different from one that was buzzing with life... I've always had the feeling that hospital lobbies give you an air of death hovering over you... the only noises you are bound to hear are the ones of fingers tapping on keyboards, like someone preparing a copy of your final judgement, and babies crying their lungs out, like someone being mercilessly cast into a pit... and the smell... no words can describe it...

I looked for someone at the front desk to help me get to the blood bank... somehow I wasn't surprised at not finding anyone around... I walked straight ahead, and to my relief found a sign hanging from the ceiling... 'BLOOD BANK - II Floor' it read... in bold red letters... it let out a faint creaking noise as it swayed to and fro... In the distance, I heard a faint cry, probably from an old man in pain... my heart raced... I didn't know whether it was because I was relieved at finding someone around, or if I wasn't hoping to run into anyone in this eerieness... I ran to the nearest elevator and hit the call button... the elevator car was on my floor, but the doors didn't budge... the light inside it flickered, as I repeatedly punched the call button hoping for something to happen.

Like always, I wondered as I climbed... 'why are the flights of stairs in hospitals longer and wider?'... I paused for a moment as I reached the middle of the stairs... I imagined myself to be a tiny speck as I stood in the middle... I continued climbing upward, not pleased at the unavailability of anyone with me to share my thoughts with...

At the second floor, the Blood Bank was the room at the end of the corridor... I watched, as I walked, the brown dull sunlight snaking its way into the corridor through the window at the end... golden specks of dust floated about playfully in the lush brownness... a fluorescent lamp flickered inside the blood bank... I imagined red liquid dripping from the lamp... I tugged at the glass door to open it, but it had been chained shut... I pulled harder... the chains clamored against the door... the noise echoed across the hallway... it traveled all the way to the end, and then faded into obscurity... I looked back at the door, and suddenly I saw her...

Her pale face was pressed against the door... I recognized that pale face... it was from long ago... the years had done nothing to alter that face, save for the increased paleness... I pulled at the chained door again... neither did the door nor did she move an inch... it was like she was not expecting the door to move... she raised her hand, rubbing it against the glass... I raised mine too... our palms touched either side of the glass door at the same spot... I began to breathe deeply... the air was getting thicker... a drop of blood fell onto my foot... I felt my nostrils with my right hand, and almost immediately my fingers were engulfed in blood... my breathing had stopped... I looked at her again... her eyes suddenly filled with pain as her pale blue eyes shifted focus to something behind me... the fear in her eyes... like she was looking at Death in his eyes... I turned back just in time to see a sea of red rush through the hallway... before I could prepare myself for the end that awaited me, I was lifted by the monstrous wave of red... for a brief moment, I lay there floating in the midst of the red sea... I glanced at the door, and there she was... her emotions remaining unchanged... those pale blue eyes staring back at me blankly... those pale blue eyes from long ago...



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