Excerpt from my new novella

In the middle of the night, Kinshuk Lohia was shaken awake by his uncle, Rohan Lohia. The agitation on his face at once told Kinshuk that something was seriously wrong.
‘What’s the matter?’ Kinshuk asked, sitting up in bed, and trying to collect his scattered thoughts.
‘Your mother is very ill. She seems to be having some kind of fit. Unfortunately, she has locked herself in.’
‘I will come at once.’
Kinshuk sprang out of bed and followed his uncle, Rohan along the passage to his mother Richa’s bedroom.
Rohan’s wife, Kiara joined them along with Richa’s personal maid Lakshmi and two more servants. Everyone seemed to be in a state of awestricken fear.
Kinshuk turned to his uncle, ‘What should we do? Father is not here.’
Never had Kinshuk’s weak nature been more apparent, Rohan thought in distaste. Rohan rattled the handle of his sister-in-law Richa’s door violently, but with no effect. The whole household was aroused by now. The most alarming sounds were audible from the interior of the locked bedroom. Clearly something must be done.
‘Try going through Gaurav bhaiya’s bedroom,’ cried Lakshmi. ‘Oh, poor Richa didi.’
They went through her husband Gaurav’s room to the connecting door. That was also locked from inside. What was to be done?
‘Hey, Bhagwan,’ Lakshmi started crying loudly, wringing her hands, ‘What shall we do?’
‘We must break the door open, I suppose,’ Rohan turned towards Kiara and continued, ‘Why don’t you call Dr. Agnihotri?’
Rohan and Kinshuk heaved together. The door was solid. For a long time it resisted their efforts but at last, with a resounding crash, it burst open.
They stumbled in together. Mrs Richa Lohia was lying in her bed, having seizures. In her agony, she must have overturned her bedside table. As they entered, her limbs relaxed and she fell back on her pillow. The violence of the seizure seemed to be passing. She was able to speak in short gasps.
‘I cannot see properly,’ she complained. Rohan and Kinshuk looked at each other helplessly.
A strangled cry from the bed startled them. A fresh bout of pain had seized Richa. The seizures were terrible to behold. At that moment Dr Agnihotri, who lived nearby, pushed his way into the room authoritatively. At the same instant, Richa cried, ‘Rohan… Rohan...’. Then she fell back motionless on the pillows.
The doctor seized her arms and worked them energetically, applying artificial respiration. He issued a sharp order for an ambulance to be called immediately, but the expression on his face told them that he had little hope of the patient surviving.