What next? FF with the Doc: epilogue page 55 - Page 24

Chapter 13

"Theek kehte hai Dr sab...Nidhi bitiya se to ghar mehekta hai...aap hi ki amaanat hai woh...apni kismet to upar se likha kar layi hai na..." DB had grown emotional while strolling in the garden with BB. "Aur ab uski tabeeyat bhi kafi theek lag rahi hai...phir mujhe izzaazat dijiye..."

"Ab aisi bhi kya jaldi hai samdhan Ji...Nidhi lambi beemari ke baa dab sambhali hai...kuchh din aur thehar jaati aap...

"Arre nahin Dr Sab..beti ke sasural mein itne din rehna..achcha nahin lagta...

"Theek hai phir...Ashutosh aapko chhod dega..." BB had beckoned Ashutosh.

The next day morning brought on a few heated exchanges at the breakfast table as Nidhi insisted in joining duty back despite protests from all. Everyone around, including Ashutosh had felt that she still needed some more time to recuperate, but Nidhi was adamant on joining back after a week of falling sick.

"Nidhi Beta..." BB was trying to convince her.

"Main kissi ki nahi sunungi...I am an adult now..." Nidhi was adamant. Ashutosh rolled his eyes, "Nidhi, you are still weak..aur tumhara kaam aasaan nahi hai...it involves physical exertion..."

"To kya? Main apna khayal rakh sakti houn..." Nidhi pouted.

Ashutosh had given up ultimately and driven her to JS, with strict instructions, "I will come to pick you in the evening, till then don't overdo things, OK?" Mr Rastogi was equally concerned, "Nidhi madam, ek aur hafta aaram kar leti...yahan par aisa kuchh kaam baki bhi nahin hai..."

"Arre nahin Rastogi Ji, ghar baithe baithe bore ho rahi thi mein..."

"Theek, hai, phir ek jagah baithkar kaam kijiye aap..aur jyaada overexert mat kijiye..."

The day passed on without a murmur. Haneefa Bi got tea for her and they chatted for some time, then there were the physiotherapy sessions, followed by Yoga and meditation...Lunch was a small affair and Nidhi found that she didn't have much appetite because of the antibiotics. Haneefa Bi also got worried about her lack of appetite, "thoda nimboo ka achaar lo Nidhi Madam, thoda muh ka swaad badal jayega..." and forced her to eat a few morsels of food, muttering under her breath; "ab khayengi nahin to badan mein taqat kaise aayegi...?"

Nidhi yawned suddenly and felt a strange yearning for a nap. "Haneefa Bi, mein aapke kamare mein thodi der let jaoun?" "Ha, ha, kyoun nahi, abhi abhi beemari se uthi ho, kamjori kafi hai..." Haneefa Bi was full of understanding.

The watchman at the gate came running in search of Nidhi and collided with Mr Rastogi, "Manager sab, woh Dr Ashutosh aaye hai Nidhi madam ko lene..."

"Theek hain Nidhi Madam ko inform kar dijiye..."

"Woh kahin nahin mil rahi...unhiko to dhuund raha houn...sab jagah dekh liya..."

"zara Haneefa Bi se poochho, kahin unke kamare mein to nahi?"

Nidhi was indeed sleeping soundly in Haneefa Bi's room, totally unaware of people searching for her. She stirred restlessly as Haneefa Bi patted her head fondly, "sone dijiye na..."

"Madam, Dr Ashutosh aaye hai aapko lene...aapki aankh lag gayi thi, maine kuchh der pehle aakar dekha aur phir nahin jagaya..."

Nidhi was awake in a flash: she had been asleep on duty!!! Oh my god!!! Hastily she splashed water on her face to recruit some bit of alertness in her system still in the grip of a hangover. Then she remembered Ashutosh was waiting for her and she trembled at the thought of Ashutosh berating her and calling her unprofessional...

"You slept on duty? Aur koi emergency aa jati to? What will Mr Rastogi think? Is this your commitment towards work...?"

"Are you alright?..." Ashutosh shook her shoulder gently. He found her staring in the mirror above the washbasin, staring in space, and the tap still on..."How was your day today?"

"I suddenly felt like having a nap...I thought maybe if I lie down for 10 min I will feel better, but then I don't know how I fell deep asleep..." Nidhi was consumed by an apology. "Koi baat nahin, actually isiliye maine kaha tha ki ek aur hafta ghar mein aaram kar lo..abhi bhi tum poori tarah theek nahin hui ho..." Ashutosh was gracious enough not to rub things in.

"Lo ghar aa gaya..." he muttered as the car took a graceful turn and glided in the portico. They walked in the house, hand in hand as BB got up from the sofa and came forward, "Nidhi beta tumhara aaj ka din kaisa raha? Ab tabeeyat kaisi hai?

"Kuchh mat poochhiye baba...mein ise lene gaya to yeh wahan gaadhi neend mein so rahi thi..."Ashutosh was hell bent on pulling Nidhi's leg, "Pata nahin wahan par itne saare patients hai, unme ek aur shaamil..." Nidhi gave him a look, which said, see you later...

Dinner was a quiet affair; Ashutosh noticed that Nidhi hardly ate anything. Maybe the effect of antibiotics that she had taken for the viral, he presumed and made a mental note of extra multivitamins for her.

After the dinner Nidhi excused herself by saying that she was feeling tired and couldn't help in clearing up the table. Ashutosh had some files to check and by the time he reached their room Nidhi was fast asleep. Probably very tired, he thought as he settled down in the covers; put an extra blanket over her and switched off the lights.

Sometime in the night he had woken up to find Nidhi missing from the bed. She was standing in the window of the room, gazing into the night beyond. Ashutosh tiptoed to her,

"Yahan kya kar rahi ho? Neend nahi aa rahi?"

"Ha, ab aap issi tarah mere baare mein kahenge to..." Nidhi was crying softly.

"Ab maine kya kaha?" Ashutosh turned her towards him.

"Yehi, ki main wahan JS mein so gayi thi? You know, I was feeling so guilty aur ek aap hai ki mujhe chidhane se baaz nahin aate..." and she buried her face in his chest, sobbing quietly, "pata nahi BB ne mere baare mein kya socha hoga..."

"arre kuchh nahin sochenge..woh jaante hai ki tumhari tabeeyat theek nahin hui na...he was asking me whether you were fine today at JS..." Ashutosh's fingers roamed through her hair and he raised her chin to meet his gaze, "tumhe chidhane ka to haq banata hain na mera? Achcha ab batao..neend nahi aa rahi thi kya...aise kyoun khadi thi?

"Pata nahin kyoun...kuchh yaad aaya, phir bhool gayi..." Nidhi wiped her tears.

"Achcha chalo, under chalate hai..." Ashutosh yawned suddenly. "I am feeling sleepy..."

"Par mujhe neend nahin aa rahi..." Nidhi protested, " theek hai, aap so jayiye, mein apni diary likh loongi, bahut dino se kuchh likha nahin..."

"Tumhari diary? Tumhare saare secrets usme likhe honge na?" Ashutosh enquired with a twinkle in his eye, leaning towards her, "Main padh sakata houn kabhi?"

"Kissi doosre ke diary padhna...not allowed!!! Nidhi pushed AShutosh away. Ashutosh gave Nidhi a peck on her cheek and went to the bed with a yearning expression which said: Aur kitna sataogi?

Nidhi sat on the study table, put on the reading light and opened the diary warily, it represented to her the chronicle of her life itself. For quite some time she had not written anything in it...the last entry was when she had observed new blooms in her garden. She had also written in her neat handwriting about her cycle regulating itself after her accident, it was dated somewhere in October. In a flash, she realized, what had been nagging her so far, well, she certainly had missed something, as this was December!!!!

She turned to the sleeping figure of her husband and smiled indulgently.

Next day passed smoothly without any hitches: Nidhi was feeling much better now and went about doing all her daily routine with an unmatched zeal. Haneefa Bi at JS was pleasantly surprised to see this transformation and secretly attributed it to her nimboo ka achaar that she had coaxed Nidhi to eat the previous day.

"Suniye Ji, can you please stop for a moment near the chemist's shop?" Nidhi asked Ashutosh as they were driving back home in the evening.

"Now what do you want from the chemist? Ashutosh was clearly irritated.

"Yeh ladies ka mamla hai..." Nidhi was coy and tried hard not to blush.

"Tum theek to ho na? The irritation gave way to concern.

"ab chhodiye bhi...har cheez janana zaroori hai kya? Zara yahan rok dijiye, mein abhi aayi..." Nidhi sprinted to the chemist and came back in a short while, "Ab chaliye, der ho rahi hai..." and hopped in the car.

Ashutosh was growing increasingly curious about this clandestine affair. Maybe one of her "ladies" issues, which she was initially hesitant to share with him, he mused, but then he was her husband after all, didn't he need to know all these things about her health? He didn't recollect any of her gynaec concerns so far except her brief encounter with Dr Bharati.

The next day dawned with a clear sky and chirping birds, the first ray of sunshine saw Nidhi in a pensive mood sipping her morning coffee. She had just come back from her morning visit to the garden and confirmed the arrival of new shoots and blooms to BB. BB was very happy: these days Nidhi seemed so happy, full of life and the dark blot of past had moved past.

"Suniye Ji, mujhe aapse kuchh kehna hai..." Nidhi said as Ashutosh was just out of the shower and was getting dressed up; he was clearly in a hurry.

"Ab kya kehna hai? Aur ab tak taiyyar nahin hui, JS nahin jaana hai kya? A barrage of questions poured from Ashutosh, "there were so many secrets yesterday...you didn't want to tell me..."

"Suniye na...hamare ladies secrets to rahenge...par aisi jaldi bhi kya hai...meri baat to suniye..." She was sitting on a corner of the bed, trying hard to contain her excitement.

"Theek hai, sunao..." Ashutosh finally gave in to this cajoling, and sat on his hunches in front of her, and clasped her hands in his, "kya baat hai?"

"I...I...missed something 10 days back..." Nidhi began, her eyes downcast, "pehle socha ki mere viral fever ki wajah se delay ho gaya hoga...aur phir aaj subah test kiya to...to...test positive hai..." and she hid her face in her hands as a sudden wave of shyness overcame her.

It took quite some time to dawn on Ashutosh: his eyes widened with the cognition of the imminent arrival, his stern features relaxed to display a smile, "really?" as his hands reached up to unravel her fingers and asked, with an incredulous expression, "you mean...you and I are...we are going to have a...a baby?" Nidhi smiled shyly and nodded amidst tears, and stood up slowly, helped to her feet by Ashutosh...and relaxed in his arms with her face hidden in his chest.

"Hey Nidhi...you are crying? Kya hua?" Ashutosh was baffled by her sniffles.

"I am feeling very nervous...pata nahin aage kya hoga.. ." Nidhi wiped her tears and pouted.

"Nidhi...jo bhi hoga...we'll face it together...just don't worry...chalo aaj hi Dr Bharati se baat karata houn...I will tell her ki aapki salah ke mutabik ab hum...HEY...AB DIMAAG KI GHANTI BAJEEE...AUR BATTI JALEE...I AM GOING TO BE A FATHER...WHOOPS!!!!" and Ashutosh picked Nidhi in his arms.

"Ab Chhodiye...neeche utariye...pehle Dr Bharati se baat kar lijiye Ji..." Nidhi had protested with mock exasperation as he tenderly put her down.

"To ab Dr Bharati batayengi ki mujhe apni biwi ke saath kya karana chahiye aur kya nahin?" Ashutosh grumbled as he enveloped Nidhi in a back hug and grasped her hands. Nidhi delicately led his hand to her abdomen and said mischievously, "aur inse bhi baat kijiye..." as Ashutosh hugged her tighter.

"Hello baby...welcome to our lives...Ashutosh began, his hand on Nidhi's abdomen, " I am eagerly waiting for you..."