Kalpana was very worried and pacing on the corridor of the ICCU. Her dad was lying inside covered with various tubes and machines. Her eyes filled with tears periodically, but she did not want to show her fears to her mother who was highly emotional and on the verge of a breakdown. It was with great difficulty that she had got her to leave the hospital for a few hours. She needed her brother Prakash to be here with her, but he was in the USA. She knew he was trying his best to come down, but he was project lead on a project was due for submission tomorrow. He had told her that he would come down as soon as it was done. He had been calling her every hour asking for a status report.
The doctors were cautiously optimistic about his chances of recovery. She was very close to her father, even though they had stayed separately for long periods of time. Her dad Vitthal was the secretary of Vihaan Malhotra, the biggest superstar in the Hindi film industry right now. He had previously been the secretary of Vihaan's dad Naresh, who was himself a huge star of his time. After Vihaan's parents had passed away, when Vihaan was only 19, Vitthal had stopped working and moved to Delhi where his family was settled. 5 years after that Vihaan had called her dad and asked to join him when he made his Bollywood debut and he had been with him since then being a partner in Vihaan's meteoric rise to fame.
Her dad had never wanted his family to be a part of the Glamour industry and hence did not want them to settle in Mumbai and kept them away in Delhi. He ensured that both his kids had a good education and wanted them to excel in the corporate world. His son was already working in USA with a big technology company and Kalpana had just finished her MBA and was waiting to pursue further education in USA.
Kalpana's thoughts flew to all the great moments she had spent with her father during her growing up years. Whenever he would come home from Mumbai, he would be laden with presents. Even when he was not at home, he was very involved with his children's lives, calling them almost every day and getting regular updates about their lives. Kalpana used to absolutely adore the time she spent with her dad during her hostel days as he used to take her and friends for some great treats.
Thinking about this made her eyes tear up again and she sat on the hospital bench with her hands on her face and slowly sobbed.
Suddenly she heard a commotion on the corridor and she saw Vihaan walking in with an entourage of doctors and nurses each vying with each other for his attention.
His gaze fell on Kalpi who was sitting on the bench and he stopped for a moment and then moved into the ICCU.
Kalpi who had not been allowed to go into the ICCU except during visiting hours felt greatly agitated seeing the preferential treatment being meted out to Vihaan. Her temper continued to rise as the time Vihaan spent in the ICU got longer.
The door of the ICCU opened and Vihaan came out alongwith his entourage.
Vihaan said, "Expense is no object. There should not be any deficiency in his care. I will take care of all the expenses."
Kalpi who had already worked herself into a fine temper suddenly flared up and shouted, "We don't need your charity. We are perfectly capable to taking care of his hospital expenses."
Vihaan was shocked for a moment and stared at the slender, teary-eyed girl who was talking to him in such a rude manner. He was not at all used to being talked to this way.
He fixed his glare on her, which would have made a lot of people flinch, but she did not even look away. He said, "By the way, who are you?"
One of the doctors immediately replied, "She is the patient's daughter."
Kalpana and Vihaan continued to stare at each other, but suddenly Vihaan softened as he understood her state of mind.
"I was not giving you charity; I was just trying to help. I care about Vitthal uncle and I feel it is my responsibility to do this," Vihaan said
Kalpana in her worried state was not in any mood to listen, "You walk in to meet my father, during non-visiting hours, throwing around the influence of your status and money. I don't require any assistance from you and neither does my father."
Vihaan finally lost his temper and said, "How dare you talk to me like this, you fool. It is just as deference to your father that I listened to you. If I want, I can get you thrown out of this hospital now" saying this he stomped walked away from there.
After he moved a few steps he inadvertently turned back to look at her again. She stood there a small lonely figure with tears flowing down her face and his heart leaped up in sympathy for her. Then he suddenly thought, "She is such a prickly creature, she does not deserve any sympathy from me."
As soon as he left, Kalpana was immediately struck with a huge wave of guilt at her behavior. She had no right to behave so obnoxiously and her dad and mom would have been totally ashamed of her today. But she had wanted to see her dad so badly and no one had allowed her to go in since the morning and when Vihaan walked in and met her father without any restrictions, she was greatly upset.
In the evening, Kalpana and her mom finally met her father and he seemed much better. He looked weak but seemed to be in better spirits too and Kalpana felt her heart lifting.
As they were about to leave, Kalpi asked, "Dad, can I have Vihaan's number?"
Vitthal was very surprised as Kalpana had never demonstrated any interest in any movie stars before and he said, "Why do you want his number, sweetheart? I did not know you were a fan".
"Dad, it is nothing like that. Today, when Vihaan came to meet you in the afternoon, I was rude to him. I want to apologize to him. Instead of being grateful for getting you admitted in this good hospital and making arrangements to bring us down to Mumbai, I shouted at him", Kalpi said.
"That is so not like you. I have never seen you behave rudely before, what happened", Vitthal asked.
"Dad, I was so very jealous of him as he was allowed to meet you, while I was not even allowed to see you", Kalpi moaned.
Vitthal told her to use his phone to find the number and call as Vihaan would never lift a call from any unknown number.
Kalpi was forced to go home by her mom and her uncle. Her uncle had volunteered to stay with her father.
As soon as she reached home and freshened up, she took her father's phone. She found her palms getting sweaty as she dialed his number.
Vihaan picked up the call in the first ring itself and he said, "Hello".
Hearing his voice she was dumbstruck for a moment, but she gathered himself and said, "I am Kalpana, Vitthal's daughter".
Vihaan who had already spent many hours of the day thinking about this chit of girl who had seemed totally unaffected by him, got really angry. He said, "Why have you called me, was insulting me in the hospital not enough?"
Kalpana who already felt guilty enough rushed in, "I am really sorry for being rude to you. I don't expect you to understand, but I was really upset today. The doctors did not allow me to see my dad, saying that apart from visiting hours I cannot enter the ICCU. Seeing you being allowed to see my dad, really distressed me. And then when you offered to pay my dad's expenses, I felt so helpless and worthless". Her voice was teary and Vihaan felt a pang in his heart.
Her pain mirrored the pain he had felt when he had seen the dead bodies of his parents, after they met with a car accident and the helplessness he had felt of not being able to do anything.
But some unknown feeling in his heart prevented him from expressing his sympathy openly. He just said, "I accept your apology and I will talk to the doctors, so that they allow you free access to your father".
"You will do that for me, thank you, thank you so much", Kalpi said with emotion filled voice.
Vihaan just said, "You are welcome" and cut the call.
He had felt a strange sense of empathy towards the girl who had been rude to him and he did not like it one bit.
Her apology felt heartfelt, but he did not want to bend or alter his perception of the girl. He did not know why he felt this way.
Kalpi felt really happy as she was going to be allowed to see her dad and thanked Vihaan with all her heart.
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