Reserve a Bed

It was late evening. My doorbell rang. "Hello." He was an old friend of my late brother. "Come in" I said. "Come in" he said to the person accompanying him. Both of them entered and sat down. "This is the uncle of the patient who was under you treatment." "I was the person who rang you up today" the other fellow said. I remembered. I was working in the OT when he rang up and told me one of my old patients was coming to Mumbai. I had told him to take her to the emergency room in the hospital. Now here he was at my residence. "Has she arrived and gone to the hospital?" I asked. "No. She is on a bus. She will reach the hospital at night." "I have told the resident doctors to see her and do the needful" I said. "What do you want me to do now?" "Umm... well. We want you to reserve a bed for her at the hospital." I laughed. "This is not my private hospital that I can reserve a bed for her. My department is under repair and my patients from seven wards are put in 1.67 wards. AT present there are three patients on one bed in the main ward. I am out of my department building and the Boss has given me, the head of department no place to sit. He had told me bluntly that no one would have any office during the repair work. The Deputy Dean has given me desk space in the bill section where I have been sitting to do paperwork and computer work for more than a year. If I as a head of my department has no right to any space, how can I reserve a bed for a patient who has not even reached the hospital. Take her to the emergency room and we do the best possible thing. If you want a reservation, you talk to a politician or administrative boss." They went away. I found the next day that she was admitted at 2:00 A.M. and was sharing a bed with two other women. She was receiving required medical treatment as promised.