AB +ve

"Blood will tell, but often it tells too much" Don Marquis

It was a very bad day. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. I was sitting in the cab, headed to work - I was not sure if I would be able to work normally today. I felt a lump in my throat. I felt tears in my eyes - after long.

Bhagat is his name, Rajesh was telling me when I was in the middle of an important patch deployment two days back. I couldn't even record the name properly. I just told him to call me if he needs me. Bhagat's wife had just given birth to a baby, that is happy news I thought before I only heard the other part. Mrs.Bhagat had a high blood pressure and the doctor's had said she would no longer be able to carry. It was just 8 months. the baby girl was operated out prematured. It was in the incubator, just 5 days old. The baby had a problem - it could not generate adequate amounts of red, and white cells and also platelets in the blood. The doctors needed blood everyday and the blood needs to be taken to a laboratory for separation of the particles. The irony - the baby had one of the rarest blood groups which you may not get everyday - AB +ve.

Rajesh did not call me that day. I was working the nights that weekend. It was sunday morning and asleep for just a couple of hours when I got a call from Bhagat. He apologised for waking me up (Rajesh had told him I would be sleeping) and said he wanted me to come over and give some blood. I readily agreed. He offered to come home and pick me up since I did not have a bike.

"Can't you take more blood, because they would need it everyday unil the baby gets cured", I was asking the guy who was trying to find a blood vein in my hand to insert the needle and pack he had ready for the blood. They only take 350 ml of blood from one person at a time and you cannot donate blood for 3 months. "I am gonna have to look for another AB+ve donor tomorow". Rajesh who had AB +ve had already done his part the previous day when he informed me.

"Don't worry Bhagat, I will find an AB +ve donor for you tomorow when I get to work. Everything is going to be allright" I was telling him in the lobby of the laboratory, sipping the mango juice Bhagat had bought for me while the blood was being processed for particle separation. It would take 2 hours.

He hadn't eaten anything since morning and has been trying to get someone for the blood except when he sipped some coffee at home when he came to pick me up. I could see him smiling when I told him he should bring Mrs.Bhagat and the child home some day when the baby gets allright.
My head started feeling heavy, I had worked the whole night the previous day. I told him I would leave. he insited he would drop me back home. I told him to get back to the hospital and check the baby if he had the time to drop me. I took a rick and headed back home to get some sleep.

It was about 5:00 in the evening when Rajesh called me. His voice was broken, that moment I knew something was wrong.

"Nirupesh, Bhagat called me just now and you know what he told me ?"

"Is everything allright ?"

"Bhagat said he would bring the baby one day to your house and my house and show her - this is the uncle who gave blood to you when you were 5 days old"

"He can very well say that, whats wrong now ?"

"No he can't" Rajesh was not silent.

Just when the partilces were separated and when Bhagat was paying the bill to head back to the hospital with the life saver, he got a call from the Doctors saying they wouldn't need it anymore .... the baby was gone. It developed a breathing broblem and collapsed.

I didn't know what to say. Rajesh was calling from the hospital. It was just a few hours before when I could see that man smiling. How am I going to face him now. I told Rajesh I am not mentally prepared to call Bhagat now. I will call him after some days when he comes back to normalcy.

I haven't called Bhagat till date .... I don't know what to tell him / ask him !

[I did not want to come back with a post like this after long, but I really had to blog this ...]