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CHAPTER 4: Subconscious Bonding?
Angie and Atul reached Sanjeevani, and before Atul could say a word to her, Angie stepped out of the car and walked away towards the entrance without a backward glance. Atul watched her walk away in puzzlement as usual. "I just can't figure her out!" he muttered to himself.
Anjali reached the nurse's station and smiled when she saw that Armaan was already there. "Thank god I have one normal person to talk to in here!" she thought to herself. "Otherwise I never seem to catch a break from the goody goody saccharine brigade!"
"Hey Armaan!" she said
"Hey Gorgeous!" he replied back with a smile, "How's my favorite co-intern doing today?"
"Don't ask…this morning did NOT start out on a good note. I got stuck giving a lift to Dr. Atulll Joshi" she said rolling her eyes and scrunching up her face in distaste.
Armaan smiled and said in a somewhat teasing tone "I'm gathering Dr. Joshi is not exactly one of your favorite people here in Sanjeevani?"
"Favorite people? Oh god! You've got to be kidding, Armaan! The guy is such an annoying geek! And the whole "I'm Mr. Eternal Sunshine" attitude gets on my nerves BIG time! And.." she trailed off when she saw Atul approaching. "And here comes Mr. Sunshine himself" she finished, rolling her eyes again.
"Hey Champ!" said Armaan
"Hi Armaan" replied Atul, and then glanced at Anjali who was busy studying her nails and pretending that she couldn't see him standing there.
Riddhima and Sapna soon joined the three of them, and Dr. Keerti showed up a couple of minutes after that.
"Good Morning, Interns" she said in her usual no-nonsense tone, and proceeded to assign them to their various duties for the day. Atul and Anjali are assigned to work together on a case in the ICU. Hearing this, they both mentally cursed their luck again.
ICU:
The patient had multiple fractures in both her arms as well as in one of her legs. The entire left side of her face was swollen up, and she seemed to have severe bruises on almost every inch of her body.
Atul and Anjali exchanged a somber look as they examined her.
"She looks like she's been beaten up mercilessly," said Anjali
"Yes, look at these bruises on her arms! I wonder who did this to her? I think we need to inform the police," said Atul
"You're right, I…wait, looks like she's gaining consciousness"
Atul and Angie moved over to the head of the bed, and watched the patient flicker her eyes, and then finally open them.
"Hello, Mrs. Desai," said Anjali gently "I'm Dr. Anjali, and this is Dr. Atul. How are you feeling now?"
Mrs. Desai tried to reply, but could only manage a moan.
"That's alright, Mrs. Desai," said Atul with a reassuring smile "You don't have to reply just yet."
"Just one quick question though, Mrs Desai, How did you get injured so severely?" asked Anjali.
Mrs. Desai's eyes instantly clouded with fear, and she looked like she was trying to say something, but was unable to.
"It's ok, Mrs. Desai," said Atul, "Please take some rest right now. We'll be back to check up on you soon."
Anjali looked like she was about to interrupt and say something, when Atul caught her eye, and very subtly shook his head. Anjali gave him an annoyed look, but decided to keep quiet.
In the corridor outside the ICU
"Why did you not let me talk there?" she asked him in an annoyed tone. "It's obvious that she's hiding something, and she seemed so scared when I asked her who did that to her."
"She looked like she was in great pain, Anjali! She was barely able to talk! Questions can wait sometimes!" he said.
She stopped suddenly, and arched an eyebrow at him as if to say, "Do you realize who you're talking to?"
Atul caught her look, and instantly repeated in a somewhat meeker tone, "I mean, she just looked like she was in so much pain, and it was so difficult for her to talk, so I thought maybe we could ask her later when she's feeling somewhat better."
Anjali looked at him for a moment, and then said, "Yes, I guess you're right." She turned and started walking again, missing out on the look of surprise on Atul's face.
"It's just that I felt so upset watching the evidence of the brutality that had occurred with her all over her body! Whoever behaved this barbarically with her deserves to punished!
"I agree completely, Anjali! It sickens me to think that one human being could do this to another! What is this world coming to?"
"Exactly! Atul, I think we need to call the police right now. I'm pretty sure that this is a case of domestic violence!"
"Yes, you're right. Let's go and inform Dr. Keerti first though."
"Alright."
They both then fell silent mulling over the case in their heads, neither one realizing that the silence between them was one of a comfortable understanding for the very first time.
Atul was thinking to himself about the case, when he suddenly realized something and smiled to himself. Anjali glanced over at him, and caught the smile.
"And what exactly is so amusing to you right now, Atul?" she asked.
"Huh? Uhh…nothing, nothing really"
"So are you laughing at me then?"
"No! No…nothing like that Anjali…it's just that…He glanced up at her for a quick moment, and then looked down again. "I just realized that this is probably the longest conversation that we've had since we met," he said, smiling at the floor. He looked up again and said, "Isn't that kind of funny in a random way?"
She gave him a look again as if to say, "What are you talking about? THIS is what you're thinking about right now??!!"
"Uhhh…I guess not." He finished in a small voice.
"I think we should be heading to Dr. Keerti's office now, Dr. Atul" she said in her usual cold tone."
"Yes, yes of course," he said, and gestured for her to walk ahead of him. As she swept pat him, he made a face at her back again. "The woman REALLY needed to develop a sense of humor," he muttered to himself.
He caught up with her and they were walking side by side again. Anjali glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, and watched him muttering something to himself under his breath again. She mentally shook her head at him. "Talk about random, she thought, How in the world did he come up with random stuff like that? But I guess…it IS kind of funny in an ironic way," She half-smiled to herself at that thought, and then glanced at him again. "He may be supremely annoying, but he wasn't that bad also.
Atul glanced up at that very moment and she instantly looked away. Atul blinked for a moment, "Ok, so had she actually been smiling at HIM for a moment there now? The woman was just a bundle of contradictions, wasn't she?" He wondered to himself if he should also mention that this was the very first time she'd called him just by his first name 'Atul' instead of the usual super snotty "Dr. Atulll". "Probably not a good idea, Dr. Atulll" he thought to himself, "No point in raising the hackles of the Ice Queen again." He was about to smile to himself again, but checked it mid-way in case she got all riled up again. And with that thought, he proceeded to hum "Cheeni kum" under his breath once again.
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