The Chime Of The Bell- Chapter 17

Vaishali’s narration

The night had been the longest one in my life. The night whenFarheen, Debaleena and I incanted all the prayers we could remember for the bodyguard whose lifeline fluctuated like a candle in the wind.

“God, please let us through this harsh, cold night”. Every second there was a fear maybe he won’t make it, maybe the darkness of the night will make away with the anguished soul of the suffering human.

Farheen spent the entire night mostly sobbing and hardly came in the room where he was being treated. Debaleena had done all the first aid she could manage and sat by his side as the man twisted in pain. The bodyguard’s sufferings were almost unbearable. I stayed in the room with Debaleena handing her the ointments and bandages. I tried my best to stay strong. In a situation like that, it was tough not to lose composure.

Finally, the don broke. We had survived the fatal night but the danger was far from being over. I wished I could do something to help him. But we were so far from the mainland and so further away from the nearest hospital. There was not even a boat. There was supposed to be a boat I don’t know why there wasn’t. The entire feeling of helplessness made me very restless, frustrated.

I walked out of the room as the man twisted in his sleep and groaned re-realizing the pain in his body. Debaleena had been up all night trying to prevent the poor man from moving too much in his sleep. But now even she was exhausted and dosing off. I must say the woman had tremendous patience and will power. It was probably the radiance of the will power that had kept the man battling the pain. I am pretty sure he wished he would die.

I found Farheen standing in the lobby. She was looking out of the open window towards the breaking dawn.

“Isn’t sunrise a beautiful thing?”, she asked.

In spite of my attempt to keep it low, she had sensed my presence.

“how is the bodyguard?” She turned to face me. Her eyes which I always knew to be full of arrogance and self-righteousness looked very different that day. It was more like filled with inexplicable sorrow. This was certainly not the Farheen I had known.

“He is pulling it through so far”, I said, trying to sound assuring.

“Good”, she replied with a supposed smile and then returned to staring out of the window. She didn’t turn away from me this time. Instead, leaned against the window pane.

“You look awful Farheen. Maybe you should get some rest. It has been a long night after all”

“Do I? What sorrow.” Then after a pause, she added, “The night isn’t over yet Vaishali if you don’t mind me calling you so”

“I certainly don’t”

“The night may be tough but look the sun is rising now. It will always after a dark night. I have faith everything will be fine”.

“Is that all we can do?”, I cried kind of agitated at Farheen’s statement. My voice sounded hoarse as all the suppressed tears tried to break out. “Is it all we can do? Just sit here and hope?” “People have been missing, someone is seriously injured and all we can do is hope that some miracle will happen and we all will be saved?”

Farheen had turned her gaze at me for a brief period of time and then resumed her aimless staring. It was getting old now.

“I believe in miracles. I believe in God. After all, it is He who gives us hope to live when there isn’t any. Now there, speak softly. You may not want to wake them up”

I cursed myself as I realized how immature I had been. How stupid of me to throw a tantrum in front of the already distressed people. Agitation cannot achieve anything. It only worsens the already worse situation. I remained quiet and suddenly realized how quiet the outside world was. It was almost scary. The little sounds of nature added to the creepiness.

But then I heard something else. Footsteps! Then there were voices too.

“Come now, we are almost there. One step after the other and we will reach”—It sounded like a man. But the voice was so consoling that the thought of raising an alarm didn’t even cross my mind. I looked at Farheen. She was hearing it too.

“Miss Paul! You are back!”, I heard the cook exclaim outside. “Don’t come near me. Please” came another vexed voice.

Before I could react, Farheen dashed past me to the door and swung it open.

Almost immediately I saw Jayeeta throw herself in her arms. Both of them fell on their knees crying. Each one had a terrible story to tell. But the tears spoke for them.

“It is OK. You are safe now”, Farheen said as if she already knew what she had gone through and slowly I saw Jayeeta pass out in her arms.

She knew it was finally OK.