The Wretched Day-8

She was devastated. It seemed she aged all of a sudden— Her cheeks seemed more sunken, her eyes were unhealthily puffy, her usually well-oiled strands were fluttering frizzily, her erect shoulders, slouched against the seat. I couldn't make out what to do. Just kept mum.

It was only by then I got a call from one of my colleagues who was also a part of paper evaluation by then. I told her about my situation and added that I could not come to the centre the next day, if something untoward happened to my grandma. 

She was sorry for me and instructed me to inform the same to our H.E. (Head Examiner) for she had to deploy someone else in my place. I thought it was not needed since I believed strongly that nothing would happen to my grandma. Yet, something in me interrupted, "what if...?" 

It was already ten past nine. I didn't want to nag her by calling at the late hour. So, I texted her asking whether I could call her and was waiting for her reply. Though she was offline, the gray double tick gave me some relief. 

I turned off the data and was looking through the window again. I loved the night trip. The bus was totally away from the usual hustles and bustles. It gave me an odd solace but my mind bounced back to my grandma's memories. 

I started stalking the same questions again to me all the while ignoring my mom's presence. "How long will it take to .... mmm....reach..?", I started lowly. To which she gestured, ten minutes; nothing more.

My phone buzzed again and to my surprise it was our HE madame. I apologised duly for the inconvenience and told her the reason why I wanted to call her. She listened to me patiently. I expected that she would not empathize; would force me to come; and even would suspect me that I was cooking up stories just to flake out. 

But...

(To be continued...)