“Would any of you like to help Surgeon Hussain in closing up?” Dr. Ashutosh Mathur asked the interns, who were on their first day of duty. The patient on the table was a three-year old girl, who had been badly injured in a car accident.
“Ashutosh!” Shahid Hussain, pediatric surgeon at Kotnis General Hospital, looked at him incredulously. He hadn’t been in favour of making interns even watch the operation. Seeing a small kid so mutiliated and so close to death was disturbing even for many experience doctors and surgeons. These were interns, fresh out of college, on their first day of duty.
As Shahid had expected, none of the interns came forward. Most of them were visibly disturbed. And as if to prove his point further, one of them, Priyanka rushed away from OT because she felt like puking.
“Sir, May I?” suddenly they heard a calm, composed voice.
“Are you sure, Dr….” Shahid was not confident.
“Nidhi. Nidhi Verma, Sir. I can do it.”
Ashutosh also looked surprised. Although he had asked, he hadn’t expected anyone to take up the offer. But he nodded to Shahid and he moved to let Nidhi stand near the patient and do the stitching. Both the senior doctors, as well as the interns, stared in awe as Nidhi stitched the patient up without showing any signs of hesitation or repulsion. Her hands did not tremble even once.
—
When they came out of the OT, few more interns rushed to the washrooms. Priyanka was standing just outside the OT looking pale and exhausted.
“Are you okay, Priyanka?” asked Kabir, another intern.
“I’m fine now. But… It was… embarrassing…”
“Don’t worry, yaar. Hamara pahle din tha. Aur situation was horrible. Hum sab ki halat kharaab thi. Thanks God, the child is out of danger now.”
“Too much burn on the skin, though,” Nidhi said matter-of-factly, “I hope her family can support an extended period of reconstructive surgery.”
“That aside Nidhi. You are one of a kind. How could you be so calm and cool? I was feeling nauseated seeing so much blood.”
Nidhi did not reply to that, just shrugged and walked off to the common room. But she was interrupted by Dr. Ashutosh on her way.
“Dr. Verma.”
“Sir? Sorry Sir. I didn’t see you,” Nidhi had indeed not, although she had just crossed him. She was lost in her own world.
“No problem. Main bas ye kah raha tha ki you did well in OT. Honestly, I hadn’t expected anyone to step up. It was a difficult situation, especially for youngsters…”
“I am old enough to be a doctor Dr. Ashutosh. I am old enough to handle an injured patient,” she replied. Ashutosh could not help notice that there was no humour in her voice. She hadn’t smiled even earlier when he had appreciated her. There was something strangely haughty about her.
“Good. Keep it up,” he mumbled and walked away to his cabin, which was located down the corridor. Before entering his room, however, he glanced back at her. She was walking on with the same stiff posture as earlier and seemingly unaware of her surroundings.
—
“Agar aap abhi ke abhi chup nahin hui, to main aapke bachche ka ilaaj nahin karoongi. Ise aise hi hospital se bahar bhej doongi.” Ashutosh stopped in his tracks as he heard Nidhi’s strict admonition to a mother accompanying an injured child. The pediatric department was short on staff for last few days as many had gone away during festival season. And for some reason there were far too many walk-in patients that day. So, as the head of the department, Ashutosh had asked interns and other doctors to start treating people with minor problems in the waiting area itself. He was walking back to his examination room after a break when he had heard Nidhi.
The mother was so surprised with her threat that she indeed stopped crying. But she could not help retorting, “Ye kya tareeka hai baat karne ka, Doctor?”
“Tareeka jo bhi hai, aapke aur aapke bachche ki bhalai ke liye hai. Zara si injury hai. Lekin aapka beta aapko rote hue dekh kar ghabra raha hai. Agar aap khud ka khayaal nahin rakh sakti to iska kaise rakhengi?”
Nidhi didn’t make it easy for the mother to calm down with her confrontational tone, but her argument didn’t leave room for any opposition either. The woman stayed silent as Nidhi attended to the kid’s wounds.
“Dr. Verma,” Ashutosh approached them, “Is patient ko attend karne ke baad mere cabin mein mujhse miliye.”
“Okay, Sir.”
—
“Aap unse aise baat kyon kar rahi thi?” Ashutosh asked sternly.
“Maine galat kya kaha?”
“Galat nahin kaha, lekin yahi baat pyaar se bhi samjhayi ja sakti thi.”
“Woh koi bachchi nahin hain. Agar bachcha paida kiya hai to uska bhala-bura sochna aana chahiye. Agar nahin aata hai to she deserves to be treated like that. At least chup to hui.”
“You are being very judgmental, Dr. Verma.”
“Yes. I am. Agar aapko koi complain mile to aap freely mujhe punish kar sakte hain. Can I leave now?”
Ashutosh sighed. She was stubborn. It would be difficult to tackle her. But as a doctor, she had great potential. So, he was ready to work hard on her.
He nodded and Nidhi left.
—
“Thank you for inviting me to your lunch doctors,” Ashutosh had joined the interns for lunch that day at their invitation.
“Thank you for coming, Sir. It’s our pleasure,” replied one of them.
“Sab log aa gaye hain?”
“Yes Sir. Hum log khana shuru kar sakte hain.”
Ashutosh looked around and then asked hesitantly, “Dr. Verma?”
“Oh Nidhi! Woh lunch hamare saath nahin karti.”
“Kyon?”
“Woh kuchh bhi hamare saath nahin karti,” Neetu muttered under her breath.
“Shut up Neetu. Use kuchh kaam hota hoga,” Priyanka defended her.
Ashutosh sensed some hostility towards Nidhi in the group. He was not surprised as she definitely was not much of a people’s person. He would have to speak to her, but he decided to change the topic then, “So tell me. How do you all like working here? Any complaints?”
—
To be continued
19 thoughts on “Regaining Trust (Part 1)”
Mish di..I really love you a lot..You are really fantastic..changed the characters..awesome..just loved it..Nidhi is stern and confined to herrself only but Ashutosh is a happy-go-lucky person..I’m very excited to see how Ashutosh makes Nidhi comes out her shell..I hope we’re gonna get the next part tomorrow 🙂 Love you Mish di :):)
Thanks Diksha. Yep. Characters here are kind of opposite. Although Ashutosh is not quite as bubbly as a young Nidhi could be 😀 There is an age factor. But he is the relatively complex-free character here.
Finzlly discovered how to comment on iPad…. Mish Meri Jaan a virtual hug to u babe. What an interesting trailer nids as an ashu like character and ashu more wid nids trait… Looking forward as to how ashu will crack this tough nut!!!!!
Thanks Sharifa. Nice to have you back on the blog 😛
Mind Blowing FF Mish di..
I mst say…U hav changd Miss Bubblie to Ms Hardstone 😛 😀
But m happy dat Ashu is concernd bout her & he was searchnf fo Nidhi in Common Room..
Mallu nahi h yahaaaaa?
Bechaari Mallu ko toh aaj kal koi mauka nhi detaa apne FF mein Cast krne ka..LOOOL
thnks di..love-ly FF..
Waitng fo yo next Bombard!!
he he
Ciao!!!!!
Ye Nidhi itni tez-tarraar hai ki koi Mallu beech mein aayi to mar jaayegi bechari. Isliye use door hi rakha hai 😀
*searchng
loved it dear..though I have not watched a single epi of this serial, you character sketch is so pewerful, that I can relate to it instantaneously….
Thanks Ritzy. You can read it aaraam se. It has no dependence on the story of the serial 🙂
Hi Mish,
How are you…well as for intros me Bhanu or Anu…anu13 from IF, hope you remember me…one of the crazy lover of MohiKa as AshNi…I am happy to read your work again….its just blissful.
It really is a beautiful start I should say. I just am amazed with this adla-badli of characters 🙂 🙂
Woww I just loved this hardcore Nidhi, though am eager to know more about Ashu’s character as he may not be a complete Hardstone, but still wanna know his sophistication levels 😀
Welcome to the blog Anu 😀 And I was wondering who is so diligently reading and liking my posts one after another 😛
Stay tuned. Will try to update daily as usual 🙂
superb chap mish , your nihi is very different compare to ashu
i taught ashu will be tez,but yahan to table he round hogaya ,will wait for next chap to find more about your nidhi
Thanks Sonali 🙂
you are just awesome…..will run short of adjectives soon, am sure……have joined the KTLK forum just a month back…..came across ur work accidentally and then coz was so very impressed by it, that I kept discovering a lot more to add to this treasure, which is owned by you….thanks a lot….! If I may ask plz…..why are you not active on the forum these days….?Would love to know that…
Wow! Thanks Arundhati. That was very sweet 🙂
I am not watching the show for a long time now. Actually not watching any shows at all. Hence, got inactive on the forum! Here I don’t have to think about what to post in which forum. I post all sorts of stories 🙂
Thanks a tonne for the prompt reply….have gone crazy reading your work…..will look up soon for all your ASHNI FFs…..I guess there must be a few more on IF….the show has become truly disgusting now with irritating tracks taken up by KPji….but kya kare….this ASHNI addiction keeps me glued….have never followed any other show so intensely….but extremely happy that it led me to you and your wonderful writing….don’t know if u have watched any episodes after MB was replaced….actually SK, the second ASHU is also turning better and better as days pass and is very handsome too…get to see lovely subtle romantic ASHNI moments, although very few…..when KPji finds it appropriate……never mind…..am now going to follow all the masterpieces you seem to be churning out….plan to write any more FFs on ASHNI, or not….anyways , thanks a lot once again…will keep in touch…!
I didn’t have a problem with any actor. I had stopped watching even before MB left. Because story is the king for me. And they betrayed the beauty of DK story from the very beginning. I kept patience for a while hoping for magic, but lost it around new year time.
While you are reading Ashni FF, let me also try to entice you to read my other stories, non-FF ones 😀 You could try out a short one, like “Right and Wrong”. No compulsions 🙂 Only if you have free time and you feel like!
Hi, Let me call you Mishti, I like it. It absolutely sounds sweet like its meaning. So, Mishti, please take a bow buddy. I love your body of work. Dont know how to express my thoughts (I am very bad at it). The first one which I have read was Right or Wrong. I love the way you narrate, express, characterize your imagination. Great going Mishti. Though I have started with your AshNi FFs, now I have become one of the ardent fans of your work. I like the matured, soulful writing of yours. Looking forward to reading more of your stories….
Hi Hema,
Welcome to the blog and thank you so much for such sweet words of encouragement. Started another story after a long time today and was very happy to see the comment here. Hope you continue to enjoy the blog.
Do leave your comments once in a while at least 🙂