Dead Ends: Episode 6

(This is a lengthy story based on actual facts. Episodes will be posted over a span of a few weeks. There are going to be NINE episodes in total. For Episode 5 click here. Enjoy!)

Episode 6

Maheen is walking in the hospital. She looks at her watch. She is five minutes late. She approaches the receptionist who tells her to wait. Maheen sits on a sofa. She picks up a magazine about motherhood and flips through it.

“Mrs. Maheen Sadiq?” A nurse announces her name.

Maheen stands up and follows the nurse into the doctor’s room.

“Hello Maheen! How are you feeling?” Dr. Mehnaz, the doctor dealing with her pregnancy, asks.

The nurse leaves closing the door behind her. Maheen sits on the chair opposite the doctor.

“I’m feeling good.”

“Is anyone here with you?”

“No. I came alone.”

“Maheen… I’m afraid I have very bad news. It would have been better if someone from your family was here.”

Maheen stares at the doctor for a few seconds.

“I can handle it Dr. Mehnaz. Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Do you remember when I told you to get a few tests done; I also gave you a list of additional tests?

“Yes I remember.”

“You said that you wanted all of them to be done on you.”

“Yes I did.”

Dr. Mehnaz stops and sighs, her gaze is on a sheet of paper that she is holding.

“Well, one of the tests listed there was of HIV/AIDS. Maheen the reports came in this morning. I’m sorry that I’m the one to tell you this. You are HIV positive, you’ve got AIDS Maheen.”

*                      *                         *

Bahadur is sitting in a chair next to Munni in the hospitals waiting room. Khusbo and Kulsoom are lying on a sofa, snoring. A nurse walks in.

“Is there any one called Laila in here?” The nurse asks loudly.

Bahadur rises and goes towards her.

“Yes I’m Laila.”

“Come with me.”

Bahadur follows the nurse out of the waiting room, into a corridor and finally into a room. The name plate on the door says: Dr. Liaquat (Asst. Professor)

The doctor is wearing a white coat. He has a white beard with thinning hair. He gestures to Bahadur to sit down. The doctor looks at him.

“Is Guru Ji okay?” asks Bahadur worriedly.

“I didn’t call you here to tell you about your Guru. I have some news for you. You donated blood yesterday. Well its standard procedure to test the blood and screen for several diseases before it can be given to a patient.”

“Yes… I know the nurse told me.”

“Well, your blood was screened and it was positive for HIV.”

“What’s HIV?” Bahadur asks after a pause.

“Have you ever heard of AIDS?”

Bahadur nods his head.

“Well, HIV is the germ that causes AIDS. And that germ was found in your blood. That means that the germ is in you.”

“I… I have AIDS?” Bahadur’s words tumble over each other, “but I have heard that people who have AIDS die!”

“Well, yes they do die in the end. But it seems to me that you are a carrier. I’m not sure of it; you’ll have to get some more tests done to confirm if you are carrier. A carrier state means that you have the HIV but it cannot harm you as yet.

“But it doesn’t mean that it can never harm you, there’s a fair chance that the virus will mutate, I mean change, into a type that will cause AIDS in you in the future. I advise that you… Umm, Refrain from providing your services, as a commercial sex worker, to people. You’ll only spread the disease.”

Dr. Liaquat shuffles for some papers in a file in front of him.

“Well I think that I have said everything. Here is some information of a government run project. They provide treatment to HIV/AIDS patients. You should go and see them. They will not charge you.”

The doctor hands him a pamphlet and the blood report. Bahadur takes them and quietly goes out the door.   

*                                   *                                   *

“You must be mistaken doctor! I can’t possibly have AIDS!” Ejaculates Maheen.

The doctor hands a sheet of paper that she’d been looking at to Maheen. Maheen looks at the report. The paper falls down from her hand.

“I’m sorry.” Dr. Mehnaz says pitifully.

“Oh my God… how can I have AIDS? It’s incurable! Oh my god… How did I get AIDS?”

“That is what you should try to find out.”

“But I have always been loyal to Sadiq! He is the only man I ever shared my bed with!”

“Were you in to drugs at some point-?”

“No! Never!”

“Did you receive a blood transfusion or an injection of some sort recently?”

“No… No I didn’t… Oh my god! Doctor, what will I do now!?”

“Maheen forgive me for asking you a personal question. Is your husband faithful to you?”

“Yes! I mean… no… I really don’t know…” Maheen is totally confused, “if I have AIDS then… then he must have it too! Oh my god! Tell me I’m wrong Dr. Mehnaz!”

“I’m sorry but you are right. Either you contracted the disease from him or he got it from you. Have you been feeling sick Maheen, fever, diarrhea or sore throat?”

“Umm… Yes I did have a sore throat last month.”

“Maheen I know this is a big shock for you. But we need to take action and start the treatment. I talked to a doctor who is an expert in this field. I’m going to refer you to him. Your disease has already advanced in its second stage-”

“How many stages of AIDS are there?” Maheen cuts her short.

“Three.”

“How much longer can I live?”

“Uh… Maheen I cannot say anything for now, I-”

“How much longer will I live? I need to know doctor! It’s a matter of my life!” She demands.

“Three years… may be four.”

“What about my baby?” A tear escapes her eye; she impatiently wipes it away with her hand.

“There is a chance that the child will not get the disease from you… But it’s a slim chance. Maheen you should get your husband tested for AIDS as well…”

*                                 *                                *

Bahadur is walking towards the waiting room. He hears loud cries. He rushes in.

There in the middle of the room lies Khusbo unconscious, on both his sides Munni and Kulsoom are wailing, beating their chests. Their make up is smudged due to their tears.

Bahadur sits beside Kulsoom and shakes him by the shoulders.

“What happened to Khusbo?”

“Haye! Haye! Laila! Haye Allah! Guru Ji has left us! She died! She died! Left us all alone! Who will protect us now!? Who will?!” Kulsoom cries hysterically.

Bahadur is stunned; he stands up slowly, trying to understand what the words meant.

Bahadur bolts out the door and approaches a doctor who is talking to a few people.

“Where is my Guru Ji?!”

The doctor pushes him away.

“Calm down! And don’t shout!”

“My Guru Ji…” He says almost in a whisper.

A nurse approaches Bahadur.

“You must be friends of Saleema. Please come with me.”

The nurse takes Bahadur into a room. Khusbo is semiconscious and Kulsoom is supporting him up. Munni also follows them.

On the bed lies a body covered with a white sheet. The nurse leaves them closing the door behind her. Bahadur goes near the bed. Kulsoom, Khusbo and Munni hang on to each other.

With trembling hands Bahadur removes the sheet to reveal Guru Ji’s face.

Without the make up, Guru Ji looks old and weathered. Bahadur cups his cheek with his hand. Tears cascade down his face. He kisses Guru Ji’s forehead.

In the background he hears the ugly wails of his companions. He slowly backs away from the bed and out the door. He breaks into a run in the corridor where he hears laughs and sees two men smirking at him. He runs out of the hospital into the garden and collides with a man. The man curses him, Bahadur darts out of the hospital towards the road. 

(stay tuned for episode 7)