PriRa OS: Runaway Patient
Ram had been in quarantine for more than 10 days and he was becoming more and more impatient to meet his family.....umm maybe just Priya. He was extremely frustrated when his sample that was taken after 1 week had turned out to be positive again even though he had already recovered from all the symptoms. Now today another sample was taken and he was hoping the reports would come negative because if not he would definitely kill someone as this confinement was driving him crazy. Priya had been there to support him and they were constantly talking on video calls but for the last two days she had been extremely busy with her work which irritated him more as he was not able to make calls as frequently as he wanted to.
He flipped through some tv channels before looking at the clock. “It’s already 6:30. She must have reached home.” He thought to himself and tapped on the video call icon. “Hi” she picked the call on the third ring. “Hello” he replied as he observed her surroundings. It looked like she was still at her work place. “Why are you still in office” he asked her. “Actually, there were some exam papers that needed to be checked so I stayed back to complete them.”
“Oh” was all he replied as he did not know what to talk about since her colleagues must be around.
“What are you doing” she kept the conversation going even though her attention was on the exam paper in her hand.
“Nothing, just going through some office files” as he expected this got her attention as she looked up immediately and glared at him. “Mr. Kapoor” she said in a stern voice. “Aree, It was just a joke. See, there are no files” he turned the camera to show her his room.
“You need to stop these jokes. They are not funny” She replied as she relaxed a bit. With the recent events concerning his health, she had been on the edge the past few days and his reckless behavior was not helping much.
“Acha, I’ll talk to you once I reach home. I need to finish these as soon as possible” She showed him the sheets in her hand. “Okay” he replied and cut the call half-heartedly.
As he was about to unmute the T.V, the doorbell rang and he waited for a minute before opening the door. This had been the protocol to wait for the person to leave before he could open and take his food or anything else that was dropped at his door. He opened the door to find an envelope.
At the same time his phone rang. It was his doctor who informed him that his reports had come early and he had finally tested negative. He was so elated that he hurriedly opened the envelope to look at the reports as he could not believe what he had just heard.
“You are finally free from the virus, Mr Kapoor...” the doctor declared. “Great. I’ll just call my driver. Thank you! Thank you so much” he replied excitedly.
“Mr Kapoor, we still need to complete some formalities and since it’s already quite late, we suggest you to wait till morning. And we would also be assured that you are completely fine.” The doctor tried to explain it to him.
Ram agreed dejectedly and slumped on the bed again. “What is the use of early reports if I can’t even go home. They should have told me about the reports in the morning” he kept arguing in his head as he became more and more restless. He finally decided he could not stay there anymore and dialed his best friend Adi to use his contacts to get him released from this punishment as soon as possible.
It was around 10 in the night when he finally got the green signal to leave the room as Adi had talked to the doctors and the hotel authorities to do the formalities. In the meanwhile, Priya had called him thrice but he had ignored her calls hoping to surprise her at home.
As he reached home, Tarun came hurriedly to greet him and take his bags inside. Ram looked around the house which seemed quieter than usual. Not thinking much, he went upstairs and took a deep breath before opening his bedroom. He was hoping for a surprised reaction but when he opened the door, the room was empty and Priya was nowhere to be seen. “Tarun..” he called the help. “Where’s priya” he asked Tarun and he was again disappointed when he was told that Priya had gone to Meera Maa’s house for the night.
As he checked his phone after changing clothes, he found her text complaining about him not picking the calls and telling him that she was at her mother’s place. “I should have just stayed at the hotel” He sighed and laid down on the bed.
Two hours later he was still tossing and turning in bed as sleep had evaded him completely. He finally shoved the comforter aside and got up and drank some water. He picked up his phone and his hands automatically opened the photo gallery and he sifted through the various screenshots he had taken when he was talking to her on video calls. Most of them were just her giving him those serious looks.
“Must be lecturing me about something” He chuckled to himself as he swiped again and his heart skipped a beat when he looked at the next one. He had joked about the food served to him and said “this Kadha of yours tastes better than what they are making me eat here”. She had laughed out loudly and he had immediately clicked the picture. Her smile was beautiful he thought as he kept on staring at her face.
He wanted to meet her so badly that he had made Adi fight with the hotel authorities to let him go home early. And here he was alone again even at home. It was already midnight and he did not know if going to Meera Maa’s home at this time was a good idea. He kept on thinking and finally picked up the car keys from the bedside table and rushed out.
At 12:30 am, the great businessman Mr. Ram Kapoor was standing Infront of his wife’s house thinking of ways to barge inside. “Should I climb the pipe to reach the widow” all those years of watching bollywood movies had really gotten to his head as he was thinking of stupid ideas.
“Yup get ready to stay in hospital for another two weeks when you fall down from such a height and break your bones. And even if you reach the window, your hitler wife would beat you thinking that a thief had entered the house ” his sane mind retorted. Ram instantly imagined himself being beaten up by Priya just like she had done with the thief who had stolen her purse outside the temple.
He quickly changed his mind and called Sandy hoping she would be awake just like all other young people these days. Sandy let him in and left him alone after teasing him about how he had run away from the hospital to meet Priya di. Ram tried to calm down his nerves as he opened the door of his wife’s room. He tried to be as discreet as possible while opening and closing the door but the door was a little rusty and when he locked the door it made a loud sound and before he could react Priya was awake. She was about to scream when he swiftly ran towards her and closed her mouth. “It’s me” he whispered and finally removed his hand once he saw her changed expressions.
“Mr Kapoor, what are you doing here?”
“Did you run away from the hotel?”
“How did you enter the house?”
He opened his mouth to say something but Priya being Priya continued her lecture “Why are you so irresponsible. You should be resting in your room. Does your doctor know about this.....” “shhhhh” he whispered as he kept a finger on her lips to stop her from continuing her lecture. “You will wake up the whole family. Let me atleast talk.” He replied as finally sat on the bed and she also pulled herself from the half laying position that she was in for the last few minutes. “My test came negative” he told her and pulled out the report from his pocket because he knew his wife was not someone who believed easily. She would have called the doctor and sent him back to quarantine so he had kept the proof for his own safety.
Priya looked at the reports carefully and finally looked at him with teary eyes. She had been praying for his health. The nose bleed incident had shaken her up but this time she was completely broken. She did not tell anyone but it had been really hard on her. And that’s why she had decided to come to her mother’s place to distract herself from all those negative thoughts. And now he was completely fine and sitting right there. She could not control her emotions and tears rolled down her cheeks as she threw herself in his arms. He was taken aback for a moment but quickly composed himself and hugged her back.
“I missed you” the three words left his mouth before he could comprehend what he was saying. And suddenly his tummy growled. “Me too” she replied and chuckled. He broke the hug embarrassed and looked away making faces. “Looks like an emergency situation” she laughed at him.
“Let’s go, I think we have some aloo parantha mixture in the fridge” she said as she got up from the bed and tied her hair in a knot and both husband and wife went to the kitchen. She switched on the stove and took out all the ingredients and he jumped and sat on the shelf which earned him a glare from her. “What” he retorted. “Dining table is too far yaar” he reasoned. As she placed a parantha on his plate and continued making another, her foody husband started telling her about how he survived all these days without eating his favorite food.
Meera who had woken up hearing the commotion in the kitchen looked at the couple from far. She smiled looking at them. Both of them had finally found their soulmate after facing so many hardships in life. She wiped a lone tear that escaped her left eye as she retrieved back to her room leaving the couple to enjoy each other’s company.
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Hope you all like it:)
Itti Si Khushi Sab TV
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
