CHAPTER 17: Some steps back, some steps forward
"So what time should I come and pick you up?" asked Sapna's autowaala brusquely in Gujarati as usual as he braked to a hault outside the hospital.
"I don't know!" replied Sapna in irritation as she got out of the auto.
"What do you mean you don't know??" he said, "Your Mummy is going to have my head if you're not home before dark, you know that, right?"
"Mummy ka chamcha!" she muttered under her breath irritatedly. Then speaking up in a louder tone, she replied in as polite a tone as she could muster, "Bhai, abhi tum jaao…main Mummy ko phone karke bata dooni kitne baje aana hai….duty ka time kucch fixed nahin hota hai…"
"Lekin.." he tried.
"Accha ab main chalti hoon, late ho rahi hoon," she interrupted hurriedly and took off before he could start his bhaashanbaazi again.
"Yeh Mummy kabhi samajhti kyun nahin hai??!" she thought to herself as she walked off, "She just wants to pretend as if this is some part-time 'game' that I'm playing and not a real job!" she ranted in her mind, "Of course!" she laughed sarcastically, "Asli 'job' to shaadi karke ghar sambhalna hi hota hai unki nazron mein. Aur upar se yeh bodyguard mere peeche laga ke rakha hua hai! Uff!!"
Still muttering in irritation to herself about the autowalla and her Mummy, Sapna pulled open the door to Sanjeevani and walked in briskly.
Nurse's station:
Armaan was standing at the Nurse's Station looking over a patient's case file when Atul walked over.
"Hi Armaan!" he said.
"Heyyy Champ!" said Armaan, looking up from the file. "What's new? Bade din hogaye…theek se baat cheet nahin ho payee, haina?"
Atul smiled, "Nothing much yaar, just been busy with a few new patients recently. You?" He took one of the files from the counter and started skimming through it, surreptitiously checking his watch as well.
"Same here, yaar!" said Armaan with a sigh, "Hitler aajkal sabka ragda lagva rahi hai."
"Aakhir Hitler hai, aur kya karegi," chuckled Atul.
"Arey waah, Champ! Tu toh aaj bade acche mood mein lag raha hai. Hilter hum sab ki vaat laga rahi hai aur tu kitni cheerfully chehak raha hai?? Kis khushi mein, haan?" said Armaan elbowing him in the stomach teasingly.
Atul felt a blush coming on, but he valiantly tried to prevent it, "Uhh…kuch nahin yaar! What makes you say that?" he said, looking down at the file and flipping a page as casually as he could, trying to avoid Armaan's eyes.
"Oye hoye! Mera pyara champ sharma raha hai?" said Armaan, noticing his blush anyways, "Awwwww" he pinched one of Atul's cheeks. "Kya Champ ko lowe showe ho gaya hai?? Haan?"
Atul turned even redder, "Armaan yaar…aisa kucch nahin…"
"So who's the lucky girl?" interrupted Armaan. "Tu mujhe nahin bataayega?? Such a landmark event in your life and you didn't even tell me??!" he said, a little reproachfully now.
"Woh…uhhh….nahin yaar…" Atul continued to fumble, trying to figure out a way to sidestep the topic.
Meanwhile, Armaan contined to grin at him, totally enjoying himself.
Atul looked away and suddenly saw Sapna approaching. "Sapna's here!" he exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief inwardly, hoping Armaan would drop the topic.
Sapna finally reached the Nurse's station, residual irritation with her Mummy as well as the autowallah still showing on her face.
"Hey guys! What's up?" she said, smiling at both of them and trying to clear her mind of irritation.
Armaan's eyes widened and he stared at her for a moment, then he slowly turned and stared at Atul. And then he nodded and slowly grinned at Atul, the grin getting wider with every moment. Atul looked back at him in confusion, wondering what was wrong with him.
"Oye hoyeeeee" said Armaan slowly, "Toh yeh baat hai! Champ aur Sapnaben, haan?"
Sapna turned to look at Atul in confusion, "What is he talking about??"
"I have NO idea!" replied Atul.
"Oh come on, you guys! Ab chupane se koi faayda nahin hai!! I know everything!" smirked Armaan.
"Everything?" echoed Sapna and Atul at the same time, looking at him as he was loosing it.
"Did you really think I wouldn't find out about both of you? Arey ismein chupane ki baat hi kya hai?? Jab pyar kiya to darna kya!" he said, putting an arm each around both of them.
Both Atul and Sapna's heads snapped instantly towards each other and they were rendered speechless in shock.
Sapna emerged from the shock first and then she started giggling. Now Atul and Armaan both turned to look at her in confusion. She wiggled out from under Armaan's arm, but the giggling continued, escalating into full on laughter.
"You think…" she gasped, "You think…Atul…me…oh god!" she collapsed into another fit of giggles. "Oh god, I need to catch my breath!" she said, bracing a hand against the nearby wall.
"Is ko kya hogaya hai?" Armaan asked Atul. Atul shrugged, totally befuddled and unable to understand what the hell was going on.
"Armaaaaaaaaan!" laughed Sapna when she finally managed to catch her breath. "Humare pyare, pyaaaaaare, but thooooooode se buddhu Armaan," she said, tweaking his chin.
"Huh?" said Armaan, just staring at her stupidly.
"Arey yaar! Atul and me are NOT in love, you silly boy! His heart is already taken! He's in love with…." She broke off abruptly, and bit her tongue inwardly, quickly glancing up at Atul in embarrassment.
Atul just gaped at her, completely shocked beyond wits. She knows??! he thought to himself in shock. But how?? How on earth did she find out??
Sapna felt more than a little amused at the almost identical looks of shock on both Atul and Armaan's faces, and she couldn't help the smile that broke out in that moment.
"With whom?" said Armaan after a few seconds, his brain apparently finally working again.
Atul quickly glanced at Sapna, his eyes imploring her not to reveal his secret. Sapna smiled back at him in understanding, closed her eyes and nodded, reassuring him.
"Ummm…with his plants, of course!" she replied to Armaan, "Come now, Armaan! I thought you would've figured that out! Who else could it be?? Atul ke plants uski jaan hain, haina Atul?" she nudged him.
"Uhh…haan haan!" he agreed vigorously.
"Plants?" repeated Armaan, then with a pause, "Oh really?" he said, looking at both of them a little suspiciously now.
****************************************************************************************
"Riddhima!" called out Sapna, noticing Angie and Ridz hurrying over. 'Hiiiiiii!"
Armaan turned around upon hearing her name and watching his favorite target approaching, thoughts of Atul and his potential love interest were temporarily driven from his mind.
"Hey Gorgeous!" he greeted Angie in his usual way, giving her a hug. Atul stiffened slightly, but only Sapna noticed and shook her head in amusement.
"Heyyy Armaan" she greeted him back, returning his hug. Then she glanced over at the other two. "Hi, Sapna," she smiled, then paused and said, "Hi, Atul."
"Hi, Anjali," he replied, smiling back, wondering if that slight tinge of formality in her tone was his imagination.
Meanwhile, Armaan was upto his usual antics. He gave Riddhima the once over, knowing it would irritate her, taking in her turquoise green salwar kameez and said, "Looking good for a change today, Basket! I'm impressed! Did you finally decide to take some valuable fashion advice from your beautiful sister?"
"Oh shut up, you loser!" retorted Riddhima. "Like you're one to talk! Mr. I'll-wear-two-collared-full-sleeved-shirts-all the time. Yeah, that's realllllllll fashionable." She rolled her eyes.
Armaan grinned back at her, and leaning in, said, "Kyun? Tumhein pasand nahin hai?? If you want, I can take one off? Or do you want me to take both of them off?" he smirked.
Riddhima gaped at him in shock, her jaw dropping open, "What??!!! Maine….Tum…" she sputtered uselessly.
"Chi Chi Riddhima!" he said suddenly, shaking his head at her. "What are you thinking?? You think I'm going to take them off right now?! I meant, changing out from them into something else later on! Tumhari kismet itni aasani se nahin chamakne waali! My god! Yeh aaj kal ki ladkiyaan!" he finished in mock horror, shaking his head.
Angie burst out into laughter at that, "Armaan!!," she shook her head at him. He winked back at her.
"Disgusting!" cried Riddhima, finally finding her voice. "You….are…a….disgusting…."
"I'M disgusting??!!" he said, pretending to be hurt, "Was I the one thinking about…?"
"Ok, you guys," interrupted Angie, still laughing, "Take a break from it for now. Hitler's approaching. Ridzie, close your mouth and try to compose yourself into some semblance of normality, please!"
************************************************************************************************
Dr. Keerti finally reached the Nurse's Station and as she rattled off the various announcements and duties assigned for the day, varying thoughts ran through the minds of each of the interns in front of her.
Armaan thought to himself with a smirk, "Basket really does provide such good entertainment! I can't remember the last time I found this easy a target." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye a bit, "She really is looking pretty today….that color suits her. If she wasn't shrieking all the time and ruining the effect, she wasn't half bad."
Riddhima fumed to herself, "What the hell does he think of himself?? Argghh! I wish I could've thought of a better retort! Why does he get on my nerves so much?? And why is Di always supporting him over me?"
Anjali surreptitiously looked at Atul from under the corner of her eyes, and found him looking back at her. She started inwardly, and them smiled at him and nodded politely before looking to the front towards Dr. Keerti again. "God Anjali!" she chided herself inwardly, "Why are you acting this way? He's not an idiot! He's bound to notice that you're a little distant this morning! Why??!" A voice inside her head answered in a small tone, "I don't know! I really don't! I just….he…it's like something's changed but I don't know what! And he…he looks at me as if he knows something about me that even I don't! And it's disconcerting to say the least!"
Atul returned Angie's polite smile and sighed to himself, "So she's trying to block me off again….Great, Atul! First she couldn't stand you, then she mellowed a bit and finally became friends with you, and now she seems to have promoted you to the status of politely formal colleague! Congratulations!" he thought to himself a littly glumly, all his euphoria over last night fading. "Practically back to square one."
Sapna watched each of her friends, deep in thought over one thing or another. She looked on in amusement as Armaan tried to surreptitiously sneak glances at Ridz, thinking no one was watching, while she seemed busy fuming to herself. Turning to Atul-Anjali, there seemed to be more serious undercurrents flowing between them. They were both constantly sneaking glances at each other, Angie more in confusion, trying not to be caught, and Atul appearing as if he was trying to decipher what was going on in her mind. She shook her head at all four of them, running in circles around each other. Armaan-Riddhima didn't seem to be aware at all yet as to why they were constantly trying to get on each other's nerves….Armaan much more so than Riddhima. "I wonder if he'll realize his feelings first," she laughed to herself, "Oh I'm going to totally enjoy ribbing him about that!"
Atul-Anjali atleast seemed to have progressed further. Atul was very obviously deeply in love with her, but Angie seemed to be very confused. Sapna glanced at Atul in sympathy, but he was still looking at Angie. "He hasn't picked an easy person to love," she thought to herself. "But then," she paused, "Is it really about choice?" After a few moments, she blinked and came out of her deep analysis. "Whew, Sapna!" she muttered to herself, "Kahin Mummy ka asar tujh pe bhi to nahin hone laga?? Ab tu bhi har jagah jodiyaan banaati phir rahi hai!"
"…..I've just updated the latest IOTW scores on the board." Dr. Keerti was saying, at which everyone suddenly snapped out of their deep thoughts and were attentive again.
"As you can see, Dr. Anjali is now leading, with Dr. Armaan two points behind her. The IOTW award will be announced tomorrow, so today is your last chance to gain points. So work hard, and all the best to all of you." She said, taking her files from the counter and walking away brusquely.
Anjali turned to the board and felt a warm glow of happiness spreading throughout her as she saw her name up on top. "Yes!" she thought to herself. "Almost there! No one could stop her from winning the award now!"
Armaan and Riddhima had been about to congratulate her, but they got paged in that very instant, so they hurriedly left.
Atul had just started to walk over to her to talk for a bit when she also got paged, and turned and hurried away, even though she had sensed him approaching.
Atul watched her walk away, and as he turned to walk over to his own duty, he saw Sapna standing in front of him.
Atul closed his eyes for a bit and then opening them, quietly said, "Thanks, Sapna"
"Oh foh! Ismein thanks ki koi zaroorat nahin hai yaar!" she punched him lightly on the arm, "What are friends for?"she smiled at him, and he smiled in reply.
"So….want to talk about it?" she asked him. "You seem a little upset….jhagda hua?"
Atul remained silent for a bit, and then he laughed to himself ruefully. "Nahin….jhagda toh nahin hua…quite the opposite infact." He said, smiling a little at the memory. Then after a moment, he said, "Waise ek baat bataao, how did you find out?? You almost gave me a heart attack back there!"
Sapna laughed at that, "Haha! Well, Attulji, I first started noticing 'daal mein kucch kaala' at the medical camp…aapki nazrein unse hat ti hi nahin thi!" she teased.
Atul ducked his head and grinned embarrassedly.
"And then," she continued, totally enjoying herself, "you pretty much confirmed it when you gave your "pehla nasha' special performance in the locker room that day….remember?"
"Oh god!!! You saw that??!" said Atul, wanting to go and hide somewhere now. "But you told me…."
"But you were looking chooooo chweet while doing it yaar!" she teased him further, pulling his cheeks.
"Sapna yaar!" he said, trying to wiggle away, "Please don't embarrass me so much also now!"
Sapna laughed at that a bit and then gradually sobered down. "If I ask you something, bura to nahin maanoge?"
Atul smiled at her and shook his head, "Nahin yaar, go ahead"
"Tum…aur Anjali….how…? she asked, "I mean…yes, love is unexpected I guess, but when….? Especially the way she…." And Sapna clamped her mouth shut, thinking she'd said too much.
Atul laughed slightly and turning, held her shoulders and said, "You thought main iska bura maan jaaunga?? Ab main bolun ki kya itni si hi dosti hai humaari?" he chided her, tilting his head a bit.
Sapna grinned back at him, "Ok baba! Aage se main jee khol kar kucch bhi bindaas bolungi, chalega??"
"Daudega!" replied Atul and they both laughed together.
After they'd both subsided, Atul replied to her original question, "I can understand yaar…I think that question is there in my subconscious in some way or the other even now. When I first started to fall for her, I thought I was going crazy. We couldn't be more different from each other….in every possible way!"
He paused for a moment, but Sapna didn't say anything, waiting for him to finish, and not wanting to break his chain of thought.
He sighed, "I don't know when it happened yaar. One moment, she was AnJALI, and the next she was the girl whose one smile lights up my entire world. There are so many layers hidden beneath that icy avatar that she tries to maintain in front of the entire world. And every little glimpse I got of the girl behind the Ice Princess…the one who has an unexpected vulnerability that just calls to me in ways I can't explain. I don't know…" he said, looking off into the distance talking to himself almost now, "I see her and I just want to take her in my arms and take away all that pain…to fill her life with joy instead of this pain that seems to be so deeply embedded within her….I…I don't even know if I'm making any sense," he finished with a rueful laugh.
"You do, Atul," said Sapna quietly, putting a hand to his shoulder. "You make perfect sense," she said. "Anjali is a very very lucky girl!" she said firmly. Atul smiled at her and shook his head.
"Yes she is! Now if only she knew it!" she said. Atul laughed at that.
"Accha bataao…is waqt kya problem hai?"she asked.
"Pata nahin, yaar," replid Atul with a sigh. "For the first time yesterday, she actually seemed to sense something as well….but now she's pulled back again…and she's treating me like a polite stranger."
"Hmmm….I see," said Sapna thoughtfully. "Don't worry, yaar Attul. Ab I'm on board, na! We will figure something out!"
Suddenly a voice called out on the intercom, Dr. Atul, Dr. Sapna….Please report to the General Ward. Dr. Atul, Dr. Sapna
They both looked at each other and sighed in resignation.
"Anjali ko thoda wait karna padega, I guess," said Sapna, "Duty calls!"
"Yep! Waise Sapna, I wanted to…" started Atul.
"Oh god yaar, ab please thanks mat bolna phir se!" she interrupted.
"Actually Sapna," he said in amusement, "Main to puchhne waala tha….Jignesh ka kya haal hai?" he wiggled his eyebrows.
"Atttul!!!!!!!" she started after him, and he ran off laughing ahead of her.
Cricket
43