Vagaries of Justice
by Nanda RameshRaghu slowly opened his eyes. As his vision focused he could see a white ceiling and two screens to his left and right. It looked and smelt like a hospital ward.
His head throbbed and his body seemed to ache all over. He realized that he was bandaged in more places than not.
Raghu tried to remember what had happened. He was on his way home from work when a fast moving silver vehicle had overtaken him from the left. It had bumped his bike causing him to lose balance. He had felt himself coming clear off the bike, hanging in the air for a moment before crashing down hard on the road.
After that his memory was a blank.
He felt some acute pain in his chest and involuntarily gave a groan.
He heard the curtain being pulled quickly. Someone grasped his wrist. Raghu looked up to see a nurse taking his pulse. He started to say something, but words did not come out. He tried to get up.
"Please lie down, sir. You were in an accident couple of hours back. How are you feeling now?”, she asked, smiling at him.
Raghu motioned for water. The nurse filled a glass with water and let him sip slowly. His dry throat now felt a little better.
"I feel like my body has gone under a road roller!", he replied.
She laughed.
"Good. You still have your sense of humour. I think you must be feeling fine then. Dr. Jagan will come by shortly to check up on you. You can see your family before that. They have been waiting patiently for you to wake up. The police also want to ask you about the accident. I will send them in after sometime. Is that OK?", she asked.
"That's fine", he answered, cheering up.
His little sister was the first to rush in. “Anna, how are you feeling? They say you flew up 10 feet high from the bike!”, she stated obviously excited at the spectacle.
“No wonder. My whole body aches!”, he exclaimed, welcoming his parents who had followed her, with a smile.
Both looked relieved to see him awake and talking. The bandages looked so much less intimidating when he was talking than when he was unconscious.
The police, an Inspector and a constable, entered the room silently and waited at the foot of the bed.
As Raghu looked at them questioningly, the Inspector asked, "Mr. Raghu, can you tell us what you remember about the accident?".
"Yes, sure. I was driving along the median at an average speed when a silver car, overtaking from the left bumped my bike hard. I lost my balance and flew off as my bike hit the median. I remember going up quite high, almost 10 feet”, he said smiling at his sister, “and falling hard on the road. After that it is all a blank until I woke up here".
The Inspector nodded his head. "The witnesses we talked to at the scene also said the same thing. You were lucky there were no vehicles following you closely. However, the person who caused the accident did not stop. It was a hit and run. We are trying to get more details to pursue the culprit.
Can you remember anything more?", he asked.
"It was a silver Scorpio. The driver was a man, dressed in a black suit. I think he was talking on his mobile phone when he hit me".
"That is good information.”, the Inspector said appreciatively. “By any chance did you see the license number?".
At that moment, a man looking like a doctor entered the room.
"Hello Mr. Raghu. I am Dr. Jagan. I see that you are up. Feeling better?", he asked.
Raghu stared at Dr. Jagan and gave him a wry smile.
"Yes doctor. As good as one can be with all these bandages. My memory is also coming back slowly now.”.
Dr. Jagan turned briskly towards the inspector and asked, "I hope you are done. I need to check my patient".
"Just a few minutes, sir. Mr. Raghu, unfortunately, nobody else noted details about the silver Scorpio. Can you give us any more information such as parts of the license number, seat colours or description of the driver?".
Raghu shut his eyes remembering hard. He could clearly see the face now. The driver had been dressed professionally and talking agitatedly on the mobile. The vehicle had swerved suddenly leading to the bump on his bike. He recalled the fall again and shuddered involuntarily.
Dr. Jagan looked on with concern and suggested, "Mr. Raghu, you can do all this later if you don't feel well now".
Raghu opened his eyes and looked thoughtfully at the doctor.
"No. Its OK doctor. Inspector sir, the details still seem vague to me. Maybe tomorrow it will be clearer.", he said.
"That is fine. Please call us in the morning.", the Inspector said and they both left.
Dr. Jagan closed the curtains quickly and started to examine him.
"Mr. Raghu, I feel sorry about your unfortunate accident. Thankfully, you have only sustained few fractures in your arms and legs. They should heal completely. You should be back to full health in a couple of months".
Raghu looked happy. "That is good news. I think it is unpardonable when people in big cars drive while talking on their mobile phones leading to these accidents.", he said looking at the doctor.
“And most cowardly to just drive away instead of stopping to help!”, Raghu added.
"Yes, most definitely.”, agreed Dr. Jagan. “Sometimes, fear takes over. In spite of that, I am glad you were able to make it to my hospital as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the injuries could have become worse”.
“Yes, I am thankful for that.”, said Raghu, “I thought my memory was gone for those few moments. But, now I am able to recall some features of the driver clearly. I feel I can help the Police sketch the suspect well enough to identify him, tomorrow.”
“Then hopefully, I will be able to get compensation for my hospital bills at least. Otherwise it is a big burden for us financially as I don't have insurance. The nurse mentioned that the cost may be more than a lakh”, Raghu said wistfully, looking at the doctor.
Dr. Jagan looked concerned.
“Good luck on that. I will see what I can do also Mr. Raghu. Please take rest now and I will leave instructions with the Nurse. You should be able to go home after 3-4 days", he said and went out.
He stopped at the nursing station on his way home.
"I have prescribed sedatives for Mr. Raghu. Please make sure he has good rest. He does not have any insurance. Since it is a hit and run, I will pay his complete medical bill on compassionate grounds. Let him know about it first thing in the morning.”, he instructed her. “It will ease his anxiety.", he added as he headed towards the entrance.
The nurse nodded her head.
A little unusual, she thought, as Mr. Raghu did not look poor and Dr. Jagan rarely waived off his fees. Maybe he took pity on his family. Anyway, it was not her place to question the doctor.
Dr. Jagan felt tired as he left the hospital. It had been a long day. He could not wait to get home and relax on his couch.
He got into his car and eased into the traffic.
His cellphone rang. It was his wife on the line.
"Where were you, dear? I have been trying to reach you for the last several hours. You cut me off rather abruptly before.", she said very aggrieved.
"Sorry. I had to take care of some urgent things at the hospital so I had switched it off. I am driving home now and will be there shortly. Talk to you then, Bye", he said and hung up quickly.
He eased his silver Scorpio to a stop at the signal light looking absent mindedly at the motorbikes which were squeezing their way past his car jockeying for positions in the front.
He hoped they could not see the large dent on the right side. He had to get it fixed as soon as possible. He hated any damage to his Scorpio, especially this one.
After more than a decade of working in the software field, I decided to take a break couple of years back and pursue other hobbies. So, here I am, going bird-watching, photographing, some conservation work and of course writing short stories. Beats debugging code for sure! In writing, I focus mostly on short stories in both the children and adult genre. I have had some success in getting few children's stories published in our local newspaper and a monthly children's magazine.