The gurney clattered past Pallavi, her last chance leaving with the man on it.
"You don't understand!" she cried, trying to reach past the nurse blocking her "I have to talk to him!"
"He'll be out of surgery in a few hours, ma'am. You'll have to wait till then." the nurse said with an irritating calmness "There's a waiting room across the hall for family members. You'll be comfortable there."
At the end of the hall, the doors swung shut behind the leaving gurney. Pallavi stood blankly, watching where it had gone. Satisfied that she was no longer a threat, the nurse nodded, striding back behind the walls of her station.
Pallavi turned toward the waiting room, feeling out of place as a 25-year-old in a red halter cocktail dress, her elaborate updo destroyed as her hair hung around her waist.
The dozens of eyes watching her all hastily flicked away to magazines, shoes, anything to pretend her little display hadn't been the most fascinating thing to happen to them in hours. It must be a busy day at the hospital, as few of the chairs were even vacant. One of the few empty seats was next to a man smirking as he read the newspaper. At least he wasn't one of the many still gaping at her. Good enough, Pallavi decided, and headed for the seat, willfully blind to the many eyes following her.
As she sat, the newspaper crinkled next to her "Did you get the drama out of your system? Or do I need to move seats before you start sobbing on my shoulder?"
Pallavi gaped at the man. Still, he kept his gaze fixed on his newspaper, his eyes steadily flicking across the words. "Of all the rude, inconsiderate—"
He folded the newspaper "Changing seats it is, then."
"Sit." Pallavi snapped "Don't you dare move because of me."
One of his eyebrows rose, intrigued by the challenge. He said nothing, simply flicked his newspaper back open and resumed reading.
Pallavi drummed her fingers on the lacquered wooden arm of her waiting room chair. Hours to go, and not even a phone or a purse with which to distract herself. On the table next to her were a pile of magazines. She picked the first one up. Parenting. Grimacing, she exchanged it for the next. The man glanced at her. Baby Talk. Pantomiming retching, she let all her hopes fall to the third and final magazine. Home Decor. Good enough. Pallavi picked it up, leafing through its pages. The newspaper crinkled as the man raised it higher. According to the magazine, pastel colours were apparently a steal. And of course dark colours were overrated, but always reliable. At least there were a few pictures of different room decorations.
When she flipped the magazine upside down, the man could no longer restrain himself "What an original way to see a story from a new angle."
Pallavi glared at him "As if you'd know, reading the same section of Finance for the third time."
"Health, actually." he said, folding the paper "And it was only the second. Do you design?"
"More than I Parent." she said, gesturing to the discarded magazines. A smile quirked at his lips.
"Do you Health?"
He gestured to himself, trim in a 3 piece suit with 3 undone buttons on shirt which displayed his chest and slacks "I am the epitome of healthiness."
"Lankiness." she muttered.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
A silence stretched. Pallavi fiddled with the cover of Home Decor magazine, unsure whether to open it again. The idea wasn't very tempting.
"I'm Raghav."
Pallavi turned, surprised by the gesture "Pallavi."
He cleared his throat "Do I want to know what was happening before?"
"You made it abundantly clear that you don't." she snapped, turning away once more.
Raghav waited a moment before trying again "Could you say it without getting emotional?"
An irritated huff burst from her "There's nothing emotional about it! It was a blind date. He still has my necklace. The end."
"A blind date?" Raghav asked. Pallavi nodded. "So you're stuck waiting here for…?"
"A stranger, that's right."
Raghav slipped the folded newspaper into his briefcase "And how on earth did this stranger get your necklace?"
"It broke!" Pallavi tossed her hands into the air "I don't have any pockets, so he kept it for me."
Raghav made a face, leaning forward onto his thighs "That's immensely impractical. What would you have done if he'd been a bore? You can't even call a cab to go home."
"I have cash on me. I'm not an idiot."
"If you don't have pockets, how in the world—" He cut off as Pallavi started to reply, raising his hand to stop her "Don't tell me. I'd rather keep my innocence."
Pallavi snorted "So what are you in here for? Fish??"
A smirk toyed with his lips "You'd never guess."
With a sigh, Pallavi leaned back in her chair "Correct again. In a hospital, every guess is morbid."
"Killjoy. I'm a doctor."
Disbelief covered Pallavi's face "Out here? With all us peasants?"
Raghav shrugged "I just need a lab report and I can head home. Never figured it would take this long to process."
"Don't doctors have break rooms? Where they serve caviar and admire the snap of a fresh latex glove?"
His face turned sour "And where they're throwing the third baby shower this month."
"Ah." Pallavi paused, not sure how to proceed delicately "And you're not…?"
"Enraptured by squalling lumps of flesh? No."
"Married."
He snorted "Also no." He glanced at Pallavi, still looking lovely in her dress, despite being around his own age "What's your excuse? I thought everyone had settled or given up."
She looked down at her hands laced in her lap, wishing she had something better than a magazine to fiddle with "Maybe they're the smart ones."
Raghav felt an uncomfortable bout of emotions occurring and tried to backpedal "You just went on a blind date. That's… brave?"
Pallavi made a face at him "Let me know how brave you feel when your blind date is so desperate to get away from you that he poisons himself."
Raghav choked "I'm sorry?"
She sighed "The enrapturing fellow started off the evening proudly listing all his allergies for the benefit of myself and the waitstaff. Then, the moment he stopped talking about himself long enough for me to get a proper introduction in, he found it so ridiculous that I'd be a software engineer that he asked for the joke's punchline!"
Raghav paused "At which point he poisoned himself to supply one for you?"
With a groan, Pallavi flopped back in her chair "The point at which I got so angry that I threw my napkin at him. I proceeded to crack hilarious software designer jokes until he thought his only way out was cyanide – or in his case, a strawberry. After I saw him reach into the appetizer in the middle of the table, he very loudly announced what an accident it had been and that his face was swelling so badly he'd have to go home. Only, by then, it wasn't just his face. His throat was swelling, too, and he couldn't finish his sentence around his bloated tongue. The restaurant had to call the paramedics."
Raghav tried to keep a straight face – for about two seconds. Hand covering his mouth, he collapsed into laughter.
"Why hide your laughter? Laugh it up Raghav." Pallavi glared.
"I'm glad he has your necklace." Raghav chuckled, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes "Fitting payback."
Pallavi tossed the magazine back onto the end table "He was awful, anyway. I'll never understand what my friends saw in him."
Raghav shrugged "Our age and single, is my guess. That's all my last date and I had in common."
"Oh ho! The good doctor mingles with the rest of the world?"
He shrugged again, a hint of a smile playing with his lips "I think she wished she had a strawberry allergy."
Pallavi laughed. It had been awhile since she'd laughed like that, and certainly not with a stranger. Raghav watched her, pleased by her enjoyment. The little hopeful seed that she'd buried in her heart so long ago sprouted a tiny green shoot.
"Dr. Rao?"
The voice of the nurse shocked Pallavi out of her moment. The same nurse from before stood next to Raghav, a file in her outstretched hand.
"Sorry, it took me so long to find you." the nurse continued. "I thought you'd be at Riya’s baby shower with the rest of the staff. Here's the bloodwork you wanted."
Raghav took the file, flipping through it with a perfunctory glance "Perfect. Thank you."
He stood, grabbing his briefcase. And before Pallavi even had a chance to say goodbye… he was gone.
She doused the green sprout with gasoline, relishing in its blackening corpse. She was fine living alone, she told herself for the thousandth time. She had a fulfilling job, nieces and nephews that she loved, and maybe she'd get a dog...no she’d get two---to keep her other dog from being lonely, of course.
Angrily, she opened Home Decor magazine. Pallavi tried to read, but the words in front of her blurred together in an angry haze. Men were the worst. Even rude, obnoxious—
A golden chain dropped into her lap, the shivaji charm dangling from it---all-too-familiar.
"My necklace!" Pallavi cried, looking up. All words stopped at the sight. Raghav stood over her, grinning that stupid smug grin "How did you…?"
"Went back there and asked. There has to be some benefit in being a doctor." His eyes glittered with mischief "Want to get out of here? I know a place with terrific strawberries."
As you can see this is MHRW AU Realm--Raghav is a doctor. I got my 1st dose of vaccine today and got this idea. I hope you like it.
Do give your valuable feedback.
REEM
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Geet - Hui Sabse Parayee
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