Sachi pleaded with her to let it be with Patty as it had a small pendant around it containing our lord, Ganesha.

The remover of all obstacles. 

We told her that this was something we wanted her to keep, 

it wasn’t something she could use anyway as it was a fragile chain. 

The shift in charge understood our passions around it and let her keep it with her. “I understand, I am also a Hindu. Let her keep it, it’s ok”. She told the attendant.

“At least she would have someone with her, who would look after her “. Sachi thought.

Chapter 2.       The fourteen days

We left the facility and came back to the car. I sat in my seat and felt a shiver running down my spine. 

I can’t express what I felt that night. It felt like some part of my body was left behind in that facility. Some part which was vital for my body’s functioning. 

I tried starting the car but couldn’t. 

What was happening to me I did not know. 

“Is everything ok?” Sachi asked, 

“Yes, I just need a minute or two to gather my thoughts” I replied. 

Having taken some deep breaths, I finally took hold of myself and started the car, we were on our way back home. 

Jag was all restless when we arrived.

“What happened, where is Patty, why did you take the clothes bag earlier? What is going on”, he had a ton of questions. 

Questions for which we did not have an answer or maybe we’re not in a state to answer. 

“Patty is in the facility; she must stay there for some time to go through the inpatient program”. 

“It will be good for her Jag she will be better when she comes back”, I said. 

How do you explain something which you are not convinced about? It was difficult to explain to him that it was for her good. 

I couldn’t see any good in this forced separation. 

“We could have done the same thing by dropping her off every day and picking her up in the evening. How does she staying in that semiprivate room, be good for her”, I thought, while also trying to hide my real feelings from Jag. 

Jag wasn’t convinced. 

He did not say it though and went inside his room. Closing the door behind him as was his custom. 

I did not have the energy or the will to handle him currently. 

“Ganesha is looking and will make things better,” Sachi said.

She looked at my parent photo up on the mantle and said “you need to make things better for your children, I am just leaving everything on you. You need to take care of this situation; we need your help”. 

“Make things better”. 

I was listening to everything and let her say why she wanted, after all her daughter was a reflection of herself.

We all had to search for ways forward. 

Imi came over slowly and licked my feet. She was much quieter. Usually, she would be demanding things and asking for something or the other. 

“She understands, dogs can sense the situation”, I thought. “She is trying to comfort us”. 

We switched off the living room light and fan and went to the bedroom. It was already 1130 pm in the night. 

We needed to catch up on some sleep and work the next day if we could. 

I don’t think any of us slept that night which appeared to be too long. 

All sorts of things came to my mind, what would patty be doing, would she be able to sleep? Has she stopped crying? In between all these questions going through my head, I don’t know when I dozed off. 

I woke up when the alarm went off. Sachi, set a morning alarm 15 min before she had to get up.

I woke up, it was 6 in the morning. Time to begin the day.

 Sachi went to the bathroom wore her slippers and went to the kitchen to get the morning routine started. Keeping slippers in the bathroom was a necessity for her now after we got Imu. Imu had a special liking for her slippers and would run away with them if she found them. So, keeping it in the bathroom with its door locked was her way of coping with Imu’s destructive nature. 

As my custom went into the bathroom, I first had to dispose of, the excess water in my system. 

50 wasn’t an age where the health of my bladder was getting any better. 

After waking up, I had to empty my bladder first thing in the morning. 

“Can you make some coffee for me too”, Sachi said as I entered the kitchen. 

Coffee was the drug we needed at this time to keep us sane. 

I started the coffee machine. This was a new machine we had got some 6 months back. It had two filters one for the coffee and the other for tea. This was one reason for getting it, I was a tea drinker while Sachi was a coffee person. This ticked all our needs so was the perfect candidate to get into our kitchen. 

We somehow found a smaller corner in one of the tiny slabs, to house it. This slab was already cursing us as it had the bread toaster, and my stand mixer which also was a recent addition, satisfying my bread-making needs. 

So, it was sandwiched between the toaster and the stand mixer. 

It had been nearly 10 hours now since we had left Patty in the facility all by herself. 

We did not get any information from the facility. One thing they informed us last night was that there was no visitation post-COVID. 

One day a week was designated for visitation by the family. Only one person could go in at a time. 

We called the facility and asked to be connected to Patty. 

They connected us, to a voicemail system, where we were supposed to leave a message so that she can call back. 

The day was long so it seems.