Translucence

I don't like driving after it gets dark. Especially from my workplace to home. Its quite a long distance and it gets colder as I drive on . Also there are a few stretches of road which I don't like too much . So today when it became late to start from the company, I was feeling all laid back. I however decided to leave , took my stuff and started . My phone rang .


Me : Hello..
The other party : Hey listen.. This is A here. There is an emergency. B has met with a major accident and is admitted to Mallya Hospital. A few of us are here .
Me: What ! How is B now ? How did it all happen ?
A : B is still unconscious. How it happened is a long story. Can you come here now ?
Me : Oh yeah . What about B's parents ? Do they know ? Should I tell anyone else ....
A hung up the phone.

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My scooty's left mirror had become loose and had gotten twisted in a weird way and I couldn't use it properly. And so as I drove, I kept left throughout which meant that I had to drive very slowly. I was losing patience and my heart pounding . When I had to take a turn towards Victoria road from Airport road, there was a signal . As I stopped there fretting, this lady who was at a little distance on the footpath started walking towards me. She must have been about 50-55 years old. She looked anxious - as though she would cry at the slightest provocation. Or thats how she seemed .. in the dark . She asked me if I could drop her near lifestyle . I don't ever give lifts to anyone. Actually no one ever asked me till then ! As I was wondering whether I should say a yes, she told me how her husband was ailing and that she had to get to home soon to give him medicines, pointing to the small bag that she was carrying . The signal turned green and I did not have much time to think. I asked her to sit .


As I started driving ahead , trying hard to see the vehicles on my left through the right mirror, the lady started talking. She asked me if I worked. I said yes . And then she fell silent for a while and started talking loudly. She was telling about how girls who work like me are the reason for the older women to struggle. How her daughters and daughter-in-law had left her alone. I was beginning to get annoyed. And I suddenly realised how there were no pharmacies anywhere around where she was standing and also how there were no houses near lifestyle ! I started worrying about her intentions. Was she lying ? Simultaneous to this thought were the thoughts about B. Everything seemed to be happening in a daze . And I wasn't sure how I had to react to anything that was happening .
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When we reached lifestyle finally, I stopped. The cold had increased and I just wanted to get done with driving .
She (still on the scooty) : Where are you going ?
Me: Hmm... Somewhere ahead .
She : Are you going somewhere close to Mallya hospital ?
Me: Hmm... Why ?
She : My husband is at Mallya hospital . I wasn't sure if you would give me a lift till there. So I asked you till lifestyle. If you are going near there, can you drop me ? I really need to get there soon .
Me: Well, am sorry . But you have to get down here ..
I just thought that I would be better off with one lesser tension . I was already worrying too much about B.
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I really had a tough time managing without the left mirror. It was dark and the traffic was getting me impatient . As I entered the hospital, I suddenly remembered that I had taken my new phone number yesterday and that neither A nor B knew my number! I had given my number to just a few people and the chances of A getting it from any of them were nil . It hit me that I was probably tricked ! I called back the number from which I had got the call and my friend on the other side was laughing hard, celebrating the success of having fooled me !
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I was, sort of, relieved that nothing had happened to B! I was however quite irritated about having had to get so tensed. I walked back fast, again feeling weary about having to drive in the cold. I saw two ladies standing in the corridor. Tears in their eyes. As I could guess, someone close to them was dead . And I could hear them talk..
She1 : I don't know where she has gone . He was asking for her till the end !
She2 : He had her picture always .
As I walked past them, I got a good glimpse of the picture that the lady held in her hand.
And I froze ....