part 3
Through her dreamless sleep, Shilpa heard a whimper echoing in her room. She slowly opened her eyes to meet the night's darkness. Her face was turned towards the door as she woke up, perceiving a human frame, shadowed by the light coming from the hall.
"Armaan?" her husky voice asked, confused.
"No," a woman whispered and Shilpa saw her coming slowly to her bed.
Shilpa trailed up on the pillows, leaning against the headboard, and reached to turn on the lamps above her hospital bed. A smile broke on her face and her eyes locked on the crib the nurse was pushing.
"She's hungry," the nurse smiled as she picked up the baby girl and brought her to Shilpa.
Instinctively, her arms flexed, making a small crib to welcome the baby. The nurse carefully put the baby in Shilpa's arms.
"Do you need help?" she asked her as she leaned closer, ready to untie her gown.
Shilpa couldn't tear her eyes from her baby girl. She hadn't done it before, but she was sure she would figure it out. "No," she muttered, smiling down at her baby.
"Let me help you with the gown," the nurse offered and Shilpa leaned forward a little, so the nurse could untie her gown. "Call me if you need anything. I'll be back later," the nurse told her.
Shilpa just nodded and the nurse left the room. The baby was fussing in her arms, ready to claim her meal shouting, but Shilpa's eyes wandered all over the girl. She had her tiny eyes opened, staring blindly ahead. Shilpa couldn't tell what color they were; it looked like green, but had a shade of blue as well. Her thin lips outlined her tiny mouth, her tongue sticking out from time to time, anticipating the meal.
Shilpa giggled, mesmerized by the little human she was holding in her arms; her little human. She shrugged off the gown, letting it drop under her breasts, while she held the baby on one arm, and helped her find the breast. It was an inbred instinct when the mother breastfed her baby.
She hadn't prepared herself to become a mother. She hadn't been aware of the human life she was carrying inside her body until she held her baby girl in her arms. She had kept the pregnancy just to piss off her ex-boyfriend and her mother. Despite all these, now that her baby girl was there, breathing in her arms, her soft mouth feeding with her love, Shilpa knew she was going to make it somehow. She didn't know yet how, but she knew she could be a mother to her child.
It was still early the next morning when Armaan stepped out the scrubbing room. Each of the medical staff he had met during the night congratulated him. He surely hadn't expected to such reactions. What he had done wasn't uncommon. Armaan answered with a simple smile and walked away each time a person stopped him.
Was such a heroic gesture to help a woman give birth? He kept asking himself.
Whatever was going on and whatever people were saying, Armaan was too tired to think of it. The only thing he had in his mind was to get home at last and crash in his bed - that and other thing. He was in the elevator, heading down in the lobby, when the doors opened at the neonatology floor. In that moment, his plans for the day changed again. Armaan stepped out of the elevator without giving a second thought and went straight to the room he knew already.
Armaan peaked through the small window inside the room to see Shilpa in her bed, cradling her baby and Dr. Gupta, talking to her. He knocked lightly as he opened the door and sneaked his head inside.
"Am I interrupting?" he asked in whisper.
Shilpa shook her head in response while Dr. Gupta stood up. "Oh, Dr. Malik," he greeted him with a smile.
Armaan walked into the room and let the door close behind him as he went over to her bed. "How are you?" he asked Shilpa.
"I'm doing ok," she answered with a smile. "Both of us," she added, more to herself as she smiled down at her baby girl.
"Shilpa was telling me how lucky she was you found her," Dr. Gupta cut in.
Armaan couldn't help but smile when he saw the blush in Shilpa's cheeks as she dazed down at her baby, not daring to look at him after a confession like that. Armaan chuckled quietly and nodded. "As I said, I am glad I could help."
"I can't believe that you left from my office and you didn't say anything about the pain," Dr. Gupta looked at Shilpa, a fatherly reproach in his voice.
"I'" Shilpa wanted to say, but this time Armaan cut in.
"Do you know each other?" he asked them.
"Her mother is an old friend of mine," Dr. Gupta answered. "Shilpa is actually ending her first year of internship here."
Armaan smiled, surprised to hear that. "You're a doctor too?"
Shilpa looked up at him and nodded.
"Surgery is her field," Dr. Gupta added. "So you'll have the chance to work together as soon as Shilpa returns from her maternity leave. Dr. Malik is our head of Neurology," he said, making the official introduction. "He worked at New York Presbyterian too."
"Did you work at New York Presbyterian as well?" Armaan asked, more surprised to find out other things they had in common, besides their last name ' or so he thought.
"Yes," she nodded her head. "I heard you left shortly before I got there."
"Then I moved here," Armaan confirmed. "So what brings you to Seattle?"
"Personal issues," she shrugged. "How about you?"
"Personal issues," he answered, smiling.
"Oh," her answer showed she knew about his divorce.
"Yeah," Armaan chuckled. "Well' I look forward to work together. Although it will be a little weird to be two doctors Malik here," he laughed. "I think people have started already to think that you're my wife."
Shilpa and Gupta looked at each other, neither of them understanding what Armaan was talking about, and then both stares turned to Armaan.
"What?" Armaan smiled, confused.
"Her last name is not Malik," Dr. Gupta stated.
His smile faded instantly, replaced by confusion. "It's not? Are you sure?"
"I am very sure," Shilpa frowned, not understanding why Armaan couldn't understand that.
"Her last name is gupta," Dr. Gupta added. "She is Elli's gupta daughter."
Armaan stared at Shilpa, his mind in a complete haze. He was sure she was the same woman he had helped the previous night. He was also sure she was the one he had visited hours ago- Shilpa Malik' and the baby Malik.
"Malik, what is it?" Dr. Gupta demanded, slightly irritated by Armaan's attitude.
"You're last name is not Malik?" he asked Shilpa again.
"Do you want to check my ID to believe me?" she frowned.
"I just told you her last name is gupta. Why are you insisting?" Gupta asked.
Armaan stared at Shilpa, his mind rewinding the events. He hadn't asked her about her last name when he found her, so he knew her first name only. She was definitely the same Shilpa he had met the previous night. Then it clicked. The paramedic had asked him about his name.
Armaan sighed loudly as he ran his fingers through his hair.
"What is it?" Shilpa demanded. "What's wrong with him?" she asked Gupta, but Gupta shrugged, clueless.
"That's all right," Armaan said quickly. "There has been a mistake but it's nothing that we can't handle. It's something minor."
"What are you talking about?" Shilpa insisted, not understanding what he was trying to say.
Armaan took a deep breath before he could explain. "Apparently," he started hesitantly.
"What?" Shilpa snapped, causing the baby to fuss.
"Apparently, you and the baby are registered under the name of Malik," he said.
"What?" Both, Shilpa and Gupta asked in the same time.
Armaan gave her an apologetic smile, feeling directly responsible for the misunderstanding.
In that moment, Dr. Gupta went and looked at Shilpa's wrist, while Shilpa checked the baby's. On their pink bracelets was written Malik.
For an instant, Shilpa felt a shiver of panic and her eyes wandered over the baby she was holding in her arms. Her features, her short, soft blonde hair, her tiny pink lips and her blushing cheeks, were all familiar to her. Shilpa sighed with relief. She cradled the baby closer to her chest, rocking her slowly.
"I'll go look for your chart," Dr. Gupta stated and darted outside.
Armaan stayed like frozen in front of her bed, not daring to say anything, move or even breathe.
"That's ok. Relax," Shilpa muttered, gently caressing her baby's cheek. She looked up at him as he showed no intention of relaxing. "You didn't do it deliberately, did you?" she asked him.
"Of course not," Armaan replied quickly and made walked over to sit down at her feet.
"Can you help me take these off?" she asked him, showing him her wrist.
Armaan nodded and came to her side. He unfastened Shilpa's bracelet and then the baby's, smiling when the baby opened her eyes.
"Do you mind if I hold her?" he asked Shilpa.
Shilpa looked into his eyes and saw the radiance in his eyes as he anxiously waited for her answer. She smiled and carefully handed him the baby. Armaan held out his arms and his hands slid carefully under the baby.
"Be careful," she muttered, looking worried as the baby left her arms and went in Armaan's.
"Don't worry," he smiled down at the baby. "I have some practice," he said, taking the baby's tiny hand in his. "Good morning, baby girl."
As answer, the baby let out a long yawn.
"Do you have any children?" she asked him.
Armaan looked at her suspiciously. "You didn't hear about my story back at New York Presbyterian?"
"No. Did you have a story there besides your career?" she asked.
Armaan raised his brows, surprised to find out about the discretion he didn't know it exist at his previous work place. "I don't have any children," he answered and smiled down at the baby again.
The baby girl opened her mouth as if she was yawning and started wriggling her hands in the air towards Armaan. He gently took her hand again and leaned down as he kissed it, while the baby slapped him with the other one. "Hello, hello!" Armaan laughed at her greeting.
"She likes you," Shilpa said quietly as she watched the interaction between her baby girl and Dr. Malik, a discreet smile creeping across her lips.
Armaan looked up at her and smile. "I like her too. After all, she's my daughter. Right?" he chuckled.
Glancing at Shilpa, he saw her eyes darkening at his comment. "I'm sorry," Armaan apologized sincerely. "I didn't mean to sound inappropriate. It was just a joke."
Shilpa smiled faintly and shook her head, reassuring him that no offense had been made. "That's ok. It's nice to see that someone is willing to say that about her," she muttered, her eyes glistering as she watched her baby. "When her father doesn't want her," she added and slowly turned her gaze out the window. She sounded rather angry than sad.
Armaan smiled sympathetically at her and then at the baby he was holding, slightly outraged to hear that. How could anyone not want to be the father for such a sweet baby?
"You can count on my help you know," he said and smiled as he looked at her, waiting to meet her eyes.
But her gaze stayed out the window. "I don't need mercy. I don't deserve it," she said quietly and turned her head, smiling faintly. "Not when I know that I decided to have this baby just to piss him off."
Armaan felt a little overwhelmed by her confession. He agreed she had made a wrong decision, but he couldn't deny how much she loved her baby and whatever she had done, she still wanted the best for her child.
"It's not about mercy," Armaan said softly and smiled as he met her curiosity. "Imagine this' one day, while you are driving back from work, you meet someone who needs your help. You help that person and then you find out that she's your soon-to-be co-worker. Will you be able keep the relationship strictly professional?"
Shilpa narrowed her eyes and frowned slightly. "Are you declaring me your love?"
Armaan chuckled but stopped quickly as he saw her serious look. "No," he was now serious.
"What if that person is married or has someone?" she asked him.
Armaan smiled. "More than strictly professional includes friendship too, Shilpa, not necessary a relationship."
"Oh," she nodded and held out her hands. "Can I have her back?"
Armaan leaned down and put the baby girl back in her mother's arms. Once again, he saw the proof of love in the way she smiled down at her. "Do have a name for her?" he asked her.
Shilpa couldn't tear her eyes from her baby girl and just shook her head.
"There's nothing on the top of the list?" he asked her.
Shilpa looked at him and shook her head again. "There is no list."
"Any ideas then?" he asked.
"Armaan," Shilpa groaned and rolled her eyes.
"She needs a name," Armaan pointed out.
"Really?" she smiled sarcastically which made Armaan chuckle.
"Yeah, really. Do you want me to help you find one?"
Shilpa scowled at his insistence.
Armaan smiled, confident. "Shilpa?"
"What?" she asked, gritting her teeth.
"Do you want to be my friend?" he asked her, a big teasing smile on his face.
Shilpa tried to keep her face composed, but failed as a smile crept on her lips.
Armaan chuckled and winked at her, pleased to see who easily he convinced her.
"We can be friends," she smiled, rolling her eyes at his confidence.
"Great then," he grinned proudly.
"I wouldn't be so happy," she laughed and Armaan felt his heart beating faster at the sound of that. "I didn't choose the right moment to move, so my things are still unpacked," she warned him, although she was just joking. She wasn't going to ask anybody's help.
"Unpacking," Armaan shrugged. "That's piece of cake."
"Then there's the painting and baby's furniture," Shilpa continued, laughing as Armaan showed the same cheerful grin.
"I am a neurosurgeon, so the furniture- puzzle-thing is over before I can start enjoying myself," he smiled. "I should go home and get some sleep now, but I will come back and check on you later."
"I don't need to be checked on," Shilpa frowned.
Armaan smiled and leaned forward but stopped when he realized what he was going to do. He just smiled and rubbed lightly her arm. "I'll come visit you later, then," he said and caressed the baby's head before he stood up.
Her heart had started beating like crazy again, anticipating his lips against her skin, and felt slightly disappointed when Armaan changed his mind.
"And try think of a name for her," he added as he walked to the door. He stopped in the doorway and looked back at her, smiling. "Bye," he lingered for a moment longer there and then closed the door.
"Bye," Shilpa muttered only after Armaan was out the room. The baby started fussing in her arms, asking for her attention. "Mommy'" her words chocked as she talked to the baby, having a strong feeling of pride as she called herself mommy. "Mommy has a new friend now," she said. "And he's nice and ' and cute too," she giggled at her own confession.
Now the baby burst into tears. "Why are you crying?" Shilpa held up the baby, worried. "How am going to understand you each time you cry?" she whimpered to herself and started rocking her back and forth. But the baby continued to cry.
Shilpa sighed. "Crap," and reached for the button to call a nurse.
end of part 3
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