Love Cells.... - Kalai Selvi Arivalagan (free e books to read online .TXT) 📗

with Mona, Vandy, Mike, Richard and others. Sylvia had never been to Ooty and it was the first visit for her.

The tickets were booked on a train that traveled till Ooty. The batch planned to get down at Mettupalayam and then board the train that went to Ooty. Sylvia had read about the travel by train to Ooty. The entire group did not sleep till it was 12 am and every one was chatting with one another. The train reached Mettupalayam around 7 am.

To everyone’s disappointment the train to Ooty was cancelled due to technical reasons. With a grudge, they moved out of the railway station to the nearby bus stand and took the bus to Ooty. The entire group could not get the seats in a single bus. So, the group had to split and take different buses to Ooty.

Traveling through the winding roads was also a fun. The younger group who traveled in the bus made use of the moment and cheered whenever the bus took a hairpin bend. The trip was a pleasant and memorable one as Sylvia got the chance to move closer with Mona.

Every one was preparing for their presentation. Research scholars and post graduate students gathered at the lobby of the guest house to rehearse their presentation sessions.

“It is boring.” Mona grumbled with a murmur. “I don’t want to do it once again. I want to go out and see Ooty.”

“Shut up” Vandy shouted at her. “It is very cold now. You can’t go out.”

“No. I want to go.” Mona shouted back. “Syl, will you come with me?”

“Sure.” Sylvia replied with a smile. “Luckily, they didn’t ask you to give a presentation” Mona pulled her out from the crowd.

Ooty was quite chilly as it was November. Yet, Sylvia loved to stroll on the streets of Ooty. Mona and Sylvia walked toward the shopping center. The shopping area was quite warm and Sylvia could not believe she was at Ooty. The buildings provided the warmth and so they did their shopping at peace.

On their way back to the guest house, Mona stopped at a Lord Perumal temple. Sylvia was quite surprised to know that Mona could find a temple at an unknown place. Both of them went to the temple. There was no one at the temple except the priest. It was so calm and soothing to be there.

When Mona stood there praying with her eyes closed, Sylvia wished within her heart that Mona must succeed in everything in her life. Without praying for herself, Sylvia prayed for Mona and could not tell why she prayed for Mona.

Dusk had set in and the street lights were on. The evening walk turned out to be a pleasant one. After sipping a cup of hot tea in a dimly lit tea shop, they walked enjoying the beauty of Ooty. Chapter 6

Mona and Sylvia reached the guest house around 8 pm. Every one had gone for the dinner and both of them rushed toward the dining room. The entire dining room echoed with cheerful laugh and vibrant talk. The conference organizers arranged for a sightseeing trip and every one there was excited about the trip.

The next morning every one assembled at the portico of the guest house. It was 7 am in the morning and Ooty covered in the mist looked breathtakingly beautiful. After roaming around the botanical garden for a while, the batch walked toward the suicide point. Sylvia had already read about the famous suicide point at Thottapetta peak. They had to take a winding path to reach the place. The rich foliage all along the path with the colorful flowers proved a treat. Mona could not help wondering how people can drastically end their lives while nature smiles at them with its beauty.

**********

The laboratory bustled with activities as the dates were announced for the university practical examinations.

Cleaning, scrubbing and getting ready with the samples for the practical exams went on frantic for a while. Everyone in the lab was busy with something or other.

Preparation of culture medium, serum samples and sterilizing of test tubes and Petri dishes were going on. Mona was helping in the preparation of dilute sulphuric acid. She moved the bottle with concentrated sulphuric acid to the washing sink. With a burette she sucked carefully the sulphuric acid and transferred it into a medium sized bottle.

Mixing the concentrated sulphuric acid with the distilled water needed much care. Finishing her work carefully she pulled out the burette. The burette slipped her hand and hit the mouth of the bottle.

Drops of acid spilled along the sides of the sink. Fumes rose from the concentrated acid from the sink. A few drops of the acid hit her face. Mona closed her eyes immediately. Yet, a few spots splashed on her eye brows.

Rushing to the other washing sink, Mona started to splash cold water on her face and washed her eyes in the running cold water. Shocked by this sudden event, everyone in the laboratory rushed to her side to see what happened. Richard rushed to her with a bunch of tissues and asked Mona to wipe her eyes and face first.

One of the doctors in the department asked Richard to rush to the nearby medical store and get the eye drops. Richard did not know how quickly he came back from the medical store. Richard lifted her face with his right hand and asked her to open her eyes. He applied the eye drops to her eyes and asked her rest for a while, with the eyes closed.

When Mona was able to open her eyes after a while, she thanked Richard with a smile.

“How do you feel now?” Richard asked her with a concern in his voice.

“Feeling better” Mona wiped her tears with the tissue paper.

Mona still could not keep her eyes open continuously.

Someone asked her to blink her eyes for a while. Mona walked toward the adjoining room to take rest.

The incident left her with a shock. Mona could still feel the sudden splash of the acid on her eyebrows. At the same time, Mona could not forget how she felt when Richard lifted her face and tilted the eye drops into her eyes with care.

Mona could feel the palpitation of her heart and the fast dubbing of her heart beat that echoed ‘love is in the air’.

Chapter 7

Everyone has left the lab. Sylvia finished typing the urgent documents and took out the final prints. Sending away the documents for signature, she entered the lonely lab.

No one was there except Mona. She was sitting at the office desk with a worried look.

“Mona, are you still here?”

“Yes”, she replied in a serious tone.

“I am leaving. Shall I come with you till the bus stop?”

“No, Syl. Thanks for asking. I will leave in another fifteen minutes. Don’t wait for me.”

Sylvia took her handbag and left the lab hurriedly as it was already half past six in the evening.

The lonely road from the Institute during evening hours was always scary.

If it is late after seven in the evening, someone from the department always accompanied her till she reached the other end of the road. Wondering what is happening with Mona, Sylvia drove her way back home.

After Sylvia left the lab, Mona sat in the lab for sometime. When she started to pack her things to go home, Richard entered the lab.

“Hi, what are you doing here still?”

“Relaxing”

“It is getting dark. You can go. You can continue the test tomorrow”

“I have completed”

“Then, what is the need to stay late?”

“Let me ask you one thing?”

“Yes” Richard looked at her face with a puzzled look.

“I love you”. Richard’s face changed immediately.

“Are you joking?” Without answering anything he left the lab immediately.

A few minutes later, he returned to the lab with two of his friends. Mike and Tom were along with Richard.

“Hi, Mona, have you lost your sense. What are you blabbering to Richard?” Mike asked with a scorn.

“You need not answer my question. Let Richard answer my question” Mona replied back.

“We are here to reply for him. He doesn’t like the way you spoke to him.”

“Shut up” Mona screamed at Mike. “It is none of your business.”

Within seconds, they were having a heated argument. Unable to suppress her anger, Mona took her hand bag and rushed out of the lab.

Running through the dark steps of the Institute, she could not stop her tears.

When Sylvia came to the lab next day, she started to regret why she left Mona alone the previous day. Somehow the department chief came to know about the things that happened in the lab, and he sent a special instruction to all girls that they should not stay late at the lab and must leave before it was six.

The next thing that shocked Sylvia was the news that Mona had been admitted in the hospital for depression.

Chapter 8

It is one more day in the hot April. The rush of warm air through the windows of the virology laboratory made the place suffocating.

Mona looked at the running distilled water plant. It will take another thirty minutes to collect the required water