The intern rubbed his eyes wearily as the rain pounded outside. One thing he loved about being posted in a rural health centre was the serene isolation from the outside world. With no visible light in the horizon except the occasional lightning, he felt like he was in a different planet altogether. A soft cry tore him from his thoughts. A new born girl , just about a few hours old sensed his mother's absence and seemed in need of some attention. He sighed as he turned to the baby. He knew he was not good with kids. He tolerated them at best. Komal, his fellow intern never understood this. " what? You don't like babies? " she would gasp incredulously. It was as if he admitted performing cannibalism on them instead. "Everyone loves babies, yaar." He would just shrug as he filled up the forms and got back to work. Komal loved children. She assured him that she would love to have a large family. Lots of children and all that.
Not him. He would get a dog. More than enough for a lifetime. Another of komal's favourite topic was mother's love. Yes, he was thankful for his mother for all that she did for him, the colustrum and the medical schools fees particularly, but was it really that mysterious and powerful as she would have him believe? Never mind that now. But even with such principles guiding him, he felt something stir towards this little one. Her mother was being treated in another room, suffering from severe anaemia after the delivery and was surrounded by the relatives. After cooing after the child for a while, they quickly left, leaving him alone with the baby. Komal was helping the doctor and so that made the entire staff tonight. They had a few other cases, but nothing they all couldn't handle together. In such an isolated health centre, it wasn't unusual. The doctor would laugh when he complained about it being boring. Once you're as old as me, you'll come to crave it. The mother would be fine and ready to breastfeed by morning, the doctor assured him. His job was to look after the baby by then. He stifled a yawn and glanced at his watch. An hour after midnight. The baby gurgled to itself and fell asleep promptly. She was surprisingly healthy, taking into the light her mother's condition. He decide to read for a while before komal came back. They would then have some tea while she talked the night away. A short while later, he began fighting sleep away like a man fighting a pack of wolves with a rubber slipper. He rubbed his eyes wearily as he played with the idea of taking a short nap. The old doctor would frown at him, but just a short nap wouldn't hurt, right?
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Err...doctor sir?.." The boy's head jerked up in surprise from a troubled sleep as he faced his speaker. A young lady, so thin and pale, her face having a pasty unhealthy look which was currently looking at him with a sense of fear and anxiety. How long was I out? He wondered. Was this the mother? How could she even be standing? The doctor would never have allowed her to be up and about so fast. He was about start asking the questions that plagued him at that moment, when she suddenly blurted out in anxious distress " doctor sir, my baby... I think he stopped breathing! ". There were a few sentences in the world that would have evaporated all his sleep within a second. And had sentence was one of them.Grabbing his stethoscope with a fist that felt numb and cold, his brain slowly hummed to him all useful information it could find in his cranial cavity. First he kept a cool head. Respiration was pretty irregular in the new born . No need to freak out unnecessarily. Just observe the... Whatever sentence he formed in his head died pitifully like a frog in a bucket full of acid. Bluish discolouration of the lips and skin. The devil's lipstick.Cyanosis. Short gasping breaths. Uh oh. This was bad. " call the doctor !" He yelled stupidly, a corner of his brain reminding him he was technically a doctor too. His fear and sense of emergency seemed contagious, as she stared at him in fear and trepidation. "They are all busy, sir! There is an emergency case ,it seems." What emergency case? Never mind. This was an emergency itself. The mother looked at him, liquid eyes shedding desperation and hope. " please....my child. Do something... " He took a deep breath and began. He knew he was no genius. His memory failed him at times, he never could do that 'thinking outside the box' his teachers seemed to keep going on about, but right now, in the midst of the confusion and chaos, he found it sitting right there like a giant butterfly on a beautiful flower. The words of his mentor and professor came to him once again in the same squeaky voice. Now son, the first thing is to perform a pulse check. Place two fingers on the inside of the upper arm, between the elbow and shoulder. Check for about 10 seconds. He felt nothing. Okay. That means we need to start compression. Place the kid on a firm and flat surface. He did. 2 fingers on the centre of the chest, just below the nipple line. Alright. Press hard and fast, it should reach at least 4cm inward. Do that 30 times and give 2 breaths with that bag mask. Make sure the chest rises, boy! For an adult, oxygen content of the blood is typically normal. But for an infant, the oxygen content is decreased due to the respiratory failure. So chest compression isn't enough for delivering oxygen, you need good breaths administered as well. Repeat. Repeat he did, for how long, he did not know. His arms began to ache, his apron soaked in sweat. He was aware of the mother standing silently, either too tired to react or just praying to herself. He focussed on the baby. Was she getting better? He couldn't tell. He worked mechanically, like a robot on its last legs. A thought fluttered past him. Was he too late? Was the child beyond saving? Just as he decided to abandon his efforts, he was rewarded. The chest stirred feebly once. Twice. He removed the bag mask with trembling hands. A slow gasp emanated and then another. The blanched face turned red and healthy. He felt like he was watching a rose bloom in front of his very eyes. He took a step back from the baby as if it was a bag full of serpents. It worked?! He felt dizzy. The mother laughed and rushed to the baby's side. She nuzzled the child as she whispered the word ' thank you ' repeatedly. Whether it was directed to him or God he did not know. He did not care. He needed the doctor. He might have taken care of the emergency but he couldn't stop it from happening again. He told the mother to stay right there and not keep the baby out of sight and without another word, he rushed to find the doctor.
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He knew something was wrong the second he stepped out. He heard voices shouting and the doctor on the phone speaking so quietly, he almost missed him. And then she saw komal. She was leaning on a wall, seemingly staring at nothing. When he shook her, her eyes seemed dull, like that of a dead fish. " The Mother died." She said simply. It happened a while back. The heart failed her, as simple as that. Simple as a Dimple. They tried everything, and failed. The mother was the emergency case, the mother was dead. Then how? Who woke me up? The boy felt the world flicker like a bulb that had spent too many of its days shining. He took short steps back to the room he had just exited. It was empty save for baby who was alive and breathing , comfortably asleep somehow. Outside, the rain had stopped and the cool scent of wet life and foliage glided into the room. He almost heard the whisper 'thank you' tickle across his mind, like raindrops on a coffin.
