Escape (Part III)

Note: Firstly, Sorry for the delay in posting the third part of “Escape”. I hope that the readers who were eagerly waiting for it will enjoy it as much as they enjoyed the previous two parts. Those who have no idea about “Escape”, refer to the first and second part of the story before reading the following part. The links to the previous posts are as follows:

Escape – Part I

Escape – Part II

Thank you as always for the over-whelming support. Enjoy the third part!

 

Stanford hospital sounded busy at 8 in the evening. Jon couldn’t believe that he was in the hospital after watching the crowd hustling and bustling around as if it was a BIG SALE festival. Cara was sobbing quietly but the mental shock had left her as soon as she exposed herself to the outburst of nurses, doctors and patients around. Jon held her hand firmly as if she was his 2 year old.

“Jon, what’s this happening?” Cara stuttered. The fear in her voice was evident.

Jon remained silent. He chose to inquire about Mr. Laurengram and stray away from the common hall which was scaring both of them to death. He made his way to the reception which was as busy as he would imagine queuing up for the payment of his school fee on the very last day. After a couple of minutes, he confronted the receptionist.

“Mr. Laurengram. We got a call that he suffered an accident. Can we know the details?” Jon tried to sound composed.

“Oh, Mr. Laurengram! You can find him on the second floor, Room No. 208. Dr. Rossini is dealing with his case”, the receptionist gave away the details within a blink of an eye as if she knew all of it by heart.

Jon thanked the receptionist and made his way to the second floor. Cara chose elevator, hence they both hassled with the buttons of the elevator and after a couple of minutes they were standing right in front of Room # 208. Cara could see her dad lying peacefully on the stretcher with his eyes shut; he looked exactly what he did in the morning but there was one difference – the bandaged forehead. Cara broke out in a cry hugging Jon closely whereas Jon’s eyes were in the search of Dr. Rossini. Jon’s shoulder was patted by a young good-looking Chinese lady. She looked like a student but later Jon came to know that she had been practicing in the hospital since eight years, it was because of her short height and soft features that made her look extraordinarily young than her years. She was barely five feet; her crooked nose, big eyes with flashing eye lashes and the pink cheeks were the kind notes contributing to her young appearance.

“Jon Stanley here”, Jon shook her hand with the little lady wondering how his hand was enormous compared to the lady’s hand.

“Jon, Can I know how you are related to Mr. Laurengram?” the husky nasal voice questioned.

Before Jon could answer the lady back, Cara broke in the conversation very boldly.

“I am Cara Laurengram, his daughter. What happened to him?” Cara resisted back her tears sounding wobbly.

“Well, Cara, he has been a part of the accident that happened on the 121 Commercial Street which is adjacent to the Subway Station. His injury was not serious though but the situation could turn over into a very serious case for him.” Dr. Rossini explained.

“What do you mean? Don’t try to make me resolve mysteries at this moment”, screamed Cara with her tears trickling down the red burning cheeks. Jon patted her back and made her sit closer to him so he could stroke his hand whenever she was too hysterical.

“Cara, I know it might be difficult for you but before proceeding to reveal the reports of Mr. Laurengram, I would want to know about Mrs. Laurengram. Can we reach her to discuss with her primarily about this very accident?” Dr. Rossini politely asked blinking her eyes million times over to deal with the pace of her verbal speech.

“Amazing! You want to reach someone I have never seen in my life. She died after giving birth to me and since then it is ME who live with my dad all alone”, Cara was flushing with frustration due to the delay but Jon worked like a catalyst to calm her repetitively.

“Well, fine Miss. Laurengram. Let me proceed with the case then. We have not received the reports of Mr. Laurengram yet but we doubt that he was driving drunk. To resolve the mystery, we have taken his blood sample and after 12 hours that is tomorrow noon, we can only tell whether your father would be charged with a crime assault or was this a simple mistaken car accident”, Dr. Rossini breathed deeply after explaining plainly.

“What?? He never consumes alcohol before driving. He is a sane being and a very responsible citizen. You guys are out of your mind, are you trying to tell me that my father is a murderer??” Cara’s emotions filled the room with her echoing shaky voice defending her dad even before he was proved guilty.

The accident I always feared;
Sorrow overtakes and happiness disappeared.

“Cara, I respect your emotions but this is very serious. The bus was loaded with around 55 passengers and around 20 are seriously wounded while others had minor injuries. It is supposed that Mr. Laurengram’s car was on the fast track and he didn’t bother to give the indicator to the bus behind his BMW and that is how the bus driver bumped into Mr. Laurengram’s car when he applied breaks swiftly.”

Dr. Rossini took a minute’s pause as to let Cara digest all the rumbling facts.

“The driver applied the breaks as soon as he could to avoid the accident but it was too late. You should thank Almighty that no one lost their life in the accident otherwise it would have been a serious Police case, whereas, driver is doing well now also. Therefore, I would suggest you to wait until the reports lay down the plot of the entire story disclosing who was at fault – your dad or the driver.”, Dr. Rossini stood up and knelt down in front of Cara’s chair to look into Cara’s eyes which were lowered down to face the ground. She was resisting back the tears to avoid the fiery rage to be washed away with the overwhelming emotions. 

“He will be fine, Cara. He needs you to be strong for him”, Dr. Rossini pressed her hand against hers ensuring her the presence of the possible positive vibes.

“When will he regain consciousness”, asked Cara hastily.

“In about six to eight hours – indeed very soon”, replied Dr. Rossini smiling.

It ain’t easy to see you in there;
My heart beats for your survival – the pain I bear.

Cara left the room and Jon followed her after thanking the doctor. Cara stood in the passage way observing her dad peacefully lying on the stretcher bed from outside the room. She did not have the nerve to trace her dad’s hand while the IV line was tangled around his wrist gripping his veins to supply his body with glucose. She was reminded how her dad had the “needle phobia”. He would never chose an injection over tablets or capsules. Cara gave up to the rushing memories within herself. She was taken back to an incident that took place at least five years back, the day they had their Hepatitis C vaccination. He cancelled his appointment and drove back to home as soon as Cara’s vaccination was done. When Cara asked him that why did he cancelled his appointment, he giggled and answered how he was scared of the injection’s breathtaking long needle. They both have had laughed a lot promising each other how it would be a “Jack-Pack Secret” between them. Cara felt the warmth of a hand on her shoulder, she anticipated that it must be the doctor and she decided to ask her to leave her alone for sometime but as she turned around; her stern expressions smoothened reframing the edge of her stumbled face while the fury burning in her passionately faded all at once.

“Jon, look at dad! What has happened to him?” Cara worriedly exclaimed.

“Sweetheart, he will be alright. He has always been a fighter; he will fight this trauma as well – for YOU, baby”, Jon smiled to comfort Cara.

Observing you in pain is a hard job,
My soul is devastated – I continuously sob.

Cara noticed a queue of chairs arranged before her dad’s hospital room. She didn’t dare to open the door of the room and step in to expose herself to an intense unpleasant smell of a typical “hospital-room”; hence she sat on one of the chairs while Jon sat down on the floor in her footsteps wiping away the concurrent cloud of tears forming in her eyes every now and then. She laid herself back within the chair while her head rested against the wall and it was not long enough when she was roaming in her dream valley independently. Jon stood up from the floor and seated himself carefully in the chair beside her and placed her head to rest on his shoulder so as to avoid her suffer a neck cramp. He felt contented to watch his little angel asleep – the only way her precious tears would not be washed away.

“I love you Cara. Forever and always!” Jon whispered in her ear brushing away a loose strand of hair from her face to tuck it behind her ear. The moments swayed away as Jon rested his head against the wall; playing with her slender fingers, he was transported to his dream valley also.