KTLK ... my take

Dr Ashutosh:

As he stared at the house in which he had spent a good many years, he felt a pang of pain. It was here that his heart lay. As a young child he had been motherless and more or less alone as his father spent most of his time at the foundry. He used to work hard and come home late. Asht would wait up for him. He was his only family and felt lonely without him. Whenever he talked, he often mentioned his good friend (Baba). They had gone to school together but at college, they went their separate ways, since Baba went on to study medicine. But the two had kept in touch.

It remained unclear as to why his father had contracted the lung infection – maybe it was the surroundings at the foundry or his irregular habits due to his work. Slowly his health had begun to deteriorate and medicines hadn't seemed to work anymore. He had then thought of going to see his friend, Baba. A medical practitioner, Baba had immediately got him hospitalised. His father would return home for a few days and would then be at the hospital once again. And with every visit, he was growing thin and weary. His young son used to wonder why his father had such teary eyes or why he would pull him close and hug him. Baba would beg Asht's father to stay with him. His father would smile sadly and say, "later".

One day, the two friends had a row and Baba had forcibly taken his father and him to his home. It was such a wonderful house and the young Asht had felt at home almost immediately. He grew fond of this place and felt safe here. The pain of his father's demise was cushioned by both Baba and Kaka. He had always felt he had family. He stayed on with Baba and looked up to him. He became a father figure to him. The trio lived life very happily.

Asht slowly learnt about Baba's family. He had had a daughter who had married a man of her choice. Unfortunately, Baba disapproved of the match and his daughter had moved away. No one knew much about her whereabouts and nobody dared to ask him. Baba took Asht under his wing. The young lad wanted to be a doctor not just because Baba was one but there was a call from within. He knew he would save every sick man who came his way. By then his father's foundry had been sold and the money stashed away for a rainy day.

Asht had been a hard working person from the very beginning and was extremely focussed on what he had wanted to do. He was quiet by nature though not really serious. His profession demanded seriousness and he was a conscientious doctor. Baba would often tell him that he was getting obsessed with his work but gave in when he realised that Asht was really too sincere. He was beginning to see this new aspect of the young man before him. He came to admire him and was proud of the selfless work he did at the hospital.

'O dear" thought Asht ... why did Baba have to leave him? He had not only left him but he had bequeathed this house to his daughter. A daughter whom he had not seen in over twenty years. While most of his moneys went to Asht, the house was left to his daughter. Asht was not interested in his money and would have traded everything he had for this house ... no for his home. He sighed and turned away. The place was languishing since it was unlived in. Why hadn't the family come to reside here? He had already told his agent that he was ready to buy out the place. That reply had still not come forth. He turned on his heel and made his way back to the car.

Dr Nidhi

She stood at the window and wondered why fate had been so unkind to her. She was full of life and full of zest. Why had her father insisted that she become a doctor?? Oh for Heaven's sake ... there were so many better things to do. She had wanted fun and laughter to surround her. But in this profession there was just sickness and horror. She didn't like it at all. All her attempts at getting out of medical school had been thwarted by her father. "It's your mother's dying wish!" That was enough to sober her up ... but just for a while. She even argued with her father that she would take up dentistry which would be a nice 10 – 5 job. No emergency calls and no night shifts. But her father had scoffed. "Imagine seeing decaying teeth in a rotten mouth!" Those words would have put off a saint and well Dr Nidhi was no saint. She had wanted the world of glamour, of fashion, of anything interesting ... but not a hospital. She had wept, screamed and stamped her but it didn't turn a hair on her father's head.

How she loved to while away the time chatting with Anji or go for a film at any given moment. For the past five years she had had to slog which made her eve more resentful of her profession. How she had prayed that by some stroke of luck her father would allow her to discontinue. But Lady Luck had never smiled upon her. She knew she was more intelligent than most, which was the reason why she had never flunked an exam.

By all standards even though she had lost her mother at an early age, she had grown up as a happy kid. Dadi and Anji's mother would spoil her rotten by giving her all her favourite things. And when Nidhi laughed, he father said that it was like the first rains on a parched land. And when she talked, it was like the chattering of birds. Nidhi knew it was an indulgent father speaking...

She often wondered about her mother. Why had her mother insisted that she do medicine? Ufff!!!!!!!! She knew nothing about her mother's family but the fact that she never kept in touch with them. Her father was a good man so why did that grandfather disapprove of him? She wouldn't exchange her father for anything ... he was the best. Such a nice man!

And Dr Ashutosh? He exasperated her. Work, work and just work! Well she had known from the moment she had seen him that they were as different from each other as chalk from cheese! He considered her to be flighty, careless and downright stupid. Well let him think what he liked, she didn't care. Not one whit. Then why was she secretly seeking his approval of her work? ... a little voice asked. She scowled and turned away. Where the hell was her stethoscope? Why could she never find it? Damn ... damn ... damn ...!!!!!!!

There was this young boy in the children's ward who was suffering from meningitis. He was a rather obstinate child who had the dread of needles. Nidhi thought that was pretty unfortunate since he was on IV most of the time. He was however running a high temperature and also suffering from mild convulsions. Since he was an orphan, there was no one to take care of the drugs he needed. Life saving drugs did cost a fortune but that was taken care of by either charitable NGOs or Dr Asht himself.

The ward sister brought the injection to Nidhi.

"Why, Sister? Why don't you give the injection?"

"Doctor, I would have given the injection but Dr Asht has asked you to administer it."

"Oh ok," said Nidhi and proceeded to wear the gloves. She knew that this kid was a handful when came to taking injections. Two ward boys got into position to hold him down. The kid protested and thrashed his hands about. No one wanted to disturb him since he was suffering. However, in the scuffle, Dr Nidhi's hand got knocked and the injection flew out of her hand and fell to the ground. She was horrified to see the syringe break into a thousand pieces. Good God! 7000 bucks down the drain. How was she going to replace it?

At this time of the day, with her ATM card at home, she was doomed. But she told herself to stay cool. She rang up Anji and asked her to bring the money. She would quickly replace it from the store. On inquiring, she found that they didn't have any more stock left. She ran to Anji's car and begged her to take her to the distribution as fast as she could before it shut down for the day.

Dr Asht was reversing his car, when he saw Nidhi leaving with her friend. That girl! He went to his old home again. He remembered how much he loved gardening. He would pull out the weeds to give space to the other plants. The soft smile on his face slowly changed to a sorrowful smile and his throat became tight with unshed tears. Why had Baba hidden the name of the beneficiaries of the house from him? He knew it was his daughter. Maybe he thought the house would make them enemies. His phone rang. He was told that the kid with meningitis had been shifted to the intensive care. He frowned. Hadn't Nidhi given him the injection? Had she just run off with her friend? When would she ever learn to behave responsibly? His temper began to rise as he got behind the wheel. He turned the car and raced towards the hospital.

Dr Mallika had taken care of the situation in his absence. Dr Nidhi was not to be seen. He rang her up. He could hear blaring nusic.

"Get back to the hospital right away." He ordered.

It was almost an hour before Nidhi got back to the hospital. She went straight to the ward. Her heart sank when she saw the bare bed. The nurse told her he had been shifted to the ICU. She rushed there only to find Dr Asht at the door.

"Dyu know what you've done? You may lose a patient tonight. Why was the injection not given?"

"It fell, sir," That really sounded stupid even to her ears.

"It fell? How can you be so negligent? So what did you do next? Rush off home with your friend?"

"No I went to buy another drug from the centre."

"And what happens to the patient in the mean time? Did you hand him over to the next doctor explaining the case?"

"No, sir."

Dr Asht said through clenched teeth rather coldly. "You are pathetic! Should anything happen to the patient, you will be held responsible."

"I went to get another injection. Look it's here." Nidhi put her hand out to show. Dr Asht turned and entered the ICU.

Tears welled up. Nidhi felt totally exhausted. A hand touched her shoulder. It was Dr Mallika. "Don't worry, the worst is over." Nidhi went to the washroom to clean up her face. It was going to be a long night. She was not pathetic and she would prove that to the cold machine called Dr Asht. How dared he... she fumed.

Originally posted by: rusha4003

That does it ... I'm going to stick to this ! 👏 👏

I cant watch the serial at 7 pm... Thank you Skep, for me, you're more than making up for that here ..., 👍🏼