National Exile: A 21st Century Novel about Nobility, Poverty, and Cruelty
Page 16
Chapter 15
A Rushing Doctor
After going back to Estil, Rain had no problem getting back his position as a Peacekeeper. He told them that he had left for family reasons. Due to the nature of his father’s work, they could not say no. As a Peacekeeper, they were required to walk in the city and make sure that no one is causing any troubles. They were required by law to shoot anyone that they suspect having or making any problems with or without any proof. To the general public they were known as the Peacekeepers. To the administration, they were the executioners.
At that point, Rain’s main concern was finding out the truth about what happened to Aser and Sidra. After few days of searching and gathering information, all the evidence that he found led to them getting killed in that explosion. He refused to believe it and used his job as a cover for his search. One morning, he was asked to leave early to cover up some areas near the capital. Due to the lack of men, they were not able to send teams. They always had to send one man to each place.
Rain left alone and walked around in the area that he was assigned. Things were even worse that he had thought. He only spent a week outside of Estil, but it sure seemed like a year had passed. It was spring time, so at least people stopped dying out of cold. However, they seemed as hungry as always. People of Estil at that point were getting divided. They started fighting among each other. They would go as far as killing their own neighbors for some money, food, or even shelter. They justified their actions as a necessity, but they never thought for a second that their own actions were what destroyed them.
Rain looked around as he saw the pain and misery in people’s eyes. There were interesting slogans written on the walls all over town.
“Where have they thrown our hopes?”
“Their injustice have haunted our melodies”
He thought that it sounded so familiar. He just could not remember where he had seen the same writing before. Catching anyone who might have written anything that opposed the administration was punishable by death. In fact, it was the Peacekeepers’ job to insure that such actions are taking care of. Rain just pretended that he saw nothing.
There was part of town that had many people trying to sell produce and create very small businesses. He saw a group of kids working together to clean shoes. There were three girls and a boy. Even though there were not that many shoes to clean, they still sat and waited. The kids seemed clean and well-fed. He just could not shake the feeling that he had seen them somewhere before. He looked down at his boots and saw that they were clean. He intentionally found a spot of mud and walked into it. His boots got covered by dirt. He smiled and walked towards them.
“Hello, good mourning kids. How is everyone doing today?” Rain asked.
“Fine… Thanks…” One of the kids replied.
“So, you guys clean shoes? How awesome… I’m really sorry to bother you, but I accidently walked into the mud. I will pay you guys anything if you could clean my boots for me.” Rain said as he acted embarrassed about his boots.
“Yes, Sir, we would be happy to.” One of the girls replied with a smile. She continued, “You look very familiar. I wonder where I saw you before.”
“I was just wondering the same thing. Where do you guys live?” Rain asked as they started to clean his shoes.
“Sorry, we are not allowed to say. Our boss doesn’t like it when we talk to people.” Another girl replied.
“That’s ok. You guys look clean and fed which means you have a very nice boss. Do you?” Rain asked with a smile.
None of the kids replied. They just kept busy cleaning the shoes. After they finished, he ask if he could take a picture of them. They agreed. So he took it with his phone and walked away.
He was so sure that he had seen them before. So he left and continued his walk around that small town. He had the intention of going back to them before sundown. There were many other kids working and selling things to gain money. Another thing that he saw was a little girl selling candy. She seemed so tired that she had to sleep while working. She put her head on the street and just slept near the tray of candy that she was selling.
Rain took as many pieces from her as he could carry. He was very careful not to wake her up. He left $5 dollar for each piece and left. He did not even want to know what her story was because he knew the answer already. She either had lost her parents, or they were too sick to work themselves. It seemed like the kids had to leave schools and fix the adults mistakes. Rain walked around and wondered how lucky he was to be born in a rich family. He never had to suffer nor go through what those kids had to go through. He might have lost some people he loved, but it was not like he ever ended up in the street.
As thoughts and memories where coming to him, he heard a sound of a very loud explosion not that far from where was standing. He ran towards the place only to see nothing but smoke, fire, and people running all over the place. He dropped everything and went to help the injured. He saw some other people who just got to the seen to find out what happened. For a moment, he stood there trying to wrap his head around all of it.
“No human would want to do that. I feel like I’m losing faith in humanity.” He thought.
Few minutes later, Rain saw a man running and rushing to help people. He seemed very concerned for people’s lives. Rain was just glad that they got the extra help. Injured people were everywhere. There were very few doctors and nurses to help them out. As Rain kept helping people, his head started to fill with anger towards whoever did it.
“There is no way we can save all of the injured. We need more help.” A man told Rain.
After hours of working with other people, they were able to get as many people out of the fire as possible. At the end, nearly 30 people were killed in that explosion. There was nothing left but the wreckage and people screaming to find their loved ones. After everything calmed down, Rain heard a man screaming at the doctor who came late and was rushing to help the people.
“Do you have no mercy in your heart? Where were you? You are one of the few doctors we have in town and yet, you were the last one that came. My son could have been saved if you came earlier… WHY… He was just a teenage boy…” A man screamed at one of the town’s doctors.
“I understand that losing someone you love can be painful, but we all did everything we could. We all have people that we care about.” The doctor calmly replied.
“You say that because you don’t know what it feels like to lose a son. You don’t understand the pain.” The man added with tears.
Rain could not help but get involved in that conversation.
“Actually, I have seen this man before. I saw him and his wife burying their own kids in the woods a while ago. I was there to burry one of my best friends. I’m sure it was you Sir there that day.” Rain said looking the doctor.
“I’m so sorry... Is that true?” The man fell on his knees crying.
“It is. And I am the sorry one for not rushing here earlier. My wife is very sick. I had to make sure she was ok before I left her.” The doctor replied and continued. “Get up Sir… You are going to make me cry too. We will all die one day. It’s called life.”
“Look around. Look at this. Who did that and why? One day, the whole world is going to see what really happened here. History will never forgive those responsible.” Rain said.
And so, that day ended with all the pain and tears. Later on, it was confirmed by the media that it was a terrorist attack that no one could tie to any organization or administration. However, all media were run by Lion’s administration.
Rain went back to his base that night not sure what to think of all the mess. The idea of leaving Estil behind and just moving to a better place crossed his mind a million times. He had the money and connections. The least he could do is live on that private island with his uncle. He wanted to forget everything that happened in Estil. He just could not bring himself to ignore the reality.
“Just because I’m not poor a
nd didn’t have to go through what they did, does not make it ok for me to walk away.” Rain thought.
The poor needed someone who spoke for them. They needed someone who knew that they can change. Rain just hoped that one day they would put all of it behind them, and laugh at such times. He hoped they would spend more time fighting ignorance and poverty rather than each other. The people responsible for all of it would soon pay dearly. As Rain went to sleep that night, many thoughts came into his head.
“I still have to find that Sidra. If she is dead,…. Oh My God, I completely forgot about the kids I saw this morning.” He thought while jumping from his bed. “I’m so sure that I’ve seen those kids before… Of course… It was that orphanage I went to with Sidra and Emma few months back. No wonder why they looked so familiar. I examined them myself. How can I be such an idiot and forget my own patients.”
He decided to go to the orphanage and see what was going on for himself. He had donated a lot of money to the orphanage. He kept sending the same amount monthly. He thought that supporting them financially would have been enough. After thinking about it, he decided to go in the morning. However, he just could not sleep that night. His day was not what you would call a normal day. He was still very worried about Sidra’s mysterious disappearance.
It was about midnight when he left the base with no permission. Since he could not sleep, he thought he would pay a visit to Aser’s place. It was the place where Sidra was last seen. He was not sure what he would find there. He just wanted something to ease his mind.
Aser’s place was completely burned down. There was nothing left. Anything that survived the fire was taken by the locals. They even took some of the wreckage since it was made out of wood. They took what they could to burn during the cold winter season. Rain just looked at what was left of the place and remembered how it had such a beautiful garden.
“The things we take for granted.” He said and left the place with no hope of finding Sidra at all. Rain stopped at the river and washed his face. He noticed how the level of water was reduced. However, he did not want to give it much of a thought. He looked at the sky and said,
“All we wanted is to help others and make sure they live the lives they deserve. I want to believe that helping this nation is what I was born to do. Please… guide us all to the straight path. Guide us to where we need to be. Please, help me find my Sidra.”