It started raining as they dashed into the car to take Mom to the hospital - the third shower of the day. The streets were saturated already and some of them flooded now. The traffic slowed and then halted near Sheikh Sarai. Frantic, she dialed Dad's mobile again. No answer. At home, she had called his office number, to be told he hadn't come in that day. Where the hell was he? Why didn't he pick up?
She hadn't known where to take Mom. It was Dayal who suggested Max Hospital in Saket. Caught in the middle of the traffic jam, she thought of Sanjeevani nursing home, two blocks from their house. They could have called for an ambulance; maybe the traffic would have made way for it. They were stuck now. There was no going back.
She jumped out of the car, the water lapping at her ankles, mad
