Neel Dervin And The Dark Angel - Neeraj Chand (grave mercy .TXT) 📗

his welfare. It was remarkable how quickly the usual red tape had been dealt with, and the boy transferred to the most privileged room in the hospital. There were rumors among the hospital staff that someone very high up in the government was interested in the boy‟s well being, and it was speculated whether he was a Minister‟s son. But the security around the boy‟s identity was air tight, and it was said that even the doctors who were treating him knew almost nothing about his civilian identity. Even the rumor grapevine of the hospital had been unable to extract any details.

The boy suddenly stirred. Arti was startled out of her musings. She looked at the young patient. He was waking up, and much earlier than the doctors had hoped for. At these times it was usual to bring in the doctor in charge of the patient and the patient‟s relatives. This time, however, nurse Arti had different orders.

She went out of the door and hurried down the corridor. Turning around a corner, she knocked on the door to her left. A voice called, 'Come in.'

Arti opened the door and stepped halfway through. Inside the room sat a white haired old man with a neat beard and moustache, and a girl who seemed to be in her early twenties. They were both poring over some biometric data sheets spread out in front of them. They looked up as the nurse‟s head appeared.

'Yes?' the old man said.

'Please, sir.' Nurse Arti said, her voice slightly breathless. 'The boy is waking up.'

Both the occupants of the room immediately became alert. The old man stood up and nodded. 'Thank you, nurse. Kindly go and inform a man named Mr. Bakshi about this. You will find him in the head doctor‟s office downstairs. He will then tell you what to do.' The nurse nodded and disappeared.

'The recovery was even faster than we had anticipated.' Doctor Fahim said softly, putting the sheets which the two had been studying back in their folder. He reached inside the small drawer in the desk and extracted a special mobile phone General Bakshi had given him. Turning it on, he placed it carefully in his shirt pocket. 'Do you have the recorder, Divya?'

'Yes, sir.' Divya said. She reached inside her handbag lying on the table and pulled out a tiny tape recorder, placing it in her pocket.

'Good.' Doctor Fahim said. He gazed at Divya for a moment, both aware of the magnitude of that moment. 'Are you ready?' Divya nodded mutely.

'Let‟s go.' The two walked out of the door, retracing the path the nurse had taken to call them. They stood outside the room 449. Doctor Fahim paused at the door for a moment, his hand on the knob. No sounds came from inside. He pushed open the door and the two entered the room.

Inside the small, cozy room, they found the young boy sitting up straight in his bed, his eyes closed tightly. He froze at the sound of the door opening, and slowly opened his eyes.

'Hello, Neel.' Doctor Fahim said softly, his gaze intent as he stared at the young boy.

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Text: Neeraj Chand
Editing: Neeraj Chand
Publication Date: 08-31-2014

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