A Brave Mother ‘Jenny’
Life is uncertain and full of ups and downs, but strong people’s reactions to adversaries make life worth living
Doctor: Can you hear me?
Doctor: Hello, what is your name?
The brain of Susan can hear these voices. But She is not able to understand what is happening around her. She is feeling dizzy. Very slowly she opens her eyes. There are nurses in white clothes and her doctor. Susan tries to move, but nurses and doctors tell her not to move. Susan felt that her head was very heavy, and she could not lift it. She tries to touch her head but the doctor holds her hand. She tries to speak but the voice is not coming out. Her throat is dry.
Doctor: How are you?
Susan tries to speak, but she is finding it hard, her eyes are open and she is looking at the doctor.
Doctor: What is your name?
Susan: (with difficulty) Susan
She spoke with a faint voice. The doctor has to bend towards her to hear what she is saying
Doctor: What is your husband’s name?
Susan: John (voice is low and broken)
Doctor: What is your date of birth?
Susan: January 3, ninety-eight.
Doctor: Well done. Brave lady.
Doctor pat on Susan’s shoulder. Susan raises her hand and with hand movements, she inquires about her head.
Doctor: Lady, your surgery is successful. You are conscious now and remember everything, you can see, you can hear and speak too. Congrats, you will be fine and fit very soon.
Doctors and nurses are congratulating each other on the successful surgery. The doctor gives instructions to nurses and leaves. Before leaving he again pressed her shoulder lovingly. Susan is getting a sense of her surroundings. Just from the corner of her eyes, she could see it was a hospital, an ICU. There were around six beds. After that, Susan fell asleep.
The next day, when she woke up, her body was very cold. Her full body was in pain as if she had a strong fight and got herself hurt. she touched her stomach. It was very painful there. The next moment she was scared and in shock. She realized that she had two surgeries in the last two days. One was brain surgery to remove a small stone-like element from her left temporal and the second was abortion. Susan is crying, her sobbing changes into loud cries. The nurse comes running to her.
Nurse: Calm down dear, you cannot cry, it will hurt your head, you just had your brain surgery.
The nurse tries her best but Susan is not listening and she is crying loudly, In grief she has started shaking her head. Her head is covered with thick white bandages.
The nurse calls the doctor. The doctor reaches in two to three minutes. Susan is still crying, her fists are closed, and she is shaking her legs. A nurse is trying her best to calm her.
Doctor: Susan, calm down, please calm down. You had your surgery, it can be dangerous
Susan is not listening. John the husband of Susan enters the ICU and with the Doctor’s permission he comes near Susan and tries to calm her.
John: Calm down Sussan, I am here, and everything is fine, you are fine now, no more headaches or blurred vision.
Susan hears his voice and turns her head, her tears stop, and her eyes are full of anger, she looks at John and with full energy she slaps. John was about to fall behind. Doctors and Nurses hold Susan’s arms, shoulders and legs to control the movements of her body. John is in complete shock.
Doctor: (to John) Please leave. She needs rest.
John, still in shock leaves ICU.
Doctor: Please don’t get angry, you need to let it heal.
Susan is not crying but her fists are still closed and she is angry. The doctor opens her fist, holds her hand and talks.
Doctor: I know you are angry because of your abortion. But you were briefed properly before the surgery.
Susan: I never knew I was pregnant
Doctor: Yes, you told us. It happens, sometimes women do not realize this.
Susan: I would have preferred the pregnancy; surgery could have been delayed.
Doctor: No, it was not possible, you were losing your eyesight. Moreover, with strong medication, it was not possible to carry the pregnancy.
Susan is crying again. A nurse is holding her hands so that Susan doesn’t hurt herself.
Susan: I wanted to be a mom, I needed that baby, my first baby.
Doctor: you are young, soon you will be healthy, and you can get pregnant again, after one year.
Susan: I was always against abortion, and today I have gone through it, why me, why it happened to me?
Doctor: It can happen to anyone at any time.
Susan: No, I don’t deserve this pain, I was to be a mother, a loving caring mother.
The doctor keeps on talking to her. He gives all medical reasons for conducting the abortion; he motivates her for the future. Susan is calm now. But she is sad, very sad.
She told her doctor that she didn’t want John to see her in the hospital. Doctor agreed. Susan feels that John is responsible for this, they were newly married and she requested John to take care of her and to use protection while having sex. Susan wanted to plan her pregnancy carefully with financial stability. She loves kids and to be a mom is her dream. She wants her dream to be perfect and beautiful. Ethically she was against abortion in her personal opinion. She never thought she had to go through one. Susan is silent, she is angry with this incident. She is not eating properly and her sleep is disturbed. She is cursing herself. Her parents’ visit made her comfortable. She told her parents that she was feeling miserable, unlucky and hopeless.
After four days, Susan was shifted to the general ward. There are ten patients in the ward. Susan is not talking to anybody.
One evening, Susan is taking her walk with the help of her nurse. While walking in the corridor Suddenly a football hit her feet. Susan is surprised to see the football in a hospital.
Yash: It is mine, I am sorry.
Yash, in the patient’s dress, a boy of age around five years, very thin, and fair, comes running towards Susan and picks football. He ran back in the direction he came from. A lady is coming, walking fast and shouting Yash’s name. It is his mother, Jenny. She is following Yash.
Lady: Yash, listen to me dear, don’t run.
Susan asked the nurse.
Susan: Who is he?
Nurse: he is Yash, he is there in the kids’ ward
Susan: Kid’s ward
Nurse: It is a cancer ward for kids.
Susan looks at the nurse with fear. Susan feels uncomfortable.
In the next two days, Susan was good enough to walk alone. She was able to change her clothes but she was not allowed to take a bath on her own. While taking her walk, she decides to go to the kid’s ward. Her heart was beating loudly. She was nervous. She was standing in front of the cancer ward for kids.
Susan kept on standing there, looking inside through the large glass window. She is watching the kids, parents and nurses busy with their routine tasks. Children are playing, they are of age 4, 5,8 like that. She could see 10 kids inside. All are playing cheerfully except one who is lying on his bed. He is looking very weak; his hand was hooked to a saline drip. He is smiling looking at the kids who are playing.
The parents or family members look worried and sad. It was difficult to look at them. The way they were walking, was enough to guess the burden and sorrow they were carrying. Susan felt shivering. Suddenly she hears a voice.
Yash: Who are you?
Susan was shocked as she was completely lost in her thoughts. She looks at Yash, who is staring towards her head.
Susan: I am Susan.
Yash: What happened to your head?
Susan: Oh this, there was something, something bad, Doctors removed that.
Yash: I also had bad, bad things in my body.
Susan: oh!
Yash’s mom sees from the glass window, she comes out.
Lady: Hi, I am Jenny, Yash’s mom.
Susah: Hi, I am Susan, I was just taking a walk and I saw the kids. I love kids
Susan was trying to hide her embarrassment for peeping inside the room like this.
Jenny: hmm. How are you?
Susan: I am much better now. Thanks for asking.
Jenny: Do You have kids?
Susan thinks for a few moments.
Susan: Not yet
Jenny: hmm..
Susan: How is Yash?
Jenny ignored the question and took Yash inside. Susan felt ashamed for asking this question. After leaving Yash in the ward, Jenny walks alongside her. After some time, she replies.
Jenny: Yash has blood cancer.
Susan could not speak. Jenny is also silent. Both are walking without saying anything. Sometimes silence is the best conversation to understand someone. Later Jenny told how seriously ill Yash was. She said that kids in that ward are not aware of their condition, but every kid has an idea that they are unwell.
Doctors, nurses and parents try their best to keep kids happy and positive. Their morale should remain high, as it increases the chances of recovery. The kid’s room is the most decorated, colourful room in the hospital. There is a music facility also. The nurses are specially trained. Children are provided many options to play, read and watch TV as per the health of the patient.
Susan developed a liking for Yash and Jenny. Yash is very cute. He is sharp and he wants to be a football player. He likes to read about the astronauts, the sky, stars and planets. Sussan ordered a football game for Yash, which can be played on a small table. She and Jenny used to talk whenever they could get time to sit together. Now Susan is not sad she enjoys Jenny’s company. Jenny is very brave and hardworking; she was a teacher and quit her job to take care of Yash. Her husband is in a private job and comes on Sunday only. It was a tough time for the family.
Jenny is a very positive person. In the ward, she sings for children, dances with them and brings very innovative ideas for kids to play games.
If you don’t know her, you cannot guess that she is facing so many troubles in life. Susan wished for this kind of energy and positivity for herself. Susan realized how dumbly and stupidly she behaved when faced the problem. Here is Jenny who believes in creating happiness irrespective of her situation.
Susan recovered and the doctor told her to go home this weekend. Susan is very happy to hear this and dying to go back to her mom and dad. She had no plan to go and stay with John, with the abortion she lost a part of her. Since morning Susan has not seen Yash. She went there to say hello, and to give him his gift but could not see him or Jenny. The next morning, Susan asked the nurse about Yash. She looked at Susan, staring for a minute but no answer came. Susan asked her again.
Nurse: He is no more.
Susan: What?
The nurse is not even looking at Susan and leaves the room. Maybe the nurse was also upset, in the end, they are also humans. Susan could not believe what she just heard, so she walked towards Kid’s ward. When she reaches there, she sees Jenny. Susan felt relieved, it meant all was fine. Susan stands outside the room to see what Jenny is doing. Jenny is talking to the kids in the ward. She is sharing Yash’s toys among the children, even the football. This football is Yash’s favourite. Susan feels odd about this.
Jenny: Ok kids’ bye for now. I will come again with Yash to see you all. Yash is fine now; he is going to school again. Soon you all will be going home and to school. Get well soon.
Kids shout Bye bye. Jenny hugged the kids and their moms and slowly came out of the room.
Her eyes are red. Susan is standing there, totally confused. Seeing her, Jenny walked towards another part of the building, and Susan followed her. Finding Susan alone in the hallway, Jenny burst out. Both are crying. Susan holds Jenny strongly in her arms.
Jenny: he left me Susan, he left me
Susan is in shock, crying, she doesn’t know what to say to a mother who has lost her son.
Susan: Why are you hear; I mean you should be.
Susan is very confused and in pain.
Jenny- yes, I should be at home but I had an important duty to complete.
Susan: What?
Jenny: Here in the cancer ward, more than treatment, it is necessary to keep the hope alive. I was sure that other children in the ward would be asking about Yash. So, I have come to establish that Yash is fine and enjoying his life, so other children should feel that they are also going to be fine soon. They should not feel negative about life. I left them with positive memories and hope.
Susan is listening to her and is surprised at the courage. How brave a person can be, Jenny is a wonderful mother, a wonderful person, beyond anyone’s imagination. Susan compared her behaviour, how she cursed her life so much due to abortion, ruining her married life and talking negatively all the time. And here is Jenny, who lost the best part of her life and still, she was caring for other children and their mothers.
Jenny: I am a mother and I understand well, how important it is to keep children positive about life.
Susan left Jenny up in her car; Jenny was unable to walk now, It is the funeral of Yash today. She leaves; Susan is standing like a stone, looking at the car. Susan had never seen or heard any such thing.
Susan could not forget Jenny ever. Jenny taught her so much about life, pain and suffering. Bad times, tough situations, and low phases are part of life and it may happen to anyone, more important is how we react to these. Bravehearts are those who even after facing difficult times, care for others and try to reduce the pain and suffering of others, like Jenny did. Jenny a brave mother and a great human being, remains the ideal of Susan forever.
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