I WILL BE THERE(AR) part 13(inst.) pg 109 06/06 - Page 69

PART 12

Armaan was half lying on the couch of his cabin. He was tired and exhausted doing continuous duties for four consecutive days and nights and there is still one more night to go. It was getting really troublesome for him to manage Rohan as well as duties at same time. What with his school, studies and top of all, nightmares. Being in hospital has again triggered his tendency of seeing nightmares in a rapid level. It was getting really tough for him to keep a watch on Rohan every single time at night as he had duties to attend to. Even yesterday he had found him crying and shaking with fear cradling in his chair. It had taken him a long time to console him and put him to sleep once again. As a result he had not slept a wink whole night only to get drowsy at the wee hours of morning but that liberty was also not been granted as he had been called for an emergency surgery. And after sending Rohan to school and taking on the grueling duties for hours now only he had got his much deserved launch break of thirty minutes which he had decided to spend sleeping in his cabin as his every muscle is crying for rest. But much to his dismay, sleep seemed to have ditched him for good too. He found himself thinking about all the happenings of last few days. And to say there was actually quite a few things that were not anyway common or usual. There were defenitely some short of weird changes that he cound not help but notice.

And what else that can be other than Dr. Riddhima Gupta. Armaan rubbed his forehead unknowingly. He was more than puzzled at the fact that this girl, as it seemed, had stepped into his system to disrupt it someway or other inspite of all his desperate efforts to keep her out of his mind. As it is, she seemed to invade his thoughts quite more often for his own comfort. She is disturbing the equilibrium of his life greatly. Be it his work, his thoughts or his family. Thinking about family he was not really unaware of the growing bond between Rohan and Riddhima. Knowing Rohan it just amazed him how Riddhima had managed to be this close to him in such short period of time. It's not that Rohan is not good with his other friends but with Riddhima it seemed that he had formed a more special bond. He was spending a great amount of his time here in hospital with Riddhima and the way he behaved with her had made him surprised. Even most of his talks are based on Riddhima these days and if he admits the truth to himself this very fact had actually, to an extant, scared him. In a way he is feeling insecure that he is slowly slipping out of the heart of his little angel, the only family he has. May be he is stupid to think like this but he can not dismiss the nagging feeling as much as he tries. Taking the risk of sounding like a selfish freak he admits to himself that previously he was somewhere in a corner of his heart, felt secure at the fact that there were very few people in Rohan's life as in this way he can be the only one that Rohan can trust, can look up to or can love. The feeling of being needed or loved by someone is the only thing that he craved in his life and it in a way gave him the satisfaction that he had the most important place in Rohan's heart. But now the fear of loosing the only thing he had is slowly creeping into him making him restless and frustated. However he knew very well that as much as he is afraid or scared to loose him he can not just snatch Rohan away from Riddhima just for his selfishness, it won't be fair to Rohan, as intentionally or unintentionally Riddhima had became one of his reasons to smile. And his smile is the most precious thing for Armaan. There is nothing in this world that he can not do to make Rohan happy; to get that one smile on his face. Rohan is the sole reason of his life. He can still remember the day when Rohan told him about his new found friend. He was so cheerful and enthusiastic. Armaan knew that Rohan didn't has any friends at school or neighbourhood. He is really hesitant to open up. After his parents death he had created a shell around himself and constantly suffered from an inferiority complex that everyone around the world was piting him and sympathising with him. He doesn't talk freely in the fear that people would contantly make him realize that he is an orphan. He avoided children of his age as whenever he saw them with their parents it hurt him to no end and for the same reason he never attends any event at the school where parents are involve. It was too much for that little soul to bear. But with Riddhima surprisingly he doesn't has any of his usual inhibitions. With her, he behaved just like any other child of his age, a side that till now only Armaan was privy to see. Before Riddhima steped in, he was the only one person Rohan considered to be his best friend, his confident. But it's like some magic that Riddhima has casted on this little soul. Heck, he even let her call him 'Buddy' which was only Armaan's right to call him. He didn't know how she did it but now adays Rohan seemed to look forward for her company and this very fact made him apprehensive. Rohan was becoming more attached to Riddhima with each passing day but Armaan can not trust Riddhima. She is moody and immature. What if she hurt him by any chance? Can he risk it? But then again he can not just warp Rohan up from the world. Rohan needs to let go of himself. Didn't Armaan tried to make him understand that he should open up, make friends and live like just other kids and now when this time Rohan had himself initiated a try he can not just hold him back. These few days he had kept a watch on them and he can't deny the fact that Riddhima was quite impressive in handling Rohan. It seems she had a natural way with kids. The way she deals with Rohan gives an indication that her affection towards Rohan is heartfelt. But then also the question remains, Can he trust her?

However the friendship between Rohan and her is not the only reason that is troubling him. From last few days he had the instinctive feeling of being watched. And to his utter confusion he had noticed Dr. Riddhima Gupta observinging him secretly when she thought he was busy. It's like she is scaling him up for something that is unknown to him. But more than her secret watchfulness what disturbed him more is the way she looked at him whenever they came face to face. It was as if she was searching something in him, in his eyes. And her eyes were so piercing that he felt like being bare in front of her. Which he can not let happen. More over he had sensed that she wanted to say something to him. When ever they came across or talked however minimal that is, she seemed to be trying to speak about something but at the end withdrew herself from letting it out. And not only that, he didn't know if he had mistaken it or not but there were some weird changes in her usual behavior around him too, for which he can not pinpoint any specific reason. First, there is an abrupt closure of glaring and snide remarks from her. As long as he remembered they had gone through almost four days without any short of argument which is not anyway natural to him. The small talks that they had professionally are also devoid of any short of annoyance or irritation from her. As if she has suddenly transformed herself from a snob to all sober and nice. No, it's not a weird thing to act nicely and as far as he had noticed she usually behaved nicely with everyone but when it concerned HIM, it is definitely weird and that too with a capital W. To him it would be like a fish is trying to be friendly toward a frying pan. So, although he felt quite peaceful by the absence of her constant zibes, his hyper active brain making him more than puzzled to think what is actually going on in that head of her?

Now coming to the second point and most important one that shocked him out of his wits, no,even the word 'shock' would not suffice, it is more likely what gave him almost a heart attack is the fact that she had apologized thrice to him. To HIM!!!!and though he had not marked those days with red, he had certainly remembered all the instances. The 1^st one was definitely the day at Children Ward when they accidentally bumped. Second one being the other day when she by mistake had grabbed his patient's file instead of her's at the nurse station. When he had pointed that out rudely she just said sorry and taking the right one left from there living him and sister lovely equally dumbfounded. Why sister lovely? Common, every living soul in the the hospital knew about the "best" of relationship they shared. And the last and the most recent one being the previous day, at canteen. They stepped into the canteen almost at same time. She sat on a chair without noticing that he had held it before. When he irritatedly said that he was the first one to grab that chair and expected her to retort back she again said sorry to not have noticed it and grabbed another chair to seat leaving him and all his friends staring agape at her. And not only that through out the launch whenever he looked at her direction he found her eyes gazing at him with an weird expression which had made him somewhat conscious and uncomfortable. That was not usual. Not at all. And as far as he tries to deny it was mainly because of her that he had cancelled upon going to lunch today at canteen. He didn't know if he would be considered as mad if he thought that the big headed and cranky Riddhima was far better than this calm and sober one. At least he knew how to tackle the first one and had prepred himself for it. But this new avatar of her had left him clueless. His rational mind can not help but raise question on what actually is this girl trying to do? Is it some kind of hidden strategy on part of her? Coz it is very unlikely of Riddhima Gupta to be nice to Armaan Mallik all of a sudden without any cause.

The beep of his pager indicated the end of his launch time. He had his afternoon rounds. Sighing he got up from the couch and was about to move out when he heard a knock on his door. " Come in. ." he permitted and one of the nurses peeped through from the door. "I hope I am not disturbing u sir. . " she asked with a shy smile . Armaan rolled his eyes at the instant blush that creeped on her cheeks seeing him. Why the girls have to be so weird all the time? He is really irritated by all this blushing business. Common, it's almost a year that he is here, why can't they act normal around him. Everytime he talked to them it felt like he is proposing and not talking medicine, blood or operation.

On the other hand Riddhima is really finding it difficult to talk to Armaan. Every time she thought of talking to him something hold her back. May be it was the cold and stern glare with which he greeted her every time. It's a kind of role reversal on part of them as previously it was her job to throw those angry glares at him. But the more appropriate reason would be her tounge tiedness infront of him every time they came face to face. It's like all her words got stuck at her throat choking her vocal ability. Common guys, realizing your mistake is one thing but adimitting it aloud to someone is a very different and difficult task altogether. Last few 3/4 days she had tried to behave nice and sober with him and hoped that he had noticed her efforts. Well he had certainly noticed it as she can still remember his stupified and flabbergasted expression when she had said sorry to him. That was a site to watch, she chuckled. She can not help but wish her efforts in being nice and all to come as useful when she will actually talk to him. She wanted to short things out with Armaan not only for herself but for the bond between her and Rohan also.There is no denying that in this short span of time Rohan had managed to make a special place in her heart. But she was quite apprehensive about Armaan's reaction to their relationship. Riddhima is happy that Armaan had not stopped Rohan from coming or talking to her. Despite disliking her so much Armaan had never tried to come between them two though she have not missed the fact that Armaan himself had avoided coming to them when she and Rohan were talking but had kept a watchful eye on them. Although it sometime made her think that she might be intruding in their private space or that Armaan might consider her as harmful for Rohan taking into consideration about their not so friedly relationship but at the same time it also had gave her a warm feeling about how Armaan was protective around Rohan. That's why she wanted to ensure Armaan that she is not going to hurt Rohan in anyway as he is really special to her. She wanted Armaan's full concent on their bonding as she had already realized in this short period of time that to Rohan, Armaan is everything. He is Rohan's best friend; his confidant; his family and his hero. His world starts and ends with Armaan. Of all the things he talked about, Armaan remained a constant part of it. And for Riddhima, the more she heard about Armaan from this little kid the more her bitterness gave away to respect for him and the more the respect grew, there raises an irresistible urge to know him better; to discover him personally. And what can be a better way than to leave all the bitterness behind and start afresh. Though she was doubtful about the response from his side but nonetheless she was determined to try. So after a lot of hesitation she had finally decided to talk to him today itself but she beceme highly disappointed when he didn't turn up for launch. But as she didn't wanted her resolution to fall weak by procrastinating it she decides to have the talk with him at his cabin and in a way it was safe too coz 1^st of all, they will be alone there and if he shouts on her, which most definitely he will, it will be less embarrassing than in open and moreover there will be less chances to be caught by Dr. Kirty too. In no way she wants to face another punishment from her. So taking a deep breath she moved towards his cabin.

Her strong and confident stride started to falter as soon as the door of his cabin came into her view. At once her brain started to contemplate on the rightness of her idea. What if she made a fool of herself? What if he laughs seeing her apolozising? But she shook her head shrugging off all the negative thoughts. She would do what she held to be right. Besides who can reject Riddhima Gupta? And the confidence was back. With a poised smile she stood before his door and was about to turn the knob but something made her stop. The cabin has a glass door so she can see what is happening inside but what she saw didn't give her a nice feeling. Not at all. Armaan was seating on his chair and was looking through some file but there is a girl also present there, a nurse as her attire suggests, and was smiling dreamily at him. One close look and she can recognize her immediately. She was the certified hospital s**t. Though Armaan didn't seem to notice the attention he was getting and was instructing her about something but Riddhima didn't feel that anything is going through the thick skull of that girl over there who is all busy checking him out with lustful eyes rather than listening to his words. There is a sudden surge of anger that rushed through her and Riddhima found herself thinking to go in there and knock something at that girls head to put some sense in that good for nothing brain of her. "Bloody bi****, hospital main kam karne ati hain yea doctor o pe line marne. . can't she just concentrate on work. .", she cursed her mentally. Her fingers clenchted the door knob tighter and before her anger takes the better of her and compelled her do something stupid she turned back stormed out from there conveniently forgetting her actual reason to go there. But by the time she had reached her own cabin she had conviniently channeled all her anger from that nurse to her favorhit punch bag Armaan Mallik. The soft corner that she felt even a few minutes before, evaporated in the thin air though she didn't know the reason. She can't stop muttering curses under her breath, "Idiot. . Moron. .kya samajta hai apne aap ko??. .is it Hospital or some kind of ramp show??. .itna cool dude banke ane ki kya jarurat hai? . . khudko Brad pitt samajhta hai?. .Attention seeker. ." and she was continuing with her curses moving to and fro in her cabin when Anjali came there and called her,

" Hey Ridzy. ."

But in her bout of anger Riddhima was unable to recognize her di's voice and Anjali was met with a very rude and irritated, " Kya hai? . ."

"Woah. . .easy. . .what happened?" Anjali was surprised to see Riddhima so cranky.

" Woh. . Armaan. ." but she abruptly stopped when she recognized that it was actually her di with whom she was talking. She bit her lips instantly at what she was about to blurt out..

" Kya Armaan??. . . what happened?? . . teri firse Armaan se jhagra hue kya?. . .what is the problem between u two?. ." Anjali can not help but ask. After that showdown last week between the two everyone is aware of how good Armaan and Riddhima get along with each other. Though they always had an inkling about the tension between these two but after that open air argument they didn't have any doubt that there is something wrong between these two and the most irritating part is that they didn't even know about anything that brought this on. Armaan and Riddhima are both nice people and very well mannered so what had actually conspired?

But Anjali's question made Riddhima think of what actually happened. And to her utter surprise she didn't actually know what brought on her anger. She had went to Armaan to short everything out but then why didn't she? She remembered seeing Armaan and that nurse in his cabin but what actually made her this tempered, she couldn't configure now. Then she recollects the look on that girl's eyes and again felt her nerve pounding. But what that actually means? Was she angry at the way the girl looking at Armaan? But why that would be? Isn't it natural that he is bound to draw attention with that look he got?. And its not that he was taking advantage of that nurse as it was quite the other way round so the theory that her feminist side might had kicked in, also didn't hold any ground. So what it can be? Why was she acing like a jealous freako all of a sudden? What? JEALOUS? As soon as the J word popped into her mind her eyes became wide. No way. She can't be jealous!! No .definitely not.. She tired to shake the possibility off immediately. How can that be possible? How even that word can pop up in her mind? She must be loosing it. She had met this guy only three weeks before and then also they didn't really start off or share such a relation to draw this type of intense emotion from her. May be she is overreacting at the fact that she did not get a chance to talk to him this time also which was in itself quite frustrating and frustration can make u think weird things. After all she is trying to talk to him for quite some times now. And she is not that type of girl to prolong any matter for such long. 'Yes . . this must be the reason' she convinced her mind. So the first thing she has to do is to talk to him and may be then every thing would get shorted. So she calmed herself down and looked at the expectant face of her di, "Umm. . nothing di. .u know na. . . me and Armaan don't go too well. .he always irritates me. ." she said for covering her slip of.

"Wohi to . . I don't know why u two don't get along?. .Or is bar kya kya ussne.??" Anjali enquired farther. She is not convinced with Riddhima's answer.

"Choro na di. . I will handel. .u don't hav to worry. ." Riddhima tried to shrug it off. It's quite uncomfortable to lie to her di but she can't just tell her the real reason when she herself doesn't know it clearly.

"R u sure?. . "Anjali knew she was hiding something but didn't want to pry on Riddhima's personal matters as long as she doesn't let her. Riddhima was mature enough to handle matters on her own.

Riddhima smiled. Her di is always so concerned about her. "Yes di . .I am sure. .Now tell me why did u come ? kuch kam tha? " she tried to divert her di's mind from the topic and she was successful as Anjali suddenly remembered why she had come here.

" Oh , I forgot. .i just came to tell that my duty is over for the day . .so I was thinking to go for a shopping and I am taking the car. . tujhe koi problem to nahi hogi na? . . yea fir ratko main wapis aaun thujhe lene?" Anjali asked.

Riddhima smiled " No di. . I won't hav any problem. .may be u hav forgot but I have night duties tonight also. .so I will only go home at morning . .and don't worry . . I will take a cab . .u go and enjoy. ."Riddhima hugged her sister and bid her a bye.

"Ok then . .cya'" Anjali went out of her cabin and Riddhima also decides to go for her duty. She cames out of her cabin and was immediately met with the person she didn't really wanted to be face to face. . . .

" Hey Dr. Riddhima. .seems like my day is going to get beautiful. . what with seeing u the first thing after coming to the hospital. ..and I must say u r looking sex. . .i mean . . gorgeous.. " Dr. Bhargav drooled on her presence.

Riddhima plastered a fake smile to hide her irritation. She is more than annoyed with the continuous flirty remarks and efforts to hit on her on the parts of Dr. Bhargav. She didn't know what it would take him to understand that she is not in any way interested in him. She has tried everything on her part. Tried to avoid him; tried to keep the conversation with him as minimum as possible and even giving him hints that she is not liking his advances but nothing seemed to penetrate his thick skull. It's not that she had not dealt with people trying to get flirty with her before but there is something in this particular Dr. Bhargav that made her too much uncomfortable around him and after that canteen incident she can feel a kind of negative vibe around him that always gave a alert to her subconscious mind to stay away from this guy. And even if she discards this suspicious feeling has something also to do with Armaan's warning about this guy. Somehow a part of her heart had believed in his warning. But then Dr. Bhargav is their senior. So, she tried to keep the respect level that they should maintain in their professional life.

" Thank u Sir. .Umm. .if u don't mind I have some important works so.. ." she was trying to find an escape when her eyes dart over his shoulder and fall on Armaan standing a few feets away from them but his eyes were resting on them. There was a deep frown that adorned his face and he seemed kind of troubled. She contemplated on what caused that frown but then something like lightening caught her mind. Is he disturbed seeing them together? Just the way she got affected seeing him with that nurse? Her face almost broke into a vengeful smile. Well Dr. Mallik, its payback time. You just can not disrupt my mental peace and go away like that. She looked back at Dr. Bhargav in a flirty way. ." But. . before I go . . may I say that u r not looking bad urself either. . "

Dr. Bhargav felt confused for a brief moment. He is really been trying to zero his target on this girl for quite sometime now. But she seemed to be a tuff naught to crack. His all previous efforts had been failed by this girl either with her commendable wit in avoiding and slipping away from him or by her luck. But today it seemed he has gotten his chance without much pain. Though he didn't know what compelled the sudden change in her attitude but then he didn't want to think much about it also. All he knew was that his pray is getting her legs on his trap willingly and its just time for his feasting on it. His face lightens up in a cunning sharpness which gone unnoticed by Riddhima as she was busy stealing glances at some particular Dr. Mallik to see his reaction and celebrate on that. But her merriment short lived as he left the place hurriedly as if he had sensed that she is noticing him leaving her frowning to herself.

" Aaha. . .my day seems to be more brighter than I thought. .A Compliment and that too from such a charming lady.. that's surly calls for a celebration. .so would u mind having a coffee with me??. . " Dr. Bhagav took no time to grab his chance.

Oh No!! What hav I done?? It was the fast reaction that came to Riddhima's mind. While doing her great performance in making Armaan taste his own medicine she hav forgot where she was stepping in. It had gone out of her conscious mind that she would be left with Dr. Bhargav once Armaan left which she can very well see now. Why she always do something weird that she regrets when ever Armaan is concerned. 'Damn u Mallik' she cursed him under her breath. But now she has to handle it on her own. " Oh ..Umm. . may be next time . . I just remember that I had forgot something important Dr. Kirty had told me . .So.byee. and without giving him any chance to stop her almost ran out of there. Little did she know that she had made the shark smell the blood.