He stood up and paced back and forth in his room, stopping to look at the clock every few seconds, wondering when Geet would get back and hoping she was all right. All of a sudden, his dull and repetitive ringtone unexpectedly disturbed his anxious thoughts.
"Hello?" Maan answered.
"Hi, it's me," It was Geet. "Can you come pick me up? I don't want to get a taxi or auto and come home by myself..."
She was alright. That was Maan's first thought. "You're still at the hospital right? Stay there," he commanded protectively.
"Thanks," Geet smiled.
"And don't stand outside either, Geet," Maan added instinctively.
Geet laughed softly, "Okay," and turned to walk back in through the doors.
"I'll be there soon," Maan said as he jogged out to his car and got in.
"Okay, bye," Geet hung up, smiling to herself. She looked around the lobby and found a few empty chairs outside the waiting room. She decided to sit there while she waited for Maan since it would probably take him at least fifteen minutes to get to the hospital. She watched the front doors fly open as more visitors walked in, as more patients were admitted, as the nurses ran around busily, and as doctors paced from ward to ward, doing their daily rounds. Geet leaned back into the chair and closed her eyes. She was glad she was finally done with work and she didn't have to be a part of it anymore.
"Geet?" a voice suddenly said, startling Geet.
"Oh no," she automatically thought and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It was Dr. Rahul Narayan, one of the senior doctors at Sanjeevani. This entire day, he had taken it as his responsibility to show Geet, the new comer to the hospital, around, not letting her out of his sight until she herself somehow managed to escape. Geet, pretending she had not heard him, looked down in to her bag, pulled out her phone, and immediately began texting an imaginary person.
"Geet?" Rahul tapped her shoulder.
Geet closed her eyes tightly. "Damn it, he caught me," she thought instantly. After pulling her lips into a fake smile, she looked up at Rahul slowly. "Hi."
What are you still doing here? I thought you were done fifteen minutes ago?" he asked with his hand still on Geet's shoulder.
"I'm going to leave right now," Geet said as she stood up, causing Rahul's hand to slip off her shoulder. "I was just resting for a bit.
"How are you getting home? Not in a taxi I hope. It's to late for a woman to be traveling by herself," he continued without giving Geet a chance to speak at all. "Don't worry though. I'll give you a ride home." Geet couldn't believe it. Had Rahul just made a decision for Geet without even asking for her opinion at all? Rahul's bar on her respectability chart was already pretty low, and his current behavior took him completely off the chart now. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Geet had never needed to extend the numbers on her chart down into the negatives.
"But - " He cut Geet off again and she was getting more and more infuriated by the second.
"You're coming with me," he pulled Geet by her hand to the door.
"Let go of my hand," Geet commanded, holding her ground. She wouldn't budge.
"How else are you - " Rahul was cut off by Geet's ringtone. Geet looked fiercely into Rahul's eyes and then at her hand, which was still in Rahul's. He instantly let her hand go.
"Hello?" she answered her phone, turning away from Rahul.
"I'm outside," Maan said. Hearing Maan's voice after all that with Rahul suddenly made her feel much more protected.
"Okay. I'll be out in a minute," she faltered.
"What's wrong?" Maan asked.
"Nothing. I'm coming out now," Geet repeated.
"No, stay in there. I'll come get you inside," Maan said and hung up before Geet could say anything else back. He felt like something was wrong. She hadn't sounded like that fifteen minutes ago when she had called him.
It had been less than a minute, for sure, since she had hung up with Maan before Geet saw him walk in through the front doors, turning his head from side to side looking for her.
"Maan!" Geet called, waving to him.
"Maan?" Rahul turned back to see who she was waving to.
Maan quickly made his way towards where Geet and Rahul were standing. Geet seemed uncomfortable next to the man who was standing next to her. She tensely looked into Maan's eyes, trying to tell him something. Maan noticed, however, that she looked slightly relieved when she saw him. After giving Rahul a questioning look, he forcefully took Geet's hand and began to walk away. Geet didn't try to stop him, but instead walked faster along with Maan so she could get as far away from Rahul as fast as she could. "Who is he?" Maan questioned Geet.
"You'll let him take you without a single word, but you won't me?" Rahul called behind them.
Maan stopped in his place and turned back to look at Rahul and then Geet, who was now looking down uneasily. She twisted her hand out of Maan's tight grasp and, instead, interlocked her fingers with his tightly, just like she had the entire car drive to the hospital that morning. Geet's nervous gesture was enough for Maan to understand what had happened between Geet and Rahul.
"She's mine." Maan said boldly and headed towards the hospital doors, dragging Geet behind him.
193