He got her to sitting, and she sat with ease. Samar went to the back and checked again. He grabbed his kit and pulled out an antacid.
“Yeh khaiye.” He set it on her tongue. “Takiye laao.[181]”
“Takiye nahi hai, gadde hai.[182]” Vikram ran.
“Leke aao.[183]”
They rolled up the mattresses and set them up behind her, and Samar made her sit upright, even as she kept insisting that she was dying.
“Kya hua hai?[184]” Vikram asked him as he stood back.
“Acidity aur panic[185],” Samar whispered in his ear.
“Doctorsaab…” Her son came to him. Samar nodded. “Theek hai, attack nahi hai.[186]”
“Main jaa rahi hoon…” she kept murmuring, eyes closed. “Guddu, mere kangan teri biwi se le lena, Shailendri ko hi dena…[187]”
Samar noted her hand slowly leave her chest. Her breaths went deeper, steadier. He checked her chest with his stethoscope again. In control.
“Aaram kariye, kuch nahi hoga.[188]”
“Mujhe attack nahi aaya?[189]” She asked.
Samar felt himself smile. “Nahi.[190]”
He turned to Vikram and her son — “Aadha-ek ghanta aur dekhte hai. Acidity hai. Abhi kuch khilana mat.[191]”
“Dhanyawad, Doctor saab,[192]” the man, old enough to be his father, began to quiver. Samar saw his firm demeanour break as he began to fold his hands, shaking. Samar held them in his own — “Bas, sab theek hai.[193]”
He cocked his head to Vikram and they sat down on the side, waiting.
“How do you know Atharva?” Samar set his bag down between them.
“I met him in Kinnaur.”
Their camaraderie was more than just a meeting’s worth. But Samar did not push. He pulled off his specs and sighed, cleaning the glasses on his damp shirt. The temple was getting dark as the light outside dimmed. He peered at the window. The day was dipping.
“Go find out if Atharva came back,” he tipped his chin to Vikram. “If she is still fine then it’s not a heart attack.”
As if he had been waiting for those orders, Vikram got up and ran out of the temple. Samar pulled out his satellite phone and found a missed call. Adil.
He pressed Call Back.
“Hey!”
“Tell me you dispatched the crew.”
“In the air as of twenty minutes ago. Should be reaching there any minute now.”
“Who is leading it?”
“Captain Husain. Atharva knows him…”
“Patch me up to them.”
“Hang on…”
Adil went out, leaving static. Samar stared at the old woman, chattering with the people around her now. After the kind of miserable day he had, Samar felt like smiling. He had seen patients, mostly soldiers. Somebody like her was… a novelty. Never had an emergency ended for him in a laugh.
