KTLK- 2nd Ver. Chap 9 Final Chap page 55 - Page 28

I just want to say Thank you. This word has lot in it, try to understand. You are a writer.

you are most welcome!!

Chapter 7:

Nidhi – toh aap ko idea pasand nahi! Teek hain. Chaliye phir. Sojaate hain. Aap ko toh kal KGH jaldi jaana hain. Dr Ranganath was saying you have 2 surgeries posted tomorrow and OPD is also fully booked.

Saying that she turns towards the bed when Ashu holds her arm and pulls her back into his arms. "I never said I didn't like the idea, you know. But I thought pregnant women are supposed to take it easy. Lekin aap toh yahaan pe…" Nidhi comes even closer until she can feel his breath on her face and tiltes her head a bit to the side. "ruk kyon gaye? Boliye na. mein toh yahaan pe kya?" Ashu swallows and his eyes take on a glazed look. "aap toh.." Nidhi – "mein toh?" ashu shakes himself and tries to assume a casual expression. "kuch nahin. And yes, you are right. We should get some sleep. chalo you get changed and relax and i will go and tell HK that I have to leave early tomorrow morning." Saying that he leaves the room with an open mouthed Nidhi in it. "he left? He just turned around, told me to relax and left? After that conversation? Oh how COULD he? He really is Heartstone! Dil mein romance hi nahin hain." still grumbling to herself, Nidhi freshens up and changes and gets into the bed, faces away from Ashu's side, covers herself with the blanket and closes her eyes. She doesn't open them even when she hears the door opening and closing again. And that's how Ashu finds her. turned to the side, eyes closed and lips in the most adorable pout that he had ever seen. Nidhi feels something incredibly cold touching her lips and instinctively opens her eyes to find Ashu sitting beside her on the bed and his finger dipped in ice cream tracing her lips softly. Without taking her eyes off him, she opens her mouth, licks her lips and sucks off the remaining ice cream from his finger. His eyes are dark with desire and passion as he observes his wife dipping her finger into the same ice cream bowl and bringing it to his lips for him to reciprocate the gesture. That night both discover that there are indeed a lot of ways in which one can eat an ice cream.

Next day morning Ashu is already up and ready by the time Nidhi wakes up. He is infront of the mirror doing his tie when he sees Nidhi stretching her hand towards his side of the bed and trying to find him, all without opening her eyes and smiles. That was one thing common in both of them. as soon as they get up in the morning, each reaches out to the other. When did they start doing that? he doesn't even remember. Not finding him beside her, Nidhi suddenly opens her eyes with a panicked expression in them and then spots him at the mirror and her smile slowly creeps back into her eyes. "good morning Dr Nidhi!" Nidhi snuggles deeper into the blanket and smiles. "hmmm..good morning. Aap ready bhi hogaye?" Ashu – "I had to. One because I have early morning surgery scheduled and two because I was still sticky all over from your ice cream last night." Nidhi's face turns red at that. Ashu's smile widens and he is still fiddling with his tie. "you are very quiet. Kyon? Ice cream pasand nahin aaya? Kaho toh koi aur flavour laadu aaj?" she bites her lips to stop the smile and says, "woh kuch zyaada nahin hojaayega ji?" both look at each other and laugh out. AShu comes and sits on the bed and pushes the hair back from her forehead. "you have a day off today na. toh take rest and relax. BB bought some comedy movie DVDs a couple of days back. May be you can watch them or something. Ok? ab mein chaloo?" Nidhi smiles and nods her head. Ashu gets up to go but Nidhi holds his hand and stops him. "jaana zaroori hain?" Ashu sits back down and Nidhi changes places so that her head is in his lap. He joins their palms together and entwines their fingers. "kya hua Nidhi?" Nidhi – "kuch nahin buss aap ko chodne ka mann nahin kar raha hain. I always feel as if something will happen and my happiness will vanish. Dara dara sa rehta hain." Then she shakes her head a bit and says "I think my pregnancy harmones are working over time. Don't worry about it. You go ahead or you will be late." Ashu tenderly cups her cheeks and kisses her forehead and says "nothing will happen. My Nidhi's smile will always be there." Another soft pat on her head and he leaves. Nidhi spends her morning relaxing a bit and helping out HK in the kitchen and on an impulse sends an sms to Ashu saying that she is getting him lunch from home and to wait for her. she gets a reply which says "hungry for both the food and you!" nidhi's face lights up and she hurriedly packs the food for both of them, tells BB and leaves. Entering KGH after such a long absence feels a bit odd to her but it quickly vanishes when the staff and Dr Ranganath go out of their way to make her feel welcome and enquire about her health. Ranganath tells her that Ashu is in the process of shifting a post operative patient to the ICU and would join her shortly. She smiles, says ok and goes into his cabin and sits in the sofa. Her mobile rings and she sees that its Ashu. With a questioning look she picks up and says "ha ji boliye!" Ashu – "Nidhi, where are you? I am on my way to my cabin and I told you na, I am feeling really hungry. So how soon are you coming?" Nidhi – "sorryji..woh actually na I couldn't come. I was feeling very tired. So I packed your lunch and sent it through HK." Ashu's face falls in disappointment. "oh! But you are not comi.." saying that he opens the door of his cabin to find a laughing Nidhi in front of him. She sees the open look of love and delight in his eyes and thinks, "that's for me. Just for me." Ashu comes in and closes the door and mock punches her cheek. "Nidhi, tum aur tumhaari mazaak!" Nidhi laughes and says, "come on now, lets eat jaldi jaldi. Your kiddo is also hungry." Both sit and Nidhi opens the pack and serves both of them and they start eating and chatting and feeding each other in between. Almost towards the end of the meal, there is a knock and another man of about 50 walks in. Ashu smilingly gets up and says, "Hello Dr Avasti. How was your vacation? Nidhi, this is Dr Avasti, orthopaedic surgeon hain. He joined KGH a few months back. He was away on a small vacation with his wife and kids and now is back. Dr Avasti, meet my wife, Dr Nidhi." Dr Avasti, who has a ready smile on his face all the time, broadens his smile and shakes Nidhi's hand. Dr A – "nice meeting you nice meeting you. Dr Ashutosh, its great to finally meet your wife so long after joining KGH. And Dr Nidhi, you don't work in KGH? How come?" Nidhi smiles a little and says, "no sir. I don't work in KGH. I am doing my MD Paediatrics in CCHH under Dr Sunil." Dr A – "oh good good! That's good! Waise ek tarah se toh yahi achcha hain. Even I personally don't recommend husband and wife working in the same environment, esp where one is the boss of the other." Then he leans conspiratorily towards Nidhi and says "it gets confusing na. ghar mein biwi boss hain and yahan pe pati boss hain." He rolls his eyes comically and all 3 laugh. Dr A – "and Dr Ashutosh, how is your best friend doing now? and her son?" Ashu's smile slips off. "ji?" Dr A – "I mean Dr Mallika!" then he turns towards Nidhi and continues. "Nidhiji, dosti toh unn dono ki hain. i mean in these days, who cares! forget about friends, these days people don't have time for their own families I tell you. and to be friends with someone for 12 years and help them through the rough period of their marriage is not a joke I tell you." Nidhi's face loses all the smile and glow. She withdraws into herself and just gives Dr A a blank kind of look. Dr A who doesn't realize the kind of tsunami he has just started, continues. "you know Dr Nidhi, I saw them both on my first day at KGH. Dr Ranganath introduced us. Dr Ashutosh was holding and rocking Dr Mallika's baby so that she can have her dinner in peace. I will never forget that scene I tell you. I thought they were a couple. Then Ashutosh cleared up that saying Mallika is his friend not wife. dosti ho toh aisa. Lekin maze ki baat batau Dr Nidhi, when I went and told about that to my wife, ulta mujhe daant padi. She said, being a husband you never did something like that to me even once. From then on, I learnt to shut up about these 2 best friends. But I tell you, marvellous. Just marvellous." Then as if suddenly remembering, "arre I forgot the main reason I came here in the first place. The MRI reports are here for that accident case. I took care of the wrist fracture so if you can go through the reports Dr Ashutosh.." Ashu nods his head and says, "yeah yeah sure. You go on. I will join you in a minute." Dr A nods at them both, wishes Nidhi again and leaves. The silence after that is deafening. Ashu sees Nidhi's trembling hands trying to pack off the lunch box and puts his hands on top of hers to stop her movements. Her hands and palms are cold with sweat. "Nidhi.." Just then her phone rings and she withdraws her hand to answer it. "Hello" "Dr Nidhi, Suraj here. I just called in to ask.." Nidhi interrupts him, "yes Dr Suraj, I understand. Its not a problem. I will be at the hospital right away." She doesn't give Suraj a chance to reply and disconnects the phone and tells "woh…hospital mein emergency hain. I have to go. You please get the lunch box home along with you. bye." Ashu – "lekin Nidhi.." she neither looks at him nor stops. Just bows her head and leaves. Ashu makes a move to follow her but just then the technichian from the lab comes in with the scan reports. He grits his teeth and stays back.

It takes all of Nidhi's self control to drive the car to CCHH. She doesn't even know why she is going there. Suraj didn't call her. but at the time her only thought was to get away from KGH and going back home in the current state and facing BB was also not an option for her. so on the spur of the moment, her decision was made and she is on her way. Her chest feels tight in trying to hold back her tears. "Why? Why does this always happen to her? what was her fault? That she loved a man so many years elder than her? was that it? Why does she have to go through the same thing again and again? What is the hold that Mallika has over Ashutosh? she still remembered the day when Mallika had come to her in the hospital and told her that she needed to understand Ashutosh better and should not hesitate to say sorry. Her thought was Who is SHE to tell ME how I should deal with my husband? what right does SHE have to interfere in MY married life? Now she is out of their lives but her shadow lingers wherever she goes. Why? Is she herself so insecure that she is seeing little things under magnifying glass? Is that it? Has she become a typical hysterical possessive female who starts throwing a fit when her husband glances at another female? But just thinking about her husband showering so much care and concern for a woman who once tried to kill her in cold blood is something she is not able to get over. The fact that their friendship outweighed her life. He has told Mallika to get lost now. but what about later? What if there is another crisis in Mallika's life? Will she be pushed aside again? And what if she had NOT been pregnant? Would he have insisted in her coming back? Is the child she is carrying the MAIN reason he wanted her back? Oh God! Why is she not able to trust again?" she is so engrossed in her pain that she doesn't even notice when she has come to CCHH, parked her car and went inside towards her cabin. Suraj is standing near the paediatric ward but has an eye on the main entrance. He wants to know what the hell is going on with Nidhi. why is she coming here on her day off? And what was the whole phone conversation about? He had just called to find out how she was doing and she blabbered off something about an emergency and coming here right away. Just then he sees Nidhi head bent, walking towards her cabin. He calls out to her but she doesn't even hear him. Suraj frowns and follows her. she goes inside and closes the door and breaks down. He hesitates for a few seconds and is about to back off when he hears Nidhi crying. She is leaning against the door so Suraj, who is practically on the other side can hear her every hiccup. He feels so helpless. His sister called him an incorrigible flirt. But married women were a strict no-no for him. The moment he realized a woman was married, he backed off. But no matter how hard he tried, he was not able to do that with Nidhi. every day it just grew worse. He can't go close and he can't back off. A constant push and pull rages in him all the time. Ab jab dil diya bhi toh aisi ladki ko, jo na sirf shaadi shuda hain par pregnant bhi hain. is it fate or what! And what is happening to her? why is there so much pain in her? what should he do now? back off and let her cry out everything or knock and make her freeze off? Then he remembers what her gynac had told that day when he went to her house. no upsets or they would have to deal with preeclampsia. This can't be good. Just then an attender comes and tells him that there is a phone call for him at the reception. Its from Dr Ashutosh. Ashu – "hello Dr Suraj. This is Dr Ashutosh here. Nidhi's husband. sorry I didn't know your cell number so called at the hospital." Suraj - "that's ok sir. Tell me." Ashu – "has Nidhi reached the hospital? I tried her mobile but she is not picking up." Suraj – "yes sir. She is here." Ashu doesn't know how to ask the next question. So he tentatively asks "how is she Suraj? She was a bit upset when she left here." Suraj – "a little upset? Sir, you call that being a little upset? And why do you even ask me this question when you probably know the answer?" saying that he puts the phone down and walks away. He probably shouldn't have talked like that. but damn it he could not stop himself. All these months he had seen her silent pain. Now that she is back with her husband, he thought all is well. Now looks like nothing has changed. why? What is happening? He pushes the thoughts aside and thinks of a plan that would definitely make her smile again and goes into the paediatric ward which is almost next to her cabin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nooEwg19cv4

Nidhi is still valiantly trying to stop her crying. She keeps saying to herself that its not good for the baby. But tears keep flowing. Then she hears some kind of drums being played outside her cabin and rises her head to a lovely male voice singing a song. Her tears stop as she wonders who it is and wipes her eyes with the back of her hand and opens the door to peek outside. There is noone there but the music and song are coming from the childrens ward. She slowly makes her way there and looks inside. Suraj has gathered the children around him and is using two sticks on one of the side tables in the ward as a set of drums and everyone is swinging in rhythm to his singing. Her lips slowly curve into a smile and she walks into the ward. A few kids gather around her and take her hands and do the swinging motions as Suraj continues his song. Then he leaves the sticks and comes singing towards her with a smile and lifts the child closest to him and dances with her in his arms. All the rest of the kids join in and start their dance with Nidhi standing in the middle. Her tentative smile slowly turns into a grin and then she laughs out loud and ruffles the hair of one of the kids. and that's how Ashu finds her. in the childrens ward, with all the kids dancing, Nidhi clapping and laughing and Suraj looking at her laughing face and singing.

Once again a awesome chapter. Loved everything about this chapter. Ashu and Anji make up, the ice cream ...

Waiting for the next one.

👏

next one is also here...

Just finished reading the next one. So sweet, until the Mallika part. Please continue. Am waiting to see what happens between Nidhi and Ashu.

next one is also here...

Just finished reading the next one. So sweet, until the Mallika part. Please continue. Am waiting to see what happens between Nidhi and Ashu.

thats up to Anu...even i want to see how she deals with this issue...😛 😃