“Rahul?” It wasn’t Siddhi at the door.

“Nidhi Auntie. Main aaj yahin rahoonga. Auntie mera saamaan la rahi hain.”

Nidhi saw Rahul’s maid bringing a bag out of the car. Rahul didn’t have paitence to wait for her. He had ran towards the house and rang the bell.

“Kisne bheja tumhein?” she asked surprised.

“Papa ne kaha ki unhein kuchh kaam hai aur aap akeli hain. Isliye unhone mujhe aapke paas bhej diya.”

“Andar aao,” she brought him inside. His maid followed with the bag. “Madam,” she addressed Nidhi, “Aap Rahul Baba ko rakh lengi na? To phir main jaati hoon.”

“Chai pee lijiye.”

“Nahin Madam. Agar yahan kaam na ho to main ghar jaungi. Mere beti-daamaad aaye hue hain.”

“Theek hai phir. Rahul yahin rahega. Koi problem nahin hai.”

“Ashutosh Sahab ne kaha hai ki driver kal subah aa jayega, Rahul Baba aur Siddhi Madam ko school le jaane ke liye.”

“Theek hai.”

It didn’t matter how hard she tried, she could not suppress her grin from time to time. What had she done to deserve such a sweet man? Whatever the problem was, he hadn’t stopped thinking about her.

Nidhi had barely settled Rahul in, unpacking the new game he had brought excitedly to play with Siddhi, when the doorbell rang again. It was Siddhi.

“Oh God Di. Kya creepy family hai. Main wahan phir nahin jaungi.”

“Tu theek to hai? Kya hua?”

“Main theek hoon, Di. Lekin woh Preeti ke Papa bade ajeeb insaan hain. I think he doesn’t like Dr. Ashutosh. Unke aur tumhare baare mein aise baat kar rahe the… I didn’t like it one bit.”

“Mere aur Dr. Ashutosh ke baare mein?”

“Yeah. As if Dr. Ashutosh somehow tumhara fayda utha rahe hain…”

“What the hell! Aur woh jo bhi sochte ho, tumhein kyon bata rahe the?”

“Wahi to. Preeti ko kamre se bahar bhej diya, snacks laane ke liye. Aur phir… Maine unhein kah diya ki unhein itna zaroori hai baat karna to tumse ya Dr. Ashutosh se karein.”

“Theek kiya. Ab wahan jaana mat dubara. Mujhe Dr. Ashutosh se baat karni hogi. Mr. Singhal apni limits cross kar rahe hain. Pahle bhi… Tu ja haath-munh dho le. Kuchh khayegi?”

“Nahin Di. Aur haan – woh Mummy ke baare mein poochh rahe the.”

“Mummy ke baare mein? Hamari Mummy ke baare mein?”

“Haan. Maine bol diya ki main bahut chhoti thi. Mujhe kuchh yaad nahin hai.”

“Okay… Khair. Rahul aaya hai. Tera wait kar raha hai.”

“Ohho! Haan. Tum itne dinon se wahan ruki nahin ho raat ko. Use neend kahan aa rahi hogi apni Nidhi Auntie ke bina?” Siddhi teased Nidhi good humouredly, “Dr. Ashutosh se zyada I am sure ye tumhara beta tumhari shaadi ka intezaar kar raha hai.”

“Shut up Siddhi. Waise bhi, abhi woh tujhe dhoondh raha hai. Usne koi naya game khareeda hai. Kuchh Anemia… nahin… ye kaise naam hoga…”

“Anomia? Really? Wow… Mujhe laga tha ki India mein milta nahin hai. Maine dekhti hoon.”

“Munh-haath to dho le…”

“Baad mein Di,” Siddhi rushed inside forgetting all about whatever was bothering her after visit to Preeti’s house.

—

Nidhi looked at her watch after disconnecting the call. Siddhi had called from school. She wanted her to come there during 11 ‘o clock recess.

“Di, Preeti ko bahut buri tarah chotein lagi hai. Lekin woh kissi ko batana nahin chahti. Please ek baar aa kar use dekho lo. It is really scary, Di.”

“Batana nahin chahti maltab?”

“Uske ghar par kuchh hua hai, Di. Main abhi baat nahin kar sakti. Class mein wapas jaana hai. Recess ke time par aana, Di. Warna usse milna mushkil hoga.”

Nidhi was worried and confused. Who the hell was this man – Singhal – and what did he want in life? What had happened at home to injure Preeti? And why had she not been given treatment for that? Why was Siddhi asking her to come and treat her secretively? She couldn’t hold any grudges against Preeti though and hence decided to do what Siddhi wanted. She tried to reach Dr. Rangnath to inform him that she would be late, but he did not pick up his call. She left a message with Priyanka instead.

—

“What the hell? Kissi ne stick se maara hai tumhein?” Nidhi was horrified when she saw the wounds on Preeti’s palms.

“Di. Kuchh to lagana hoga na is par. She is not able to user her hands at all,” Sidhhi asked.

“Yahan aas paas koi pharmacy hai?”

“Haan. School ke bagal mein hai to.”

“Main dawaiyan le kar aati hoon.”

“Lekin Di, recess khatam na ho jaye.”

“Ye ek pain killer mere paas hai. Abhi kha lo Preeti. Relief milega. Aur ye thodi dawai hai is tube mein. Aur sun Siddhi. Ye dawaiyaan khareed lena pharmacy se school ke baad. Paise hain na tere paas? Maine details likh di hain is par. Chemist samjha dega kaise aur kab use karni hai,” Nidhi scribbled the names of the medicines on a paper, “Lekin Preeti. Ye hua kaise? Ghar par kissi ne kiya?”

“Papa ne,” she almost choked on her words.

“That’s horrible,” Nidhi exclaimed loudly, then realized that she was criticizing her own father before the girl, “I’m sorry Preeti. I didn’t mean to…”

“No. Please. Aap sorry kyon kah rahi hain? Thanks for all the help.”

“Hua kya tha?”

“Kissi ne mere bag mein ek… love-letter rakh diya tha. Mujhe pata bhi nahin tha. Lekin mere bhaiya ke haath lag gaya aur…”

“To kissi ne roka nahin tumhare Papa ko? Tumhari Mummy?”

“Woh kya kissi ko rokengi? Mom to khud hi kaise zinda hain us ghar mein, pata nahin… Bolti hain ki ye ghar hamesha se hi aisa tha. Lekin jab se Bua ne sabki marzi ke khilaaf shaadi ki, tab se sab log kuchh zyada hi pagal ho gaye hain…”

“Bua ne?”

“Bahut purani baat hai. Maine to dekha bhi nahin hai unko. Mere sabse bade bhaiya bhi tab chhote the.”

Nidhi looked alarmed, “Kya naam tha tumhari Bua ka?”

“Mummy to Nandu kah ke baat karti hain unki. Mujhe pata nahin hai real naam kya tha…” The bell to annouce the end of recess went off.

“Siddhi. Ise dawaiyan zaroor dila dena… Aur sun. School ke baad akele mat nikalna. Dr. Ashutosh ki car mein hi jaana. Okay?” Nidhi looked alarmed.

“Kyon Di?”

“Abhi time nahin hai. Class ja, aur jo main kah rahi hoon woh kar. Take care Preeti.”

“Thank you so much Dr. Nidhi.”

—

Nidhi was agitated as she reached the hospital and walked towards Ashutosh’ cabin.

“Dr. Nidhi,” she was stopped on her way by Dr. Rangnath.

“Dr. Rangnath. I’m sorry. Main late ho gayi. I was unable to reach you. Maine Priyanka ko inform kiya tha…”

“Aap Dr. Ashutosh se cabin mein kyon ja rahi hain?”

“Kya matlab?” Nidhi got irritated, “Woh mere boss hain. Mujhe unse milne se manahi hai kya? Kuchh kaam tha, isliye ja rahi thi.”

“Hmm… Lekin woh to board members ke saath meeting mein hai. Afternoon mein thi, lekin prepone ho gayi.”

“Oh!”

“I am not supposed to talk about it Dr. Nidhi, lekin aapko Dr. Ashutosh se kya problem hai?”

“Aap kaisi baatein kar rahe hain Dr. Rangnath? Mujhe Dr. Ashutosh se koi problem kyon hogi?”

“Phir aapne unki complain kyon ki?”

“Maine? Complain? Dr. Ashutosh ki? Dekhiye Dr. Rangnath. I appreciate your sense of humour and all that. Lekin abhi main bahut pareshaan hoon. It is not a good time to crack jokes…”

“Dr. Nidhi. Dr. Ashutosh abhi board ke saath meeting mein hain. Dr. Asthana – he is also a board member, you might know, has brought this up. Unki aur Dr. Ashutosh ki rivalry ke baare mein sabko pata hai. Chun kar aapke Uncle ne unse baat ki thi…”

“Mere Uncle ne?”

“Haan. Abhi bhi Dr. Asthana ke office mein hain. Dr. Nidhi, Dr. Ashutosh ko hum sab jaante hain… Unke jaise insaan rare hote hain… This doesn’t make sense… Sexual harassment? Why would you do something like that?”

“What?” Nidhi almost jumped in shock. Then the understanding dawned on her and she added calmly, but firmly “Aap sahi kah rahe hain Dr. Rangnath. This doesn’t make sense. Aur ye nonsense ab nahin chalega. Dr. Asthana ka office kidhar hai?”

“Internal Medicine ground floor par hai. Room number mujhe yaad nahin…”

“Main pata kar loongi. Board meeting kahan chal rahi hai?”

“Conference Room No. 3”

“Thanks Dr. Rangnath. Aap pareshaan mat ho. Sab theek ho jayega…”

Rangnath looked on confused. He had huge respect for Dr. Ashutosh. He had worked under him for several years. Dr. Nidhi had also never appeared to be the manipulative kind. She was competent as a doctor and had a no-nonsense attitude. Hers and Dr. Ashutosh’ relationships were never strained either. So, when he had come to know what was going on in the hospital, he could not help talking to Nidhi. He wasn’t supposed to. But some things were worth risking insubordination. Nidhi’s reaction showed that she had no intention of creating any troubles for Ashutosh, but she did know what was going on and could solve it. He felt relieved, though he continued to keep his fingers crossed.

—

To be continued

(As you can guess, it is going to a fiery, fiery Nidhi in next update :D)