“Nidhi? Tum yahan? Sab theek hai na?” Ashutosh was surprised to find her sitting in Ritesh’ room.

“Haan. Koi problem nahin hai. Lekin nurse ne bataya ki jab se use yahan shift kiya hai, usse koi milne nahin aaya. Maine socha ki thodee der uske saath baith jaun.”

“72 ghanton se tum hospital mein ho. Ab ghar chalo. Situation control mein hai. Regular staff kaam sambhaal lega. Phir Dr. Sinha ne raat mein break liya tha. He is back.”

“Ji. Chaliye.”

Ashutosh stopped near a coffee shop on their way home.

“Yahan kyon roka hai aapne?”

“Tumse baat karni hai. Pichhle teen din itne ajeeb rahe hain. Lekin kaam itna tha ki baat karne ka mauka hi nahin mila. Ghar jaane ke baad bachchon ke saath time bitana hoga. Isliye…”

“Chaliye.”

“Nidhi… I’m sorry… Aise achaanak Ranjeeta ka aana… Maine kabhi tumhein kuchh bataya bhi nahi tha…”

“Aap sorry kyon bol rahe hain? Mujhe kya hua hai unke aane se? Aur mujhe bhala jaanna hi kya hai unke baare mein? Isliye to maine kabhi kuchh poochha bhi nahin.”

“Thank you. For handling everything so well.”

“But I don’t understand her Dr. Ashutosh. Aakhir woh chahti kya hain? Ritesh ki aisi halat ho rakhi hai. Rahul se unhein pichhle 6 saalon mein koi lagaav nahin tha. Abhi kyon woh suddenly Rahul se apne relations revive karna chahti hain, jabki Ritesh ke paas baithne ke liye unke paas paanch minute bhi nahin hain?”

Ashutosh sighed, “Empathy ek cheez hai jo uske andar nahin hai Nidhi. Doosron ka dard, unki feelings, unki khushiyan – ye sab use samajh mein nahin aati hain. Chahe woh uske apne bachche ki kyon na ho? Meri nahin samajhti thi, apne parents ki bhi nahin samajhti thi, yahan tak ki Rahul ki bhi nahin samajhti thi. Ritesh ki bhi nahin samajhti – I am not surprised.”

“Phir itne saalon ke baad achanak Rahul ke liye ye desperation kyon?”

“I don’t know. Aur main kuchh guess bhi nahin kar pa raha hoon. But something just doesn’t feel right. Pata nahin kya chal raha hai uske man mein.”

“Bolne mein horrible lagta hai, lekin jaise woh Ritesh ke saath behave kar rahi hain, aisa lagta hai ki she has decided to ignore his existence in her life. He might as well be dead and forgotten. It is disgusting…” She was interrupted by her mobile ringing. “Hospital se hai,” she explained to Ashutosh and picked up the phone.

“What… Lekin… Main wapas aati hoon…” she was worried by the time she disconnected the call, “Ritesh ki halat kharaab ho gayi hai achanak… Symptoms se brain damage hone ke chances lag rahe hain…”

“Aisa kaise ho sakta hai? Tumne…”

“Maine aane se pahle sab check kiya tha…”

“Let’s go…”

—

It took them two hours to get Ritesh’ situation slightly in control. Low blood sugar. Excessive insulin. How could Nidhi have missed out on noticing something that basic in a patient, when she had declared him to be stable? He was still not out of danger. His vegetative state made things worse. If something happened to him, Nidhi would be answerable to the vigilance committee at the hospital. That won’t be a good situation. Nidhi had watched from afar after Ashutosh had to discharge her from the case as per the standard process in case of negligence by a doctor.

Ashutosh went to his office after Ritesh had been given required medicines and injections. Nothing could be done except to watch him for next four to five hours. He knew where Nidhi would be, but he did not know what to talk to her about. Nidhi was pacing up and down on the terrace. Too may questions were flooding her mind. First of which was how did things go wrong? But more urgent were the implications of things going wrong. Ritesh’ well-being. If something happened to the kid, she would never be able to forgive herself. And if the case goes to the committee all hell will break lose not only in her, but also in Ashutosh’ life. The complicated relationship between her, him and Ranjeeta would come to the fore. Nor only Nidhi, but even he would be accused of the worst!

She checked on Ritesh after she saw Ashutosh going back to his office. Then despite all the awkwadness, she went to him.

“Aap ghar chale jaiye. Main rukoongi uske paas,” she offered. Ashutosh was clearly exhausted. She was too. But she definitely had more energy that Ashutosh did. And she hadn’t been the one struggling for Ritesh’ life for last two hours.

“I can’t do that,” Ashutosh replied trying to balance his authority with his unwillingness to appear to harsh on Nidhi. He couldn’t believe she could have made such a mistake. And yet at that point of time, she was the only culprit.

“You don’t have to hand the case over to me. But you can officially hand it over to another doctor. Probably Dr. Sinha or Dr. Mallika…”

“Nidhi. How could you do something as silly as this?” Ashutosh gave words to his exasperation.

“Aapko lagta hai ki maine jaan-boojh kar kiya?”

“Of course not. Are you mad? But this particular case can…”

“I can never take anyone’s life Dr. Ashutosh. Much less that of a kid. Yet something has gone wrong. I don’t know what it is, but something has. Aur agar the worst happens, I promise you ki committee will never need to dig any dirt on you. I will accept the blame willingly. Aapki reputation ko kuchh nahin hoga.”

“Aur tum?”

“Aap please ghar jaiye…”

“Lekin…”

“Rahul teen dinon se nahin mila hai aapse. Baar-baar aapka phone try kar raha tha. Missed calls honge – aap apna phone nikaal kar dekhiye drawer se…”

Ashutosh sighed. She was right. Rahul would be anxious. And yet… what went wrong? He had to find out… Too much was at stake… He couldn’t abandon Nidhi. Yet supporting her would open a can of worms…

—

Ashutosh had just taken a shower, was in his pajamas and was still looking for a t-shirt to wear, when his room door flung open.

“Dr. Ashutosh,” Nidhi barged in appearing quite unaware of his state of undress, “Ritesh ki halat stable hai. His blood sugar is in control. Aur koi damage nahin hua.”

Ashutosh was relieved. A huge burden was taken off his shoulders. “Thank God! Agar use kuchh ho jaata to…”

“To main aapko hamesha ke liye kho deti…” Nidhi’s voice quivered.

“Nidhi! Aisa kyon kah rahi ho?” He went closer to her and held her chin, “Tum mere liye bina kissi inquiry ke apne oopar saara ilzaam lene ke liye taiyaar thi, apne career barbaad karne ke liye taiyaar thi. Aur tumhein lagta hai ki main tumhein akela chhod deta? Itna hi bharosa hai mujh par?”

Feeling overwhelmed she hugged him. He gently hugged her back trying to comfort her. But soon he felt her digging her nails into his skin and running her fingers over his spine. She probably didn’t realize that it was one of his most sensitive body parts. “Nidhi,” he hissed, “Stop.” This wasn’t the time to… Nidhi was startled by his voice and came back to her senses. She stepped back from him. Feeling embarrassed she fleed his room.

Unsure about how she interpreted everything, he grabbed the first t-shirt he could and rushed after her. But he found her with Siddhi and Rahul. She was helping Siddhi with her homework. He was about to ask her to come with him, when his phone rang. It was from Dr. Sinha. He had to pick it up.

“What? Are you sure Dr. Sinha? Aisa… Insulin inject hua tha? Ek minute… Injection ke puncture wound… Kissi ne insulin issue nahin karwaya?? Phir… Oh! Oh my God! I think I know kya hua hai… Aap wahin rukiye… And please ensure ki Ritesh ke room se koi cheez bahar na jaye… Kachra bhi nahin… Main pahunch raha hoon… Hiraman Kaka. Main thodee der ke liye wapas hospital ja raha hoon.”

—

To be continued