The Other Side Read online

  ‘Yes sweetheart, we need to cure you completely, and also get a sonography done for neck, I feel a little lump on the right side; since you have glandular TB, we need to check,’ said the doctor in a sympathetic tone.

  ‘Okay doctor, can I get the biopsy after two-three days? The pain of FNAC is still there. And is it okay if I crush my medicines to powder and then have it with syrup? I am a little fussy in gulping down the medicines. I cannot even gulp a single Cadbury Gem like that,’ said Kavya.

  The doctor listened to her intently. He was amazed at how Kavya had finished the first course of TB in that case. He smiled at her innocence and her worries over ingesting so many medicines.

  ‘Dear, you will have to learn to gulp. Because crushing 20 medicines a day and then having it is going to take a lot of time,’ said the doctor.

  Kavya exited the cabin along with Dr Shashank. He was to give her a long list of medicines. Kavya was not sure how she would confront this new reality in her life and implement the doctor’s orders. A biopsy, injections, gulping down around 20 pills – all this came was a bolt out of the blue. She was not prepared; TB had entered like a hurricane in her life. Dr Shashank explained the possible side effects of the medicines. MDR-TB drugs are more toxic than standard TB medicines, and their side effects can damage the liver, kidney, intestines and other vitals. Kavya was told to go on a high protein diet to cope with the medicines and a routine blood test to check if any of the drugs was not suiting her. She kept observing the room and the other patients while listening to Dr Shashank. He observed her half attention and pointed towards a girl standing a few steps away. Kavya had noticed her earlier as her skin colour looked unnatural, she had become reddish-brown. It looked like she had played with the colours of Holi.

  ‘She had a fair visage like yours before she started the course, the drug Clofazimine has done this to her. Even you will change your skin tone once you start the course, so don’t get scared,’ said Dr Shashank.

  The doctor had already scared the shit out of her. She was not yet prepared for the biopsy and now there was talk of the side-effects of the medicines.

  ‘Oh, you must be kidding, right? Tell me that’s due to something else.’ Kavya asked Dr Shashank with evident disapproval in her tone.

  ‘No, I am serious. You do one thing, click a selfie now and then click it after six months, you will see all the difference. To avoid more redness, avoid the sun and apply a lot of sunblock and moisturizers. Clofazimine also dries the skin a lot,’ said Shashank in a very helpless tone. ‘So see you soon after your reports come, and don’t worry, you will be okay. Start the medicines and injections tomorrow onwards till then.’

  Kavya was in no mood to talk to Kabir or anyone. The prospect of having to live with this dilemma for the next two years was too much for her. Eventually, she cried and cried a lot. Kabir was helpless, he knew nothing was going to work to divert her mind. He just wanted her to be strong. But in reality, it required more than just mental strength to deal with MDR-TB. One needed a lot of patience and a sane mind, which you generally lose during the course.

  Kavya decided to start the course of medicine from that day itself. She took forty-five minutes to finish her dose of post-dinner medicines. She first crushed two of the medicines to realize that it was way too bitter to have it that way. She later gulped the capsule after half an hour of the medicine crushing procedure. She knew this would not work every day for four times a day.

  The next morning, she tried gulping the pills again. A successful attempt it was. Later she hurried up to go for the other tests and sonography. She also had to go for her first injection of MDR TB treatment. So much to do for her that day since morning. She entered the lab and proceeded for the blood test.

  ‘Did you not complete your course the first time? How did it occur again?’ asked the lady who was sucking the blood out of Kavya via the needle. Bottles after bottle, she tried diverting Kavya’s mind by talking to her.

  ‘I had completed the course properly, I don’t know how it reoccurred as MDR-TB,’ said Kavya.

  ‘God, you are so young, and now how you will have to ingest so many medicines, take care of yourself, beta,’ said the lady in a sympathetic tone.

  It was now Kavya’s turn for the sonography of the neck. Since it was for the neck, she was okay with a male doctor doing it. But they had to check further. Since they had found a small lymph node on the neck, the doctor did a sonography of the breast to check if there are any other lumps. It became awkward for Kavya to expose her breast for the check-up. And, what happened next? One of the doctors tried pressing it more than required, and Kavya could not even object or do anything about it.

  After a few weeks, Kavya got her drug susceptibility test reports and she was resistant to certain drugs to cure tuberculosis. Few of her medicines were changed, but rest she had to go on with the injections for six months and more than 25 tablets for two years.

  Her life at twenty-six seemed to have become a round of harassment. Where she was young and energetic waiting to achieve so many things in her life, she would have to accept such embarrassment or expose her bum every other day to someone for an injection. But she didn’t have any choice. The only thing that she preferred was lady doctors or nurses to do the same. Her routine changed. She hardly had time for herself to do things she once wanted to.

  Chapter 11

  Kavya had got over her fear after undergoing the biopsy. She was terrified of the pain she would have to go through, but thanks to Hinduja Khar Hospital, the whole procedure was done to minimize the pain. Now that she was done with the major task of all the check-ups, the only thing left was taking injections for six months and medicines for two years.

  * * *

  What was happening in Kavya’s life was nothing common. Similarly, what was happening with Sam and Rachel too was not common. Had it been so, then this story would not have been penned. There was something uncommon about these three. The common things of life had taken a very uncommon turn.

  Rachel and Sam had a love marriage. Earlier, before their wedding, there was a lot of romance between them, which drastically reduced later. It had been a couple of years now since they had stopped getting intimate. It was bizarre and a secret that both kept.

  When they married, they were not keen on having kids early as they were very young to plan a family. They had wanted to concentrate on their careers. So the days had gone by. It was after two years when Rachel realized it was very uncommon of them not to have sex. She had started doubting her husband and worrying if he was having an affair. This had irked Sam and further widened the growing rift.

  There was a point when it used to affect Rachel a lot. She would, at times, initiate the subject, to which Sam became upset, blaming his disinterest on erectile dysfunction. Rachel had tried to handle the situation with understanding, but eventually, she stopped trying. By and by she had got used to the way things were going and occupied herself with work. Her frustration at times came out as taunts to Sam. It made Sam feel very bad but he kept himself aloof and avoided any reaction.

  Now they were at a point where they were comfortable with each other. They shared a good bond, they spoke like a normal couple, but never on this topic. There was love between them and they stuck to each other. Divorce would have been the easy way out, but they chose to work on their marriage instead and hold on to each other. If for nothing else, a matter of habit.

  Once Rachel found out, Sam’s involvement in the Ashton Martinson scam would blow apart this tenuous understanding. How would it affect their daily course of life?

  * * *

  Kavya had finished 56 injections within two months. She was desperately keeping count on 140 injections which she had to finish. With increasing counts, her bum had become very hard with injection lumps. It was painful. One day on the left and one day on the right and repeat. She hardly had recovered from the previous poke and lump and she had to be ready again. Later there was no soft place left to take injections on the
bum, and Kavya started taking it on the hands. It was dangerous. Nurses in the hospitals had refused to administer it on her hand. They were not permitted to give such a high dose on the hands as it could lead to adverse consequences, they had said. Kavya had then gone to her cousin, who too was a doctor like her brother and an anaesthesiologist. He readily gave her injections on the hand as he was a specialized doctor for that. Kavya started taking turns on the injections. One week on hands, one week on bum. And this is how she completed her six months of painful injections. Kavya had developed a special bond with ice packs for six months, along with the hospital staff, the building watchman and the unknown driver at the hospital.

  Kavya had a fixed time post lunch for the injections. She used to drive herself to the hospital. As she reached the hospital, a doctor’s driver would always keep or make space, especially for her car. Generally, the parking outside the hospital used to be full. And Kavya had to avoid the afternoon sun as well. The driver had observed her coming in the afternoon for a few days, then weeks, then months. He knew her routine and thus kept a space ready for her to park conveniently. She had loved this gesture of the driver. They had never exchanged a word, only a smile.

  Kavya gradually started enjoying the procedure of going to take the injections. She loved to explore different gestures people showed to her. She loved observing the humanity around her. And the hospital staff and people loved to watch her courageous spirit. All this made her strong. She learned to be strong with every injection.

  Apart from the injections, Kavya had developed side-effects from a drug named Cycloserine. She went under depression after a few months. Some small matter would also irk her brain to an extreme level. She started crying for no reason. She was not happy with the surroundings, and people thought she was not happy with them. No one would understand that it was her side effect, which irked her so much. There was a span when she had lost self-control of her mind. Once out of frustration, she walked eight kilometres, even when her body didn’t permit her to take this stress.

  She realized it was unnatural of her to lose this balance of her mind. She talked about it with her best friend, and she suggested professional support. A psychiatrist studied her case and told her it was due to the medicines which she was having. After a few counselling sessions, Kavya started feeling better. She started getting her life back on track. She started feeling mentally healthy and stopped the sessions. It was almost a year since she had begun her medicines, and she turned out to be a lot more different person. She underwent a lot many of other side effects but learned to deal with it.

  She became strong in all senses and wanted to explore her power more. She wanted to prove that only she could be the reason for her happiness; she did not want to be dependent on anyone else for her happiness. It was her responsibility to feel healthy in all ways. She wanted to explore alone, and hence, she decided to go alone to the US. Kabir had understood her state a little and was okay to let her go, but only till Cambridge.

  Kabir had no idea that Kavya would change course to Vegas on a whim. She seemed to get weird satisfaction in acting silly. Kabir never showed it, but secretly adored her ability to take her life on such crazy spins. He could never be mad for long. Kavya’s smile did wonders for him.

  * * *

  It was crazy how Kavya had gone off with Sam to decode the mystery of the blackmailer. Sam, by now, had sensed the craziness of her mind. He grew a deep respect for her. He, in fact, adored her. Rachel was unaware of Sam’s turn of thought. But Rachel started thinking on other notes after her husband’s Vegas trip. Everyone became suspicious of everything around them.

  Chapter 12

  Kavya had told Sam the details of her fight with TB on the flight. And Sam too had managed to share his problems with her. It had been easier sharing confidences as they sat together on the flight. Sharing worked like a wonder therapy. Soon their destination arrived.

  As soon as Sam reached Los Angeles, he made Kavya check into a hotel near his office and went straight home to meet Rachel. After a long, rough phase, he was excited to meet her. But things were different on the other side, Rachel showed disinterest in meeting Sam. Her body language proved she was annoyed with him. She gave curt replies to Sam’s talk and questions. Sam had thought he would confront Rachel that day itself and speak to her about the Ashton Martinson sword hanging on them. But he postponed the plan. He wanted her in a calm state of mind to be able to understand his problem. Rachel left for work as per her regular routine.

  Sam phoned Harvey and called him to his office. Kavya planned to go sightseeing and meet Sam late evening for a coffee. Harvey visited Sam and told him about the status of the number of people who were affected by the scam. It had disturbed many happy lives. Sam told Harvey about Rachel’s cold-shoulder in the morning and wondered if she knew something which they were not aware of.

  ‘I think you should wait for the right time to tell her. Rachel may get easily pissed off with the news and your losing so much of money,’ said Harvey.

  Sam nodded as he took a sip of coffee and gazed outside the windows to the tall skyscrapers lining the city.

  ‘It’s not about the money Harvey, it’s about trust. Money won’t matter once trust is broken ... and much of my money is with Kavya. She is a nice person,’ said Sam.

  ‘That girl Kavya! And, what do you mean by a nice person? What could you have learnt about her in two days?’ questioned Harvey.

  ‘You meet her, and then you will come to know. She is going to meet us in the evening for a coffee,’ Sam answered.

  Harvey and Sam discussed what to do next. How to get hold of the blackmailer. The IP address was of no use. They only had information that the blackmailer was in the same city, nothing else apart from it. Harvey had started investigating other cases of the scam to see if he could find a common link, but nothing had helped so far. They were eagerly waiting for the next email from the blackmailer. Just then Sam’s phone buzzed.

  ‘Hey, I am going out for dinner with office people. Will be late for home.’ Sam received the text message from Rachel. Sam did not understand Rachel’s behaviour. He wondered if she knew anything or the blackmailer had acted on the threat. He decided to give company to Kavya for dinner.

  ‘So, did you like my hometown?’ Sam asked Kavya. Sam, Kavya and Harvey met in a café nearby Sam’s office.

  ‘Yes, I liked it. But it was more fun in Vegas with you,’ winked Kavya. ‘So, how is the investigation work going on guys, found anything interesting?’ she asked Sam and Harvey.

  ‘Nothing worth taking the next move. I am investigating other common things of the victims. We shall definitely find something interesting shortly,’ answered Harvey.

  ‘Sam, you were supposed to confront Rachel today, so did you do that?’ asked Kavya.

  ‘Not yet, Rachel is behaving differently. Till the time she is normal, I cannot risk telling her,’ answered Sam.

  ‘Come on, let’s go to a nice Indian restaurant for dinner? What say Kavya?’ Sam asked Harvey and Kavya. They both agreed and left the café.

  As they reached towards the exit, Harvey went to the washroom. Kavya and Sam waited for him outside the café. They were chatting and laughing over something when Rachel saw them from the other side of the road. Rachel observed them for a few minutes and went away before she could see Harvey joining them.

  ‘Hey, where are you, Sam?’ Rachel asked Sam over the phone. Sam blabbered before he could tell the truth and in the heat of the moment, lied to Rachel. No, he did not lie completely; he just hid some truth.

  ‘I am with Harvey and will be having dinner with him, by the time even you will be free and reaching home. So see you at home, Rach,’ answered Sam.

  Rachel was now only more pissed with Sam. She was definitely not going to be reasonable with Sam for some time. Sam would now have to wait for some good time to speak to Rachel about the scam.

  The scene the next day was also the same. Rachel avoided talking to Sam apart from work-relat
ed issues. Sam too sensed it. He was worried if she knew anything regarding the scam; there had been no new email from the blackmailer. But there was nothing Sam could do at that moment, and thus he didn’t bother to talk and clear the matter with Rachel. He was also a little busy with Harvey, and Kavya being in his hometown.

  Kavya was keen on knowing each and every detail about the blackmailer. Harvey used to discuss everything in front of her without a hitch. They were too comfortable with each other, and the matter was getting interesting for Kavya. But Kavya had to leave for Cambridge within a day. She was expected there a week before. On the second last day of Kavya’s visit to Los Angeles, Sam took her to various places during the day time. They enjoyed exploring places, food, and each other’s company. In the evening they went to Sam’s office. Harvey was going to meet them there. That day even Rachel dropped by the office for some work. She saw Kavya and Sam entering the cabin together. Harvey was already inside, but she didn’t notice. Rachel called Sam, making it sound like a normal call from a spouse.

  ‘Hey Sam. I was passing by your office, so thought of meeting you,’ asked Rachel.

  ‘Hey Rach, am busy with a meeting. I will meet you directly at home. I might be a little late,’ answered Sam.

  Rachel just walked out of the office building and Sam did not even come to know about it.

  Next day, Kabir landed in Los Angeles to surprise Kavya. But Kavya was not as surprised as expected. She knew Kabir would come to the US anytime, but she had expected him to reach Cambridge and not Los Angeles. She introduced Kabir to Sam, who was generous with his hospitality. Sam took them out for lunch and showed various places till evening. It was as if they had known each other for ages. It was quite because of the special bond he had shared with Kavya in this short period. The same girl to whom he had lost a considerable amount of his money. The world is a strange place, indeed.