Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 9 : Evil Tidings

Once we were home, despite it being quite early in the morning, I was barely feeling sleepy. My only concern was to reach Koushik's place, xerox the notebooks and start reading them at the earliest. Monika stayed in my room.

I could not stop wondering about Sophia if I did the right thing by tying her up. I asked Monika if she would be able to stay awake to respond to any distress call from Sophia since she has not slept at all the previous night.

She replied "I will try to remain awake. If I do feel very sleepy, I will tell mom that I have a headache or something and take a rest. You know bro, I love the attention mom, dad and you give me when the three of you think I am the slightest bit ill."

"Yeah... now I know the truth..." I pulled her soft cheek and continued "so you like the attention you get haah..."

She looked at me showing up all her 32 teeth and giving a strange smile. I playfully replied, "wait till mom hears about this?" 

The moment I said the words her smiled vanished and crossed her arms in front of her chest and had a sullen expression on her face.

I knew she was trying to distract me with her humor, but watching her expression made me feel sad. I took a step towards her and hugged her and said "I am just joking dear..." and then I let her go, touched my ears and with a smile on my face I said "Sooorrryyy..."

The moment I said that she stepped towards me and hugged me and softly said "I am sorry dada... please don't say sorry to me..." I let go of my ear and hugged her back. 

Even though we were having the brother-sister moment, I was pretty sure that deep down we both were deeply worried and waiting impatiently for Banerjee's return.

I went to the kitchen and made some tea for me and Monika. At that moment I knew only tea could keep us awake.

I decided to ask Monika if she knew the reason why the Banerjee's hate Sophia so much.

She replied "I don't know bro, but you will figure it out. You know bro, when we were in Kolkata, we three friends jointly decided to start our daily journals."

Pointing towards the notebooks which Sophia gave us she continued, "Abhinu was the one who gave us the idea of writing a journal and the 2 of us agreed too. That day, Abhinu, Sophia, and I jointly decided to start our journals."

Abhinu's dad was also there that day. When he heard about our plan he commended our idea and agreed that it would prove to be a good habit. If you were down or had some secrets that could not be revealed, a diary could prove to be your best friend."

I asked Monika if she maintained a diary too. She gave me a look and said "Bro, do I look like a person who could maintain a diary. I have no secrets. Even if I am sad, I know I can count on you, mom, and dad to guide and counsel me."

Wow, my sister really had a way with words. As we were talking, I heard Mom calling us for Breakfast. We left our room and stepped towards our dining room for breakfast.

After completing our breakfast, Monika went to her room and I informed Mom that I was going to Koushik's place for some work.

I reached Koushik's shop and asked him to get the 2 diaries xeroxed as soon as possible. As he was copying the diaries, I enquired about the Humsafar trust of which he is an active member. Humsafar Trust is an NGO that works for the upliftment of the l***q community.

He replied "I am happy being a member of such an organization. It gives me immense pleasure that I am doing something for a community, which is being so badly shunned and ostracized by our society."

I felt lucky to have an open and broad-minded friend like him. He kept talking to me about his organization and about one and a half-hour later we completed photocopying the books.

I decided to call Vikash and informing him about yesterday's events. On calling him, before I could tell him anything, he asked me to return home urgently as something has happened.

I asked Koushik to drop me home. I was praying to God that nothing untoward has happened at home. I was especially worried about Monika.

I was praying to God that she has not fallen ill due to a lack of sleep. I am habituated to staying awake at night, but she is not. I was feeling guilty about letting her come with me last night.

When I reached home, I found Vikash standing outside the gate. I didn't utter a single word and rushed inside, to check on everyone.

Mom and Dad looked worried. I asked mom "What is wrong? Why are you guys looking worried?"

I looked around; Monika was nowhere in sight.

I asked again "IS MONIKA ALL RIGHT? WHERE IS SHE?"

Upon hearing my loud voice Monika came running towards me from her room and was crying uncontrollably. I hugged her and looked at my father's perturbed face. It felt like something was wrong. I asked them to tell me what it was.

Dad told me "Son, something has happened in the Banerjee's residence."

I remembered that they were in Kolkata and were about to return today.

Dad continued. "After the family returned, Sophia suddenly fainted. They had to admit her in the hospital."

This news shook me. I was anxious to know about Sophia's condition.

I made sure that when I left the residence last night, I had the bindings loose so that Sophia would not be hurt. Does that mean the Banerjee family understood that we were in their house last night because I decided not to stuff the stockings in her mouth?

I wish I had not listened to Sophia and admitted her to the hospital. I was not sure what went wrong. I felt like confronting the family and ask them why they were hurting Sophia but looking at Mom and Dad I decided not to.

I asked my parents if they knew which hospital Sophia was taken to. My parents had no clue.

Vikash informed me that Sophia has been taken to Mother Teresa Lions Hospital. I asked Koushik to give me a ride to the hospital. I took dad to a corner and requested him not to let Monika go to the hospital. She is very sensitive and will not be able to see her friend in that condition.

I reached the hospital and found Aamaya and Aunty standing outside the ICU.

As I approached the room, a very worried-looking Aamaya stopped me and said "Something is wrong with our Sophia. She is not talking to us."

I asked her "Did the doctor say anything?"

Aamaya replied, "Doctor has just taken her inside the ICU."

I found Aunty sitting on a bench. I went to her and wanted to assure her that Sophia would be alright. Before I could say anything, Aunty looked at me and started crying.

She kept mumbling "I am sorry Sophia, I should not have hurt you. I wish I could have taken you to Kolkata with us, but you know we cannot... Please come back. Please don't leave us behind."

I couldn't believe what I just heard. First, she beats up an innocent child mercilessly, and then she has the audacity to ask for forgiveness.

Listening to her deceitful words, I became sure she was a person who was capable of inflicting unjustified t*****e on somebody without the slightest bit of remorse. At that moment I felt a strong sense of hatred towards her.

I waited for the doctor to know more about Sophia's condition. After some time, a doctor came out from the ICU and asked for Sophia's relatives.

Aunty stood up.

He said, "I don't know how to say this, but the child has been brought here in a very bad condition. We are trying everything we can, but we cannot say anything right now. The child is in a COMA."

I saw the look on auntie’s face, the fear of losing Sophia was visible on her face. But I was not sure if it was the fear of her crimes or genuine remorse of her actions that was worrying her.

I asked the doctor "When can we expect the child to regain consciousness?"

He looked at me and asked who I was, and before I could reply Aamaya said "He is the child's elder brother."

I was surprised at Aamaya and the way she said that it felt like she was up to some tricks. But at this moment my mind was so engrossed thinking about Sophia that decided to ignore everything and concentrated on what the doctor was saying. 

He replied "I cannot say anything about that. We found that the child is very weak and is probably on some very strong medications. This had made her really weak. At this rate, I can only say that it's only the child's will to live which will decide everything."

Aamaya asked the doctor if they can go and visit Sophia, and he agreed to it. They went inside and sat next to Sophia.

I went out with Vikash to a corner of the hospital. I decided to tell Vikash about yesterday's chain of events in detail.

On hearing everything he looked furious. He was angry at me and took me outside the hospital dragging me by my neck.

He said "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? YOU STUPID BOY. WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL UP AN AMBULANCE OR THE COPS? YOU SHOULD HAVE CALLED ME IF YOU WERE NOT SURE WHAT TO DO. AT LEAST SOPHIA WOULD NOT BE IN THE HOSPITAL."

I knew what Vikash said was right. Maybe if I would have called the cops, Sophia would not be in COMA.

Vikash replied "I just hope Sophia wakes up soon, and we would know what has happened to her. If you say that you tied her loose, then it definitely means she must have gotten hurt after you left her."

I had to inform my parents about what was happening here. Vikash told me to go home and talk to Monika and then come back. As I was about to leave, I saw Gopinath Uncle in the hospital. He is a friend of my dad and is the local police in charge of our area.

I went to him and asked if he remembered me.

He replied, "Of course, I remember your son. What are you doing here?"

"One of my friends has been admitted to the hospital. I am just waiting to see if she is alright." I replied.

Then I asked Gopinath Uncle the same question. He replied that they received a call from the doctor of this hospital about a child being admitted to the hospital in a very bad state. It dawned on me if the doctors have contacted the police regarding Sophia.

I asked him if the patient's name Sophia by any chance. He looked at me and said, “How do you know the patient.” I replied, “Yes, the child is our next-door neighbor.”

Gopinath Uncle asked me to come to the doctor's chamber with him.

I asked Vikash and Koushik to accompany us too. When the Doctor saw me, he was hesitant to talk to me since I have introduced myself as her brother earlier.

Gopinath Uncle told the doctor that he knew me and that I was one of the local stars. I didn't utter a single word.

The doctor took out his smartphone and started telling Gopinath Uncle the reason he called them. He told us that he took pictures of Sophia's body during the examination. By the looks of it, it felt like there were extensive marks of a***e on the body. There was no doubt in his mind that the child was beaten up. Also, when they examined the stomach contents it seemed like she has not eaten properly for at least 3 days.

As we were talking, the nursing assistant came and gave the doctor an envelope.

The doctor opened the envelope and said, “Just as I suspected." 

Gopinath Da replied, "I don't understand."

The doctor replied "The child has been taking hormone medicines, which explains why the child is very weak. Test results show the presence of high level of Testopel.” He paused for a while and continued “Generally, Testopel is recommended for adult males, but for some reason, the child has been administered with this medicine. There seems to be no medical justification for this prescription."

Its law in India if there is a COMA patient or a physically abused victim in the hospital, the police need to be notified. Gopinath Uncle asked the doctor to give him a call once Sophia wakes up. He further said that he will have one of his men keep an eye on the family. If they are guilty of a***e, they might want to hurt the child again. Saying this, he left.

I went to the ICU to check on Sophia. I stood near the door and found Aunty and Aamaya sitting next to her. Aamaya was holding Sophia's hand and she seemed very shaken up. I went inside and asked Aunty if they wanted to go home and freshen up. They must be exhausted. I will sit beside Sophia and get back to her if there was any improvement.

Aunty replied "It's fine son. You have done enough. You go home. I will stay here with my baby."

I felt the sudden urge to keep Aunty away from Sophia. I went out and decided to ask Koushik if he is all right staying with Sophia and keeping an eye on Aunty. After yesterday night's incident, I lost my faith in the cops too.

Koushik agreed to stay in the hospital. Vikash also stepped up and told Koushik "I will be outside the hospital in my car. If you need any help give me a call."

I went back inside and told aunty that I was going home, but, Koushik will be staying with them, in case they needed anything they can ask him. I could feel the hesitation in auntie’s face, however, she requested me to take Aamaya home as the girls were alone in the house.

I went back home and dropped Aamaya at their residence. I was not sure how to tell Monika about this.

As I entered the house, Monika came running towards me and asked me how Sophia was. I didn't have the heart to tell her that her best friend is in a Coma, so I lied to her that she was in and out of consciousness.

She hugged me, she was still crying and between sobs, she said "Thank you, Brother. Please promise me you will do everything possible to help Sophia."

"I cannot be here all the time to keep an eye on Sophia. Besides, I am here for only 2 more weeks and then I am back to school. And you understand in this kind of situation we are too young to handle."

I knew I was disappointing her, but she should be prepared to face reality and protect herself from getting in trouble with the Banerjee family. It felt like she understood what I meant and went to her room.

I thought of telling Mom and Dad the truth. I went to their room and locked the door behind me, making sure that Monika would not be able to hear our conversation. "Mom, I need to tell you something. Sophia is in Coma. According to the Doctor, he is not sure when she will come out of it. If I tell Monika the truth, I am worried that she might fall into depression once again."

I saw the worried look on Mom's face and asked her to have faith in God. Everything will be alright.

Mom decided to call the Banerjee daughter's home for lunch. I went to their home and asked Aamaya and the girls to come and have lunch at our place.

As I was waiting for them to get ready, I quietly went to Sophia's room and kept the diaries in the cabinet where Sophia keeps it hidden.

I felt like I broke a promise. The promise of friendship which I made to Sophia the moment I put the friendship band on her. I just hope Sophia regains consciousness soon. I hope I can figure out a way to keep Sophia safe.