Cherished Wounds ( Updated Ch 14 ) Pg 140 22/06 - Page 10

'So you are the new doctor right? Khushi Kumari Gupta, all the way from Jammu?' Aakash kept on attacking Khushi with his incessant questions.

They were sitting on a few rocks that were piled up near the Base Hospital, giving them a magnificent view of the snow laden mountains. The view from where they sat, gave a clear sight of the winding roads, little or probably no inhabitation at all, except a few old men and young boys, guiding their cattle, mostly sheep, towards the south. It was another beautiful morning, as they sat there, sipping the coffee, awaiting another call.

'So, your family, they stay here, in Kashmir?' Khushi asked, looking at the man sitting next to her. He was a good guy, bright, gentle, understanding, unlike the others that she had met the other day, her mind replaying the situation with Arnav.

'They are back in Delhi, mom, dad and my grandmother. What about you?'

They talked on for about an hour, their discussion ranging from brutal war, to childhood memories. His had been an easy life, hers intruding with many a hardships.

---

Khushi attended five soldiers that day. Mostly with mild injuries, and dehydration. The afternoon called for a surgery that both Aakash and Khushi performed. She had tended to many wounds in the past. But that man was profusely bleeding. They took out the bullets, the man breathing a sigh of relief, as he found the much needed sleep overcoming him, a brave smile plastered onto his face.

Aakash left for some work at around four leaving Khushi in charge.

---

The soft sunlight seeped in through the huge windows of her cabin, creating a wonderful glow on her peaceful face. After a small meal of Kashmir's delicious Rajma Chawal, she had dozed off into a blissful sleep in a few minutes.

Khushi was dreaming. Dreaming of lush green mountains, rolling down the hills, when she felt a strong grip on her shoulders and an urgent voice resounding in her ears.

'Are you listening? Doctor? Wake up?'

As her eyes adjusted to the sharp light, she found herself looking into a familiar pair of black orbs that were filled with as strange mixture of worry, anger and slight irritation.

'You? What is the matter?' Khushi replied, her voice still groggy.

'If you are done with your beauty sleep, would you care to save some lives?'

She didn't bother to reply and made her way out of the cabin into the main area and was greeted by around six 'seven stretchers, occupied with soldiers. The nurses were already tending to them as Khushi went around each stretcher to gather the background details of each patient.

---

Arnav watched her work. Her long hair tied up in a messy bun, a pen tucked in there, preventing them to fall loose. He watched her work with full concern, sometimes twitching her nose, sometimes losing her eyes out of frustration. He watched as that very frustration grew into absolute shock sometimes, sometimes sympathy. Sometimes, they were clouded in pride, and sometimes just trying to provide a look of comfort to the patient in front of her. She was strong. At least by exterior. A deep sense of sincerity exuded from her. He watched as she amputated a soldier's foot, her eyes not giving away anything. The man groaned beneath her, but all she did was inject a sedative, and closing her eyes, only for a moment, she moved on to the next patient.

He knew she was anything but careless. He knew, he shouldn't have said those things the other day.

---

Khushi was suffocating. The overwhelming smell of blood and rust was slowly seeping into her nerves. And Arnav's piercing gaze on her face was not helping. Just making her all the more nervous. She had looked at him a few times from the corner of her eyes. He was eerily calm for a man who had probably fought thousands, and witness death every other day.

'Please. Please save me Doctor. I've a family I need to go back to. I can't die. Not today.'

The man that lay in front of her, pleaded Khushi. The sadness in his eyes, and the want to live on, cut through her mind. She knew there was no way he was surviving five bullets, one of them lodged right inside his ribcage. It was too late. Nut she went on with the surgery. Her hands were shaking with every passing second, as the man's heartbeat slowed down, and a few tears spilled from her eyes, finally venting out the frustration that had slowly built up in her.

As the man breathed his last, she exited the Operation Theatre, brushing away her tears with the back of her hand and went to the locker room, and dashed into one of the washrooms.

---

The chillingly cold water sluiced down her body. But she simply stood there, embracing the cold. Her mind replayed the events of the day, as her heart longed for the days she spent in Jammu. She longed to sit in front of her house, sipping the ginger tea, Payal made, looking out at tea green hills. She longed to be back at the small hospital, treating common men with mild fevers and small cuts. The front scared her. She was not scared of blood, but the mass destruction and the brave smiles glued to the soldiers faces, haunted her. But she would get used to it. She had to, she thought. After all, it would soon be home.

---

She sat there, with a mug of coffee in her hands, on the same rocks where she had sat on, in the morning, but this time alone. She let the cool air wash over her face. Warming her hands over the surface of the hot mug. Her damp hair against her neck and over her violet cardigan soothed her senses. She looked into the coal black sky. Unlike the cities, the sky was filled with stars, competing with the lights, yellow, blue and green, that could be seen down in the valley.

---

'What do you plan to do, fall off those rocks again, Doctor?' Arnav asked, standing over her, his tone, sarcastic as ever.

'No, Brigadier. A girl can get her piece of mind, by simply sitting alone for some time. Can't she?' Khushi replied, her voice calm, not even bothering to look up at his face. She had started to recognize that hoarse, husky voice slowly. She looked on into the sky, well aware, that he hadn't moved from his spot an inch.

'You haven't served at the front before? Ever? In Jammu?' Arnav asked, now sitting beside her on the rocks.

Khushi simply shaked her head, as if to say a no, still not looking at him.

'When we come to the Front, we are prepared for the consequences, the bloodshed, and the destruction. We don't sit and shed tears for the departed,' Arnav's steel grip tone pierced through her ears, forcing her to look at him.

'I amputated a man's leg today. Watched another die, as he pleaded for his life. Pleading for more time, to see his family, one more time. His wife could have been waiting'' Khushi spoke, her voice trembling, scared that she would start to cry again. Scared by the man's heartless voice.

'A wife and two children, precisely.' Arnav said looking on to her face and taking in the beautiful image she created. Rosy cheeks, probably numbed by the cold, trembling lips, wet hair plastered onto her face. Not averting his gaze, he got up slowly.

'Do you have no emotions, no fear, no love, nothing?' Khushi stared into his eyes, searching for something, but found absolutely nothing. His face, chiseled to perfection remained blank, without a shred of expression of any kind.

'We left back our emotions, our fear and our love back at home, when we enrolled our names in the Indian Army, Doctor,' Arnav stated stiffly.

They both stared at each other, for a long time. Khushi sitting on the rocks, her neck craning to look up to his eyes. Arnav towering over her, his face devoid of any emotion. A gunshot occurred somewhere far, its voice reverberating across the valley, and causing them to break out of their reverie.

Arnav turned and started to walk away. Khushi turned and looked back into the stars.

Arnav turned, for one last time, looked at her, and taking in her shivering form, said,

'You should get inside Doctor. It's getting colder.'

She turned her head, looked up at him and slowly got up. Walking past him, she went a little forward, before turning back and saying,

'It's Khushi, Brigadier.'

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