CHAPTER 7: SILENT TEARS SIERRA TOWERS The sun rises everyday greeting the horizon with light. Brightening the day… but no matter how bright the light was this day… for him it was all darkness. Looking out the window, staring at the animated streets of Mumbai, he remembered his past. The good and the bad, feeling lonely despite the fact that he had many loved ones. Reminiscing about the old times. His train of thought was broken due to a knock on the door.
Armaan poked his head through the door holding a phone in his hand
"Atul, mum's on the phone"
Atul who was facing the window turned his back on the view and took the phone from Armaan's hands. Armaan gave the phone to him; he took one look at his bloodshot eyes and decided to give him his space. He left the room as Atul talked on the phone.
Armaan decided to call Ridz and tell her he won't be able to come to the basketball court today.
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SANJEEVANI OBSTETRICS WARD "Ray, tum teekh hau...you've been very quiet today" Sapna enquired, she looked at Ray with concern on her face.
Ray was watching a father play with his newborn baby. He didn't turn around to look at Sapna. She saw where he was looking at and patted his shoulders.
"Huh…" Ray said coming out of his thoughts. "Erm…nothing…"
"Are you sure you're okay? You don't look well" Sapna said.
"Yes Di I'm fine…I just have a lot in my mind" Ray said looking down at the floor. Sapna immediately knew he was lying…but decided to leave it. She knew he'd tell her in his own time.
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After sometime
SAMEERS CABIN Sapna was talking to Sameer about a new case. She looked up from the case file she was reading to see, Sameer staring at a frame on his desk.
" Sir" Sapna said… "sir?" she repeated putting her file down.
Sameer looked away from the frame and said "Yeah Sapna…you will be assisting me in surgery in the evening"
"Yes I know sir…I was just wondering…is something bothering you?" She asked
"Sapna we are on duty right now, I don't think we should mix profession with our personal lives" He said softly.
Sameer got up and held the door open for her. As Sapna walked out the door he said "Lunch in my cabin, i'll tell you then"
Sapna smiled and blushed as she walked out the room.
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ONCOLOGY WARD She saw him checking a patient…he was acting a bit odd today. Not even a proper hello and he is definitely upset about something. She sighed and folded her arms.
Riddhima Gupta truly couldn't understand the species called
'boys'. One in particular…
Armaan Mallik.
He hasn't even called me basket...she thought, after a 5 min battle within her head. She decided she was going to go talk to him.
Just as she was about to say something Armaan said
"We've finished checking this patient…we need to do Mr Khanna's routine check up"
Before Riddhima had a chance to say anything Armaan walked out the ward. Riddhima quickly followed him as they headed towards the general ward.
"Armaan ruko!" Riddhima said
He stopped and turned around
"Haa bolo?"
"Are you okay? You look a bit bothered" She said looking at the worry on his face.
Armaan immediately smoothed out his face to a neutral expression and said
"Erm…its nothing just all the work pressure" He lied
"Superman! Don't lie to me. Tell me what's wrong, kyaa baat hain?" Ridz said folding her arms.
"Riddhima we're on duty right now….shall we go to the general ward" he said walking off without waiting for her answer.
"Uff…I'll get it out of him at lunch" and with that she followed him to the ward.
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AIDS WARD Atul stood there looking at the sign...
AIDS ward. Of all the duties he could have had today. Atul fought back the tears that were threatening to come out.
"Are you planning on going in sometime today?" Anjali said rudely to Atul. He looked at her and just walked into the ward.
What's wrong with him? He hasn't fought with me the whole day…he looks distracted, lost almost. Anjie thought to herself as she followed him into the ward.
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LUNCHTIME SAMEER'S CABIN Sapna took out her Tiffin and was expecting Sameer to take his out too. They had almost become
Tiffin buddies.
"Sameer tum aaj Tiffin nahee laye?" Sapna asked whilst Sameer avoided her question "You were meant to tell me…what's wrong?" she continued.
Sameer narrated what had happened in the morning.
"I had an argument with mum, about marriage"
"Sameer...I have an argument with mum almost everyday about marriage. Why are you getting so worked up about it?" Sapna said calmly.
"This isn't those normal arguments. I was stressed about a patient as it is, and on top of that mum was going on about some wedding and how I'm the only son and what not… Sapna this wasn't one of those little arguments. For the first time I stormed out of the house" Sameer said burying his face in his hands out of frustration.
"Sameer! Just call home and talk to your mum" she said picking up her mobile and dialling his house phone "Mums can be like that, don't worry she'll understand you just have to talk."
Sameer took the phone from her and looked unsure
"Trust me" She said.
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SANJEEVANI GARDEN Ray was sitting in the garden bench, watching a father pushing his 7 year old son on the swings. He remembered the times in the park with his Abbu. He silently prayed to Allah for his Abbu's welfare.
"Rehaan" Aaliyah said walking towards him. "You're here? And I was looking all over the hospital for you, why didn't you wait for me?"
Rehaan looked away from her...Aaliyah sensed there was something wrong, she took a seat next to him.
"Rehaan what's wrong? I've been watching you since morning, you haven't teased me or said one of your faltu jokes…there's something wrong" she said stating more than asking.
Rehaan turned his head around and stared into her eyes, and he knew that he could trust her. Without realising it, he had made a special bonding with Aaliyah.
"I'm worried about Abbu, his health wasn't too well yesterday night on top of high blood pressure he's a diabetic patient as well" Rehaan's voice cracked as he said this.
Aaliyah looked at Rehaan and couldn't believe that he was the same
'Ray' she knew. The one that never took anything seriously.
"Rehaan, don't worry. Your Abbu will be fine. You're a doctor, you know that these things happen sometimes" She patted him on his shoulder. Rehaan looked at her again and he stared at her trying to pacify him. Why did she care for him so much?
After a lot of persuasion Ray finally smiled…but it still never reached his eyes. Aaliyah knew that it wasn't as easy to deal with situations like these. Especially when family are involved. She remembered her family…all the way back in England. She missed home, remembering all the good times; her eyes welled up.
"Arrey yaar mera baap hai..tum kyun senti hau rahee hau?" Ray said trying to cheer her up. Knowing very well where her mind was.
"Shut up Rehaan!" Aaliyah said hiting him slightly as they both got up to have lunch in the canteen.
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TERRACE Atul was looking up at the clear blue sky…it's a shame such a beautiful day would be spent in mourning by him.
He missed his papa. It had been 15 years since
Omi Joshi had died on this exact day.
"I miss you papa" Atul said as a lone tear escaped his eye. He immediately wiped it away, knowing his father wouldn't want to see him like this
"Atul"
Atul turned around to see the person he'd least expect to be there.
"Anjali? What are you doing here?" He said turning back around, so now his back was facing her.
"I saw you coming up and so I followed you" Anjali said walking up to him. Anjali turned to look at him; she was shocked to see that his eyes were red. "Tumhe kya huwa?"
Atul looked at her, he knew she was good at heart, but he wasn't ready to share this kind of information with her.
"Erm..kuch nahin…let's go down" Atul said turning to go
"You can share your feelings with me Atul…I am not that bad" Anjali said hurt.
Atul looked back, he took one look at Anjali's face and he realised that for some odd reason he did want to tell her.
"Today is my Father's 15th death anniversary" Atul said pain emanating with his each word. "My father was a doctor too, he also did his internship at Sanjeevani. His name was Omesh Joshi…better known as Omi" His last sentence lingered in the air silently.
"Oh my gosh" Anjali said "AIDS ward was named after your father? I'm so sorry" She said tenderly.
"Yeah, it was because he died from AIDS…you know he wasn't my real father, I was adopted by him" Atul said still staring into space "My father and Armaans parents were close friends, me and Armaan grew up together…so after his death they took me in like their own son. I will always be in debt to Armaan and his parents… I want to make them and Papa proud of me"
There was a quiet pause…not an awkward silence though.
After which he continued
"I've never really shared my feelings or talked about this with anyone before, not even my family" Atul looked up and was surprised to see Anjali angry.
"Shut up Atul!" Anjali snapped "One minute you call them your family, and the next minute you say you're indebted to them?" she softened her tone a bit and said "Look Atul…families help each other out, because they love each other, not because they sympathise with you. You have to share things with your family, by hiding things…your making them feel like strangers. I mean have you seen Armaan's state?"
Anjali's words hit him hard…but he knew what she was saying was right.
"You're right Anjali..." Atul said
"Of course I'm right. They're already proud of you Atul, because you're a brilliant doctor. You have to learn from the past so that it doesn't affect your future. Do something in memory for your father…maybe you could hold an event; all benefits go towards the AIDS ward" Anjali said.
"Yeah, we should get all the interns and hospital staff involved…we should go talk to doctor Kirti" Atul said sounding more hopeful.
"Oh no you're not…first you're going to come eat" Anjali said grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the exit.
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CORRIDOOR "Superman, khaana khane chale?" Riddhima said as they walked out of the general ward together.
"Nahi, aaj mood nahi hai" Armaan said walking. He wasn't paying much attention to where he was going. The next thing he knew, he was being pulled into the fire exit staircase. (Staircase- AR corner)
"Superman tum yahee ruko…don't you dare go anywhere!" Riddhima ordered him and made him sit down on the staircase. She walked out of the fire exit and was back within minutes, carrying a Tiffin in her hands. He saw her sit down next to him.
She started opening the Tiffin and said "Look I made your favourite food."
Armaan looked at the food and smiled faintly. "Thanks, but I'm not hungry"
Riddhima was tired of his surly attitude all day
"Armaan! Are you going to tell me what's wrong with you…or do I have to beat it out of you?" She said glaring at him.
Armaan didn't know how to put it in words, it was hard for him to even think about it.
"This is probably the worst day of the year" Armaan explained about Atul's dad, "I understand the pain…it's just horrible to watch him like this, and what hurts the most is that he doesn't even talk to anybody about it…I feel so useless" he said discouraged.
"Armaan some things can't be put in to words. You just have to give him time. Some things aren't meant to be said, but just understood. You want him to tell you his feeling, so he can get rid of his pain…but what if he feels that by telling you, he's giving you pain?" She said trying to make him see reason.
Armaan stared at her, he had no words. So he just held her hand, as if to say thank you. Riddhima understood him very well.
"Okay enough of this superman…mujhe bhook lagee hai" she said taking food out from the Tiffin and feeding him. Armaan bit her fingers.
"Ow!" Ridz said looking at her finger
"Lemme see" Armaan said grabbing her hand and blowing her finger "sorry"
"Superman! Kitni baar bolu…
dosti mein no sorry no thank you"
"Oh yeah…mein bhool gaya" Armaan said pulling a cute face. He picked up some food from the Tiffin and fed her aswell. She purposely bit his finger
"Ow!!! Revenge?" Armaan said whilst she was looking at his finger this time "
Bad basket" Armaan said childishly.
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CANTEEN (end of the day) For the first time since they had started their internship they had nothing to say to each other. It was as if their voices were on mute. They were all sitting at the table, just staring into their drinks. All lost in their own thoughts.
After much deliberation in his mind the silence was broken by Atul
"I need to tell you all something" everyone looked up at Atul. Armaan was shocked; was Atul going to tell everyone? Atul looked at Armaan and smiled slightly…this caught him off guard. Armaan felt Riddhima grab his hand under the table, to reassure him.
Watching his brother tell every body the truth, Armaan gripped Riddhima's hand tighter.
"So basically me and Anjali thought that we should hold an event for the hospital faculty, and all the proceeds goes to the AIDS ward…we've even spoken to Dr Kirti about it, and she's given us permission, even senior doctors will take part" Atul completed as he looked to see everyone's reaction.
After a minute of silence...
"Tum aur Anjali ne saath main socha tha?....lagta hain kuch chal raha hai?" Ray said to lighten up the atmosphere. A murmur of laughter broke out from the table at his comment.
Okay guys, that was chapter 7...I hope i didnt disappoint or bore you...I just wanted to show that they all had a mature understanding amongst them...please do leave a comment of what you thought...good or bad...
Thank you
LUV
Nainu
XXX
Edited by Naina123 - 17 years ago
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