Nikita tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Abhimanyu's tear-streaked face kept flashing in her mind every time she closed her eyes. Fed up, she sat up on the bed cuddling a pillow to her chest and wondering whether he was asleep or not.
Her hand automatically picked up the phone from her bedside table and almost dialled his number when she thought that maybe it was too late in the night…her eyes popped when she saw that it was 3 am and she wasn't yet asleep.
Sighing, she lay back down on the bed, her thumbs moving in the air over the screen of her phone, dialling a ghost number. Finally, unable to resist herself in her worry for him, she decided to send him a message.
She swiftly typed a small message on the keypad and sent it, waiting and hoping that he would reply. Are you awake? How are you?
A few minutes later, her screen flashed a new message. Couldn't sleep. Why are you awake?
With a small frown, she typed a reply. It's 3 am. Go to sleep. You need it.
So do you. You didn't answer me.
Answer what?
Why are you awake so late at night?
Couldn't sleep as well. Wanted to know how you were doing.
I'm fine.
Yes, I can see that. Wide awake at 3 am and you're fine? Don't fool me.
Really I'm okay. You should stop worrying.
How do you know I'm worrying?
I know you well enough. Sleep.
And you?
There came no reply for a long time…just as she was getting ready to call him up, she received a message. You should sleep. I'll be fine.
Sighing, she immediately dialled his number.
After a few rings, a weary voice answered her, "You should sleep Nikki…stop worrying about me."
Impatient as she was, she snapped back, "You're not sleeping…and I…I'm worried for you." It was hard admitting that she cared for him, but she had to. After seeing him so vulnerable a few hours before, she couldn't help feeling soft towards him.
After a few moments of silence, he said, "Nikki, you really should sleep. It's late."
"Would you stop repeating that!" she admonished him softly. "I know it's late…and you need to sleep too…don't you want to visit him tomorrow morning?"
"Yeah…I do. Actually, I wanted to get him shifted to Sanjeevani…so I could, you know…" his tired voice trailed off feebly.
At his anguished tone, her heart convulsed with pain, and all she wished to do was to hold him tight and tell him that everything would be okay.
"That's a good idea, Abhi…then you won't have to be so worried all the time", she agreed. "You could even check on him whenever you felt like it."
"Yeah…I just hope he's…" he stopped abruptly, and she had a feeling his voice had broken.
"Abhi…he'll be all right", she assured him once more. "I'll be here for you..." she smiled into the speaker.
She heard him clear his throat at his end.
"Abhi…"
"Hmmm?"
"I just wanted you to know that…if you ever need to talk", she paused. "I'll be there", she finished softly.
He smiled slightly hearing her words. "Thanks Nikki."
She started blushing when she realised what she had said. "Err…yeah, you're welcome", she embarrassedly said, her blush deepening. "Now sleep." She toughened her tone.
"Okay…goodnight."
"Goodnight. Take care of yourself."
"I will." He smilingly shook his head and cut the phone, feeling much lighter.
He turned on his side, and closed the album he had been going through of his childhood pictures. Turning off the bedside lamp, he lay in the dark, musing worriedly about the current state of his friend. Finally, he let his tiredness overtake him, and lost himself to sleep.
*****
Nikita woke up early the next day, and made her way to Sanjeevani quickly so that she would reach there an hour before her duty started.
She went straight to Abhimanyu's office, and found him arguing on the phone with somebody. He wasn't his usual self…even his anger appeared out of sync, and his tired stance made her even more worried for him.
He finished his call and set down the phone with a sigh. I've never seen him so depressed before. She walked over to his desk and he looked up at her with sleep-deprived eyes laced with worry.
"How is he?" she asked him quietly.
"We moved him to Sanjeevani. He's very critical, but I wanted to keep an eye on him."
"Is he better?"
"He's in the ICU. He suffered a head injury…he's in coma right now…head trauma", he explained in a bleak voice, as if narrating the mere facts.
She gently squeezed his hand. "How severe?"
"He might have TBI…" he said, and her eyes widened.
"TBI? You mean…Traumatic Brain Injury?" she gasped, and he nodded.
"Abhi…that…that can be treated, right?" she gulped uncomfortably.
"Yes, but there will be problems…or maybe even death…I don't know…you can't tell that much, and also since he's in coma right now…" he hesitated, his voice broken.
"But you said he might have TBI, right?" she asked. "So that means…you may be wrong?"
"I hope I'm wrong", he said shortly, taking a deep breath.
"The tests?"
"The neurological exam is done…its normal, and that's a good thing, but there can still be some severe intra-cranial injury…I've advised a CT scan, let's see…" he trailed off, the doctor in him coming to the fore.
"Don't worry Abhi, everything will be fine", she reassured him. When he didn't respond, she asked, "Anything else?"
"Yes, a broken leg and a few broken ribs…a mild concussion also", he waved it away. "Those will be fine…I just need to know about the TBI…"
"A concussion…?"
"Yeah, a mild one…it's nothing…it's the TBI threat that worries me…I mean, the way he's been injured…" he twitched.
"He will be fine, I'm sure", she pressed her lips together in an attempt to convince herself.
"I hope so", he gave her a ghost of a smile.
Her pager buzzed, and she gave him a reassuring smile before leaving to report to her duty.
She spent most of her free time with Abhimanyu, lending him every bit of support she could. Her friends shot suspicious glances at her, but thankfully Riddhima covered up for her when she told her what had happened.
In the evening, the reports arrived, and they found out that Vishal had mild TBI.
She watched him stare blankly through the glass window of the ICU, taking in the image of his friend who was lying on the bed, unmoving, wires connected to his body, hooked to the ventilator, a Ryle's tube through his nose, his leg wrapped in plaster.
A small hand on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts. He turned around to see Nikita standing beside him, holding out a sandwich wrapped in a napkin for him.
"You skipped lunch", she said, and placed the sandwich in his hand.
"Hey", he greeted her, looking unsurely at the sandwich.
"Eat", she instructed, not returning his half-hearted greeting.
"There are rules Nikki…I can't eat here!"
"Just do as I tell you…" she scowled at him, and he took a bite.
"Nice", he commented, chewing unmindfully.
"See how hungry you are!" she grinned at him. "You're actually finding this terrible hospital food nice!" she made a face, and he smiled.
"Hunger is the best sauce", he winked, and looked back at the ICU, the smile vanishing from his face.
"It's mild TBI", she said, sobering up. "There might be some complications, but he'll be okay…there's therapy."
He frowned at her, "How do you know?"
"I checked his reports, they were lying on your desk", she said matter-of-factly, and he gaped at her. "And I also did some research."
"You do know that you're annoyingly nosy, don't you?" he raised an eyebrow, his eyes flashing.
"I was just trying to help you", she stated, making big eyes at him. "I thought that you would need some help after how upset you were last night…" she trailed away uncomfortably, looking around for eavesdroppers.
"Why would you think that?" he questioned shortly, looking ahead.
"Well…I've never seen you so worried about anything before, and I just thought that…err…maybe…you know…" she fidgeted with the end of her lab coat, glancing nervously at him. "You might need my help…"
He started walking away, and she struggled to keep up pace with him, and started stuttering apologies, thinking that maybe she hurt him.
"Look, I'm sorry…I didn't mean that you were incapable of handling…uh, no…forget that, what I meant was that…" he sped up even more, and she almost had to run to keep up with his long strides.
"Wait! Listen, I…I'm sorry…" she kept mumbling while she tried her best to follow him.
He walked into his cabin, and she followed suit. She watched him settle himself on a chair and motioned her to sit down beside him. She obliged, and waited for him to yell at her, not looking into his eyes.
"Vishal and I are friends from Kindergarten", his soft voice broke through her nervousness, and she blinked, finally looking at him and seeing immense pain coupled with love reflected in his eyes.
"Kindergarten?" she repeated, now fully understanding his pain.
He nodded, and continued, "He was the first friend I ever had…we were like brothers…always together", he smiled, lost in a fond memory perhaps, staring into blank space.
She let him be for a while, and took his hand in hers, threading her fingers through his, and waited for him to go on.
"We've stood beside each other come what may…it's been 27 years of our friendship…and when I heard of his accident…" he shook his head, closing his eyes tightly, his face contorting in anguish. "And then seeing him like this…in such a state…I…I just feel so helpless, Nikki…" he sighed, looking morosely at her.
Not knowing what to say, she looked at him, feeling for him. The thing that struck her was that Abhimanyu trusted her enough to tell her all this, even when she hadn't asked it of him. It made her feel…important.
"Why are you telling me all this Abhi?" she asked him, unable to resist.
"You remember how you said last night that when I'm ready to talk", he gave her a ghost of a smile, "you'll be there?"
She simply looked at him, feeling slightly overwhelmed at his blind trust. It hurt her when he was hurt, and his belief in her send pangs through her body.
"Abhi…he'll recover…his reports are positive", she said quietly after a long pause.
"I think so…but we don't know how much damage has been caused to his brain…" he mused aloud.
"Abhi…" she reassured him once again, this time with a smile, and he glanced at her gratefully. He squeezed his hand, and he gave her a tight-lipped smile.
***
Armaan and the gang, along with Shehnaz and Akash, were walking down the corridor when Muskaan suddenly stopped outside the glass door of Abhimanyu's cabin.
"Oye! Look!" she gasped, and Armaan and Anjali jumped up to see what had shocked her.
Armaan blew a low whistle and Riddhima peeked from over his head to see what was going on. Her eyes popped when she saw Nikki and Dr. Modi sitting on two chairs facing each other, and holding hands and having what appeared to be a heart-to-heart talk. Uh Oh. Armaan will eat them up…I'll have to do something.
"What are they doing? Oh my God!" Muskaan exclaimed incredulously.
"See that Modi! He's holding Nikki's hand!" Anjali's mouth fell open and she gaped at the scene before her.
"Arrey! How could he?" Atul stared at the sight aghast.
"It's nothing!" Riddhima tried to push them away but to no avail. They went on as if they hadn't even heard her.
"How dare he!" Armaan growled, and threw a few of his choicest expletives in his boss's direction, which, unfortunately, were heard by Riddhima.
"Armaan!" she swatted him on his arm, and he made a face. "I said the truth Basket, he is all that", he mumbled and she shot a glare at him. "Riddhima…!"
"Oye yaar…shut up you two!" Muskaan chided them from the side, poking her elbow in Armaan's rib and he let out a yelp.
"Shhh…they'll hear us!" Anjali whispered, pressing a finger to her lips, and everyone immediately sobered up and started glancing in different directions when Abhimanyu's eyes flashed towards them for a fraction of a second.
"What is going on? What are you guys looking at? Let me see!" Akash whispered enthusiastically and elbowed his way through the crowd of excited interns, and his eyes narrowed at the sight before him.
"What is it?" Shehnaz tried to make her way through, but Armaan held her back.
"It's okay…you don't need to see…"
"But I want to see!"
"Stay there and be quiet! They'll hear us!" Armaan shushed her up and she fumed, and everyone turned back at them to see Shehnaz.
"I'll break all his bones, that stupid Modi…who does he think he is…" Armaan muttered, turning to Anjali who nodded fervently, and promptly received a smack on the head from Muskaan.
"Do you want to get caught?" she whispered angrily.
"Who cares, I'll break his teeth too!" Armaan retorted hotly.
"Armaan…you won't do anything, they're just working!" Riddhima told him from above his head.
"Working? By holding hands?" Armaan said sarcastically.
"No they're…" she trailed off, a wide smile appearing on her face as she looked ahead.
"What?"
"See! I told you they were working! Look at them…ha!" she grinned smugly, pointing towards the door.
He turned to the glass once more to see that Abhimanyu had opened a file and was going through it while Nikita was watching him. All others also turned once more to the door, only to gasp in surprise.
"But they were holding hands before!" Armaan protested, getting up while the others also straightened themselves.
"Now they're working", Riddhima explained.
"But still…"
"And Armaan…what were those you were saying about Dr. Modi, huh?" Riddhima immediately changed the topic, hoping to steer him away and save Nikki from further confrontation.
Her trick worked, and Armaan started stammering. "Uh…nothing, Basket…it's nothing, I was just…"
"Just what? I heard you…why were you insulting him like that?" she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Come on Basket…it's nothing…"
She feigned anger and turned the other way in a huff, folding her arms over her chest. At her anger, Armaan came up from behind and put his arms around her, placing his chin on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry Basket…it won't happen again, promise…don't be angry", he pleaded in the sweetest voice he could muster, and she giggled.
The others rolled their eyes at them and Atul and Anjali turned the other way.
"Oye…enough of romance…this is a public place!" Muskaan teased them.
"Yeah, stop it you two!" Akash told them and walked off to duty.
***
"Are they gone?" Abhi asked her, looking up from his file.
"Why did you do that?" she asked him sceptically.
"What?" he asked.
"Let go of my hand?"
"Your friends were eavesdropping", he explained with a twitch of his nose.
"So?" she huffed.
"I don't want you to fight with him anymore", he explained softly. "Especially over me."
Melting at his sweetness, she looked at him fondly. Then, she straightened up and threw him a mock glare. "You could have scolded them and scared them away…"
"I'm in no mood to scare people right now, and anyway, I very tired Nikki…" he said with a sigh.
"Abhi I…" she started to say apologetically.
"You should get to work Nikki…you're duty resumes in ten minutes", he informed her dejectedly, glancing at his watch.
Understanding fully that she needed to go, she nodded. Not wanting to leave, she reluctantly got up and gave him a small hug before walking away.
He watched the door close behind her, feeling much better than before.
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