To the Evolved Me, I Salute Her

My daughter got sick that morning, her blood pressure lowered and she got hospitalized. The doctor gave her sleeping pills. And there she was, lying so peacefully. There she was, with her mind out of the world, no bad dreams to disturb. I was sitting right next to her, rubbing her hands. Her hands were so warm.  The words which the doctor had told me still rang in my heart.

“She has a very weak heart. Don’t make her face anything which is going to make her unstable.”  I was so heartbroken. The whole world crumbled down for me. “She is the only person of my own. How could this happen to her” I thought at that moment.

“Ahem! Seems like you are crying, aha?”

There was a man next to my daughter’s bed. His words brought me back to senses.

“So, who is this person you are crying for? What happened?”

“She is my daughter. She is very sick. I am very worried.”

He said nothing. He returned back to his sleep. I was still sitting next to my daughter. Each time I looked at her, tears would roll down.

I stayed the whole time sitting next to her. I waited for her to wake up.

After some time, that man woke up. He looked out of his window. His bed was just next to the window.

“Ah! What a lovely child!” and he laughed out loud. It must have been a scene worth seeing but I was not in the mood, or I would rather say I didn’t have the audacity to go any meter away from my daughter.

He went on and on with various beautiful things he saw in the park, the man who was selling balloons, the couple who was walking hand in hand and so on.

I just listened blankly.

I must be really tired because I slept off.

Hours later, there was confusion in the room. The doctors and nurses surrounded that man. It seemed like he was in a critical state. They took him away.

It was then I realized that I was shivering. My whole body was shaking. I returned back to my seat, the seat next to my daughter.

When the doctor came in to check my daughter that night, she said “she should be fine, let her sleep as for now. She will wake up tomorrow. But I would advise you not to stress her out.”

She was about to leave when I stopped her.

“Doctor, how is the man who was previously in this room?”

“It’s so sad about him. He died. He is a terminal patient. And above all he was blind. But during his stay here, he was a wonderful man.”

“Oh! Thank you, doctor.”

She left.

I didn’t understand what was going on in my mind at that moment. He was blind. He was blind. He was blind.

I rushed to the window near his bed. I looked through the window; I didn’t know what lies outside. But definitely there was no park.

“Yeah! He was a wonderful man.” I murmured to myself.

The next morning, it was my daughter who woke me up.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes mom, were you very worried about me?  Did you cry?”

“So many questions…yes I was worried about you and yes I cried. But I am not going to cry anymore. And we both are going to be strong. You don’t have your papa but mama is going to be everything for you. Mama will make a great lady out of you.”

My daughter raised her eyebrow. I reckon she thought she was either dreaming or I was mad. Who would ever imagine I was going to become bold overnight.

“Honey, don’t give me that look!” I nudged my head towards that particular bed.

“There was this brave man who was sleeping here till yesterday. We have to be brave for him, for papa, for you and for me.”

My daughter was still confused.

“I am going to tell her the story of the man and his beautiful window someday. I am going to retell her each day about him.” I thought to myself.

Scientifically it may be not possible to evolve overnight. But I did evolve into a stronger woman that fine day.