Early morning phone calls

I usually love it when my cell phone rings. For a physically isolated sole like me living in Mangalore, separated from friends and family by distance, these phone calls often come as a sigh of relief from boredom. Especially during weekends, phone calls are my way of killing time. However, there is one particular genus of calls that I am not very keen on receiving: the ones that knock at my cell phone early in the mornings. These early morning calls usually comes when least expected, carrying a horrifying message along with it.

Almost a year back, I received one such call at around four in the morning. With my half opened eyes, i tried to read the caller's name in the display. It was one of my friends from Bangalore. She called to infrom me about the sad demise of one of our friend’s father. He suffered from a heart attack the previous night. Though he was taken to the hospital without any delay after the stroke, doctor's couldn't do much. That message came like a bolt from the blue for both me and my roommate. We rushed to our friend’s house right away, and the entire day was spent at his house and at the funeral.

That was a year back. It was time again for an early morning phone call. My phone started ringing once again on a wintry morning in January. It was a weekend, and I crashed into my bed really late after watching two movies in a row. I checked the time in my watch, and it was only five in the morning. I immediately realized that it is a harbinger of doom. I picked up the call with a prayer in my mind, and this time it was my younger brother who is on the line. His trembling voice informed me that our father suffered from a heart attack an hour back, and he is hospitalized.

That message struck me like an electric shock, and I couldn’t move from my bed for some time. I didn’t know what to do next. I only knew that I wanted to reach home immediately. I went online and tried to book the next flight to Cochin. But, unfortunately, the flight was available only at seven in the evening. The next option open to me was the railways. But, that option too didn’t help me as the next train was scheduled to leave only after 3 hours. I was damn certain that I wouldn’t be able to wait patiently for so long. So I ordered for a cab immediately and started for home.

By the time I reached the hospital in which my father was admitted, it was already six in the evening. My brother and relatives were waiting for me near the hospital entrance. My eyes searched for my mother. She was sitting near the intensive care unit along with my aunts. I went near her, and when she saw me, she collapsed into tears. I spoke to her for a minute, consoled her, and rushed to the doctor’s cabin.

The doctor in charge took me inside the intensive care unit and showed me the angiogram test result on a computer screen and explained me the reason for the stroke. He then told me that my father’s situation is not getting any better with time. He also informed me that an angioplasty or a by-pass surgery is inevitable, and had to be performed immediately to save my father’s life. I gave my consent to the doctor to take whatever action he thought was appropriate at that moment.

A few minutes later doctor called me inside again and shared me that good news: my father has started recovering. But, an angioplasty or by-pass surgery was inevitable, and had to be performed within the next few days. I immediately got an appointment in one of the best hospitals in Cochin, through an uncle of mine, and made all the necessary arrangements to shift my father to that hospital. We shifted him the same night, and an angioplasty was performed on him the very next day. The procedure was a complete success and it gave my father a new lease on life.

Five months has passed since then, and now my father is back to his routine.

When all this was happening, my phone kept giving me rings. I was happy to answer those calls that carried the voice of my friends and family. Those calls carried voice of concern and support.

I still love when my cell phone rings. But, I would never want to receive another call early in the morning.