The accidental date (Part 3)

All around me there was only one colour- white. I was lying down on a soft bed. I tried to lift my head, but it felt very heavy. I thought I was in heaven, when I realized that I had done too many sins to reach heaven. So, I figured out that it must be a hospital.

I tried to move my hand slowly, but my shoulder was paining unbearably. I tried to see where I was hurt, but couldn't see anything. Just then, a nurse entered the ward, and took my pulse.

"Where am I?" I asked her weakly.
"Chennai Kaliappa Hospital, Mylapore." she replied calmly.
"What happened to me? Who brought me here? How long have I been here?" I flooded her with more questions.
She looked at me for a second and paused. "You shouldn't be talking so much, Mr.Karthik. Take some rest." She then gave me an injection on my butt. "You will be alright soon." she smiled as she spoke. I fell asleep again almost immediately.

I don't remember how long I slept, but when I finally woke up, I had been shifted to a spacious room with air-conditioning. My parents were standing by my side.

"Ma, what happened to me?" I asked her when she looked at me.
"Nothing dear. Just take rest now." she replied.
"No ma I want to know. Please tell me." I kept pestering her.
"A car ran over you. Just some minor injuries. Thank god you were wearing your helmet. Otherwise, it could have been fatal." she almost cried.

I imagined how it must have happened. I remembered the bike skidding on the road and falling down in front of the car. The car must have run over me, unable to apply brakes suddenly. Then, some good samaritan must have brought me here and called my mom from my mobile. I was sure only this must have happened. I suddenly remembered something.

"What happened to her?" I asked my mom.
"Happened to who?" my mom looked puzzled.
"She didn't call me? I was going to meet her only. She must have been waiting very near the place where I had the accident. She must have seen it."
"No dear, nobody called. Only Charanya and Swathi called. I told them you had an accident. They came in the morning, and were here till evening."

I realized it was late night already. Then I realized something. She would have never known even if she had seen the accident that it was me, because she had never seen me. Not even my picture. Only I had seen her picture, and I was banking on that to recognize her in Spencer's plaza. I asked my mom to give me the mobile phone. I called her hoping to talk to her, but she never answered my call. I tried five more times, but to no avail. I felt disappointed and drifted off to sleep again.

I woke up early next morning and saw the newspaper and coffee on my side table. I sipped the coffee, and opened the newspaper. I browsed through sports column and the business column. And then turned the pages to read the local news. There were news articles about political meetings, blah blah. And suddenly, an article caught my attention.

Teenage girl caught for reckless driving
Chennai, June 10: A girl aged nineteen was arrested near Spencer's plaza for driving dangerously. Shruthi, a college student, was driving a Toyota Corolla when she ran over a motorbike rider near the Spencer's signal. Luckily, the rider escaped with minor injuries. The girl was found to be not in possession of a valid driving licence, and also seemed to be drunk. She has been remanded in judicial custody for one week.