HAPPINESS REDEFINED
He was pacing back & forth. Restlessly..moving here & there...biting his nails with his teeth, running his fingers through his hair, opening and closing his fist..what else..he himself didn't know.
"Its ok beta..Don wrry..Everything will be fine. " Mr. Bhalla placed his hand on Raman's shoulder to comfort him. His son was being too restless today. Raman didnt reply but kept his eyes glued to the O.T. door. A nurse came out running. "Is everything all right? Kya ho rha hai andr? How much tym more will it take? " Nurse didnt bother to reply and ran from there leavimg him all the more worried.
"Just relax beta..Let dem do their work. U cum..cum & sit here..." It was his mother this time. He just roared " What the hell...relax, sit..r u people out of ur mind. Instead of checking inside...u r asking me to just relax and sit." They knew there was no point in arguing. So just pushed back themselves. "U can sit n w8 but m gonna go inside now." he told and stormed inaide the door. "Wats happening here? How much time more will it take. Be quick u people." he shouted at them. And then turned towards his wife, holding his hand said " Ishita..r u alright jaan. Dont wrry..m here wid u. U just dont take tension." he kept his hand on her forehead to comfort her.
"Look Mr. Bhalla..u r disturbing us. Pls w8 outside. We'll inform u wen the process is complete. Pls co operate with us. Leave the room abd wait outside. " doctor tried to knock some sense into him.
"What do u think of urself dctr.." he grabbed his collor. " She is my wife...lying over there & u r saying m disturbing u. U jst carry on wid ur work. M standing here. " he said a bit calmly. Doctor resumed to his work and he started moving to settle himself in a corner wen he again stopped him. "Doctor..pls..Ishita??..." he couldnt complete wat he started. "Its ok Mr. Bhalla..i understand your nervousness. Don wrry. Everythng'll be alright. " doctor assured him. He nodded and settled himself in one corner of room..his arms crossing his chest, eyes glued to his wife & lines of tension written all over his face. If Ishita would have see him in such a situation na..she would say..Budhe khin ke.. This nervousness has made him look
10 times older.
But wat could he do. For past 3 hours, he had been in so much tension that it seemed like lifetime to him. While staring his wife with tears welled up in his eyes, his vision blurred and he remembered wat happened wen he was attending an important business meeting and his phone ranged.
FLASHBACK
"What is wrong maa. M in a meeting. If m cutting ur calls...y r u calling again & again. Will talk 2 u later.." he was about to cut the phone when he heard his mother crying "Beta...Ishita is having lot of pain. Her feet slipped as Neelu had spilled water while cleaning floor. She is not conscious. M trying to call her but she is not reaponding...Raman..r u dere?...r u listening?..." she didnt get any reply.
World went numb for Raman at that instant. He didnt know wat to speak. Next thing he remebered was he driving crazily on the roads of Delhi, without applying breaks..pressing horns loudly. 45 minutes drive from his office to City Hospital was the longest journey of his life. It seemed like today there were red signals at those roundabouts which he had never noticed earlier. He rushed inside without parking his car. "Mrs. Ishita Bhalla?? " he banged the reception table. "No registration sir" she replied the restless Raman. "What?" he was confused. "Check again.." he told and glanced a look at his watch. One hour had passed since the phone call. He was about to make a phone call when he saw his and her parents bringing her inside. Ishita was lying on a strecher. His heart skipped a beat seeing his wife in not responding state. He rushed to them and dragged the strecher inside. "Dr Malhotra?? Call him. Her case is with him. " he told the wardboy. "But..he is on leave today sir." ward boy told him apprehensively. "What..how can a dctr be not available in hospital. Call him..call him rite now. Who will handle her case now?" he grabbed ward boy and spoke loudly.
A senior nurse came running "Dont wrry sir. Pls relax. We hav so many specialist dctrs here. I'll call someone. Pls wait."she assured him. "Why any other doctor. Dr. Malhotra knows about her condition, about her complications, about her tests, reports. What other dctrs knw? U call him..tell him to reach here rite now." he retorted back. "But sir he is on leave..Infact he went just 2 hrs ago for a fanily holiday. He has flight. U'll hav to go wid some other doctor only. " she informed. Raman was apprehensive of some other doctor handling her case but he eventually he agreed wen his family insisted. "Okk..call d dctr..quick." he said holding his wife's hand as tightly as he could. The nurse left and he tried to call her "Ishita..get up dont wrry..we r at hospital. I wont let anything happen to you." he started crying calling her. Doctor arrived after 10 mins but was not sure of handling it after going through the reports. There were already many complications. On the top, her foot slipped. A very difficult procedure. "I'll try my level best Mr. Bhalla. " he tried to say. "Look..if u can do sumthng then say..wat do u mean by trying?" The dctr went away and Raman started shouting "What kind of hospital is this? There is no doctor to attend to a patient. I'll make sure this hospital's gates are shut forever." Seeing no other option, nurse called Dr. Malhotra and he agreed to reach there within another hour leaving his flight. "Sir..we r shifting her to room. Dctr will be here any moment. We'll prepare for the operation till then." nurse informed him. It took him 5 rounds of shouting and a complete hour of restlessness when he saw the dctr. "Dont wrry Mr. Bhalla..m here..let me check. Everythng will be fyn." dctr patted his back and rushed inside. Operation had started 15 mins earlier and Raman was very worried. So he rushed inside.
"Aah...Raman..." her voice brought him out of his trance. "Ishita.." he rushed to her. She was crying with pain. Dctr stopped him with his hand gesture. "Anesthesia pls.." he ordered nurse. Unable to see her in such condition, he made his way out of O.T. His dad & FIL comforted him. He remembered their fight few days back
"I'll name my son Arjun and if daughter Pari." she told climbing their bed at the end of a day. "You and your old fashioned name.." he taunted her "My son will be Raghav and daughter will be Naina. " he replied her. She took her pillow and hit him. "M nt old fashioned. Mind it. My child my decision" she retorted. "As if I dont have any contribution" he smiled. "Fyn..we'll see." she raised her eyebrows. "We will" he laid down. "Good nyt...I hav meeting tomorrow. Not free like u." he smirked. "Gud nyt yourself." she replied with a frown and laud on her side. Next moment they were in each others arms laughing at their antics.
Raman smiled remebering their wishes for their baby. He blankly looked at the O.T. door waiting for some news to come.
The operation continued for one long hour. Raman had never been this nervous even while signing the biggest deals of his life wat he was today. What life had in store for him, he himself didnt know. When the light bulb stopped glowing and dctr came outside, he ran to him. "What happened dctr? Ishita..my baby? " he tried to be as normal as he could. " Operation successful..both mother & baby are fine. Just we need to keep the kid under observation for some time. So..u can relax now." dctr smiled. Raman heaved a sigh of relief. He felt like he regained his breaths after a long time. He heard his parents thanking the dctr to arrive at such a short notice. "Dr. Ishita is not just my patient but also a very gud frnd of mine. Family trips can cun again. It was my duty to come here." he reassured them. "Bring these medicines and pls follow the diet chart which i make for some next days. She will bw fine" said dctr smilingly and left.
Raman entered the room. There lay his wife, with his son. A small life, which was his part. With slow steps he approached them. He held her hands and both holded their baby together with tears of happiness in their eyes. "You can keep watever name u feel like..but pls never ever take my breaths away in such way. U knw how worried I was. Dctrs were not ready to handle your case." he told her. She kept her reassuring hand on him. "Nthng can happen to me wen u r dere..i knw..see m perfectly olrite..n so is our baby." he smiled and kissed her forehead. Then took his baby in his arms to shower plenty of kisses on him.
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