To an isolation (The prologue, A story part 1)

*{Before I start, let me tell you something. This is not the usual stuff which I post in my blogs. This literature work contains mostly fiction induced with some of my own experiences. I wrote this just for fun. The characters are fictional, if any character or incidents are similar to anyone. It is pure coincidental. It’s just a piece of literature…Hope you like it, fingers crossed.}

I was standing impatiently thinking about how my chest x-ray report might be. Like me there were people scattered around waiting for their names to be called out by the doctors or the medical officials. The ambience of the place made it look like we all were attending a funeral where we need not be. Tension and less humidity present in the atmosphere made it somewhat even worse. My restlessness and the tiny beads of sweats forming on my forehead was now becoming clearly visible to people around me. To my right, an auntie who was sitting on a seat asked someone, “So? Tested out as Covid positive, huh?” The reply of that stranger came with a vigorous nod saying, “I was so over protective. I don’t how I became positive. My husband and I sanitized everything. May it be a tiny needle to all our vegetables. Everyday I assured every nook and corner was sanitized because of that now my back aches.” With a sigh she continued,” But still I became positive.”

Being a Covid positive person myself, all I could emphasize on her sentence was that she was married. Earlier, I had heard her name being called by the doctor by which I noted that she was a hindu. She looked very young, simple and elegant girl. She being a hindu, I didn’t notice any sindoor (Sindoor is a traditional vermilion red or orange-red colored cosmetic powder from the Indian subcontinent, usually worn by married women along the part of their hair) on her forehead and like those Santhoor soap commercials she turned out to be married. Now like the advertisement goes, all I was waiting for was a kid to approach her out of nowhere just to say mummy. Nothing sort of it happened. If it had happened I might have chuckled a bit. My earlier deduction about her was that she must be some college student doing bachelor’s degree. My intuition are mostly on point which now was going south. In my head I was a Hercule Poirot with more intuition than logic. (I know he worked with superior logic and observation somewhat like Holmes but Sherlock’s detective skills were on different level). Me being so wrong on judging a person was now eating my ego. My train of thoughts stopped at, how on earth Agatha Christie and Conan Doyle came up with such a brilliant characters and plots?

In the midst of my thoughts, my ear could hear a name being called out repeatedly but my brain was filtering it out and was busy processing on something else. Until there was a loud shout, “PETER GEORGE!” I jolted, my thought bubble popped and I realized that’s me.

After getting inside the room there were couple of doctors inside. One of the main doctor was on computer and operating the phone too. The other two were handling test and jotting down details on register. Another doctor was controlling the crowd and explaining their queries but later he vanished somewhere. I was smiling because medical officials in the PPE kit reminded me of a blue avatar in a game called “among us”. Hey I needed some humor in this dead environment. The Doctors were really grumpy, the main doctor was rude too as if I committed a grave mistake coming here, trust me if I had the option to be at my own home, I would have opt for it. Their behavior made me retract my smile and I went back to my poignancy.

One of the doctors asked me why I was here. My instant thought was, I came in a hospital at this time of pandemic just to check you guys out. Though the words came out of my mouth were totally different. All I mumbled was, “because it was the instructions provided by higher-ups that if I was tested positive I am supposed to report here, do some more medical examination and collect some necessary medicines like cough syrup or vitamins tablets if told by authorities. ” I am pretty sure that they didn’t care for my reply much. Then they fired a next question – how did I feel now? I was fine but waiting for hours on an empty stomach made me tired. I said that I felt little tired. That’s all they needed it and they wrote it officially on a report that I was feeling tired because of covid. I was completely blown away, I should have seen that coming.

I was asked again to wait outside. After me they called Priyanka, the married stranger who had been complaining about her aching back. She had come before me and been waiting in the unseen queue before me. She collected her medicines and left. The medicines also included Hydroxychloroquine, HCQ. A man accompanied with someone caught my attention. He was about 6 ft.,well built guy, short black hair, with dusky complexion, a mischievous smile frequently appeared on his face and he had those peering black eyes. Sometimes it is good to see some genuine smiles in these tense moments as it elevates half of human stress.

This man approached the main doctor as his name was called. The conversation between him and doctor now drew more attention than it required as the great doctor started yelling at him. His smile vanished while talking to doctors. Communicating with the doctor was futile because the doctor was not ready to hear him out. He was furious and stormed near the person he was with. I was standing near a ward attender who was in a full ppe kit, at this time of corona and place 3 ft apart distance was standard distance to say that I was near him. The attender who made some gesture disapproving the doctor’s action. All I could say was that this ward attender and the other two doctors were little kinder than the main doctor in the room.

Again my name was called, all I had to do now was to collect my report, get my prescribed medicines including HCQ, head back home and follow their instructions. The main doctor now was speaking to me very friendly. I must have judged him too quickly, I thought. Then he dropped the bomb on me that I must go to an isolation center. He had just put up an act to send me to an isolation center for fourteen days. I asked him that was he sure about this and openly said I must have other options because I have no extra clothes or anything in my possession to go stay in an isolation center and told him everything. He was stern and there was no bargaining. I was lucky I didn’t have to deal with his anger which seemed like some erupt active volcano. He said arrange your clothes via someone who will send it there and I have got no other option.

I sat in the designated ambulance with other five covid patients. Out of these five people there included the 6 ft. stranger along with his companion. I dialed and told every instruction which I got from doctor to my folks at my home who were by the way already been tested covid positive. They got worried and cried, “You only had to collect a report and some medicine. You should have talked to the officials promptly and made your point clear. We all are positive. So, what’s the point of sending you alone?” I had narrated this same thing to the doctor and doctor replied that all three (my parents and me) being in a 1BHK house would infect each other and make it worse for each other.

Off I go to an isolation center, I got off from the ambulance as soon as it reached it’s destination. Not everyone who boarded the ambulance exited the ambulance. Excluding me three of them got out and headed to the entrance of the building. We were stopped at foot of the building so that the covid medical officials could hand our reports and medicines. Two lady with just face mask and gloves came down via lift. One of them wore a hijab and other one was in simple chudidar(an Indian attire). There was a barricade inbetween the officials and patients. Lady in the hijab called out each of our names and the other handed us our reports with our x-ray copy and our prescribed medicines.

The companion of the 6ft. was called first but my ears couldn’t pick up his name, later they called Gautam, then Nagesh and then my name been called out. My report and medicines was handed but they misplace my x-ray copy. They gave us instruction to complete a five day course of HCQ along with zinc sulphate and allotted each of us to their rooms. I was to go to room no. 1204 and guess what who was I sharing my room with? The smiling 6 ft guy, Nagesh was sharing the room with me and the other two in other room. My head responded and said that’s interesting.

Other two got in their rooms but our room was locked from inside. Nagesh bhai and I knocked the door one after other. This time my head was recited a verse of the holy Bible – “Knock and door shall be opened for you.” Yes! The door did open up and…

~ J George Thomas (aka Aebin)

{Please let me know if you like what you read and found it interesting. Also do mention if you want to read the rest of the story. Please do let me know your thoughts in the comments section.}

(to be continued…)

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