Death

I received a phone call. It was from an office colleague, Sarthak. I was surprised why he was calling me because we were not even close friends. I thought that probably he wanted some help.
"Have you heard the news yet?" Sarrhak asked.
I was completely confused. I had no clue what he was talking about, "which news are you referring to?"
" Oh god," he paused.
"What happened?" I asked him.
" I am really sorry to break this to you. Shashi is no more. He was feeling uneasy last morning. He went to the hospital to get it evaluated. While the test were being performed he collapsed. He died immediately. The results came today and he was COVID positive," Sarthak said. I could hear the sadness in his voice. He appeared to hold back his tears.
" That is horrible," I had no words to say. It felt like complete vocabulary has disappeared from my cerebral cortex. I felt blank for a few seconds. We both were quiet on the call. I asked him after a long pause, " how did you know?"
"We stay in the same complex. Last morning he informed me that he was visiting the hospital. He was so casual. He said everything was okay and he was visiting the hospital to make sure that everything is normal. He was more worried about his parents. He said to me that it was better to be sure when there are elderly parents at home. He told me to check on his parents everyday at least once if he had to get hospitalized. In the hospital also he had given my number as the emergency contact. That is how I came to know," Sarthak was trying not to break down.
By now I had tears in my eyes. Shashi was star of our team. He was intelligent, fit, and funny. He was the very definition of athletic fitness. He was really concerned about health. He would run in marathons and was a regular trekker. Being a doctor by profession he was the one to whom we used to go for advice. He was the one who was telling us what to do to stay fit during the pandemic. I had never thought that he would be the first victim of our friend group.
"I really cannot believe that Shashi is gone. He was so fit. Did he have any signs? Did he tell you anything?" I asked.
"No he did sound absolutely fine yesterday. I asked him the same question. I asked him if he had cold, cough, fever, or any signs of the infection? He told me that he had experienced nothing. He felt little uneasy and nauseous. That is why he went to the hospital. But the staff told me that it was too late. He should have come earlier. But why would he go to the hospital if he had no signs?" By now Sarthak had broken down as well. My condition was no different than his.

This was one of the stories. I had been receiving several phone calls like this almost everyday. It is really sad to say it today that during this period I had lost half of my friend circle. All had been really young. All the fallen ones had been younger than 40. But they became the victims. Even today I pray for all of them silently. Because that is all I can do.