Chapter 10

Captain O Captain
Chapter - 10



The 12th-grade holidays were going on. One day, an uncle from Manoj’s neighborhood came to their house. His name was Shyam. The matter was that Shyam’s wife needed blood. She had been a victim of a road accident. Her name was Sheila.
Manoj never liked Sheila Aunty. But as soon as he heard everything, a voice echoed in his mind—*how beautiful it is that your blood can help someone else.* And along with that voice came immediate disgust. He said firmly in his mind, *I am not doing this because of you, Akshita. You are dead to me.*
It was decided that on the first day Manoj’s father, and on the second day Manoj himself, would go to Aakash Hospital to donate blood. The hospital staff would handle the exchange of blood themselves. They just needed blood.
Manoj came to the hospital alone. No one else had any work there. Shyam uncle had explained everything to him and had gone to Sheila.
Manoj donated blood. After donating, he was given Frooti and biscuits. While drinking the Frooti, he was coming out, but he got lost on the way. He had always been directionless anyway.
As he wandered, he caught a familiar fragrance—the scent of Vaseline. Akshita’s Vaseline. He immediately started looking around. In an open room ahead, Akshita was lying on a bed. Alone.
Manoj became worried. All his hatred vanished somewhere. A nurse was passing by, and he quickly asked her, “Nurse, the girl on that bed—why is she lying like that?”
“She has just received blood. She is resting for a while. Who are you?” the nurse said.
“She received blood? What happened to her?” Manoj was shocked. His mind kept thinking—*I just hope it’s not some serious disease.*
The nurse was a little surprised—*who is this person?* She hesitated, but eventually told him, “That poor girl is battling blood cancer. She comes here every week for a blood transfusion. Is she your relative?”
What the nurse said after that—Manoj couldn’t hear anything. Darkness covered his eyes. He stood there for a couple of moments, then suddenly collapsed onto a sofa behind him.
One by one, all the questions were answered.
Why didn’t she drink water from him?Why didn’t she eat?Why couldn’t she donate blood?Why did she eat lunch hiding from everyone?Why did she always stay alone?
A sharp pain rose in Manoj’s chest. *Such a small, fragile life… carrying such a huge sorrow… and she never even told anyone.*
The words slipped from his mouth, and then came the tears. Covering his face with his hands, he cried for a long time. The nurse and others passing by looked at him in surprise.
Somehow composing himself, he went to the nurse at the counter. He requested her to let him go inside just once. His condition was so pitiful that the nurse allowed him, even though she didn’t want to.
Akshita was still looking out the window. Suddenly, she saw Manoj standing in front of her. She got scared—*did someone tell him? His eyes look red too.*
“How are you here, Akshita?” Manoj asked as he came near her bed, his voice choked.
After thinking for a moment, Akshita said, “I had a minor injury. How are you here? Everything okay?”
Manoj gave a faint smile, tears streamed down his face. He said, “At least tell the truth now, Akshita. The nurse told me everything. Why did you go through all this alone…”
He couldn’t say anything further and burst into tears.
For a moment, Akshita was also shocked. Manoj had come to know about her illness. What should she do now? Seeing Manoj cry, her eyes also welled up. Trying to steady herself, she said, “Hey, be quiet. I’m fine.”
But Manoj fell to his knees, held her fingers, and said, “Forgive me, Akshita… forgive me. Why couldn’t I see how much pain you were in? Forgive me, Akshita…...”
He cried so much that her hand became warm from his tears. Seeing him cry uncontrollably, Akshita also broke down. Her throat choked. Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm herself, but with every breath, a new stream of tears flowed.
Finally, Akshita gave up too. Bending over Manoj’s bowed head, she cried her heart out.
Both of them cried endlessly.