As I eagerly counted for the 7th day to arrive, I saw some of the patients getting released. There was another family with an old man, his wife and their daughter. Old people generally start making conversations randomly, he had become friendly by now. He would ask me every day if I ate well. They released them on their 9th day of stay, their happiness was worth watching. He was so happy that he invited everyone to come to his house before he left.
Among the list, was an old woman, also called out for discharge. The patients around her helped her dial to her son to inform of the discharge. She had struggled a lot, being alone for so many days. She was a dialysis patient who needed support to even walk. She was a critical patient, so as per the govt rules they retested her for corona. Her tests came negative. That day after a long time I saw her in a saree. She struggled to wear it. She packed her stuff and waited. She waited for the day, and the day passed on tonight. I saw her crying in multiple calls the nurses kept asking her to leave. The next day was my 7 th day.
As I eagerly waited with my bags packed, for my discharge summary to come by, this lady had changed back to her old clothes. I figured no one came to pick her. I saw similar things happen to many other old people. It was painful to watch our shameless generation s behavior towards their old parents. Some patients expressed their concern about how society will behave once I arrive home. One lady came to me and told me to immediately pick my phone and raise a complaint if I am being harassed once I am home.
They took my chest x-ray to check if I have any clogging. My parents were told that they will need to stay for another 2 days. For mild cases, they don't perform a corona re-test. The scientific reason behind is that we would still test positive after the onset of 10 days, but we wouldn't be infectious.
The process goes on like this, the doctor sends out our file to the block responsible for dispatch of patients. Once the BBMP receives the doctor's approval , they approve our discharge and it comes to the control room. The control room communicates the same to the respective ward and then we are allowed to leave. The govt took care of all the expenses, never have I felt so proud of being a taxpayer. I took an OLA auto back home, still covering myself. What started as hatred ended up with gratitude for me. I thanked all the nurses on my way outside the building. coincidently, it was their last day of shift the same day, so they seemed to be overjoyed too.
I was asked to stay for 14 days of further home quarantine. I bought the medicines and some essentials and made my way home. Far away I heard ambulances wailing, and I wondered another story is weaving into play!
Click to read further Covid 19 : My Journey - Part 5
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