Chapter 7: Nidhi
Its been exactly 10 days, 5 hours and 19 minutes since he came home to return my bag. I've hardly seen him since. Oh, I've been peeking at his cabin every day hoping to catch a glimpse of his beautiful face and hanging around his OPDs like a lovesick puppy dying for a look, a glance, a smile.. but nothing!! What went wrong? He was so attentive on the day he took me home after the surgery. And when he rescued me from the biker, I could have sworn I'd seen something in his eyes mirroring my own feelings. Was I wrong? I am desperate now to talk to him or at least see him. I should have been assisting in his OPD last Wednesday, but he called Priyanka. And I'm not assisting him in the OT either! It must be that Lady Moonstone! Mallika, I thought bitchily. She must have fixed it so I'm never near him. Lady Moonstone was the name the interns had given her. He was Hardstone …..a name that I'm ashamed of now because I know he's nothing like that.. he's warm, caring, loving, generous.. the hard exterior is just a facade he uses to fool others, and if he yelled at us it was only because he was a responsible doctor, for him the patients' well-being came first and he could not tolerate unprofessionalism of any kind… and we named Mallika, Moonstone because she kept hanging around him mooning!! Mooning over Hardstone, so….. Moonstone!! Ha ha!! This was Avinash's brainchild! And we had found it sooo funny at the time! But now I'm filled with indescribable jealousy when I see her around him. I know she hates me, and its pretty obvious how she feels about him, she's gotten me into trouble several times before. I've managed to save my skin in the nick of time by being alert and having some real good colleagues to look out for me, especially Dr Ranganath.
I feel so lost, so desolate without him! A sudden thought crosses my mind.. Is he avoiding me? Perish the thought, that can't be true! I know he felt something on that day too.."Dr Nidhi, Dr Nidhi, earth calling Dr Nidhi!!!". I shake myself from my thoughts. Its Dr Gupta. I'm assisting his ENT OPD today. He's a jolly old man in his 50s and he has a twinkle in his eye while looking at me.. "What's the matter, Nidhi? Thinking about your boyfriend?" A blush floods my cheeks. He is closer to the truth than he thinks. "This little boy probably needs a cochlear implant. I want you to take his case history to Dr Ashutosh and get his opinion. And if he agrees with me, ask him to sign his admission papers too. And stay there till he reads it because I want an answer pronto! Off you go!" he says.
Hooray!!! I'm literally falling over with excitement!!! Its like my prayers have been answered. I was moping and moping about not seeing him and here is the perfect opportunity served to me in a platter! Somebody up there sure likes me, I think grinning to myself. I walk excitedly up to his OPD and knock the door. "Come", his strong, warm voice sends a thrill through me. I walk in and to my dismay see Lady Moonstone Mallika sitting there opposite him. There are empty tea cups in front of them. She gives me the dirtiest of looks. I ignore her and feast my eyes on him. He looks tired, his eyes are sunken, as though he hasn't gotten much sleep. Ooh, my poor baby, I think to myself.. is something troubling him? He looks startled. Did his eyes just light up seeing me? "Yes, Dr Nidhi?". His voice is cool. "Um..uh..Dr Gupta asked you to look at these case papers. He wants your opinion on the surgery", I say stammering a bit. Foolish girl, I mentally rebuke myself. He nods and takes the papers from me and begins poring over them. I stare at his dark head bent over the papers. His brow is furrowed in deep concentration. He looks a little disheveled, his shirt sleeves rolled up, tie loosened, hair ruffled. He must have had a rough day. My fingers itch to smooth his hair. "Dr Nidhi, Dr Ashutosh can call Dr Gupta with his diagnosis. There's no reason for you to stay". Moonstone is shooting daggers at me with her eyes. I look back at her defiantly and sweetly say" Oh no, Dr Mallika, Dr Gupta insisted I stay and get Dr Ashutosh to sign on the admission papers." Take that in your masala chai and stuff it in your mouth, baby!! I glare back at her. I know she's going to get me for this, probably 2 more weeks of night duty. But I don't care. I transfer my gaze back to him, my heart full of tenderness at his apparent exhaustion. I want to lay him down on my lap and caress his hair and forehead, get him to relax and smooth those worry lines away from his brow…!!! Ooohhh, Nidhi, stop right there!! My heart is thudding crazily at the thought. I can feel Moonstone's eyes boring into my back, but I continue staring at him. If looks could kill, I'd have been in the ICU right then. I do not know where I get this new found confidence and defiance from. But nothing's gonna make me back away. I'm trying to stop myself from sticking my tongue out at her!! He looks up.. "Dr Gupta's right. I agree, the boy needs surgery. We'll admit him right away." He hands the papers to me. I try to take them in a way so I can make some contact with him, but to my disappointment, he just puts them down on the table, gets up and leaves!!! What's the matter with him?
Its late evening, I'm at the dinner table, lost in thought. I'm not actually eating anything. Baba notices. "Nidhi, don't toy with your food, beta. Eat or leave the table". He says with a frown. I look at him apologetically, "Sorry baba just not hungry. May I be excused?" He nods and I rush out the door to Anji's. Need to talk to her about what's happening. Anji as usual starts her rant about how stupid I am to have fallen for an older man and how things were never going to work out. "Anji, stop, I need some practical advice right now". I love Anji like a sister, but she has such different ideas about love.. practicality, compatibility, companionship.. it sounds more like a relation you would share with your brother, not your lover!!! Love is this sweet, heady emotion that neither knows nor cares about these things.. its just this overwhelming need to be with the person you love and everything else be damned!! Can she ever understand that? I heave a deep sigh, knowing I'm not going to get any answers from her. "Why, oh why is he avoiding me?" "Wait a minute, Nidhi, He's avoiding you? Oh boy, does that mean what I think it means? Like maybe, he feels the same about you and is running scared?", says Anji, excitedly. My eyes widen, the thought excites me beyond belief. "I have to see him, but how?" "Think, something work related maybe", says Anji. She's a sweetheart, my Anji, a true friend, standing by me. no matter what. "I know, we're doing this paper together for the Med conference in Goa next week!!", I say clapping my hands together in glee. "I'll go up to him and say I want to discuss it"!! I stand up and hug Anji and do a little dance with her. Just you wait, Dr Ashutosh! I'm not giving up that easy!!
Awaiting detailed reviews and comments.. please please please encourage a rookie writer!!! God Bless!!
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