22. Bad News

Rohit was awakened by the sound of his phone ringing. It was still early in the morning about twenty minutes past four.

He woke up and reached out for his phone underneath his pillow. He looked at the screen with eyes still closed. 

"Doctor Chopra" He said as he rubbed his eyes.

His eyes suddenly enlarged when he saw the caller. He became worried as Doctor Chopra was not one to call that early except something was wrong. 

He slides the phone to receive the call.

"Hello Doctor Chopra." He answered

"Rohit I need you at the hospital." Doctor Chopra answered worried.

From the sound of his voice Rohit was certain that something was definitely wrong with his mother.

"Your mother suddenly regained consciousness few hours ago but I dont think she will make it past tonight." Doctor Chopra said to him.

Rohit's heart started beating erratically. He was having an anxiety attack. He jerked up from the bed and scattered Rai's room looking for his car keys.

Rohit kept scattering the room and he made loud noises from the objects he was throwing around just so he could find his car keys.

Rai woke up because of the horrible sounds. He opened his eyes and saw Rohit pacing around and moving his chairs-scattering everywhere.

He was perplexed by the sight. "Rohit"

He called out to him trying to get his attention.

But Rohit was deep in his thoughts. His hands were shaking. He looked disorganized.

"Fuck it!" Rohit suddenly screamed when he was not able to find his keys. 

He had also searched for Rai's but he could not find it. It made him frustrates. He started screaming again due to his frustration.

Rai became worried. He got up and hurriedly walked towards the sofa where Rohit appeared to be searching like he was certain he kept something there.

"Where is it?" Rohit asked Rai as he saw him beside him. 

He looked weary. His voice sounded like he was weak. Rai was devastated. He had no idea what Rohit was asking him of.

He had never seen Rohit that way in a long time. Rai kept silent looking at Rohit with his brain whirring around to figure out what was wrong.

"Where is my car keys?" Rohit asked him again yelling at him.

He was too frustrated to searched calmly for the keys. He had made a mess and still could not find it.

"Okay, I will find it" Rai said to him.

 He could not ask him to be calm. He knew that for Rohit to be searching for his keys that early in the morning-he must have gotten a news from the hospital.

Rai turned to look around at the sofa and found the keys on the floor. Rohit had passed by it several times but he did not noticed it. That much was how frustrated he was. 

The thought of him loosing his mother had crushed him. He was not ready for it. He was optimistic about his mother's condition even though Doctor Chopra had been telling him to prepare himself for his mother's death for several years. He was unable to do that.

Rai bent and took the keys from the floor. When Rohit saw him-he tried to take the keys away from Rai. 

But Rai refused. "I will drive you myself" He said to Rohit.

"Let's go." Rohit accepted his offer without giving it a thought.

 He picked up a coat and and ran out towards the car pack. He just wanted to get to the hospital.

They left still on their pyjamas. with a messy hair-they looked like a mess.

Rai drove the car and watched Rohit as he was shaking. He couldn't ask him who called. He just thought it would be the hospital. 

From Rohit's behavior he knew it had got to be the hospital that called. Without asking him, Rai drove all the way to the hospital. Even Rohit had forgot to tell him his destination.

When they got to the hospital-Rohit rushed out of the car. Rai tried as much as possible to keep up with him. 

When Rohit got to the ICU where his mother was he didn't see her. He looked around for a nurse to ask about his mother.

"Please excuse me. Where is the patient in the ICU ward-room 13.?" Rohit asked a nurse.

"She is in the theatre." She replied. She walked away before he was able to asked her any further questions.

Rohit sat on the floor close to the wall. He was biting his fingers. Rai finally got to where he was and found him sitting in such a state.

He knew from his looks he would not be able to ask him about the situation. He thought to look around for a nurse to find out what happened. 

When he turned-he saw the same nurse Rohit had spoken to. He asked about Rohit mother and the nurse told him she was having an urgent operation.

Rai sighed and leaned on the wall right next to Rohit. He kept watching him biting his fingers. 

For the past two hours they waited-he would stood up and tried to get an update. 

Suddenly Doctor Chopra came out of the theatre. He was in a hurry. Rohit quickly blocked his way and tried to get an update. He did not had to say a word. 

On seeing Rohit Doctor Chopra felt a bit at ease. 

"I need you to sign a consent form. This one is different from the ones you had signed before." Doctor Chopra said to Rohit.

"Haven't we signed a consent form before? What do you mean by this is different from the others?" Rai asked as he became agitated by everything.

Rohit stood there like a statue. He didn't cared about some form only his mother's health was of importance to him. 

"This is an acknowledgement form. You didn't arrived early. I had to sign the consent form permitting an immediate operation. We have a 30% chance of survival. You have to sign this acknowledgement form. Just in case we loose her. I do not want to loose my job."  Doctor Chopra said to Rohit. 

Rohit eyes enlarged after he heard him. Tears was falling down his eyes.

"I had to sign the consent form for the operation. If not she would have died. Without operating on her we would have had a zero chance of survival. But now because of the operation we have about 30% chance and I'm betting on that." Doctor Chopra continued.

He hoped Rohit would sign the acknowledgement form. if not his job would be at stake if Rohit mother dies from the operation.

Rohit was crushed by those words. He lost himself. He knelt down and was wailing.

"Let's hope on that 30%" Rai said to him.

Rai was shattered, he didn't know what to do. Suddenly he broke into tears-he was unable to control his emotions.