It took all of thirty seconds for the three tiny dots to swim into the bag, lined by hazy cloud-like mist. She could see them swim, one following the other, till they neatly disappeared in that white mist. And it was once more all quiet. Looking at the screen she tried to feel some difference to her now changed body, hosting three aliens. She could feel no change, much like the UV monitor beside her bed, which seemed to have told her a story for only those few seconds, to go silent once more.
“So this is all medical science can do. Beyond this, it is God alone”. Her doctor smiled and wished her all luck. They all left her alone in that strange room, telling her to remain still for another fifteen minutes or so. Lying there in the strange cold room on that narrow bed, Jia closed her eyes and tried to imagine. Imagine what those dots were doing inside her body now. The dots won one battle outside her body and emerged the strongest of all. These were her “chosen ones”, to decide her fate. They could all remain, or some remain, or all choose to abandon her. They were her tiny Gods now. She touched herself softly and whispered “Hi. Welcome in.”
Fifteen agonizing days of waiting. Lying and praying. So much was at stake for Jia. A struggle for six long years had led her to this day. Days and months of pain and tears and heart break. Jia was stoic through the worst that doctors told her, never giving up, never telling herself that this could be the end. No medical challenge, no negative report could weaken Jia’s will. She was ready to fight all odds. This was Jia’s battle to fight and hers to win. She believed she could, with a determination so strong, it almost warned the Gods.
“When you really want something, the whole universe conspires in helping you to achieve it,” Paulo Cohelo.
And then came the afternoon Jia dreaded. The day of the much feared report. Calcutta was afloat that day. The cars seemed to be swimming by, traffic was dreadfully slow and there was a matched quiet suspense even in the air. Amidst heavy downpour she found herself reporting at the clinic a good one hour before time for the test result of that one tiny drop of blood they had drawn from her this morning. The girls at the clinic had become her friends by now, standing by her through all of her failures, tears and anxiety. This morning too they were here, silently telling her to relax. She waited for the moment of truth.
Calling her into the inside chamber, Lakshmi chit chatted with Jia about this and that; it was mostly a monologue with vague “hmm” and “nah” from Jia. She even offered Jia lunch. Jia was lost in her own world, a numbness creeping into her as Lakshmi’s words vaguely made some sounds, but definitely no sense. The meaninglessness of the world around her was beginning to affect her deeply. That desk, those files, some nurses walking by, the sound of people talking, a phone ringing in the reception area…they were objects and sounds of a world Jia wasn’t a part of. She put her head on the desk and closed her eyes. She wanted to shut off all truth from her life then. She needed a vacuum to sink into.
After a full five minutes, which seemed like a lifetime, Lakshmi walked across to Jia, placed her hand on her head. Jia looked up. The look of a dear friend filled Jia’s life at that moment. Lakshmi smiled and said “Its positive”.
The world swam around Jia. Had she heard correct? She was numb. It was only after a good minute had passed, that these words slowly registered. Six long years of struggle and tears, determination and nerves of steel and intense prayers had led her to this monsoon morning with a dear friend breaking the loveliest piece of news to her…Jia would be a mother. She cried.