Part 43
Ridhima waited at the nurse station, glancing down the hallway every few seconds. The nurses and doctors bustled round, working on healing their patients, but the one person she was waiting for was no where in sight.
Her heart sank as she saw her sister walking down the hallway, her hair swinging back with every step she took, a grim expression on her face. She bit her lip in nervousness as Anjali's eyes settled on Ridhima's face before looking away not giving away anything.
She loved her sister. She really did, but sometimes she got a bit too overprotective. She thought back to the countless incidences in their past that Anjali had been fiercely protective of her sister.
Ridhima skipped down the street, her dress flaring around her as she jumped up and down in excitement. Her green eyes scanned over the playground, her heart filling with happiness as she saw her favorite swings free.
She giggled in excitement, clapping her hands in glee as she ran down the playground, making a beeline towards the swings.
"Ridzi!" Anjali shouted behind her, trying to catch up, but the seven-year old Ridhima did not pay any attention to her elder sister and raced towards the swings, before someone stole them from her.
Just as she was about to sit on it, someone pushed her away, causing her to fall down and scrape her knee on the hard ground. She let out a cry as she saw her knee prickled with gravel and dirt, and blood slowly oozing out from the small cuts.
She held her knee in her hands and looked up at the attacker with tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Why did you do that?" She asked, as her little form trembled from holding in her cries.
A boy two times larger than her was sneering down at her, his face twisted into an ugly expression as he looked down at Ridhima, his form towering over her.
"Because I can!" He told her, sticking out his tongue and mocking her. A small crowd of kids formed around her, watching the little girl crouching and holding her knee in pain as the big bully mocked her.
She closed her eyes and looked down, a few more tears slipping down her cheeks.
"Leave her alone" A quiet voice came from behind Ridhima, and Ridhima looked behind her to see her sister standing with an ugly scowl on her face, her lips thinned into a line as she glared daggers at the bully in front of Ridhima.
"Or what?" He laughed. Anjali took two steps towards him, bent her elbows, and then pushed him with all her strength. Considering that Anjali was the skinniest of the kids in the playground, and relatively short, she still had a lot of strength for a nine-year old.
Ridhima let out a gasp as the bully stumbled back a few steps, surprised at Anjali for pushing him back, before he fell down on the dirty ground. He let out a whimper as the hard ground had a bad impact on him, and Anjali glared down at him.
Ridhima hurriedly stood up, and went and stood next to her sister. Though she was scared, and fearful of what the bully would do, she wasn't going to let her sister fight by herself.
Anjali took Ridhima's hand in hers, turned around, and went back to the swings to have a good time.
The bully never bothered her again.
----
Ridhima walked down the hallway, every step weighing her down, every step making her heart clench, making her eyes burn with unshed tears, and her form trembling at trying to keep her emotions in check.
She was adopted.
She was not their blood.
She was not their own.
She felt her throat clench and unclench at those thoughts, and her lip quivered as the memories flashed past her mind, of her childhood, of her teen years, of her adulthood.
She clutched on tightly to her suit, digging her nails into her palm to keep her attention diverted from the painful thoughts. She felt a sharp pain in her palm, and knew she had broken the skin, but she did not care, her thoughts focussing on driving the pain away from her heart – driving her attention away from those thoughts.
She walked towards her room, to the place where she had grown up, thought of everything as her own.
She walked in and saw the empty room, the toys surrounding the shelves, the two twin beds and the different colours on the walls. Shashank had never let it known to Ridhima that she was adopted, he had always treated her as her own. Ridhima felt a sense of gratitude filling every being of her body as she stared at everything Shashank had presented her with.
She felt tears running down her cheeks, as she sniffled and walked across the room taking in all the details. She felt her heart clench once more, and she collapsed next to her bed.
She brought her knees close to her chest, as she hugged them and felt the sobs wracking through her body. She let out a low wail as she felt the pain starting from the bottom of her heart, making her throat clench painfully, scrunching up her face and her whole body shaking with the painful memories.
She felt a pair of arms wrap around her and she was brought into a hug.
"Shh" She whispered, and Ridhima snuggled into her sister's embrace, her body still trembling.
"Di-" Ridhima's voice broke, and she sniffed as tears continued to flow from her eyes. "I-Iam...I am...a-adopted" Ridhima hiccuped, and she sobbed once more, clutching on tightly to her sister.
"Ridhima. Listen" Anjali stated firmly, grabbing a hold of Ridhima's shoulders and making her face her, "Listen to me"
Ridhima shook her head, and said, "I am adopted. I am not your sister" She cried, as she tried prying Anjali's hands off her shoulder. Anjali looked at her firmly, and tightened her hold.
"Listen to me!" Anjali snapped, and Ridhima quietened down to look at her sister. Anjali had tears swimming in her eyes, yet she had a spark of determination and anger shining through. "Ridhima Gupta, you are my sister" She said firmly.
Ridhima shook her head to deny, but Anjali pulled her into a fierce hug, holding her tightly, her hand at the back of Ridhima's head, stroking her hair lovingly. "Ridzi, you were, are , and always will be my sister. My best friend. The only person I can share everything with" Anjali whispered, and Ridhima felt her sister's tears fall on her shoulder.
Ridhima wrapped her arms around her tightly, and cried into her sister's embrace.
Ridhima felt her heart shattering, and she held onto her sister tightly, needing the comfort and security. "Promise?" She asked, quietly, and she felt her sister's hold tighten in response.
"I promise" She whispered. "I will never let anyone hurt you Ridhima" She whispered.
That night, the two sisters joined the twin beds together, and slept, holding each other's hands, forming a connection and bond so deep, that no one could have broken it.
Ridhima snapped out of her thoughts, and looked back at her sister who was standing stiffly against the wall, her face devoid of any emotion as she uninterestedly listened to Muskaan ramble about last night.
She could not be angry at Anjali. Even if she had scared Armaan away, she knew that she could never be angry at her sister for looking out for her.
Sighing Ridhima faced the hall again and her heart skipped a beat as she saw Armaan making his way down. Their eyes met, and Ridhima questioned him how it went, Armaan stared at her a couple of seconds, before a smile spread across his face, his eyes twinkled with mischief, and he nodded.
Ridhima looked at him shocked, as she leant against the wall for support. Anjali had approved?
She looked back at Anjali, who was looking at Ridhima and Armaan's interaction. Ridhima nodded her appreciation, and Anjali stiffly nodded her acknowledgement before turning around once more. She felt Armaan's hand brush against hers, and Ridhima looked to the side to see Armaan looking down at her, the smile still plastered on his face.
Dr. Keerti emerged from her office and handed out the duties. As everyone bustled around, trying to get to their duties, Ridhima stayed back to talk to Armaan.
Armaan smiled at her, holding her hand in his. Ridhima consciously glanced around to make sure no one was looking, as a blush settled on her cheeks.
"Armaan, Dad does not know yet" Ridhima whispered to Armaan, glaring at him, however her eyes danced with mischief and joy as Armaan's smirked back at her.
"So what Basket? Pyaar kiya toh darna kya?" Armaan whispered to her, reciting the cheesy lines, as his eyes bore into hers, the intensity of them making Ridhima breathless for a few seconds.
She bit her lip in amusement, before glancing behind Armaan. She let shock register on her face as she let out a small gasp.
"Armaan, Dad is right behind you!" She whispered harshly, pretending to pale in fear. Armaan's eyes widened in fear, as he hastily withdrew his hand from Ridhima's, straightened his spine and spun around an apology ready on his lips.
"Dr. Shashank I am..." Armaan trailed off as he saw no one standing behind him, and Ridhima could no longer contain the laughter bubbling in the pit of her stomach as she saw Armaan's face redden with embarrassment.
Holding a hand to her mouth, Ridhima threw her head back and laughed at Armaan's expression.
Seeing Armaan's eyes narrow at her, Ridhima held up a hand and tried apologizing,
"I am..I am.." Ridhima giggled, trying to get the words out, "s-sorry"
Armaan shook his head in amusement as a small smile settled on his face seeing Ridhima double over in laughter.
"Your...expression!" She laughed. "Priceless!"
Armaan chuckled as Ridhima laughed some more. Wiping away tears from her eyes, Ridhima sobered up quickly as she saw Dr. Keerti glaring at her, waiting for Ridhima to get on with her duties. Quickly averting her gaze, Ridhima straightened out her lab coat, and fixed her hair
"Gotta go. Hitler's there" Ridhima murmured under her breath and Armaan looked behind himself to see Dr. Keerti standing there, glaring at the two of them.
"See you later, Basket" He whispered, and he affectionately brushed his hand against Ridhima's before walking down the hall to attend to his patients.
Ridhima went on with her duties, a small smile resting on her face.
********
Ridhima walked into the ICU, the beeping of the machines surrounding her as she walked up to her patient, Rajeev.
She picked up his file and went over it, taking in the measures of the painkillers and the medicines assigned to slow down the swelling in his head.
She walked up to the side of Rajeev's bed and tentatively touched his bandage, peering closely to make sure that it was in place and did not need any changing.
"Doc"
Ridhima gasped as her heart jumped in her throat at Rajeev' hoarse voice. Her eyes widened and she immediately drew back looking into the sleepy eyes of Rajeev.
She gave him a stiff smile and adjusted her lab coat, "How are you feeling, Mr. Malhotra?"
"Crap" He muttered, and Ridhima nodded in understanding.
"You just underwent a surgery. You won't be feeling too good for a few days" Ridhima whispered, as she peered at the bandage again, her fingers touching his forehead, trying to feel the swelling.
"I miss my daughter" Rajeev muttered, and Ridhima's eyes flashed down to his. Her eyes teared up as she saw the pain visible through his eyes.
Not knowing what to say, Ridhima looked away and blinked hard a couple of times, going back to the task at hand.
"Can you bring her back to me?' He asked, his voice breaking as a few tears slipped down his cheek. Ridhima felt her throat constricting as she saw the man in front of her cry for his daughter.
Ridhima nodded, and squeezed his hand.
"Of course" She whispered, not knowing what she was promising to, but wanting to help pacify Rajeev.
"You remind me of her. I really hope she grows up to be like you, Doctor" Rajeev said, as the tears continued to flow down his cheeks, his face scrunching up in pain.
Ridhima noticed that he was exerting pressure on his brain, and tried to calm him down, "Mr. Malhotra, I iwll bring your daughter to you, but for me, right now, you need to calm down" Ridhima said, as she frantically looked at the monitor taking in his heart rate, then putting in a dose of painkiller to put him to sleep.
As the painkillers started to take effect, and Rajeev started falling into a deep slumber, he muttered to Ridhima,
"Bring her to me..."
Rajeev dozed off, and Ridhima stared at him for a few minutes. She knew nothing about the man, and initially he had got on her nerves. But no one deserved to be abandoned from their family. She hoped that he would be reunited soon.
Squeezing his hand, Ridhima whispered, "I am sure you'll meet her soon, Mr. Malhotra"
Not sure whether i am happy with this part, or not. So constructive criticism is more than welcome! :D
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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