#MysteriousAwakening

"Where am I?" Sushil wondered as he found himself in a dim lighted room. He still was feeling dizzy and took time to get acquainted to the surroundings.
Sushi was a renowned neurosurgeon and worked in a prestigious corporate hospital. It was like any other day, after morning round and patient visits, he went in his room to complete his desk works before going to the prep room to assist a surgery.
The last thing he remembers is feeling a sudden drowsiness in his room, and taking a nap. Only to open his eyes at a unfamiliar place. He panicked and feared for his life. Looking around to understand his situation, he found a switch, that light up the bulb .
The room didn't have a window, a small skylight at the top, from where some rays fall to a corner.
The opposite corner was dark when he came to sense but now he saw a young woman lying with her hands tied.

He went and untied the ropes, and tried to wake her up. After some minutes of calling and shaking, she finally woke up. She seemed bewildered and shouted after seeing him. He was to calm her by identifying himself as a doctor, and making her understand their situation.
" I think we have kept as captive, do you know about this place Neha?" Sushil had asked her name earlier, and hoping to extract some information.
" No, I don't know this place. Why am I here" Neha was crying.
" Don't worry, we will find a way out." Sushil comforted her.

As he was searching for any opening by looking around this empty room, he saw a box kept at one corner, that was painted white like the wall color, that helped it to camouflage.
He opened the box and found a letter.

" The gates will open, if you become human,
with a humble heart, sky is the limit."

Sushil was confused, it looked like a puzzle, but what is it's answer. He asked Neha, who seemed perplexed as well.
" Gate is the door, to open we need key,
Where is the key? Human? Humble heart? Sky..."
" SKYLIGHT!" Sushil looked up, indeed there seemed a shadow of a key. " How will I reach there?"
" Do you need a help," Neha asked
" No, I will think of something.." Sushil said, "wait, would you stand on my shoulders and retrieve the key?"
So, they finally succeeded and opened the door. It lead to a small staircase that led them to upper floor. Apparently it was a basement. There was another big room. One window and one table.  Again, they started searching. They found one letter, below the table surface.

" Sometimes we need to take the lesser routes to reach our destinations "

"Now, what does it mean?" Sushil was dumbfounded. He couldn't find the key this time.
"May be, it means we need to think unconventionally."  Neha could see that he was stuck, and tried to help.
" Yes, let me think out of box." Sushil said," there had to be a key here"
He looked towards the window, it was tight shut, but the nails seems little loose. He had a broken wooden piece below the table. He used it to pull the nails out, that created a small opening. As he palpated the area, he found the key.
They opened the door, again a staircase to another room. This room was spacious, had a bed, chairs, wardrobes. A welcome relief yet, more places to search.
" This is going to take time." Sushil thought. They had been in that location for hours now, thirsty and sweating, he felt really tired. He was worried that this game by their capters might be more sinister than it looks. He was worried about this girl too.
As they kept searching, he took some moments to lie on the bed. As he was resting, he felt some unevenness on his back. He pulled down the mattress and found the letter.

" Sometimes old memories open up the doors to the future."

"Old memories? Sushil pondered, " of me or Neha"
He had no option but to look, as he looked down the pillars of the bed, he found a key. He took it to open the door, but it didn't fit.
"There must be a lock for this key," Sushil whispered, fatigued with all the workouts, "THE WARDROBE!"
He opened the wardrobe, but it had some clothes and a package. As he tore the package, he found a photoframe with a family photo.
He looked closely and recognized the man as his former patient. He was one of the patients who had a successful surgery but died after some months. He remember it because the complications could have been avoided if proper information were shared by his staffs and awareness about steps for rehabilitation was given to his family members. They had misplaced the phone number of the patients wife who had accompanied him to the hospital.

" Old memories," Sushil spoke as he took out the photo and found the key.
They opened the final door and went outside. Neha thanked him and hugged him as she said her farewell.
Sushil found his phone and wallet outside, kept on the verandah. He called the taxi to take him to the hospital. While travelling in the taxi, he felt a crackle on his pocket. He put his hand inside and found a letter.
" Dear doctor, hope that this will be a lesson for you to be come empathetic to your patients."
"The letter was not there in the beginning, when did it entered my pocket" Sushil murmured.
Then he remembered the family photo of his patient, his wife and a daughter.
" Neha? " Now everything became clear to him.

© Dr. Manish Rout