SAGA- THE REVENGE STORY OF A BLO0DY SURGEON

I n the darkness, preceded by silence, with two silhouettes merely visible as dark shadows devouring the gloomy place, two men were contemplating an issue behind the walls of that godforsaken room which could be a nightmare of one’s forlorn nights. “Do you really think it's going to work?” questioned a young man with swarthy appearance, crooked face and a cunning smile. There was a hint of doubt in his voice. “Yes, definitely! With this, whatever happened will be permanently erased from her memory. All that is needed is a minor surgical procedure.” answered a man, twice as old, with a bushy grey beard, hooked nose with a slightly protruded chin and an eye of connoisseurship. A young woman, draped in a pale blue hospital gown, was restrained to the operating table. Her innocent and charming face was oblivious to what was going to happen to her. Her life will never be the same after this. People whom she loved will be obliviated from her mind forever, like a beautiful dream that fades away after waking up at dawn. "Meet him. He is the neurosurgeon I was talking about. He is an expert in this procedure." The neurosurgeon wearing white scrubs approached the patient, his face beaming with nascent confidence. "After this procedure, she will not be able to recall anything from the past. All her memories will be wiped away" he said confidently. With bushy eyebrows and a perfectly trimmed beard, the middle aged neurosurgeon took charge of the situation next to the operating table. "That's good doctor" the old man appreciated, though a ray of doubt still lingered in his mind. But he’d decided to trust the surgeon’s abilities. “Why exactly do you want this procedure to be done?" the neurosurgeon asked. "I’d prefer killing her" the young man interjected in his harsh tone while his malicious eyes searched for something. "How would you ensure that her corpse will never be found?” asked the old man, trying to knock some common sense into the young man. “And moreover I have a bigger plan. This MCI keeps searching relentlessly. All the proof should be buried inside her. Once everything settles down we will take it back what is ours.” "How you can be so sure that this procedure will wipe her memory forever? If she identify anyone of us, we shall stay rest of our life inside jail" the young man countered. "Trust me!” The young man quickly turned his gaze towards the neurosurgeon. He was looking intently at the patient, with a scalpel and cautery in his hands. “I assure you that she will not be able to remember anything after the procedure" the neurosurgeon said defiantly. Their grim voices lent an ominous feeling to the operating room as they reverberated off the tiled walls. "Look! Her blood pressure is falling" the old man alerted others while pointing at the cardiac monitor that was connected to the patient. "Why the hell didn't you hire an anaesthetist?" the neurosurgeon complained while raising his eyebrows and holding the scalpel upwards as a slight tremor passed through his right hand. "How can you expect me to trust one more person? I had to bribe you with a hefty sum just to keep your mouth shut. Do you expect me to do the same with an anaesthetist too?" The old man looked on with a frown on his face. “Our secret should bury with us” "Okay! How can we handle this? I am no expert in these matters... of anaesthesia and those crazy combinations of drugs!" "Leave it to me. I am always prepared for situations like these. I can handle anything" The next moment, the old man pushed a plethora of drugs into her veins. These proved to be beneficial as her BP slowly returned to normal. "Good! Now we can do this properly" the neurosurgeon heaved a deep sigh of relief. "I am almost done" he said as he repositioned the scalp and sutured it in place. "Okay! Now extubate the patient" the neurosurgeon told with a sigh of relief. "Don't be in such a hurry, Doctor! There’s one more thing left to do". The neurosurgeon sensed some evil in the old man’s eyes. "What? The procedure is done! I destroyed the hippocampus lobe of her brain. I did what you say. All her recent memories are now lost forever." “It's not just about her memory" the old man continued. “Do you know what my other motive is?" The neurosurgeon was puzzled. “I’ve had enough for today. Tata! Bye-bye. See you Doc.” The young man pushed the neurosurgeon out of the operating room, leaving him utterly bewildered. "What do you intend to do? I need to know what’s happening here!" the neurosurgeon shouted as the doors were shut over his face. That evening the neurosurgeon drove back home in his car listening to the FM Radio. He was adept at unravelling the complexity of neuronal circuits. But, the recent turn of events confused and annoyed him. For relief he continued listening to the radio while massaging his forehead to relieve from his head ache. A bump on the road caused his fingers to brush against the audio controls mounted on the steering wheel. The radio switched to a channel that was playing the pravachanas of Chaganti. As he fiddled with the knobs of the audio system, the car veered into the path of an oncoming truck! Alerted by the jarring noise of the truck’s horn, he quickly flicked the steering wheel and brought the car back into his lane. That was a narrow escape. Certainly narrower than the curvy road which had an ominously dense forest on either side. The synchronous cawing of crows and rustling of leaves further added to the eeriness. Having left the narrow meandering forest road behind, he was now on the broad state highway. But he was not out of the woods yet. Just as he took the service road that lead to his house, a black cat scurried across the road. He slammed the brakes hard. He was firmly held back in his seat by the seatbelt as the inertia tried to propel him into the windshield. He took a deep sigh and wiped off the trickle of sweat on his forehead. Bad Omen! Finally, he reached the streets that he’d known since childhood. The familiarity of the scenery hushed the noise in his mind and brought in a serene and surreal feeling. But something was amiss. He could smell something burning. He hastily floored the accelerator and raced down the road towards his villa. He screeched to a halt and dashed out onto the driveway. He watched helplessly as his wife and two kids were swallowed by the blazing inferno. He let out a heart-rending cry for help. He ran amok asking bystanders for help. He desperately tried to get help but in vain. Alas, there was nothing left to call his own other than the ashes. The firemen managed to reduce the blazing inferno to a glowing ember. But there was no one to bother about the inferno in his heart. He sat on the hood of his car with a pale expression, his mind still wavering in denial. His eyes were parched; he had no tears left to shed. The forensic team explained how the accident happened. Apparently, someone had left the stove on. "A simple mistake can take a toll on many lives" He thought of the surgery he had done earlier that day. Was it my mistake? Fate is mysterious. No one can escape from Karma. The policeman and the forensic officer exchanged bewildered looks as the aged surgeon rambled on deliriously.