Back with the fifth part. Thank you everyone for reading.
" Don't worry Shru! Aunty will be fine. Just that, you need to convince her not to tense herself. And not to forget her medicine dosages and inhaler routines. "
Riha smiled as she tore off a prescription.
Shruti smiled too, half heartedly.
" It's getting too difficult dude! Dad won't be back until next month. And I have my jobs to handle. More than that, the nights are scary. You know how nervous I become when things get overboard."
Shruti pursed her lips and looked down.
" Why don't you get a day-night nurse? "
" mom doesn't want that. We have talked on this. She's concerned of security issues you see..."
Riha squeezed her brows too.
" Your neighbours are good I believe! " , she continued.
" Yes they are ...but you can't really often knock them at night."
" ...friends? "
Shruti thought for a second, as if drifted to someplace else. " ...same for them. You should actually not depend on people. They may not be there for you when need be. "
The last few words suddenly seemed out of place to Riha.
Shruti was definitely thinking something else.
" ...errmm...that's a real problem then. I would rather suggest you to try to be strong because, the condition is not something too serious. And moreover you can call me anytime. ", Riha ended smiling.
Shruti hesitantly stared at her.
" Riha... I know it's weird but, I have a request. I would never mind if you cannot keep that. But...just..."
" Go ahead Shru!"
" I was thinking, mom was too actually, that...could you please shift to our place for this month? I mean you can do everything of your daily routine from our place, just that you would be a tremendous support to me and mom..."
Riha was not much ready for such a proposal. She stared at her undecided. Shruti immediately withdrew, " It's extremely fine Riha. You don't need to feel bad. I know it's quite weird a proposal. I would rather not get so nervous. "
Shruti stood up. Riha stood up too.
" ... I actually, need to think about it. It's never a straight no from my side. I will inform you if I can. "
" It's alright Riha. You already do a lot when need be. Boon of having a doctor friend. "
Both smiled. Riha noticed Shruti looked pale. " Is something else bothering you too Shruti? Work load? You look not so fine. "
Shruti gathered her things from the table. " Nah...no work load. Just that life gets a bit harsh sometimes. You know what Riha? You may have endured pain in life, but that doesn't really give you much right to pass on the pain. "
Riha stood dumb as Shruti left the room. What exactly did she mean to say?
Riha gathered that something more of emotional than physical was bothering Shru.
Life was beautiful. And she hardly knew how could people afford so much pain in the name of love!
*****
Just as she stepped out of the hospital, she knew it had been raining. Not heavily. Drizzles. And this was the kind of rain Riha liked. The day went on well because she didn't have to face Raajiv. Now that was not something great. She had no problem in remaining friends with him if he remained in limits. Because she had always done so with all of her one sided lovers. While some chose to drift apart , others were still her friends. And she was confident of Raajiv too. Yet, maybe some discomfort stayed immediately after some sort of these rejection issues. Hence no one faced each other today.
Riha had to avail a public transport today because her car was undergoing some routine maintenance procedure. Riha began walking towards the bus stand with an umbrella overhead. She so wanted to get drenched. But maa would definitely screw her if she did so.
Riha stepped onto the bus shade and shut her umbrella down. Just as she did so, her eyes stuck to the man who stood near the bus stop but not under the shades. Water trickled down his head, and cheeks, hands and fingers. The drizzles too had completely drenched him, which meant he had been standing in the rains for quite long now.
Riha slowly walked up to him, stayed inside and called out.
" Excuse me! Is that you Mr Vivaan? "
He looked at her. The same deep set eyes stared back, but the facial muscles showed no movement at all.
Riha smiled wide. " Hi!! But what the hell are you doing? These rains are comforting but will definitely make you sick! "
She suddenly felt concerned. Though the next moment she felt, her words were in vain. This man didn't seem to be the 'listening to others' kind.
Vivaan ran his fingers through the drenched hairs, setting them. And to Riha's surprise, he did really step back to the shades. An unexplained calm happened to Riha, but she soon realised that the drizzles have actually stopped too.
" Don't worry, if I fall sick, I would walk straight up to you. ", Vivaan smirked as he wiped his hands with a kerchief. His black shirt looked shiny as water sparkled. And his denim seemed drenched too. How long had it been raining? ! Riha wondered.
" Ohh really? ! As if my only moto is to have patients! You know what? We are been taught to ask patients never to return unless necessary. " , Riha spoke confidently.
" Good enough. "
Vivaan started walking.
Riha's jaw dropped.
She walked fast and caught up.
" I was talking to you. Don't you know you should wait until I finish? "
" I didn't know you had more to tell. Moreover I'm not your patient that I'll listen to your safety instructions and patient ethics. "
Riha felt extremely weird but kept walking.
" I was instructing nothing! Just as a doctor I was trying to..."
" You cannot heal someone who doesn't want to heal. Remember that. " , Vivaan tilted his head to her and threw the couple of words.
" ... Please don't ever ask your patients to stop eating Biriyani if they themselves are not ready to. It would not help. "
Riha stopped for a second trying to gather his words. Vivaan walked on along the side of the wet roads.
" Do you work somewhere around my hospital? " , Riha caught up.
" yes. Imperial constructions. "
" ohhh!! That's near. "
" may I ask you something? "
" yes of course! "
" Why are you walking along? "
This was a blow. Vivaan had stopped too and was looking at her questioningly. Riha realised that she had walked a long distance in a completely different direction from the bus stop than her route.
" ...errr... I...actually...where are you going? "
" home." , Vivaan started walking again.
" do you walk home everyday? "
" I don't get what is actually concerning you. "
Riha frowned. " can't I even ask you simple questions? "
Vivaan stopped. " you didn't answer me as to where you are heading to. I don't think you stay in this route. "
" I can head anywhere I wish to. "
" fine! I can answer anything I wish too. Only. "
Riha felt irritated but yet walked on. She didn't know where she was actually going, but didn't feel like leaving too.
" Tea? " Vivaan stopped suddenly and looked at her.
A smile lit her face. So he too was enjoying her company. " Yeah sure! "
They walked up to a roadside tea vendor. " Bhaiyaa! Two ginger tea. ", he looked at her, " you alright with ginger? "
" yeah absolutely. "
Riha was herself astonished as to how comfortable she felt with this strange stranger. No doubt he's attractive but that's not the whole of it. His eyes spoke volumes. And Riha was extremely interested in dealing with humans whose eyes spoke something and they something else.
" here. " , Vivaan handed her the cup, which was too hot for her to handle. She spilt a huge amount on his hands.
" ohhh...I'm...I'm so sorry Vivaan! "
" It's alright. "
Riha could feel that it did hurt a lot, but to her surprise not a muscle of his face expressed that. He asked for cold water from the vendor and washed the burnt part.
Riha stood helpless and guilty. The thing was, with anyone else, she would herself initiate to wash the burn. But with this man, she couldn't just move.
He walked upto her with his tea, and smirked as if nothing happened. " This is my Cafe Coffee Day. Interesting. Right? "
Riha smiled a sigh of relief. " I...am sorry Vivaan. "
He looked straight into her eyes. " Do you have a count on the number of ants who got trampled under your feet today? Rather, go and find their families and say sorry to them, than to a useless human a million times. "
Riha stared astonished. And then smiled.
They sipped tea in silence.
" So, do you stay alone or with your parents? "
Riha asked after sometimes.
Vivaan took some more time.
"...maybe, both. "
Riha stared blankly at him.
Vivaan threw his cup to the bin. And then stared back, " okay, it was really nice meeting you. Now get back to your route I insist. Walking on someone else's road sometimes leads you nowhere! "
Vivaan smiled. Riha noticed, his smile could rend hearts.
Vivaan disappeared faster than her eyes could keep track, whereas she stood still on that roadside vendor with a cup of tea in hand.
It began raining again.
And this time the drizzles ran down Riha's hairs to her cheeks, down her hands to her fingers.
Her umbrella smiled in silence.
Feedback awaited.
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