What next? FF with the Doc: epilogue page 55 - Page 20

Chapter 11

"Good morning Beta!! Achcha hai, tu wapas aa gayi...ab yeh ghar mehekega...dekh, baageche mein saare phool bhi murzha gaye the teri yaad mein..." BB was very happy.

Nidhi had joined everyone on the breakfast table. "Mein chai banati houn..." Nidhi had said and gone to the kitchen to make the brew. HK was at his best, having known that Nidhi was back at MM, had cooked her favourite paneer parantha with mint chutney.

"Baba, mein JS ki naukri continue karana chahti houn...agar aap log theek samajhe to..." Nidhi started, in a cautious manner, apprehensive of the reaction on the breakfast table. Ashutosh looked at her sharply; somehow he had come to associate JS with their separation.

"Ha, kyoun nahi? Tera kya khayal hai, Ashutosh? Yeh Nidhi ke liye bahut strenuous to nahi hoga na? I mean, ghar ke kaam, naukri aur abhi abhi tabeeyat sambhali hai..."

"mujhe koi problem nahi hai Baba, sirf iski tabeeyat ke baare mein soch raha tha..."

"Arre tabeeyat to yun dekhte theek ho jayegi BB, bas aap dekhte jaayiye...ab to sab kuchh theek ho gaya hai na..." Nidhi suddenly realized the gravity of the statement and blushed as Ashutosh gazed at her fondly.

"Theek hai Ashu beta, main phir Nidhi ke saath JS chala jaata houn, aur hum dono sham ko Nidhi ka samaan lekar aa jayenge...

"Theek hai Baba mein aap logon ko lene aa jaunga...

Mr Rastogi was in two minds: on one hand he could see that Nidhi was very happy to go with Dr Mathur, on the other hand, it would be difficult for Nidhi to attend to an emergency at a moment's notice. But in the past few days, he had grown genuinely fond of Nidhi and was happy to let her go for the sake of her happiness.

"Theek hai Nidhi Ji, aap daytime ki duty kar lijiye, magar kabhi night duty par aana pada to...is it OK with you?" Mr Rastogi had queried. "Mr Rastogi aap meri chinta mat kijiye, jaisi bhi duty denge main kar loongi..." Nidhi had given her solemn word. "Baba mein thodi der uss mandir ja kar aati houn...mujhe wahan achcha lagta hai..." BB had nodded.

Nidhi strolled to the temple, sat down on the marble steps and leaned against a pillar. She had spent many nights here in the recent past when sleep had refused to oblige her. She was lost deep in thoughts and didn't hear her name being called by BB. She snapped out of her reverie when he patted her on the head softly and she hastily wiped the lone tear that had gathered on her eyelash.

"Nidhi beta...kya soch rahi thi?

"Kuchch nahi baba...wohi purani baatein yaad aa gayi...Yahaan kitni raatein guzari...taare ginkar...kahin unme meri ma bhi to hogi...aur ab...meri santaan..."

"Nidhi beta, duniya mein aisi koi taqat nahin jo guzre hue waqt ko lauta sake beta...Jo hua usse ek haadsa samajh kar bhool ja meri bachchi...that was an accident...isi mein teri aur Ashutosh ki bhalai hai..Achcha chal ab...Ashu bhi aata hi hoga..."

It was pitch dark as they walked back to JS. Nidhi was deep in thought, absent mindedly kicking the stones that lay in her path, and then reacted sharply as she kicked an obstinate one.

"Nidhi beta, kya hua? BB turned back on hearing her.

"BB kuchch khaas nahi..ek paththar se..." and she was interrupted by a car horn: Ashutosh!!

"aap dono wahan kya karne gaye the? Ashutosh was curious.

"yeh hum dono ka secret hai!!!..." BB was at his naughtiest best with his granddaughter. "Achcha Ashutosh, mujhe raste mein Pandey Ji ke yahan chhod de, unke paas kuchh nayi kitaabein aaye hai, bulaaya tha..."

They dropped BB at Pandey Ji's house and drove back in silence full of expectation and anticipation, with Nidhi staring ahead recollecting BB's words of wisdom when she suddenly felt something sticky on her toes. She had just made a mental note to explore the stickiness, when Ashutosh asked,

"Wahan kya baatein hui? Mr Rastogi ne kuchh kaha kya?

"Nahin, unhone kuchh nahi kaha...mein hi soch rahi thi agar night duty hui to kaise karungi?

"I will drop you there...waise to mein tumhe night duty karne nahin doonga...

"kyoun nahi karne denge?

"Ab yeh bhi batana padega? night ko tum sirf meri duty karogi!!

The passionate look that he gave her coupled with that raised eyebrow of his caused her heart to skip enough beats to sound alarming to a cardiologist watching over a serious patient.

"Come, let's go home...or you want to sleep in the car"? Ashutosh had stepped out of the car and she awoke from the short reverie. She stepped out, having forgotten temporarily the stickiness of her foot and then stopped abruptly as the injured toe started demanding attention. Ashutosh, carrying her suitcase and walking ahead with long strides, reached the bedroom and didn't notice that she had trailed back.

"Where is she? ahhh...must have gone to the kitchen..." he thought, when he turned around and didn't see her.

Nidhi had indeed gone to the kitchen to help HK set up the table for dinner. Her foot was hurting badly, the small wound was bleeding and that was what the stickiness was about!! Ashutosh came out of the bedroom, ready for dinner and immediately noticed something out of place on the floor: bloodstains!!! He frowned as he tried to explain their presence and carefully followed the trail to the kitchen.

HK was doing something by the counter and didn't know that Nidhi was sitting down near the refrigerator, trying to do something to her foot: the trail of blood had straight led to her.

"Nidhi, You are hurt!! Yeh kya... "Ashutosh was appalled at the very thought of his Nidhi being hurt so badly. He immediately helped her to her feet and carried her to the sofa outside, notwithstanding her protests, "Suniye Ji, jyaada kuchh nahi, woh chalte chalte thokar lag gayi...ab chhod dijiye..."

"Isse ek chhoti si chot kehti ho? Kitna khoon beh raha hai?

"Woh thodi der mein ruk jayega na...itna pareshan kyoun ho rahe ho ji...

"Mujhe kuchh nahin sunana. HK!!! Zara first aid ka box lana to...

"Arre Nidhi beta yeh kya..." HK was equally mortified. "Ashutosh beta, yeh le first aid box, Mein garam pani lata houn..."

Ashutosh made Nidhi sit on the sofa and himself sat down on the floor next to her crosslegged and cradled her injured foot in his hands. He just couldn't bear the thought that his Nidhi was hurt and he had been oblivious to the matter so far.

"Yeh aap kya kar rahe hai...mera pair chhodiye...koi dekhega to kya kahega...Owww..." She winced with pain and tears trickled down her cheek as Ashutosh cleaned the wound with spirit. Ashutosh looked up sharply and flinched at the sight of tears that flowed down her cheeks with tell tale marks. She unsuccessfully tried to wipe them off on her sleeve as his hands automatically tried to reach her cheeks. Behind him, HK coughed softly.

"Ashu beta, ab tetanus ka injection bhi lagana padega na?

"Please Dr Ashutosh, no injection...mujhe bahut darr lagta hai..." Nidhi pouted.

"HK zara iska haath pakadna to..." Ashutosh ordered.

"Nahin...please..." Nidhi pleaded.

"Ab chup bhi rahogi? Yeh kya bachkani harkatein kar rahi ho? HK...woh injection lana to..

"OWWW...Nidhi screamed as the needle entered her arm.

Ashutosh rubbed some alcohol on the puncture and handed over the empty syringe to HK. BB had come in a few minutes back and hurried to the scene.

"Arre Ashutosh, Nidhi ko kya hua? Baba was concerned.

"Kuchh nahi Baba, woh dekh kar nahi chal sakti...aur gaadi bhi aise chalati hai, dhyan kahin aur..." Ashutosh was hell bent on pulling Nidhi's leg. Nidhi wagged her finger at him, "see you later..."

Dinner was a pleasant affair, with BB recollecting some of Pandey Ji's books and sharing the other common interests. Ashutosh was glad to see Nidhi smiling: Nidhi had not smiled like this since a long time, the smile which reached her eyes and her health was improving by leaps and bounds.

After the dinner, HK and BB banished a protesting Nidhi to the bedroom on account of her leg injury, "Kaka mein baithe baithe kuchh kaam kar loongi na..." Ashutosh further tucked her to bed, wished her goodnight and was about to switch off the light when Nidhi caught his arm and pulled him to her.

"Kya kaha aapne? Mein dekh kar nahi chalti?..."she tugged at his arm.

"Arre Nidhi, sambhal ke, kahin tumhare upar na gir jao..." He tried to save himself.

"Wohi to iraada hai..." She put her arms around his neck as he landed up on her.

"Aur tumhara pair...aur uspar ka bandage...khul jayega na..." He was cautious.

"Nahin khulega...iss shahar ke best neurosurgeon ne bandha hai na...OWW..." Nidhi cried as his leg hit her wound. Ashutosh jerked up, alarmed.

"Nidhi kya hua...dikhao...

"Kucch nahin, aapka pair thoda lag gaya..." Nidhi couldn't suppress her pain and a tear trickled down her eyelash. Ashutosh winced at this; he tenderly cradled her injured leg in his hands and softly blew her pain away, muttering a mumbo-jumbo..."chhoomantar gul!! theek hai? dard gaya na?" Nidhi smiled amidst tears, fascinated at the sight.

"Ab chup...so jao..." Ashutosh had crawled back into the bed besides her and kissed her tears away, "Abhi bhi dard hai kya?

"Wahan nahin, yahan hai...iss dard ka kya ?" She clutched his hand to her bossom.

"tumhare saare dard ka ilaaj hai mere pass..." he cupped her face and possessed her lips. "I'll be extra careful this time Nidhi...not to hurt your foot"

After that she did not care about her injured foot anymore. The rising moon, peeping inside, witnessed a reunion of two bodies and souls, never meant to part again, never meant to be alone again, never meant to suffer again. The rising sun brought a smile to the face of the two people sleeping in each other's arms, arms that went possessively around the other one and defying all diktats of nature. Nidhi yawned, and stretched, carefully extricating herself from her husband's arms as the first rays of the rising sun washed over her.

"Chaliye, uthiye...aaj hospital nahin jaana kya? Mein aapke liye chai leker aati houn...

"Aaj hospital se chhutti...aur biwi ki duty...

"Chaliye, uthiye, mujhe apna suitcase unpack karna hai...waise hi apne patak diya...

Nidhi had opened the suitcase and was about to arrange her clothes back in her cupboard when she was stunned to see: the half done booties!!! Sudden emotions clouded her being as she gingerly opened the tiny ball of wool. Tears trickled down her cheek as she recollected asking Shyama aunty on directions to buy wool and knit tiny things that would have adorned the tiny feet.

Suddenly she sensed Ashutosh behind her: he had gotten up sometime back and seen her pickup the booties and become very still; he guessed that she was silently crying. She hurriedly tried to wipe her tears but not before he grasped her by her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"Nidhi..." he cupped her face and wiped her fingers with his thumbs. She looked at him with utter helplessness and despair, the entire ache that she had borne for all these days and the self-control valve burst...She crumbled against him, her head buried in his chest, heaving with sobs that racked her frame. His hands rose to caress her hair and then encircled her to hug her tighter till she stopped shuddering and shaking.

"Nidhi..." She looked up to his teary face. "Yeh ek khwab adhura reh gaya..." his voice was choked. She had never known this vulnerable side of Ashutosh, someone for whom the basic emotional needs had been luxury. "Nidhi...I so much wanted to have a baby...mera apna..." She smiled and pouted amidst tears, "Nahi, hamara apna...kahi kho gaya..."

"usse wapas layenge?" both nodded to each other with perfect understanding...