||Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna|| An ArSh and SidMa FF (Chapter 1 - Pg 4) - Page 3

"Sid! Finally tumne apna phone uthaya. I was so worried. Tum teekh ho na?" she asked, her voice coated with worry.

"Of course Shilpa... main teekh hoon. Everything is over now. It's done..." said Sid, his voice barely audible.

"Sid... main tumhe pick karne aa rahi hoon. You wait there, at home." said Shilpa before she cut the call.

~*~

His cell phone beeped as he sat in the general ward, studying the case history of his patient. It was a message... a message from Dr. Kirti, which read "Meet me at the reception at 9:30 am."

He looked at his watch. There was just two minutes left for 9:30 am. Cursing his luck, he raced down to the reception just in time to see Dr. Kirti and Dr. Riddhima assembling there. Their moment their eyes met, they didn't seem to be aware of anything except the fact that they were facing each other.

"Good morning Dr. Armaan!" said Riddhima, her face blooming into a smile as soon as she saw him.

"Good morning Dr. Riddhima!" he replied back, his enthusiasm reaching its peak.

"Now... if you both are done with your greetings, shall we get to work?" out came Dr. Kirti's sharp voice, breaking their eye-lock.

"Sure Dr. Kirti..." said both of them together, hurriedly looking away from each other.

"Waise, where is Dr. Siddhant?" asked Dr. Kirti, her eyes fixed on Riddhima, as if she expected her to know the answer.

"Woh... Dr. Kirti..." she didn't know what to say. She actually didn't know where he was. She hadn't even bothered to know. She knew that she had left him somewhere, shattered and bleeding and didn't even bother to turn back and look at him.

"Where is Dr. Siddhant? Isn't he supposed to allot duties to you as the disciplinarian?" asked Dr. Kirti again, impatiently.

"I'm here Dr. Kirti. Sorry for the delay." said a voice from behind them.

Armaan, Riddhima and Kirti turned around to find Sid and Shilpa walking together towards them.

"Finally Dr. Siddhant is here. Now Dr. Siddhant, I'm sure you remember ki aap disciplinarian hai so you are supposed to allot duties to all of them?" said Dr. Kirti, in her usual sarcastic voice.

"Sure Dr. Kirti... thank you so much for reminding me." said Sid, with equal attitude.

Dr. Kirti then left for her duties, leaving the four of them alone. Riddhima looked at Sid. She noticed his swollen eyes and pale face. The usual twinkle in his eyes was missing. It seemed as if he didn't sleep well for days. Guilt filled within her. It was because of her. It was because of her all this had happened.

"Sid..." she called out to him. She wanted to talk to him... make things alright for him.

"Dr. Riddhima, aapke duty aaj Dr. JP aur mere ke saath hai, in the Dental department." said Sid, before she could say anything. "Dr. Armaan and Dr. Shilpa, you both will be working together in the general ward."

"No Dr. Siddhant. Mujhe Dr. Armaan ke saath General ward mein kaam nahi karni." said Shilpa, in a firm voice.

Armaan was taken aback. What was her problem with him? How did she grow to hate him so much?

"Kyun Dr. Shilpa? Aapko koi problem hai?" asked Armaan.

"Of course not Dr. Armaan! Main toh sirf yeh kehena chahti hoon ki kal bhi mera duty General ward mein hi tha, so I wanted to something different today. Moreover, aap Dr. Riddhima ke saath zyada comfortable honge na?" said Shilpa, the tone of her voice making Armaan and Riddhima flinch.

Riddhima looked at Sid, expecting him to defend them, but...

"I guess you are right Dr. Shilpa. I think Dr. Armaan and Dr. Riddhima will go to the General ward. Dr. JP and Dr. Shilpa will assist me in the Dental department." said Sid before he left.

"Shilpa! What the hell was that?" bursted out Armaan, as soon as Sid had left.

"What do you mean Dr. Armaan? Waise, its Dr. Shilpa." she said, her voice indicating professionalism.

"Dr. Shilpa... aapko koi problem hai Armaan ke saath kaam karne mein?" asked Riddhima, trying to control the sudden tears which had formed in her eyes, due to Sid's ignorance.

"Haan... hai problem. Because, if I work with Dr. Armaan, then automatically aapke duty Sid ke saath hoga Dr. Riddhima and he's been through enough already. Main nahi chahti hoon ki uske dil aur toot jaaye." said Shilpa, her every word stabbing like daggers in Riddhima's heart.

"Kya aap yeh kehena chahte hai ki main Sid ko takleef deti hoon?" asked Riddhima, her voice barely audible.

"Haan..." said Shilpa, knowing that her answer will hurt her sister, but it was the fact.

Before she could walk away, she felt a hard grip on her hand, as someone pulled her back to them. She turned back to find Armaan holding her, his eyes red with anger. His face was just inches away from hers; she could feel his breath fanning her face.

"What the hell Dr. Armaan? Let me go. You are hurting me!" cried Shilpa, trying to break free from his grip.

"What's wrong with you Shilpa? How dare you talk to Riddhima like that? Tum hoti kaun ho hamare personal life mein interfere karne waali?" asked Armaan, his anger at it's peak.

"Aur aap hote kaun ho usko manhandle karne waale, Dr. Armaan?" they turned back to find Sid, glaring at them, anger written on his face.

"Sid, yeh..." began Armaan, but before he could say anything, he was stopped in mid sentence by Sid.

"Aur haan... aapne puchcha tha na, ki yeh kyun hamare personal life mein interfere kar rahi hai? Yeh sirf mere personal life mein interfere kar rahi hai, and she has the rights to, kyunki woh meri best friend hai." he said, as he pulled Shilpa from Armaan's grip, before walking away.

~*~

PRECAP

"Shilpa... why are you avoiding me? Mujhse baat kyun nahi kar rahi ho? What's wrong with you?"

"You don't need me anymore Dr. Armaan. Your mission is accomplished. You just wanted me to be there to make Dr. Riddhima jealous and now the work is done."

-

"Sid... please, mujhse baat karo. Mujhe ignore kyun kar rahe ho? I'm sorry Sid. Please, chup mat raho... say something."

"Dr. Riddhima. Bohot late hogaya hai. It's better if we leave now. Kal duty pe jaldi report karna hai. Good night."