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I couldn’t believe it! How can it be the same day again! I had to wake up from this recurring dream. Why wasn’t I moving on from that day!
And then, all those movies and series showing the same day repeating itself, started filling in my mind. So according to a movie buff, the solution was simple: the one experiencing it, had to fix something, and until that, the day would keep on repeating. The only thing out of the ordinary that day was the accident. Did that mean that I had to stop it! That seemed far fetched; how was I to stop a bike from skidding?
Then it must be the other; I had to save the biker. It could be that the biker didn’t make it to the hospital on time.
I had heard that bystanders seldom call for help, fearing that they would be involved in the police case or in some process that needs consent in the hospital. So, this could have been it. I had to be there for him and get help as soon as possible. Easier said than done.
And suddenly I remembered about the helmet. So, if the first time that the biker fell without the helmet- was not a premonition dream, there was someone else that was trying to save him.
Anyway, that didn’t matter. It just made things weirder than they already were. There was no way to prove whether it was a dream either. So, I will just stick to my plan-
I had to somehow get help. I could call an ambulance, without seeming crazy, for that I had to call it right when it happened, not earlier. The grating noise of the bike made me freeze each time, so this time, I had to get into action right before it.
I got out of school earlier this evening and found myself hurrying to the bus stop. I had time. I needed to find some nearby store with a phone, couldn’t depend on bystanders-they may refuse, also I couldn’t stop them from catching their bus or going about with their tasks of the day. I had thought about this at school. As, I had listened to the classes twice already, it seemed fine to be using this time to come up with a plan and be sure of the number that had to be called.
I checked the stores near the bus stop and the one near the place where the biker fell. The people running the shops near the bus stop looked friendlier, but I knew I had to take a chance at the nearest one first. Who knows, the owner of that shop might change his mind since he could see the biker more clearly.
I took my place near that store, the moment the biker came into view, was when I had to jump into action, else it would be too late.
Also, I was worried that if I waited till the grating sound was heard, I would slow down again. I started feeling queasy but I set aside all other thoughts and waited for the biker.
Everything happened quickly. I had imagined that I had some time until the biker was seen and the sound was heard, but he was already down when I was on the call. The words that I had practiced were said in a hurry to the shop-keeper, and I was surprised that he had passed me the phone even before I had ended my well-practiced line of assurance- that I would go with the biker in the ambulance and he would not have to do anything.
I heard the others say that the ambulance reached very quickly, though the time that I waited for it looked like an eternity and I was worried if the biker could make through it. Once I was in the ambulance, I found myself going through what I had to tell the people at the emergency room. The siren of the ambulance, though louder than I had ever heard before, was soothing in a weird way. I had wanted the biker to get medical attention as soon as possible and by the looks of the personnel in the van, the first part was done.
Once we were at the hospital, he was taken into the emergency ward and I was shown to the waiting room. I hurried to the desk and I must have sounded too well rehearsed, because the lady at the desk smiled hearing my ‘There is a patient from a bike accident taken in just now. Please get him treated immediately. You can count me as his family. I will fill up any forms.’
I soon found out why she had smiled when she said -“It’s very difficult to immediately contact anyone who is close to accident victims. He’s lucky that he has got so many of his family in time. That,.. ” she said, pointing to the boy on the other end of her table, “..is the patient’s brother. He has taken care of the formalities.”
I didn’t know how he had done it, but the dark circles around his eyes and how he looked like he had aged in a couple of days, made me walk to him and say, “Looks like you saved him, this time.”
He shook his head, his eyes not leaving mine, and said, “No, you did.”
