Rhea's Heartsawesome
Are you sure, Rhea?' asks my mother.
'Of course I'm. Survival of the fittest, mother. I'm not going against Darwin. Also I don't want unnecessary scars on my body.'
It's a known fact that we are all born to die. And frankly, I don't understand why it has to be made into such a big deal. If it were not for my mother I would have said that to the bunch of people outside my house, some of them with young kids, shouting slogans, waving placards, literally wanting me to cut one of my beating hearts out. "Save A Life. Donate!" they shout.
For someone who is one in billions, 7.125 billion to be exact, I expect to be treated better. Scientists are still befuddled regarding my condition that gave me two hearts in my mother's womb. But years of research and sticking needles into me have led them nowhere, and they have labeled me as a freak mutation. It's so rare - literally one in all humankind - that they didn't even name the anomaly (as they call it, I will call it awesomeness). I wanted to name the condition myself, something on the lines of Rhea's Heartsawesome but the doctors aren't thrilled with the suggestion. Instead they want to cut one of them out and save a life. Huh?
An IQ of 180, increased concentration, exceptional athleticism and a phenomenal metabolism rate - are just the few boring benefits of an increased blood circulation. Why would I ever give that up?
Rhea closed her diary and smiled. Finally, she was able to shut the door on the face of those who probably haven't even donated their blood, let alone a vital organ of their body, and yet are daring enough to advice her to cut off one of her hearts out! And, what's more, her mother too had enlisted her name in that group.
They would even have forced her into the operation theatre, if it weren't for Dr. Abhimanyu who came as her heroic rescuer at the time of utter crisis. It was only he who supported her view of not sharing her heart and her theory of the 'Survival of the Fittest' –something that she missed in all these years.
He even convinced the doctors saying how Rhea's condition was among the rarest of the rare cases ever present on earth and probably there would be no such cases later and even if there were, perhaps these doctors won't ever get any chance to experiment with the supernatural power of such a wonder girl. Although she felt like a guinea pig out there waiting to undergo yet another experiment, it at least saved her from the forced donation of her unusual awesomeness, and that was the best part of the story. He had even confused, if not convince, her mother into believing that it was really necessary for Rhea to keep the 'boring' benefits of her increased blood circulation that had earned her a huge number of medals. This was really one of those 'Kodak moments' of her life, which she could capture through her eyes and kept it saved in her brain for the rest of her life.
Rhea was always a strong lady and the struggle against the world, including her mother, had made her even stronger. She knew she was enough to strive and save her hearts, yet the little support and understanding she got from Abhimanyu melted her in a way she never thought she could….
Abhimanyu played with his phone, toying with the idea to call her. He had secretly collected her number from the patient's database. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't help it. Her boldness attracted him like a moth towards the flame, her eyes wanted care and he knew both her hearts carved for love. Finally his weak heart gathered the courage to dial her number.
"Hello," she chirped.
Silence.
"Hello, who's this?"
"Umm… Hi… I'm Abhimanyu," he finally spoke.
"Abhi who?" she asked.
"Dr Abhimanyu, from National Medica. We just met a few days back there, remember?"
"Huh, yeah. Dr Abhimanyu… So what's the matter, sir?"
"Hey, please stop tagging me with a 'sir'. Anyway, are you free now?"
"Now? Yeah, kind of…"
"Then, what about meeting at Café House tonight?"
"Tonight? Why is it very urgent?" Rhea asked, concerned.
"Yeah… umm... I mean… no… actually yes…," he stammered.
"Yes or no?" Rhea giggled.
"Fine, yes…"
"I'll be there in an hour…"
"Okay."
Abhimanyu smiled and punched his fist in the air.
Rhea smiled as she kept down her phone and giggled at how she pretended not to recognize him.
"Poor doctor, he got so nervous," she thought, as she picked up her black dress.
"Ma, where's my silver necklace?" she shouted as she frantically searched for it in her drawer.
"It's in your make up box, Rhea," her mother said as she came in and then noticing the black dress hanging loosely on her arm asked, "Are you going somewhere?"
"Huh? Yeah… A friend called urgently," Rhea said making her way to the washroom.
"Where are going, Rhea?" Her mother asked as soon as she stepped out in her cute black dress.
"To Café House. Dr. Abhimanyu will be waiting for me there," she replied while applying a light shade of her pink lipstick.
"At this hour?"
"Yup, he says it's urgent."
"Is anything wrong with your…," her mother began.
"No, ma. Nothing like that," she cut her short.
"Then?"
"How will I know, ma? I'll have to find out, na," she replied and then noticing the worry on her face, smiled to say, "Come-on, ma. I'm not a kid anymore. I can handle these issues," and turned to go.
"Rhea, when did the doctor become your friend?" her mother asked.
Rhea giggled and said, "Bye ma, I'm leaving now or else I'll be late."
She closed the door behind her and rode her scooty to the near-by bus stop and parked it there to catch the bus. Being 15, she didn't have the license and driving it in the GT road could be a huge risk.
Once in the bus, she adjusted her hair and topped her lipstick with her lip-bum. Thanks to her father who had bought her this make-up kit on her last birthday that she carried everywhere with her.
He couldn't wait. He was constantly looking towards the door and checking his watch. He had reached fifteen minutes early and she was thirty minutes late. He rehearsed his dialogues again and again, even more than he had ever revised the medicines, and he thought medical science was the toughest thing.
After five more minutes, she entered, looking as dashing as ever. He never knew the colour of darkness could be so pretty or was it she who made even the darkness glitter like her silver necklace. Her eyes searched for him and he stood up. She slowly began to move towards him. His legs were shaking and it was becoming harder every moment for him to keep on standing, and when his eyes met with hers, he forgot every bit of the dialogues he had so well prepared. His eyes gradually began to drop as she came nearer until finally he could see nothing else but only the ground.
"Hi, what's up?" chirped her melodious voice.
"Nice," he replied, still staring at the ground and then moved aside to offer her his seat.
"You can sit there, I have this one," Rhea replied pointing to the chair beside her.
"Oh, yeah. Right," he smiled sheepishly and sat down again, pouring over the menu, which was actually upside-down, to avoid eye contact.
"Can I have a look?" Rhea asked, for he was taking a bit too long.
"Yeah, sure," he replied and passed the menu to her. With nothing to look at now he stared blankly at his palms and stole shy glances at her. He really wanted to have more of her but was too shy to even look at her. Finally, the waiter arrived to take the order of two French fries and black coffee, and took away the menu with him.
With nothing to look at again, Abhimanyu tried to look at Rhea, who was already smiling at him. But his eyes made its way to somewhere past her. Rhea giggled at how he was trying to look at anywhere but her.
"So? What's the urgent news?" Rhea began.
"Urgent news? Yeah…" he stammered.
"Anything about my heart?"
"Huh yeah. We had a conference and decide that if you pay us a visit once a week then we can just.. you know… umm…," he shrugged.
"You can experiment with it," Rhea completed the sentence for him.
"Yeah.. kind of…"
"So, I'm the guinea pig here," Rhea mocked.
"No, it's not like that…," Abhimanyu began, but stopped mid-way as the waiter came to serve their order.
"Actually, it's the rarest case we could ever encounter and the experiments won't hurt much. Although you can refuse…," he began as soon as the waiter went away.
"Relax, Abhi, I was just kidding, man," Rhea Smiled. "Oops, I mean, I agree to it, Dr. Abhimanyu," Rhea added as an afterthought.
"Hmm thanks," he smiled back.
They gulped the French fries and Rhea sipped her coffee while making small talks and stealing glances. It was late when she finally picked up her scooty and returned back. Abhimanyu was with her all this while.
"Bye, see you soon," Rhea said, as she parked her scooty at their backyard.
"Bye," Abhimanyu smiled.
Rhea smiled back and unlocked the door.
"Rhea?" he called coming forward.
"Huh?" she turned.
"You can call me Abhi, if you want to..," he smiled shyly. She smiled naughtily and went inside.
Rhea opened her diary again as she couldn't wait to fill a new page with the new experience, but she couldn't stay awake to complete it. She was too tired and had fallen asleep on the opened page of her diary with the pen between her fingers.
Days passed and then months. Abhimanyu was somewhat able to come out of his shyness and had now made himself comfortable with Rhea. Rhea too was out of her otherwise ruthless behavior and had become far more softer and milder in her ways, much to the surprise of her mother. The two of them kept meeting in cafés, restaurants, cinema halls and sometimes even at Abhimanyu's house.
Everything continued to be fine until one morning she woke up with a start at the ringing of her mobile. She was surprised to see five missed calls from Abhimanyu's number. She quickly called back. An unknown voice greeted her.
"Miss Rhea, could you please come quickly to the National Medica, dear. It's really urgent. Dr. Abhimanyu is in a critical condition and all he wants now is to have a glimpse of you," croaked the voice.
Rhea felt as if something broke within her. She couldn't believe her ears and speech eluded her.
"Hello, are you there?"
"Huh, yeah. What did you say? How can this be possible? He was alright yesterday…," She finally spoke.
"We can't explain it over the phone. Please come over. It's you who he wants to see now, may be for the last time…"
"Last time? What do you mean by…? Hello? Hello?"
The call ended on the other side. Rhea felt her two hearts beating as if they would burst. She felt a lump in her throat. She jumped off the bed, took her keys and kick started her scooty. Do hell with the GT road and all the police standing out there, she has to reach her Abhi as soon as possible. Things can't end so easily. He can't leave her just like that. HE JUST CAN'T!
She tried to remain calm and drive sensibly, although her hearts refused to comply. She felt her strength melt away. Before meeting him, she was a free bird never caring for anything. Fear was an unknown feeling then. But now, it was the only feeling she had. It's quite ironic that in life, the person that brings out the best in us and makes us stronger is actually our biggest weakness and the same was true for her Abhi.
Back at the hospital, Abhimanyu's condition was fast deteriorating. All he could think about was Rhea's beautiful face and how her cute smile would be replaced by tears once he left. He wanted to live, stay alive, just for her, but he literally had no heart to do so. His heart had betrayed him when he most needed it. He had understood something was wrong when he woke up in the middle of the night with a severe pain in his heart and then everything blacked out. the next time when he woke up, he found himself lying on the hospital bed in which he had been treating heart patients since ages. He could somehow utter the word 'Rhea'—the last person who was on his mind before the black out and the doctors probably had took the hint and called Rhea early in the morning who now came storming in.
"Where's my Abhi? Where's Dr. Abhimanyu?" she shouted at the top of her voice, and a nurse directed her towards his room.
She ran towards him, kneeled to grip his hand and broke down. Abhimanyu turned towards her and kept his other hand over hers'. She was still crying violently. Her face looked even sadder that he thought it would if she cries. He tried to comfort her but in vain. Suddenly she stood up and stormed out of the room and ran until she reached the doctors' chamber.
Then, learning what exactly was the condition and how desperately her Abhi needed a heart transplant, she blurted out—"Take my heart, then. Come rip it away."
"But we can't take out the heart of an alive human. You need to be dead to donate your heart. After all we have just one…," a young doctor began.
"I have two," she cut him short.
"What!" he looked shocked.
"Yes. You are probably new in this, but this was once the hospital that was to ready to do anything to snatch one of my heart and save a life. It was Dr. Abhimanyu then who had saved me from losing my awesomeness. But today I want to save him by finally getting rid of it now," Rhea explained as fast as her mouth allowed her.
"Not 'a' life, Rhea, it was the same life we wanted to save then that you want to save now," said a doctor, coming from behind.
"What!" Rhea exclaimed. It was her turn to get shocked now.
"Yes. Why do you think we were so desperate back then to take off your heart? It was your heart only that matched perfectly with all the qualities he needed. Yet, you made him sacrifice his only heart because you wanted to keep two."
"I'm ready now. Please do anything… rip it off… NOW!" she shouted.
"It's not possible anymore, Rhea. The recipient must have good emotional, psychological and physical health to be able to make good use of a new heart otherwise his immune system would reject it."
"No, No, No. That can't be... Please, do something."
"Fine, come with me. Let me do a few tests then," he replied and Rhea followed.
An hour later, he came to her with the reports and said, "I'm sorry Rhea. We can no longer take your heart. Actually both your hearts works simultaneously in such a manner that taking out one would hamper the functioning of the other. Moreover, Abhimanyu won't be able to do anything with just one of your heart."
"Then take away both and save him," cried a desperate Rhea.
"No Rhea, we can't do that."
At this point a nurse entered the room with a chit of paper in her hand. It was a note from Abhimanyu to Rhea. Even in the withered condition of the writing, Rhea could still make out the words. It brought her tears as she read those two lines—
"You really got two awesome hearts, Rhea. Never lose it for anyone ever again."