Ruined
733 Words
Hridhi Chatterjee :
No more power play, Chatterjee. I'll get you first.
I read it.
Again. Again. And Again.
Still nothing.
What was I supposed to feel?
Scared. Pale. Maybe faint like those Victorian women.
But I just felt....numb.
Get me first?
What would he get me?
A hot dog?
A burger?
Or would that be his favorite perfume which would definitely be bought with my yearly earnings?
I wanted to laugh. But I knew that laughing would be wrong.
Terribly wrong.
And the next time my phone rang, I was proved how wrong I was for even feeling anything.
It was Ma.
Strange.
She never cared to call me after that day she left my house.
I picked it up.
"Hello?"
The 'hello' from the other side of the line sounded broken and desperate. I remembered the last time she spoke like that.
"Hridhi, can you t-tell Advik to come over? W-we just got into an accident. Your f-father is in The ER."
The phone dropped from my hand. But I could still hear her voice.
"Hello? Hridhi? Are you there?"
I looked at my study. The window was open ajar.
On the table rested a familiar piece of paper.
DrOp ThE ChArGeS BeFoRe MoRe SiDe KiCkS GeT KiCkEd OuT.
I crumbled the piece of paper and threw it in the trash can before I grabbed a oversized hoodie, my purse containing my debit and credit cards and stormed out of my room.
'Get the car keys as soon as you can.' I told myself. 'Walk slowly. Don't make a sound. Don't dare make a sound.'
Just as I unlocked the door, I felt a figure tower over me.
Oh, f**k it!
Not now.
"Where are you going?"
I turned around.
"I can't waste a single minute. I need to go."
Advik turned the lights on.
"Seriously, it is 2 AM in the morning."
I inhaled, as if air alone could keep me from collapsing.
This wasn't a moment for recklessness. It was life and death.
"My parents got into an accident and my father is in the ER."
The hospital was quiet. Deadly quiet. Perfectly quiet. Horribly quiet.
Seriously, did I expect hospitals to burst with weekend's songs?
I sat on a overly clean seat beside my perfect mother.
However, we didn't look like mother and daughter.
With my dirty hoodie and uncombed hair, I looked like a beggar beside my beautiful mother who wore a beautiful Sari and had a stitched up wound like a tragic Bollywood heroine.
Advik was already with accompanying his colleagues, walking around, making inquiries, trying to act important and assure my mother.
After a few minutes, he came towards us.
"Dr.Drake is checking on him, Mrs.Chatterjee," said Advik. "Don't worry, he would be okay."
"Now, Advik, about the hospital bills."
I glared at her.
You calculated b***h. You're literally thinking about the money while my dad is dying.
"Will we get any discounts?"
Advik looked around.
"It depends on the tests, the doctors assigned and the procedures and we don't get any discounts. But if you have a health insurance-"
"Oh, God, we seriously had to crash down in America!" said my mother. "The hospital bills here are insane."
"Mrs.Chatterjee, there's no need to-"
"I can't beg from my daughter and son in law, Advik," said my mother. "And considering what my daughter is, I have to make my amends myself."
I got up from my seat.
"Can you please stop overthinking for one second, Ma?" I said. "He is literally in the ER and you are..."
"Oh, Hridhi, girls have to think that. We have to think about everything. Every single thing."
"No, Ma, you are thinking about everything except my father. I know that you don't love him. You never loved him. But please for God's sake, don't show your calculation in this situation."
I walked out of her sight.
I couldn't look at her or him.
I needed a break.
Everything was fast.
Too fast.
I needed to do something immediately. Something useful.
And I knew exactly what to do.
"I'd like to withdraw all charges against Jonathon Ackroyd."
The work was simple and yet, it burnt my veins.
But I had to do it.
For the sake of my dad and the woman who gave birth to me.
Because in this horrible game, only I would play.
And I would win.
- Writer
