CHAPTER 12
Two days later, May 8th, 2013:
Dr. Ashutosh got up in the morning just like he did every other day. It was the last working day for this week for both of them, as upon his insistence they both had taken time off for the rest of this week to celebrate their wedding anniversary in leisure. In this one year one of the most valuable things he had learnt from Nidhi was to treat special occasions as such. They were the days that created wonderful and ever-lasting memories, hence they ought not to be wasted. They were the occasions that brought all the members of their family under one roof thus paving the way for creating a much tighter, close-knit family. So he had been pro-active this time and had applied for vacation for both of them and had surprised Nidhi with its approval a couple of weeks back. But she did not know that before they embarked on that vacation he had another surprise for her today, an early anniversary gift maybe (?), and one of the few he had up his sleeve. As was his habit, his hand sneaked out to feel for Nidhi on her side of the bed, but it was empty today! "Is she awake already? So early? What is she doing?" So he too quickly got up and as he went about his usual morning chores he acknowledged that today was also a special day. It was the eve of their wedding day. A year ago today had been their Sangeet and the day his transformation had begun from the shy, introvert, recluse to the confident outgoing man he now was. Professionally he was always at his confident best but on a personal level his life had been in the pits before he met Nidhi. In fact he suspected even he would not recognize the old Ashutosh if he met him on the street anywhere. Mentally shaking himself out of these thoughts, he quickly got up, got ready and hurried out in search of Nidhi.
Nidhi was up at the crack of dawn. In fact, something had forced her to wake up at this ungodly hour! This was the second day in a row it had happened at this same time. She frowned thinking of what would happen today at the hospital, what would be the verdict, and quickly turned around to see that Dr. Ashutosh was thankfully still deep in sleep. A quick trip to the bathroom seemed to solidify her suspicions and she was now almost certain of what the outcome would be but still she wanted that confirmation! Yesterday, at this same time she had been confused and with a determination had gone for a check-up. Thinking along those lines she hurried to the kitchen to get started on the breakfast routine. She was still debating if she should confess her doubts to her husband when the object of her thoughts walked in, all ready and beaming from ear to ear. "He seems unusually happy and excited today! Does he suspect what is going on? No... that cannot be! Well, I have to get to the hospital quick and find out the truth soon..." Seeing that there was no one in the kitchen with her, he quickly walked over to her, gave her shoulder a gentle one-armed squeeze and placed a tiny kiss on her head. Then he placed his hand on her waist and held her close from behind.
Dr. Ashutosh: "What happened Nidhi? You got up so early and even now you seem to be in some deep thought? Can I help you?"
Ndhi: "No... no... its nothing! Umm... I was... I was only thinking about an ICU patient. I was thinking about when we could transfer him to a regular ward..."
Dr. Ashutosh: "Well, that can be figured out once we get to the hospital, ok?"
As she started nodding her head they both heard HKs movements close by and Dr. Ashutosh quickly moved away, just in time for HK's entry into the kitchen.
Walking back to the living room, he recollected the day he had applied for leave and was getting ready to send his application through Dr. Ranganath.
Dr. Ranganath: "Sir... Vacation! Is this for you??!!"
And tried as he might, Dr. Ranganath had been unable to control that grin, that smirk on his face that spoke volumes...
Dr. Ashutsoh: After pretending to glare at him, "Yes Dr. Ranganath! Is there any problem?"
Dr. Ranganth: With a cough to cover up that grin, "No Sir, not at all! But may I enquire the reason for this Sir."
Knowing fully well that Dr. Ranganath knew very well and was feigning ignorance, he decided to indulge him,
Dr. Ashutosh: "Dr. Ranganath, it so happens that it is my first wedding anniversary. So I have decided that we would be taking some vacation. But Nidhi does not know about this yet. I will reveal it once the leave is sanctioned by the board. Clear?"
Dr. Ranganath: "Yes Sir, crystal!"
With a nod he had turned and walked towards the wards and Dr. Ranganath gleefully picked up the phone to transmit this earth-shattering news to one and all in Nidhi's erstwhile home! Meanwhile, Dr. Ashutosh who was about to enter the children's ward wondered if he should message Nidhi and warn her that she was about to receive a call from the ever-curious but well-meaning DB! Since the day he got the leave sanction, they both had worked extra hard to make sure that nothing was left pending before they took off. At the same time he was keeping a close watch on Nidhi's internship progress and update. He knew she was very close to completion as she was on her last department rotation now and he had felt that she was ready to be a full-fledged doctor. In fact her credentials were clearly stating that she was going to become the most successful intern and emulate his success almost 18 years back. And this was something that made him extremely proud and extremely grateful to his stars for giving him the foresight at the right moment to pave the way for Nidhi to complete her internship. A few days back he had proceeded to recommend to their committee to grant Nidhi a full completion status, thus making her eligible to receive her MBBS degree at the next university convocation. And just as he had hoped and wished for, he had received a positive reply from the board yesterday with a further indication that they should offer Nidhi a position in their hospital itself and so far only Dr. Ranganath and Dr. Dubey were privy to this information! Along with the certificate of completion they were also preparing an offer letter for her to join their hospital as a junior doctor and a full-time staff. It was turning out to be more perfect that he had anticipated! All the arrangements were being made and Nidhi had no clue what-so-ever! Now he could not wait for them to get to the hospital...
Nidhi: "Dr. Ashutosh, please come, breakfast is ready now. What are you thinking? Why are you standing there looking out the window?"
And just like that he was awakened from his revere with Nidhi reminding him of his immediate duties for the day. He smiled at her as she repeated his question from a while ago back to him and with a shake of his head he went towards her.
They both had a quick bite and hurried out with a promise to come back as early as possible. Little did they know that each had their own agenda today, their own demons to conquer!As soon as they reached KGH, they had parted ways, and had not seen each other since then! And now it was afternoon already and Dr. Ashutosh was desperate to find her pronto! "Where is she? Where is Nidhi? I have to call her in to... Why is she not answering my phone or even the SMS? And no one in the hospital has seen her in the last hour... where are you Nidhi? The car is here, so you have not gone out. I need you in the conference room soon! How do I find you now?" With a sigh he picked up the phone. There was only one way to get her attention...
Receptionist: "Hello Sir. How can I help you Sir?"
Dr. Ashutosh: "Please make an announcement through the intercom that Dr. Nidhi is needed in the small conference room on the first floor in ten minutes. Thank you."
As he put the phone down his thoughts moved to the meeting they were about to have. Since Nidhi's case was out of cycle, this was going to be a small gathering. When they had a whole bunch of interns graduating they usually organized a bigger ceremony in the larger room to hand out the certificates. But not this time... "Does Nidhi have a clue? What will she say or do?" Smiling to himself he made his way to the conference room with the signed papers inside the envelope in his hand when he heard the announcement...
"Dr. Nidhi, please report to the small conference room on the first floor in 10 minutes!" As soon as she heard this Nidhi was alarmed! "What happened! Is there some emergency? Who was calling for her now?" At that very moment she was sitting in the OB-GYN's office and in fact was just about to take her leave from there, but now confusion was etched all over her face.
Nidhi: "Well, thank you Doctor Sinha! Seems like I am wanted immediately...."
Dr. Sinha: "Yes. Ok. Take care Nidhi. Congratulations once more! And please don't hesitate to bother me even for the smallest of issues."
Nidhi: With a shy smile, "Thank you very much Doctor!"
Dr. Sinha: "And go tell that husband of yours right away! Well, atleast at the first available opportunity after this meeting that was just announced. And take care. Remember not to over-work and over-stress yourself. You have to be conscious about that Nidhi. I have seen you when you were here on your rotation. You do tend to forget yourself at times, especially when you get too immersed in a patient. And don't lift weights, no caffeine. Also start taking those pre-natal vitamins and more milk. I have done your preliminary check-up. Everything is fine so far, so no major changes to your normal routine is needed at this time. Alright, see you in three weeks. Now hurry along and find out why your name has been announced."
Nidhi: "Ok Doctor! See you then! And once again thank you for everything!"
Dr. Sinha: "Er... Nidhi, when are you finishing your internship? You must be very close!"
Nidhi: "Yes, I have just finished all the rotations. I will have to check my updated file for that. But its almost done now..."
And with a smile and a wave to the doctor she walked away towards the conference room. But her mind was going over the events in the last one hour and Dr. Sinha's parting query had triggered a doubt in her mind. "Yes, I have to check my file to see what requirements I still have to complete..."
For the last hour she had been huddled in with Dr. Sinha. After she had her doubts since Sunday she had done a home test as surreptitiously as she could. She did not want Dr. Ashutosh to get any doubts. When that had come positive she had immediately scheduled a check-up yesterday. She had also requested Dr. Sinha to be very discrete about this. And today she had been here for the last hour, ever since she had received that all-important phone call from her. She recalled how nervous she had been an hour back when she entered the doctor's office, as if she was about to write her exam...
Nidhi: "Dr. Sinha, what is it? What is the result..."
Dr. Sinha: "Hello Nidhi, how are you? And please relax, don't be so agitated! First, sit down!"
She waited till Nidhi had seated herself. Then,
Dr. Sinha: "Well, first of all Congratulations! The results of the tests from yesterday are positive! So, its true, you are pregnant! And from all the information and the check up so far, I would say you are about 6 weeks pregnant!"
Nidhi: "What...!"
Even though she had suspected as much, still hearing this for the first time was so magical and unbelievable! She was rendered speechless. And she had felt tears well up in her eyes and had to rapidly blink several times...
Nidhi: "Er... thanks so much Dr. Sinha! Thank you...!"
Dr. Sinha: With a benevolent smile plastered on her face, "You are welcome Nidhi. And I must say I am over-joyed for the both of you. Here these are your results. Take a look yourself. Everything looks great so far! And you do not have to hide those tears from me, you know. I completely understand and see this many times in the course of a day!"
As she now hurried along the corridor towards the conference room, Nidhi could not believe that her first reaction to the news had been tears, big, giant ones that inspite of all that blinking had just flowed down her cheeks! It was then she had realized that she had been holding her breath since yesterday, so tensed, hoping and praying fervently for it to be true. "Oh! When will I see Dr. Ashutosh? I have to... I have to tell him this!" By now she was literally running towards the conference room when she remembered Dr. Sinha's words to slow down a bit and soon altered to a brisk walk through the corridor. As she neared the conference room wondering who had summoned her she peeped into her bag yet again, to see if the envelope with her results were still there...
That evening...
Nidhi and Ashutosh found themselves alone in their home. The day was still young and there were a lot of things yet to unfold. Nidhi still could not believe at the turn of events. And in all that she still had to tell Dr. Ashutosh her news... As if on cue she heard sounds coming from the bathroom. "Soon... Soon I will reveal everything to Dr. Ashutosh." She felt sweat on her palms, she was both nervous and excited! It was only 5 o'clock and so much had happened in the last four hours or so, right from the moment she had stepped into the conference room! Even now they were only having a breather, a few moments at home before they had to head out once more. They had just come back from the temple and soon they were going to leave for her father's house. Earlier at the temple, DB had issued strict orders to them not to arrive before 8 o'clock and there was still a few hours to go. But Dr. Ashutosh wanted to take her someplace before that and that was why they were at home now getting ready. What a day this was turning out to be, simply perfect! It seemed that Dr. Ashutosh had roped in the entire family behind her back and had informed them about her internship. And since it was a day before their wedding anniversary as well as her mother's birthday, DB had organized a Pooja' for them along with some donations in her mother's name. Since they were summoned at eight she now assumed that DB had also arranged for a party to usher in their anniversary. "This is indeed going to be a memorable first anniversary, not that I would ever forget any of my anniversaries! And then there was this!" Once more she opened the envelope she had tucked away in her bag this afternoon and started reading its contents... and the bathroom door opened! She felt him walk around to the desk in the corner, opening the drawer and then walk towards her. All this time she was gearing herself to confess the truth to him, yet feeling incredibly shy and lost for words. He then came and stood in front of her, silent as a statue as if waiting for her to say something or even look at him. "Dr. Ashutosh, please say something! Don't stand there so quietly... I am getting nervous now!"
He had been looking at her wondering what was in her hand that she was studying so intently that she refused to even look in his direction. Finally thinking that she was not going to break this silence, he proceeded to do so,
Dr. Ashutosh: "Nidhi, why are you sitting in this chair? And you are not getting ready! Come on, we have to go and later go to CVs house as well..."
Seeing that she was still sitting there devouring those papers with those big, beautiful eyes...
Dr. Ashutosh: "Nidhi... are you listening? Come on, get ready! We will soon be running out of time!"
He then noticed that the paper she held had the hospital letter-head on it. The next instant he was sitting on the coffee table in front of her with both his hands were now resting on her knees,
Dr. Ashutosh: "Hmmm... Reading through your completion certificate once more! Believe it Nidhi, its true! You are now a full-fledged doctor! Congratulations, I am so proud of you. You totally deserve this accolade, this recognition. Nidhi, I always knew you would be an excellent doctor. I knew this even when you first joined KGH. You know, I had once predicted this even to Malika!"
Somehow that lofty praise from him only managed to bring fresh tears in her eyes,
Nidhi: "Thank you... yes, I still cannot believe it, but this is... You have mentioned this to Dr. Mallika as well? That must have been so many months back! So... so you knew even back then? But..."
Dr. Ashutosh: "But what? Why did I never encourage you? Or How did I do this now, today? Did you like my surprise?"
And that was delivered with a slight lift of an eye-brow in his trade-mark cocky manner...
Nidhi: "Of course! I love this surprise! Its something I never imagined even in my dreams. I never realized that you have been keeping such a close watch on my records!"
Dr. Ashutosh: "Oh Nidhi, I have been... You have no idea, do you? I have wanted this for you ever since you mentioned your readiness to rejoin your internship after our marriage. Infact I felt like kicking myself then for not suggesting this myself... after all I had to repent for my wrong-doings... my mistakes!"
"Wrong-doing, mistakes... Did he not say something similar even before? Only he has never explained himself!" Nidhi was thinking along these lines unaware that her face was clearly reflecting these thoughts...
Dr. Ashutosh: "You seem confused Nidhi. I can see it... Ask me. Ask me what you have wanted to ask for so many months now. You deserve to know. And today I will not hide anything, I promise..."
TO BE CONTINUED...
Friends, thanks a bunch for patiently waiting for this. I feel humbled by all this love. Hope you enjoy this latest update! Please give me your comments and also please hit the 'LIKE' button. Thanks. 😃🤗
Edited by aardhan - 12 years ago
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