Nidhi picks up the syringe from the tray. She picks up the bottle of medicine and checks the label before she draws from it with the syringe.
"Do you remember the time I accused you of giving a child the wrong drug?"
Nidhi is startled. She had been thinking that Dr Mallika was asleep.
She looks at her with an expressionless face. She knows that the person lying on that bed is her patient. Yet, it is hard for to forget that this woman had almost taken her life. This woman had tried to snatch her husband from her and destroy her life. Yet, her husband had brought this woman back into their lives, albeit as a patient this time. Not just the woman but her unborn child too. Nidhi shudders mentally as she wonders what this could mean. It is no secret to her that Dr Ashutosh has only grudgingly accepted her request for two years. She knows the desire for a child still burns in his heart. Is this child of Mallika's going to be her ticket back into their lives forever? Is it her fate to suffer Mallika forever? Is she going to be punished for having prioritized career over having a baby? If that is the case, then will this career compensate for the loss of her marital bliss? Will her husband slowly move away from her forever, to be bound to this hapless friend of his thanks to her unborn child? These questions have been plaguing her over the last couple of days, ever since Dr Mallika had re-entered KGH as a patient. There had been a nasty scene where Jagan had made some ugly insinuations about Dr Ashutosh and Dr Mallika. While Nidhi had been furious with Dr Ashutosh for not heeding her advice and bringing this public humiliation onto himself, she was not the one to let him down in public. She had spoken up and told Jagan and all the others who were listening that whatever her husband was doing for Mallika was with her wholehearted consent. Yes, Dr Mallika had made an attempt on her life. But an old grudge seemed insignificant in the face of the threat to a hapless woman and an unborn child. When the threat originated from the man who should have rightfully been the one to protect them! Jagan had realized that his game was up and thankfully, the police had also arrived by then. A fuming Jagan had been taken into custody and led away. Dr Mallika had been tended to by the hospital's senior gynaecologist, Dr Trehan, and both she and the child were declared out of danger. However, she needed constant medical supervision and was advised a month's hospitalization. As luck would have it, Dr Nidhi was assigned the responsibility of her supervision. Dr Ashutosh had told her that he would get someone else assigned to the task. She had turned around and asked him if he still did not trust her with Mallika. He had said nothing after that. Conversation between them had been stilted and minimal over the last few days. At hospital, they behaved like a dean and his intern. At home, they were uneasy roommates at best. Neither did she ask him why he did not tell her about Mallika's pregnancy nor why he rushed to her help without informing her. Nor did he tell her! It was as if both had decided to keep to their sides of the ring for a bit rather than resort to sparring.
"I had the medicines changed in an effort to try and implicate you!"
Nidhi is brought back to the present by Mallika's words. What was she talking about?
"I am sorry, Dr Mallika...what were you saying?"
"I wanted to take revenge on you for trying to steal Ashutosh from me. I wanted to make you lose face in front of him. So I tried to change the drug that you had to administer to the child and I also had a patient file misplaced!"
Nidhi had had a sneaking suspicion even then that Mallika was trying hard to make life difficult for her. She had no proof however and so had never shared her concerns with Ashutosh ever! Now, the lady is confessing to her crimes herself! Of course, in the absence of Ashutosh!
"Ashutosh knows...I already told him!"
When?
''On our way to the hospital. I was scared that I might die. I was scared that my baby might be taken away from me as punishment for my sins. I thought I should confess while I still had a chance. So, I told him everything!"
Why had he never told her?
"I asked him not to. I wanted to beg your pardon myself!"
God, what a mess this is!
"Not just those crimes, Nidhi! Am guilty of things which you don't have a clue of! Do you know that I was part reason why your father had a heart attack?"
Nidhi feels the ground slipping from under her feet!
"I was the one who compelled Aditya to exert pressure on your father to repay the loan immediately. I was the one who snatched the house from you through Sandeep Bagchi. I am your culprit, Nidhi. I am the one who has made your life hell in the last so many months!"
How is she supposed to respond to all of this?
"I don't expect anything from you, Nidhi. Not even pardon because I don't think I am deserving of it. I just wanted to tell you. I wanted to get it out of my chest. Not that it lessens the burden. But I still had to tell you. I am an ugly woman, Nidhi. An ugly woman, who tried to destroy the happiness of her best friend! An ugly woman, who tried to destroy the life of a young girl who never did her any harm!"
Nidhi is unable to process all this in one go.
"Nidhi, I want you to know something. Beyond bare necessities, Ashutosh has not spoken a word to me in the last few days. He is no longer behaving as a friend. Believe me, I know the difference. His professional demeanour and lack of any personal emotion are obvious to me, even if not to you and others. He is merely doing his duty, saving not one but two lives. So what if one of those lives is so wretched that it is not worth saving. It is still a life and as a medical professional, it is his bounden duty to save it. That is it, Nidhi, and nothing more. Will you believe that he did not say a word to me after all my confessions? He just kept saying that I would be fine and so would my child. I began to wonder whom he was saying this to, whether to me or to himself!"
Nidhi is not able to get a word out. All she can do is listen. A part of her hates Mallika for all that she has done. And yet she cannot but help feel pity for this woman, who has been stripped of all dignity. Even if it is entirely of her own making! To stand vulnerable and exposed in front of the same people who had once granted you the gift of friendship and respect and professional regard. What a mess this woman's life is! All that lies ahead of her is a barren life bereft of love and friendship. There is the responsibility of a child too! A child that she would have to rear alone, a child she would have to instil good values in, a child whose life she would have to shape. A child who might well lose all respect for her when he/she came to know the truth about her. How do you hold a grudge against someone who is more an object of pity!
"You are a very good person, Nidhi. Someone blessed by the powers above. No wonder I could not succeed in any of my plans. No wonder you have the love of a man like Ashutosh. He is the best, Nidhi. Who would know that better than me? And the fact that he chose you proves that you are better than the best. God has blessed two wonderful human beings with each other's company. Treasure it all your life. You are among the lucky ones, among the blessed ones! To enjoy the love and company of a good man! Just as he is blessed to enjoy the lifelong company of a good woman like you! I know such words are strange coming from me, But who better than a deprived, a depraved soul like me to understand the value of a blessing? "
Nidhi says nothing as she silently administers the injection. She checks her parameters yet again. Everything appears to be under control.
Nidhi turns to leave. She knows Mallika is looking at her, expecting her to say something. She does not know what to say.
As she reaches the door, she suddenly turns and retraces her steps back. Mallika looks at her in surprise.
Nidhi places her head on Mallika's head.
"You will be fine. Your baby will be fine!"
Mallika watches her leave, tears pouring down her cheeks!
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