"How could this happen to her? She was perfectly fine till today morning and now you are telling me this?" Shobha stuttered with tears slowly brimming in her eyes. She looked at the Dr. Chopra and all he just nodded sympathetically and moved from there. Shobha could not believe her ears, her mind was filled with doubts and questions and she felt a sudden hatred towards the almighty.
Shobha, being a 35 year old woman with hazel brown eyes, beautiful long brown hair, fair skinned, 5'5" tall with a slender body and strong mind, who had seen and been through a lot of struggle in her life, did not seem like the one who would break down on hearing the news. But now, she was the one who was crying inconsolably, holding Meena's hand who was lying unconscious.
Meena was Shobha's mom. At the age of 60, Meena looked much younger that anybody could easily consider her to be Shobha's sister. She had a grace in the way she portrayed herself to the society. She was taller than Shobha, had a youthful skin which did not show a wrinkle or sag, she loved to look beautiful and young, her hair was always tied in a bun and she made sure she coloured it in every 15 days. A single strand of white hair would make her run to the hairdresser. Her nails would always be polished and her hazel brown eyes would always have an eyeliner on.
Shobha saw Keshav entering the room and she looked at him with her wet sorrowful eyes. She did not know how could she break the news to her father. Would he be strong enough to take it or would he crumble like she did or would it be worse? She was telling herself that its a probably just a nightmare. Like the ones she had before. She would wake up on her bed and there will be no hospital, no doctors, no tears, no fear. But she knew all of this is true.
Meena's husband, Keshav, was the complete opposite of Meena. At the age of 65 he could easily be considered 70. Thin built, half bald, stained teeth due to regular consumption of tobacco made him look more aged than he actually was.
"What happened?" Keshav asked Shobha with worried eyes.
Shobha said with caution, "Doctor said he will be doing a few more tests and then he would confirm. Most probably it was just a small stroke, she will be better after sometime." She knew this was so not true. She knew she was trying to convince herself and Keshav, as she did not want to face the actual truth.
"I don't understand, why this woman had to create such a fiasco over just a small stroke!" said Keshav in an unruly tone. Anger started building up in Shobha's eyes, she could feel her body fuming. How can he talk like this when my mother is on her death bed, she thought to herself. After all these years he still hasn't changed a bit. He is still the same old Keshav who had abandoned his wife and kids when they needed him the most.
"Dad, if you cannot talk anything good, please don't enter this room again. I cannot take you insulting my mom in such a harsh way and that too when she is unwell and needs care and love," words spurted out of Shobha's mouth like a dragon spurting out fire. "Who are you to judge her? Are you going through what she has gone through or what you made her go through?"
Shobha was interrupted with a knock on the door. Silence filled the room and a petite nurse entered the room and asked Shobha and Keshav to go out of the room as she needed to get the patient ready for certain tests.
They nodded and left the room.
