The remorse of having killed someone

It had been 10 years since that fateful night, the screams still haunted him. The image of that little girl, in her white angelic frock, surrounded in a pool of blood just refused to obliterate.

It was the little one's birthday, having bought her favorite strawberry cake she was returning from the local store along with her mother. Her mother had warned her against wearing the dress so early; she was concerned it would get mucky before the birthday party.

Racing through the street at a speed of 90 km/hr, Michael took a steep turn to overtake the annoying truck; little did he expect a little girl hopping on the edge of the road. He ran over her with his heavy Royal Enfield, her ribs crushed and gasping for breath, she was bleeding profusely from her abdominal area; her white dress slowly turned red.

Her mother stood on the pavement, her eyes wide open, tears flowing, shocked & standing still like a rock, watching her daughter dying right in front of her eyes, nothing else mattered to her, her world had crumbled and she couldn’t even move, like someone had cast a magic spell on her.

Michael took a few more moments to understand the graveness of the situation and the amount of damage he had caused. “Oh my God, what have I done?” is all he could utter.

The road had been in a remote location, dark and hardly anyone to find. Luckily two people had come to their rescue after 5 minutes and called an ambulance. Michael got in auto mode and somehow managed to get the girl to the emergency ward of City Central Hospital, that’s where all the accident victims were taken, a hospital with a good reputation.

The doctors immediately began the procedures and took the girl into the operation theatre. On seeing her husband arrive the lady started sobbing, she was inconsolable. As if her magic spell was suddenly broken and now she was free to express all her pain. The grief was unimaginable, she wanted to speak, “Our daughter, our daughter…..” was only she could manage.

“Sir, I am the one responsible for this. Let me explain……” Michael tried to speak. One tight blow from the girl’s father and Michael was on the ground groaning, with his mouth full of blood. Police arrived at the same instance and rescued him. Michael was taken into custody.

In less than24 hours Michael was out on bail, all it took were a few calls from his renowned lawyer father. Michael straight away went to the hospital; he had not been to his home since the accident, being home was the last thing on his mind. After two operations within 24 hours, the little girl was still battling for life in the ICU.

To the displeasure of the girl’s parents & relatives, Michael stayed in the hospital, enquiring about her condition every 30 minutes, that hospital had become his home and he was not ready to resume his life in any way, not until he was assured that the little girl was out of danger.

Two more days and the little girl’s body not able to handle any more medicines & procedures gave up.

Michael’s only chance of atonement was gone; the little girl who was to celebrate her birthday was no more. That cute little face with those innocently piercing eyes is all he saw everywhere he looked. He had been the devil and delivered such a dreadful blow to that family.

Michael’s father being a renowned lawyer managed to keep his son out of jail. But that disastrous event had changed so many lives beyond repair; a couple had lost their only child and a father was left with an ‘alive but soulless’ son. Even though the justice system had acquitted him, Michael could not forgive himself. A decade had already passed, but his karma never absolved him. He was scared of solitude, petrified because all those questions still haunted him, the questions those tormented innocent eyes had posed to him.

A moment of thrill on his speeding bike, a moment of recklessness had cost him a lifetime of remorse.