Ticking Clock

We live in a house right next to the hospital. I have many friends who live beside a park or a mart that makes their lives easier one way or another. But for us, we hear ambulance sirens, screamings of people all day. Initially, we had thought of shifting to another place but as time passed by, we got ourselves comfortable with the surroundings. Through my bedroom window, I can directly see the main operation theatre hall. I habituated myself to living with the disinfectant smell coming from the hospital. I sometimes even feel my room itself as an ICU and I feel I live in a hospital. Looking through the window was a never-ending hobby for me. Initially, I used to feel creepy about the situations and tensions around the O.T. There were days where I cried along with the people on hearing the death news. As the days went by it seemed quite a bit normal to me. Some nights I can hear the screams louder and they used to scare the hell out of me. When I was a child, I used to live in my grandparents’ home in which they had an old wooden wall clock that makes loud ticking sounds. As I grew there, the ticking sound was so soothing for me and I got myself addicted to that sound while sleeping. When I came here I couldn’t sleep without the clock sound. So, I got that to my room even though it runs sometimes slower and sometimes faster. I wanted it for the sound it makes and I am happy to hear it while sleeping.

One day when I came back from school, my father was still working on his investment on shares and my mother is busy cooking something for us to eat. I went straight to my room to see if there was any operation going on. But the hall was empty. I was kinda disappointed but I felt good. When I was about to do my stuff, I heard the ambulance siren. The sound of the siren shook my peaceful clock ticking and I went rushing to the window. What I saw through the window made my eyes shut and gave a chill in my spine. I have seen many accident cases but I never saw such a thing in the past. It was a boy lying on the stretcher. His left hand and left leg was completely crushed. He was wearing only half of his body. The other part was completely crushed to the thinnest width possible. I wondered because the boy was still in conscious moaning out his unbearable pain. They took him inside the O.T while his family was kept outside. His mother couldn’t control herself after looking at her son the way he is now. Her husband tried to calm her down. Tension filled in the air around the O.T. My mother called me out for the snack she just cooked. I no longer hear any other sound other than my clock ticking. I was waiting for the doctors to come out and tell that the boy was safe. I was counting seconds along with the ticking of my clock. While I was watching the boy’s family all of a sudden ticking stopped. I looked at the watch and thought maybe the battery was dead. After a few minutes doctors came out and announced the death of the boy. The moment he announced the death, the clock started to tickle again. His parents started to cry loudly hitting their heads to the wall in pain. I closed my window.

Crying is not new to me. That day I heard her mother scream and it was the most painful cry I ever heard. Next day I bought new batteries for the clock. I always wished to go out for a ride with my father but he is always busy with his work. He rarely talks to us. That day when I was asleep in the late night, I heard the siren. I cannot stop myself from waking up and sticking to the window. I saw an old woman lying on the stretcher struggling to catch her breath. She was rolling and hitting herself and people carrying her in her attempt to get a breath. She was carried inside of the O.T. There were four other old people waiting outside the O.T. They all seemed worried. But that worry seemed like a routine for them. I don’t know how they are related to the old lady and where her children are. I was always so curious to know what the doctors would say when they come out of the O.T. One of the old men started shedding tears down through his wrinkled cheeks. Remaining others started to console him. I thought he might be the husband of that woman. I was waiting for the doctor to come out and tell him that she is fine. Suddenly I felt something odd. I felt something was missing around me. I realised that the clock stopped ticking. I recalled what just happened yesterday and that I changed batteries. My heart started to beat hard. I can feel the movement of my chest. I started to fear for the worst. After a few minutes the doctor came out and announced the death. The moment the old man fell down to his knees and started crying, the clock started to work making ticking sounds. Fear crawled up to my chest and my heart started to beat faster and louder than the clock ticking.

I couldn’t sleep that day. The clock stopped working just before the patient would die. I know that was a hell of coincidence but it sounded so creepy for me. I tried testing the clock batteries with my TV remote. They worked fine. I thought there was some error with the clock as that was a very old one. But I was stunned by the coincidences that happened. For the next few days a few patients went through the O.T and fortunately no one died neither did the clock stop ticking. One day during the dinner, my father told us that he lost most of his savings in the share market. He felt so depressed and sad. He told us that he has to sell our home to deal with other expenses. My mother and I consoled him to the extent that we could. We started to pack things.

That night I woke up to a hard push from my mother. She told me that my father had a heart attack. It took me a few seconds to get to reality and process the words. I immediately ran to his room. He started sweating a lot and he couldn’t move his hands or legs. I lost my senses and stood completely dumb looking at my father. I regained my senses and ran out of my house to the hospital. I shouted to the watchmen to get a stretcher and told him what happened. I felt my mind empty and couldn’t think of a single thing. Within two minutes, the staff came and started to take him to the hospital. Doctor suggested an immediate operation to close a valve to avoid internal bleeding. Within seconds, they took him into the O.T. My hands and legs are shivering hard making me difficult to stand. I took a seat outside the O.T and looked at my mother. She still doesn’t seem to have come out of the shock. Within a minute she started to cry out loud saying, “I told him not to deal with shares. He insisted and was adamant. Look now what happened. Fucking shares. Fucking money. God!” I tried to console her as much as I could. I thought I would bust out too but I wanted to keep my mother strong. I tried to stay still. I let my mother sit beside me and we were waiting for the doctors to come out.

When I looked around, my window caught my eye where I used to see people in my position. Picture of the clock flashed in my eyes. I know it might sound foolish but I wanted to know whether the clock is still ticking or not. I told my mother that I would be back and started running back to my room. My heart started to beat with the pace that I never felt before. I fell down at the hospital entrance trying to jump down the stairs. It doesn’t mattered to me. I was running with all my will to see whether the clock is still running or not. I went to our house and stopped my run. Fear started to cover my entire emotions. Numerous thoughts covered my brain. Slowly I stepped inside of my room closing my eyes. I started to hear my own heartbeat echoing in my head. When I entered I heard another sound in rhythm with my heart beat. I opened my eyes and looked at the clock. It is still ticking. I left a huge gasp of air and sighed with relief. I looked at my mother’s worrying face through the window and wanted to tell her everything would be alright. When I started to walk out, I felt something odd. Something was missing. Clock ticking had stopped.

I got mad. I got scared. I felt stupid. I wondered why I was worried about this clock just because it happened twice. I felt insane for believing a coincidence as a prophecy. But deep inside I can feel the fear. I looked through the window for my mother. While I was watching, the doctor came out and said something to my mother. I started rushing back to the hospital. While running at full speed thoughts clouded my mind. why I came home to look for the clock? Did I believe that the clock has some sort of prophecy? Now, why am I simply dismissing it as a coincidence? Because it didn’t happen as I wanted? When I reached the O.T my mother came to me and said, “They said he is out of danger.” I finally felt the relief calming my body from head to toe. I spoke to the doctor again to know what exactly happened. He is said it is a mild heatstroke and with medication and rest, he would be alright soon. I came to my mother and hugged her. I looked at my window thinking about the clock and smiled.