Short Story For a day that began like any other, Justin could never have envisaged that

by the end of the day, he would have figuratively been to hell and back amazingly within a twelve hour time frame. As he lay on his hospital bed, he could not help but reminisce about the bizarre events that had defined the 1 th of !ctober, "#11 as a day he would forever live to remember. $t was %ust like every other &onday for the average college student. 'he shrilling sound of the bedside alarm clock %olted him back from dreamland and the look on his face was not hard to tell, even in his dimly lit room. $t was a dismal one and it was obvious that he wouldn(t have hesitated to punch &onday in the face if it had one. $t was si) a.m. and it seemed like he had only dozed for a minute despite the fact that he had %ust had seven hours of uninterrupted sleep. *inety minutes later, he was out of the house, as he %oined the barrage of students and workers on their way to their respective schools and offices. Justin was in his sophomore year in a nearby college and was of athletic build, towering at + feet 11 inches. Just like most male students his age, he has a circle of friends, his posse, with whom he spends most of his time when not pursuing academic activities on campus. 'he sun was preparing to begin its trademark %ourney across the &ilwaukee sky and the college campus was alive with students in their teeming numbers. All of a sudden, the normalcy of a &onday morning on campus was disrupted by what appeared to be a hullabaloo %ust about a hundred yards to Justin(s left. ,very passerby present, looked in the direction of the disturbance for %ust about ten seconds, and then continued towards their destination, after all, there was no point in wasting time minding other peoples( affairs. Justin initially shared the same thought with other students passing by, but involuntarily took a second glance in the direction of the

disturbance only to realize that -ay, one of his friends, was in the middle of the racket. .e /uickened his pace as he headed in that direction and on getting there, was able to clearly see that the cause of the disturbance was none other than -ay and two other students, one of whom he instantly recognized as a guy with whom he once had an argument that nearly turned into a fight the previous semester. 'he trio was apparently in the middle of a fight and it was a two0on0 one scenario with -ay clearly outnumbered and outmuscled. 1ithout thinking twice, he pushed away his former rival and in retaliation, the guy gave him two /uick punches on the chest and on the stomach. 2y the time Justin realized he was probably in a tussle with a trained bo)er, it was too late. $t took the intervention of the campus security personnel to /uell the fight and bail Justin out of his impending misery. 1hile they were being led by the security personnel, without warning, Justin slumped and it took the swift movement of -ay to prevent him from hitting the ground hard. $mmediately, one of the security personnel stilled him on the ground while the other reached for his walkie0 talkie and got in touch with the campus hospital emergency service that immediately dispatched a medical team that arrived in no time. 2y this time, -ay had gathered Justin(s backpack and with the other two guys, accompanied the ambulance to the medical center where Justin was revived after a couple of hours. -ay and the other two guys, by now, had overcome their differences and were waiting together at the waiting room of the medical center for the doctor in charge to grant them permission to see Justin who had been diagnosed to have broken a rib and also suffered from internal bleeding. 'hey later learnt that were it not for the swift medical attention that Justin had received, things would have become more complicated and Justin might have lost his life due to the complications that would have occurred. 'his revelation shook Justin(s assailant who had then been identified as Josh and he clearly had no idea of how

dangerous his blows had been. 2y the time Justin was fit enough to see guests, his other friends had arrived at the hospital 3-ay had called them to give them the news4, Josh and his friend had apologized and had been forgiven by Justin and his circle of friends as they all saw Justin(s recovery as more important than any animosity that they must have brewed prior to that time. $t(s /uite amazing, how one thoughtless decision can prove to be a critical one in determining life or death. Justin might have lost his life on that fateful day if he had not received prompt medical attention. Although the medical cause of death would have been ad%udged as internal in%uries sustained from blows, the underlying cause was his involuntary decision to take a second look at the scene of the fight. $f he had continued towards class after %ust a brief glance like the other passersby, he wouldn(t have had such a close shave with death.