Lia saw the chubby woman run out of the room, practically screaming like a mad person. She tried to talk to the lady, but there was no voice.
Disappointed Lia kept staring at the door, hoping that the lady would return or anyone for that matter would come to her.
Sadly, an hour passed still there was no sign of the chubby lady or anybody. Lia gave up waiting and decided to get out of bed. In doing so, she realised that her once perfectly flexible body was now frozen stiff for some reason.
Also, the oxygen mask that was struck to her face along with all the monitoring equipments and wirings made her feel uncomfortable.
With much effort she was able to lift up her body a bit, but sunk back into bed the next instant.
All her energy was gone. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead and neck. She felt extremely exhausted and weak. Even breathing became tremendously difficult for her. Thanks to the ventilation system, Lia quickly regained normal breathing. Her eyelids started to feel heavy, her consciousness started to fade away. She drifted off to a dreamland.
Hours passed.....
A sweet humming voice pulled Lia out of her dreamland. It was a song, which she herself sang in her childhood. She slowly opened her eyes and found herself in a dark room. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realised she was in the same room. Only now the curtains were closed and the ceiling lights were on.
Lia looked around to find the source of the voice. She thought that the chubby lady must have returned.
She was ready to give her an earful.
How dare she compare her to a ghost???
Alas...The chubby lady was no where in sight. Instead a young woman in a white coat stood beside the grandfather clock with her back turned towards Lia. She was humming the song while organising some medicines.
Lia tried to call the woman but her voice was absolutely inaudible and hoarse like two sandpapers rubbing together. Also her throat hurt when she tried to talk.
Since using her voice was out of option, Lia had to think of another way to attract the woman's attention. Her eyes wandered around the room until they landed on a small stool which stood right beside the bed with a tray full of surgical instruments sitting on it. Lia was sure it wasn't there when she woke up earlier.
With some effort, Lia managed to reach out to it. Using her fingertips, she dropped the glass bowl on the floor.
Crash!!!!
The sound startled the young woman. She turned about just in time to see Lia's hands moving.
She was totally shocked.
Turning on the remaining lights, she rushed over to Lia and froze.
If Lia's moving hand were a shock then seeing her wide awake was thunder strikening.
" Mi...Mi... Miss... Lia!!! " The young woman stammered.
Lia gave a slight nod in acknowledgement.
Seeing Lia's acknowledgement, a sense of pure joy and sheer achievement exuded from her expressions.
" Oh my god!!! OH MY GOD!!! Miss Lia!! You're awake!!!! You are finally awake. Okay, now just relax. I will do a quick check of your vitals. "
With that she began to do a thorough check-up. After she was satisfied with her findings, she turned off the oxygen supply and carefully removed the oxygen mask from Lia's face.
Lia heaved a sign of relief and started to push herself up. Understanding Lia's actions, the young woman stepped up to support her and helped her sit up. With the woman's support Lia was able to sit up but, it was still quite difficult.
Lia realised that her body was much more stiffer than she initially thought. She couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer as to what caused this problem.
The young woman closely observed Lia for any sign of abnormality or discomfort.
Lia too was closely studying the young woman.
The young woman was Dr. Surbhi Rathod, probably a resident doctor of National Institute of Mental Health And Neuro Science in Bangalore, who was in her mid twenties with fair complexion and slim figure.
Lia was able to catch all info from her doctor's coat which had the logo of NIMHAMS and her name.
After ensuring that Lia was stable and comfortable, Dr.Surbhi brought her a bowl of water and feed her with the help of a spoon.Lia was thankful for Surbhi's thoughtfulness. She was indeed in desperate need for water and felt her throat was parched from thirst.
" Thank you " Lia said. This time her voice was a bit smoother and slightly more audible, also her throat didn't hurt like before.
" Oh!!! Please don't mention it, this is my job. " Dr. Surbhi replied sweetly with a bright smile and continued feeding her.
After ten spoons Surbhi retracted the bowl and put it away.
Lia became confused by her action as she was not done drinking water.
" That's all for now." Surbhi said seeing Lia's confused look. " We need to take things slow, okay. Your body is extremely sensitive right now, so we have to be very cautious and limited. Don't worry, I'll give you some more water after an hour. " Surbhi explained.
Lia didn't argue. After all, she was not a doctor and can never compare with Surbhi's expertise.
Surbhi readjusted Lia's back cushions and began to clean up the glass pieces from the floor. After collecting the debris, she was about to step out of the room to throw it away when she suddenly remembered something extremely important and started to search every corner of the room while cursing herself to no end. Lia tried to follow her movements but it was too fast for her and she began to feel dizzy. She decided it was best if she stayed away from whatever Surbhi was trying to do and closed her eyes. Although she was listening everything.
Searching and cursing for about ten minutes, Surbhi finally found what she was looking for ; her phone. She quickly dialed a number and began to pace up and down the room while waiting for the call to connect, still cursing out loud.
Once the call connected, Surbhi spoke with all her excitement.
" Hello?? Hello Father?? Please... Please.... Come over to the mansion ASAP. Miss.. Miss Lia is awake!! Miss Lia is finally awake!! Yes, yes, everything is under control, don't worry. Okay, okay. Fine. Bye "
Lia heard the conversation on the phone and wanted to ask Surbhi about the person on the other side of the phone. But before she could do so Surbhi was already gone and remained tight lip with a hint of mischief.
Another hour passed....
Suddenly several hurried footsteps echoed in the mansion. With each passing second, the steps came closer and closer until they were right outside the room. Surbhi opened the door and two male nuns entered the room.
They too were thunder struck to see Lia just like the chubby lady and Surbhi. Lia also recognised them and was equally surprised.
For a few minutes no one spoke. It was as if the whole world turned pin drop silent.