Grateful only to God

James sat dumbfounded as the guy in front of him kept talking, not being able to take it anymore he hurriedly interrupted.

"N-no it wasn't like that. I-I remember that day I-I, H-how could I-"

"Not Notice? We both know the answer to that don't we? " The doctor calmly sipped his coffee as James grounded his knuckles against the table.

"How did he handle it?" James took a deep breathe and decided to ask the question whose answer he couldn't remember.

"Badly. But you know it is a bit funny that you don't even know that. Do you even remember his name?" The doctor asked as he smiled a smile that made no sense to James.

"I-His name was...Uh-" Try as he might James couldn't recall his name.

The doctor gave a dry chuckle And looked at James with a hint of disgust in his eyes. But James had too much in his mind to notice that.

"I wonder if it would have made any difference if you had at least said a 'thank you'?" The doctor talked softly as if speaking to himself.

James didn't answer. He was thinking about the past and feeling guilty for the first time.

"I am pretty sure he remembers you to this day. Even though it has been a year. I wonder if he too feels regretful about what he did. " The doctor continued speaking as he reached over to his cookies.

James bit his lips as he listened quietly to the doctors words. He listen to them and felt guiltier by the moment. And he felt guilty until he was eventually forced to remember that day that he once regarded as the day of miracle.

*****

James had a series of bad streaks. Financially he was barely able to stay afloat with his wife's small job at a flower shop. Mentally he was barely able to stray away from the pits of depression cause of his wife's encouragements.

He prayed everyday in hopes of a change.And when,after a long time,there was no change to be found. He felt angry at God. That night was the longest one of his life. He could not take it anymore,felt angry at everything and everyone that was afoot. When the call came from his wife's number he didn't bother picking it up at first. But when the fifth call came he felt strange.

The moment he picked it up he knew something was wrong. There were many noises on the background and the man who had called him was speaking faster and faster. When his words fully made sense to James he wished he had heard wrong.

'I AM ON MY WAY' was all James could shout out to the other person on the phone. After finding a taxi after an anxious amount of time,James finally had the time to put his head on his palms and let a few tears fall. The worse had happened. his wife had gotten into an accident. A guy had found her on the side of the road and taken the responsibility to drive her to the hospital.

James brought his hands together and prayed. Apologized for his earlier behaviour. Said he would do anything as long as his wife was saved. When he reached the hospital a guy was waiting for him. He was the one who found and brought his wife to the hospital. He quickly filled in the shaky James on the situation.

The doctor said she was in critical situation. Their were many forms and formalities to fill. The police had to be notified first. And a it would take quite a sum to save her. So the hospital had to be paid the first installment before they could get around to saving her. The guy had paid cause the situation was too risky to wait around. He also had talked with the necessary people so all James had to do was sign some papers. And the guy felt pity as he looked at the devastated James. so he stopped talking and waited with James for the doctor's news.

The doctor who had been looking forward to spending the night celebrating his 30th birthday quietly worked. And when he came out to tell James that his wife was out of the critical situation,he found James siting with a guy telling him that everything was going to be fine.

The first thing that the James did after receiving that news was to fall to his knees and thank the god while shedding tears of joy. The ignored doctor looked for a moment more and went back the way he had come.

After some time the guy who had been standing beside James received a phone call. It was to tell him that his pregnant wife had just had a miscarriage. And thus when the doctor walked back towards them again he found James busy preaching to God about how he saved his wife's life,too busy to even notice the real saviour crying in the corner.

********

"His name was Adam Astchul by the way. " The doctor delivered this piece of information as he got up to leave.

"W-why are you telling me all this? " James asked the question he had been wondering about since he received the message from the doctor.

"Why? Would you have preffered not to know?"

"N-no it's not like that. " James hurriedly spoke.

"Well I wanted to see how much you have changed." The doctor spoke slowly as if he himself wasn't sure about the answer.

James looked down at himself. He had changed. He had worked hard, taken numerous small jobs. Turned over a new leaf, basically. He distances himself from drinking or any other bad habits and he and his wife visited the church every week. Luck too was a factor and now he was financial stable enough to think about having kids.

As they bid each other good bye the doctor turned around to leave but not before dropping a final comment.

"And I see you haven't changed at all. "