Even
though there were two disappointments close on each others’ heels, life
resumed its normalcy. Ambi’s practice was picking up very well and
there were remarks here and there that the son would one day outdo the
father. A very bright future was earmarked for him - maybe a judgeship
in Madras, or who knew, could one dare hope, something higher, even?
Ankichi was expecting her second baby, and things started looking rosy
again.
Ambi used to complain occasionally of mild stomach ache. His doctor, who ws also his best friend, put it down to indigestion, and used to prescribe purgatives. Then, one day, when Ankichi had gone on a short holiday to visit her parents in Ernakulam, Ambi’s stomach ache became very serious, and he was rushed to Madras. Appa and Ankichi also joined him there. The diagnosis was a ruptured appendix, and the chances of survival, nil. Due to the misdiagnosis by his friend, all the purgatives he was made to take brought him to this condition. Ambi died, plunging his pregnant wife into unfathomable grief. Appa felt the sun had set permanently on his life - his precious daughter was a widow at the age of twenty-one.
Ambi used to complain occasionally of mild stomach ache. His doctor, who ws also his best friend, put it down to indigestion, and used to prescribe purgatives. Then, one day, when Ankichi had gone on a short holiday to visit her parents in Ernakulam, Ambi’s stomach ache became very serious, and he was rushed to Madras. Appa and Ankichi also joined him there. The diagnosis was a ruptured appendix, and the chances of survival, nil. Due to the misdiagnosis by his friend, all the purgatives he was made to take brought him to this condition. Ambi died, plunging his pregnant wife into unfathomable grief. Appa felt the sun had set permanently on his life - his precious daughter was a widow at the age of twenty-one.
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