*Smthin_Clld_Luv*Nov3_Updt_p146*Jaane Kya Baat Hui - Page 44

Chapter 24: The Worries of Nidhi

The Recap:

Soon after, Ashutosh took Colonel's leave, mentioned abt enrolling Nidhi to some psychological therapy sessions, and once again apologized for being rude to dadi bua. Col. Verma assured him tht his bua wud come around soon and he also warned him.. tht he wud b digging his past soon and tht he better b ready for encounter no. 2. Dr. Ashutosh jst smiled in reply and Col. Verma shook his hand cordially! Nidhi watched thm from her ajar door and sighed. God, please make everything alright.. please..! she sincerely prayed to God.. for some unknown reason she was feeling apprehensive!

Ashutosh had jst changed into his regular clothes when he received Nidhi's prompt call! "Hi" came a sweet voice from the other end. "hmm.. y r u still up ma'm.. May I know?" asked he. "somebody wants to wish someone good nite" she said lovingly. "hmm.." "wat does tht mean?" "It means tht u wanna talk abt something" "yeah.. actually? err?don't u wanna know wat baba told me?" "y is thr anything tht I shud know?" "r u not curious to know wat baba thinks abt?us?" He jst smiled as he put his head on the pillow and pulled on the covers?"Hello?" she asked again. "Nidhi.. I think more thn us he wanted to know how u felt abt me?" Replied he. He thot Nidhi mite b blushing, but when she remained silent for long he got suspicious. So he asked tenderly,"Wat happened Nidhi.. did anything go wrong?" She sighed impatiently and answered.."its jst tht... I..I.." bt she stammered as she started. "tell me Nidhi?"he against asked in a most tender voice. And she finally spoke out in a single breath,"I wasn't able to tell him how I felt for u.." and then continued in a worried tone,"I really don't know how much he understood..really?!" she was concerned. "Its okay.. Nidhi.. I m sure he wud slowly understand." She again fell silent. "Nidhi.. r u crying?"asked he. "No..bt I definitely feel like!" "Nidhi.. u r not going to think abt this any further.. go straight to bed and rest.. ur mind needs rest!" ordered he. "I shud've given u a mild sleeping pill" he talked more to himself. Bt Nidhi didn't reply. "Nidhi?" he called out. "I am pouting!" came the reply. "wat?" he chuckled,"may I know y?" "Y u want to boss me around!" "wat wud u do to a girl who had jst fallen sick but wants to jump out of bed, not rest, and cry!" "hmmph! I wasnt tht bad.. u made me sound pretty bad!" Ashutosh cud imagine her cutely pouting face. He chuckled lovingly as he closed his eyes,"Nidhi darling.. u know how my heart starts to react wen u pout so cutely!" She blushed. "how?" she asked..teasing him naughtily. He chuckled,"tht needs to be demonstrated and not told!" Replied he with equal naughtiness. She cudnt possibly answer tht. She jst blushed some more and uttered a shy Good Nite! And wishpered a little Sweet Dreams .as an add-on before hanging up! And Ashutosh cudn't possibly sleep after tht. He kept seeing Nidhi everywhere in his room in her beautiful peach saree.. all the moments he had spent with her kept coming back to him as his eyes slowly turned heavy and he had jst turned to his side, wen his thots started to grow wild as he saw Nidhi's face inching slowly towards his lips..bt the sleep hovering over him and his heavy lidded eyes got better of him as he closed his eyes in anticipation of her and he drifted into sweet sleep before his thots cud grow any wilder!

Nxt morning, Nidhi saw Angie coming in with a tray of coffee instead of Chote Sarkar,"good morning Dr. Nidhi Verma" Angie greeted cheerfully. "Hi! Wat r u doing here.." she sat up rubbing her eyes. "apparently came to see my sick friend..!" "Uh.. I am not sick!" "really.. heard tht u got some sort of shock or something!" "Oh.. Angie..it was nothing.." "hmm.. Gud coz.. I was jst more interested to know as to wat exactly did Dr. Ashutosh do to u on ur first date tht it gave u shock of ur lifetime.. hmm.." she winked and nudged her mischeviosly! "wat rubbish!" "emm hmm... m not going to let u go tht easily Dr. Verma.. u will give me firsthand account of ur first ever date!" "Huh.. is this a way to enquire after a sick friend.. the shock was real.. I did get a shock.. and both baba and Dr. Ashutosh wer pretty worried.. bt who cares.. here I have a friend who is more interested in my date rthr thn my shock huh!" she deliberately tried to sound miffed. "Dr. Nidhi Verma.. one wud always try to learn wat one doesn't know.. I learnt everything already abt ur shock and its treatment from Verma uncle.. but u know.. he possibly cannot tell me as to wat all expired on ur date.. can he now?" "Shut up Angie!" she rebuked her rather submissively and started to get up. Angie had by now already jumped onto bed beside her and so she pulled her back. "Stop it Angie! Nothing happened" she finally replied blushing. "Really?" Angie nudged her again. Nidhi blushed some more.. and thn she hugged her and whisphered into her ears,"Angie.. I cannot possibly tell how I had felt!" Angie pulled her out and looked into her shy eyes feeling really really happy for Nidhi,"really?" she asked genuinely. Nidhi nodded in a yes. "Ohh.. I m so happy for u Nidhi!" Angie shouted excitedly and she hugged her tight! "so wat happened after tht?" "After wat?" Nidhi was puzzled! "after tht..the kiss!" "WAT?"Nidhi shrieked.."Oh.. Angie y do u always end up asking abt the kiss?" Nidhi asked with sweet annoyance Angie hushed her down pointing at the closed door,"But u did.. rite?" Nidhi looked away in shyness,"Well not exactly!.. not a proper one actually!" She replied. "Well, a semi-proper one is not bad for a start on a first date afterall" she winked and nudged her again teasingly and Nidhi moved away from her. "Oh.. Nidhi I was jst testing u.. teasing u.. bt I know u mst've had a grt grt date and thts all I wanted to know.. bt more thn tht I want to know wat happened here.. I came to know tht bua was apparently unhappy and u know.. how did thy take this news of Dr. Ashutosh being ur date?" "Angie, I apologized to baba.." she replied in a serious tone,"I really hadn't planned to keep it secret any more.. Angie.. I thot I wud explain everything wen I returned!" "I know Nidhi!" "Angie. Bt things went awry.. first the shock and thn Dr. Ashutosh had to come down and bring me in.. Angie? I had to tell baba and thn Baba asked me.. advised me regarding Dr. Ashutosh.. bt bt.. I cudnt tell him how I felt for him.. I don't know wat he concluded abt my feelings for Dr. Ashutosh." she said in a worried tone. "hmmm.." Angie jst replied in a thotful voice. She was thinking it all over. "Nidhi.. I think ur baba hasn't accepted Dr. Ashutosh as of yet.." "I fear tht Angie!" "Its okay.. it will take time for him to accept it Nidhi.. its not easy!" "But he dbts our feelings.. in fact my feelings. .he thinks it mite b more sort of infatuation thts gonna fizzle out with time and tht I shudnt take my decisions in a hurry and wait it out!" "Well, he is rite in a way!" "But Angie its not easy.. yesterday a collgeauge saw us together.. this news is gonna spread like a wild fire now.. u know how its gonna affect Dr. Ashutosh? His career, his reputation!" she said worryingly. "Nidhi tht was bound to happen one day!" "Yeah.. bt had v got a formal nod.. it wud'nt have been this bad!" "C'mon Nidhi.. baba is rite from his POV.. tho Dr. Ashutosh seems a gud and honorable man bt its hard to accept logically tht he wud let go his 15-yr-long career tht made him wat he is today for some girl he jst met some 3 months ago!.. if God forbid such a situation arises!" Nidhi gasped! She had never thot it tht way!. She had always believed in Dr. Ashutosh. In fact he had never given a reason to believe otherwise... "so thts wat baba was talking abt the gullibility in luv!"Nidhi replied. "Nidhi I m not discouraging u.. I m jst giving u baba's viewpoint.. he possibly cannot trust Dr. Ashutosh as much as u do.. however convincing Dr. Ashutosh mite b..!" Angie explained. Nidhi sighed heavily,"I don't know Angie!.. I really don't know.. I understand baba's concern bt I can never dbt Dr. Ashutosh!" "Oh.. Nidhi.. don't b confused..a man can b truly tested only wen thy r pitted against such tuff thngs..!.. I think thts wat ur baba wants.. more thn u, he wants to make sure tht Dr. Ashutosh is absolutely rite person for u Nidhi.. he gave Dr. Ashutosh a chance inspite of Dadi Bua opposing him!" Nidhi looked at Angie with unsure eyes. Her faith in her baba was unshakeable.. bt her trust on Ashutosh was beyond any question too! Angie was rite. Her baba had given Dr. Ashutosh a chance and now it was upto them to take it in right direction and convince baba beyond any dbts! She pursed her lips determindedly and thanked Angie! Angie gave her a loving peck and advised her to take care of her health and returned! Nidhi sat there for some time going thru everything thy had discussed before getting up to get ready!

At his home, Ashutosh had jst finished his breakfast wen he heard a knock at his door. He glanced and was shocked to see Mallika at his doorsteps! He was surprised.. it was a long time since Mallika had visited his house.. well not since tht fateful day 5 yrs ago! Mallika informed tht she had come to discuss abt him and Nidhi. Ashutosh flatly refused to hear anything abt thm. But she begged to hear her out for sake of their friendship and she assured him tht wasn't tht old Mallika anymore.. she had turned a new leaf.. and tht she had come thr as a concerned friend. Ashutosh studied her for a while and gave a nod of go ahead. Mallika voiced her concerns abt Mehtas maligning his name behind his back, which he rebuffed readily, but she went on to persuade him to rethink abt his growing r'ship with Nidhi. She reminded him tht he had been an orphan and it was this profession that had given him his true identity and tht he shudnt b washing away this name and fame for some few days of fascination over a girl half of his age!. He had scowled. But she said he didn't want to see the truth. In fact she actually dbted tht it can b even termed as luv..it was mere pure attraction from both ends.. Nidhi having such a bright charming and irresistible personality and Ashutosh having restrained himself from seeking such a thng for so long tht it was jst wanting to happen! He had rolled his eyes scoffingly in reply to which Mallika had compared Nidhi to a flighty naughty river who was bt thrilled to b in such forbidden luv! According to her, it was nothing bt a thrill-giving experience for Nidhi! She had claimed tht many such young interns had adored him and wud've desired a reciprocation to claim it as luv and Nidhi was no exception and tht he unwisely encouraged her by giving in to his own dormant desires! She dbt tht Nidhi was even serious abt this. She had voiced her concern tht if he let himself fall into this deep hole again, he wud never b able to get out of it shud Nidhi's feelings b not true! After baba and house, it wud b the biggest blow and he wudnt b able to recover from it ever again! She said he needed to think over it calmly with his logical brain. And tht he at least owed tht to KGH and to his hard-earned medical degree and to the identity tht he feels proud of today and tht he shudnt let this mere physical attraction defame him which was but a pure science.. a biological fact tht any man wud feel attraced to a woman so attractive as Nidhi and he shudnt take it tht seriously!

Ashutosh hadn't reacted much to her last comments and instead had jst displayed a thoughtful face and tht had led Mallika to think tht she had triumphed in her plan! She had tried to plant a doubt in Ashutosh's mind regarding Nidhi's feelings. She felt the fear and pain of abandonment will prohibit Ashutosh from indulging further into this r'ship. She had hated Nidhi so much the other nite when he had wrapped her protectively and she had blushed at him luking oh so pretty tht it was all clearly visible in Ashutosh's eyes. From tht instance, she had vowed to show Dr. Nidhi Verma her rite place.

Ashutosh sat mulling over wat Mallika had said or rather over the unwanted thots tht Mallika had tried to infuse in his brain! He had refrained himself from reacting more aggressively to her comments. He hadn't deemed it necessary as he wasn't going to take her words seriously anyways. It was simply hard to believe tht Mallika wud suddenly turn into a new leaf! Of wat he knew of Mallika till date, it almost sounded like a joke! And more thn anything, he was trying to gauge Mallika's intention behind her coming! Nothing new in her talk tht he already hadn't heard from Nidhi's baba or dadi bua or even Dr Mehta. Tho he mst give credit to her one point.. the physical attraction..which he was definitely feeling for Nidhi.. bt thn wasn't it natural!.. a pure biological science.. as mallika had termed it. He chuckled. He sat pondering lightly over it wen his phone rang from the study room. He got thr with a quickened pace and picked it up wen he heard sharp shrieking from the other end!

"How can u do this" shouted Nidhi! "Nidhi.. my eardrums r pretty delicate" he countershot. Nidhi groaned. "hmm.. thts a familiar sound" he chuckled. "So wats making my Nidhi go boom?" asked he. "U.. u.. enrolled me for a psychiatric counseling session!" he heard an annoyed voice. "yeah.. u do need one" "I don't need one.." "Nidhi.. by God's grace nothing worse happened.. u jst had aftereffect of extreme fatigue.. wat if I wasn't thr.. wat if u wer driving alone and something worse wud.." and he cudnt speak any further.. he had become quite serious and his voice had actually choked! Thr was brief silence as Ashutosh tried to compose himself. Nidhi sighed and replied in a low voice,"I am sorry? bt I don't want to go for therapy sessions pleaseee!" she pleaded. "Nidhi v need to get down to its root cause.. or else.. how are v gonna treat it?"he tried to explain. "bt I know the cause? and I m working on it.. I m trying to cope up with it.." She stopped wen she didn't get his reply. He jst listened to her in silence. "Hello?" she asked. "Yeah.. Nidhi.. I am listening.. u r trying to cope up with it.. alone..all by urself..i get it.. perfectly!" "U seem crossed!" "shud I not?" "No!.." "Really.. Nidhi?" "I want to tackle it on my own.." "Y?" "Jst like tht.." "Y?" "bcoz I want to.." "bt y?" "will u please stop asking tht question..!" "Okay.. fine..I will NOT!..anything else?"asked he. he was pretty annoyed at her stupid stubbornness! It was matter of her life.. and this girl jst wanted to play around! Nidhi felt frustrated. She jst didn't want to talk abt it and he didn't seem to understand it. When he didn't hear from her, he abruptly hang up the phone uttering a rather miffed bye! Nidhi sighed and sat pondering abt it.. wen she received his call again..she got hopeful,"Hi.."she asked. "I jst wanna know how r u coming to hospital.. is baba dropping u or shud I pick u up?" asked he. "No.. I will drive.." "No!"came a prompt reply. "please.. " "No Nidhi!"he said somewhat sharply. Nidhi got irritated and she shouted stubbornly,"I AM GONNA DRIVE!" "fine.. do whatever u want..I m sure u r not going to listen to anyone.. neither ur baba nor me.." and he cut the phone abruptly. She was one stubborn girl! Her past was haunting her and she jst didn't want to share and nor did her baba either! He paced in the room for a while in anger and wen his anger subsided a bit, he quickly went to take shower.

Nidhi was sitting in her room and biting her nails wen her baba came enquiring into her room. Looking at her worried expressions, he enquired. She jst smiled uneasily and uttered a quick nothing.."feeling all right?" asked he. "Yeah.. its nothing really baba." She answered and thn shifted her gaze in worry. "Nidhi.. I came to ask u if I shud drop u to the hospital?" and the same stubborn expressions returned to her face,"Baba I will drive on my own!" "Nidhi.. did Dr. Ashutosh gave u permission?" "permission.. baba.. I don't need permission.. I know wat I am doing!" "Nidhi.. u cant behave like this.. did u talk so rudely with Dr. Ashutosh as well?" Nidhi didn't answer for a while and thn cried,"Baba bt I want to drive myself.. I AM OKAY!" "No u r not.. u know how its related.. don't u.. how can I ever allow it?" "its jst one time random incident.. its not going to affect me much!" "Nidhi.. I m no judge of it medically, bt if Dr. Ashutosh allows I have no problems!" "He will not allow baba!"She cried. "so thn he mst have a good reason to do so!" "Baba thrs but one reason.. jst like u..he is jst too concerned and unnecessarily worried abt me.. he is jst acting too protective!" "Nidhi.. since wen did u become so defiant!.. its not good!.. Its not a small matter and I m not going to tolerate it!.. jst coz u have grown up doesn't mean u don't need discipline!" "okay.. fine u drop me to the hospital.. bt I m not going to attend any of those therapy sessions!" she said defiantly. And her baba jst shook his head in disappointment.

A while later he called up Dr. Ashutosh and informed abt Nidhi's refusal. Dr. Ashutosh jst sighed deeply and assured him tht he will talk to this rather uncooperative patient and will keep him apprised abt it. Col. Verma thanked him and thy hung up. Dr. Ashutosh sat there for a while thinking abt it and thn opened up his laptop to check on mails.

When Nidhi reached hospital Dr. Ashutosh was already in doing some surgery early on. When they met, Dr. Ashutosh didn't try to talk to her and remained pretty aloof. Nidhi didn't took much notice of him either but as the day passed she got pretty restless. All she wanted was the day to get over so she cud talk to him again! He had been pretty busy today, she had observed. She sighed deeply and went on with her duties as usual. Her colleagues tried to poke her regarding the rumor and Dr. Ashutosh but she showed least interest and indulged herself in her job. The day passed quickly and wen she got into his cabin after signing off for the day, she was informed tht he had already left. She felt disappointed, but her baba had already arrived to pick her up and she went home without calling Dr. Ashutosh. Evening went by as it had come and the night approached slowly bt she didn't receive any call from Dr. Ashutosh. Both baba and dadi bua observed she had remained all into herself and pretty silent throughout the dinner. She was soon tossing and turning in her bed restlessly wen finally she received his call.