Curse in disguise.
"We know that people aren't born to live forever . There is stopwatch ticking inside you, your sister, your parents, even me and practically everyone. When it stops, The cell, itself suicides. You know that you are dying, and the causes of death. But under emergencies, the patients you see don't always come to you due to disease. Today we are going to know 'how do they die'. The-ultimate- process- behind- death." lectured professor Dr. Mukhi, he recalled his college days as the wheels rotated on the tar road in front of him "When a patient is injured, he may be bleeding. Due to the blood loss, the heart beats starts increasing rapidly. The reason for this, is the heart's function is to pump blood to all the organs, when blood is lost it applies pressure on the heart to circulate the blood where it is bleeding. If the blood isn't stopped, heart has to pump faster and faster to keep up the supply of blood and heart itself needs blood to work too. A time comes when heart doesn't have enough blood to work by itself. Heart gets tired and slows down, and beats once in a while. Finally the heart stops when it's impossible for it to work without it. Blood's main purpose is to provide oxygen to the cells and withdraw carbon dioxide from it. Without blood, oxygen can't reach to cells and cells die. So, when a patient is suffering from a severe injury, the first step is to stop blood loss." He saw his lower left area above waist. It was emitting blood, his heart was already beating fast. A bullet had made its way through it.
He sat in the middle of the road as a car came and stopped. He gave a way to it as there were people inside it. Another stopped, driver opened the door to help him and made him lie on the back seats.
Mark told him the address, he argued that he should be sent to a hospital.
"I know that, but I know a doctor there, these days the doctors have became so expensive, even if I get cured due to the treatment, I would die due to its worth" Mark joked, making the driver giggle.
"Or, you have to pay the price with your kidney or an eye!" Both of them laughed.
"What's your name brother?" Mark asked as the driver stopped laughing after a while.
"Why? Would you complain about my driving to any one? Ha.." He started laughing at his own joke, but this time it was getting awkward. He laughed for a while as he saw Mark stopped to laugh he stopped " Prakash, Prakash Purohit, if you want to give my full name to him." Again he started giggling.
"No, I just asked to thank you." Mark's blood was oozing out. " Do you have a handkerchief or any other cloth? You see my hands aren't enough to stop blood loss." Mark requested.
"Ya, stop talking now ok? It's not good for you right now." Prakash said passing him the handkerchief "It's clean, and i haven't used it so, don't worry about infection."
Mark held the handkerchief tightly integrated with blood flowing from the waist, again he started to think about that very lecture.
"Blood loss is not the only thing that kills a patient. Fear of death is as immense as death. A person can die just due to fear of death, which in a wider term we call Shock. It is said that when a person falls from a height, he dies in the fall, due to fear and not due to landing. Well it's not true, shock doesn't kill so fast. When you get frightened, adrenaline rush starts along with other hormones, that narrows the main arteries reaching heart. In turn the heart stops to beat. They can be revived with electric shock." Mr. Mukhi lectured It so seriously as if he was uncovering a plan made by terrorists. "You must have watched in serials that when the patient is being transferred to operation theatre in a stretcher, family members rub or hold the hands of the patient and tell him that he will be okay, or in romantic movies or books when someone is dying their significant other telling that everything will be alright and nothing will happen to them, THAT, my students prevents Shock. But it is better to not to tell them that they are okay, but to tell them about sweet memories or in case of you are stranger your sweet memories. This helps them to divert their mind and be somewhere else controlling their fear. So, till the treatment doesn't start take them to another world, make them imagine good things in life and they will try to live. Pain in heart is a symptom of this and it acts as a heart attack."
"Can you tell me some sweet memories?" Pleaded Mark, " I want to hear something sweet in case these are the last words I am going to hear"
"Sure if you insist but let me tell you that you aren't going to die, I am there for you okay?" Prakash consolidated Mark.
"Before you start, if I get unconscious, there will be a black car with a guy in the mask, he is my brother he will take me from there, help him to get me in his car alright?" Mark uttered these last words before he slept, he had to leave that cop car away as it was easily traceable someone wouldn't notice a regular car but everyone would have noticed a cop car. Prakash was telling him about how much he liked toys when he was a kid and yesterday he had to throw them away when he found them after so many years... Mark listened to it and imagined him in shoes of Prakash..
He remembered once he was watching a movie with his loving uncle.
He saw a villain who held a gun beside the temple of the heroine and the hero was held by 5-6 henchmen. The villain asked for the location of the treasury. Hero resisted and said that he didn't knew about anything. The villain got angry and pulled the hammer. The hero started giving the address to him.
"Uncle, the hero wasn't answering the question of him at first, why didn't he? He knew that the villain would kill her if he didn't." Mark asked looking curiously to his uncle.
"Because that pistol can't be fired till the hammer hasn't been pulled." Replied his uncle still having his eyes stuck on TV. "He wanted the treasure badly, but his love is the greatest treasure for him. Even if she wasn't her beloved, he would have told it when the hammer was pulled, as heroes never let innocent die."
"What is so important in that hammer? That if it isn't pulled no one has any fear of the gun?" Again Mark asked curiously. The villain shot the heroine in front of the hero. " Why did he kill that girl? When He answered what he wanted?"
His uncle muted the TV as the ad started. "Mark, bring that table over here." As the table was brought against him, he placed a remote on the table. He pressed the centre of the remote."Imagine, that there is a bullet on one side of the remote and on the other side place your thumb here. Now push it down."
Mark obeyed his uncle, when he pushed it down from one side the other side got lifted.
" See, as this side gets lifted, also the bullet gets lifted. And there the bullet gets in the barrel. So, without the hammer being pulled a gun is just as useless as a toy, as there is no bullet to shoot." Explained his uncle. " And Mark, Villains are strong. They don't have to be merciful to anyone. They are villains because of a reason, they don't care about anything."
"Doesn't that make heroes weak? Why are heroes weak, when they are good? " sadly asked Mark.
"Because they are selfless. They think about others. They care for them. There is a untold truth Mark, when a person wants something, he gets it, only if he is ready to do anything, and to sacrifice anything. Even to kill someone. Heroes don't want much and they don't get much. Villains want everything and the the world gives them everything. The villain and hero clash each other when both of them want the same thing equally badly, or When villain has already taken something which hero wanted badly. The person who wants it the most finally gets it, or the person too wise to take it, gets it. "
Mark opened his eyes.
"Finally, Mark, you are awake. How do you feel now?" Jack asked, holding Mark's hand. Mark was little bit confused about Jack's words but as he saw others standing there, he understood. "You are alive because of your presence of mind. If I was in your place I wouldn't even be able to think. How could you remember that when you are bleeding so much?"
Mark saw that this wasn't a hospital, and it wasn't meant to be, because as that cop said, any doctor would call the police if the bullet is found inside a patients body.
"You didn't kill him. Did you?" He asked Jack, he wished that he didn't.
"No, I was about to, but I saw DK sign on your tank." Jack consoled" I believe that I should have killed him. Your life is important then any of them. Mercy is a weakness do you remember? He have seen your face. What would we do, if police asks him about you. We need to cut the trail Mark."
The DK sign was a sign that mark had instructed his men, Don't Kill sign, he made this sign on his tank with blood while he was in the car. He had also instructed to check the tank to decide what to do with the person who brought the body, if he is found to be skeptical and there is no DK sign, he is to be killed to minimize risks of getting killed.
"He saved my life Jack. If I can kill him, would my men believe in me? I don't want people in my side to be skeptical. I assure them that the people who work for me, are the people who I work for." Said Mark. Jack smiled such that others don't notice him.
"Okay, so now Mark is alright, we don't want people to get skeptical why we are meeting here leaving our jobs behind. Go back to your homes, Mark is alright. Dr. Tyagi thanks for your cooperation, can we have 2 minutes alone?" Jack said waving his hands as a bye. As everyone left, jack clapped "Nice speech Mark, now tell me why didn't you want me to kill him."
"I don't want to spread the trail, I have killed 2 policemen and then if I kill this guy, the police will get something to figure out, as they don't know me, but they have my blood so they could sniff me out through my blood, they haven't seen me but they do know me by my blood, so if I come anywhere near suspicion, they would test my blood and Jack ,that would become tomorrow's headlines. Also, I haven't even let him suspect anything, so he is not a threat anymore. He saved my life and I owe him." Replied Mark. "Oh I forgot, I had to thank him properly.."
"And what if he does something skeptical?" Jack asked. " I have sent your men to see his moves."
"In that case I would kill him with these bare hands..." Mark replied raising his hands. " But if he doesn't do anything stupid for two days, I will meet him and tell him thanks, because he is the reason I am breathing today."
