“Good morning Dr. Rangnath.”

“Good morning Dr. Nidhi. Lekin Dr. Ashutosh to abhi tak aaye nahin hain. Raat mein ek emergency ko le kar der tak yahan the.”

“Mujhe pata hai. Main aapse milne aayi hoon.”

“Mujhse? Kaisi baat karti hain Nidhi ji! Aap meri naukri chhudwayengi kya?”

“Kya matlab?”

“Agar boss ko pata chala ki aap mujhse mil rahi hain unke peeth peechhe to meri naukri kya, jaan bhi aafat mein aa jayegi. Hamare liye woh abhi bhi Dr. Hardstone hi hain.”

“Dr. Rangnath!” Nidhi pretended to glare at him.

“Are are. Ye to raksha mein hatya ho gayi. Main to boss se apni jaan bachane ki soch raha tha. Lekin aapko khafa kar doonga to bachne se rahi. Aap please baith jaiye aur bataiye ki main aapke liye kya kar sakta hoon.”

“Dr. Rangnath. Aapko please meri baat seriously sunni padegi. Please! Warna problem ho jayegi.”

“Kya hua Dr. Nidhi? Kya problem hai?” Rangnath was finally serious.

“Dr. Rangnath,” Nidhi had told Ashutosh that she will talk to Rangnath, but now was finding it difficult to broach the topic, “Thoda odd hai.” She said nervously and then fell silent.

“Okay Dr. Nidhi. Kuchh serious baat hai. Aap mujhe bata sakti hain. Mujhe pata hai ki meri koi serious type ki image nahin hai. Lekin thodi bahut samajh hai mujhme. Aap mujhe behichak bataiye jo bhi aap kahne aayi hain.”

“Dekhiye Dr. Rangnath. Dr. Ashutosh ki reputation ke liye, aur mere career ke liye, ye zaroori hai ki hamari personal relationship, professional cheezon ke beech mein na aaye. To isliye aapki help chahiye,” Nidhi spoke it out before she could feel the hesitation again.

“Mujhe aapka chaperon ban kar chalna hoga kya hospital mein, taki aap Dr. Ashutosh se na milein?” Rangnath, compelled by his nature, couldn’t stop himself from taking a dig at her.

“Dr. Rangnath,” Nidhi was irritated this time, “Aapne promise kiya tha…”

“Okay. Okay. Aap in chhoti-moti baaton se parehsaan mat hua kijiye. Meri to aadat hai. To bataiye ki mujhe kya kana hai?”

“Aapko ye ensure karna hai ki aap meri duty Dr. Ashutosh ke saath normal se zyada na lagayen. Taki logon ko kuchh ajeeb na lage. In fact, ho sake to thoda kam hi lagaiye.”

“Okay. Lekin meri ek shart hai.”

“Kya?”

“Jo Dr. Ashutosh ke saath aapki duty ka time main bachaunga, woh duty aapko mere saath karni padegi.”

“Anji ko bataun main?”

“Are nahin nahin. Kaisi baatein karti hain aap? Chinta mat kijiye. Aapka kaam ho jayega.”

“Thank you Dr. Rangnath.”

“Hayee! Itne pyaar se zara ek baar aur kahiye.”

“Boss ke saamne boliye ye kabhi!”

Rangnath pretended to have a heart-attack on hearing this and they laughed.

—

Ashutosh entered his cabin after the surgery and picked up his phone to find eighteen missed calls from Nidhi.

‘What hell has broken lose now?’ he wondered and smiled. Her duty would have been over by now. Was she still waiting for him?

He dialled her back.

“Dr. Ashutosh…” he heard a pained voice on the other end of the phone.

“Nidhi! Kya hua?” he got worried.

“Woh… Main… gir padi aur mere sar par chot lag gayi hai.”

“Kya?” he was horrified, “Kahan… kahan ho tum?”

“Aapke ghar par.”

“Mere? Mere ghar par?” What was she doing at home this late? He looked at his watch. It was 9 pm, “Hiraman Kaka nahin hain kya wahan? Unhein phone do.”

“Woh kissi kaam se bahar gaye hue hain?”

“Oh God! Nidhi tum ghabrao mat. Main.. main abhi pahunchta hoon. Aur khoon nikal raha ho to use kissi kapde se kas kar baandh lo. Okay?”

—

He rushed inside the house leaving the car on the road.

“Nidhi!” he cried after opening the door with his keys. He was surprised to see that the hall was dark.

“Nidhi! Kahan ho tum? Yahan andhera kyon hai?”

Just then he saw a matchbox being lighted, using which she lighted up several candles on a table.

“Welcome home, Dr. Ashutosh,” she said.

He ran towards her, “Ye sab kya hai? Tum..” He touched her forehead, “Tum to theek ho?” He looked confused.

“Kaisa laga surprise?”

“Surprise?” he was angry as he realized that she was joking, “Nidhi. Ye kaisi bachkani harqat hai? Tumhein ye sab mazaak lagta hai? Bahut hi ghatiya mazaak tha ye!”

Her face fell. He was angry at her prank.

“Aap… aap bahut ghabra gaye the?”

“Aur tumhein kya lagta hai? Main bahut khush hota ye sun kar ki tumhein sar par chot lagi hui hai aur tum yahan akeli ho? It was not funny Nidhi.”

This brough tears to her eyes, which she blinked back. But her voice choked when she said, “I am sorry.”

When he heard the voice, he realized that now she was hurting no less than him.

“Nidhi!” he said helplessly, “Look. I am sorry. I really am. Please don’t cry. Mujhe tumhein daantna nahin chahiye tha. Bas… Oh God! Baar baar mujhse ye ho jaata hai…”

“I am sorry. Main bas aapko surprise karna chahti thi. Mujhe nahin pata tha ki…”

“Nidhi. Mujhe bas apno ko khone ka dar bahut sataata hai. Kuchh apno ko to maine kabhi jaana hi nahin. Aur Baba ko bhi maine kho diya. Ab agar tumhein kuchh ho jaye, ye soch kar bhi main… main bahut dar jaata hoon Nidhi. Lekin I understand… ki mujhe apne issues tumhare oopar gussa karke nahin nikalne chahiye. Aur main ab iska dhyaan rakhoonga…”

“Please mujhe maaf kar dijiye,” she was dying for his forgiveness.

“Mujhse baar baar maafi maang kar mujhe sharminda mat karo. Please.”

Nidhi nodded.

“Ab apna surprise nahin dikhaogi?” Ashutosh smiled slightly and wiped her tears which she was not able to hold back any longer.

“Main aapko bahut pareshaan karti hoon na?”

Ashutosh laughed slightly, “Pata hai yahi sawaal maine ek baar Baba se poochha tha bachpan mein.”

“To unhone kya kaha tha?”

“Unhone kaha tha ki Ashu beta – insaan apno ke liye hi pareshaan hota hai. Agar koi pareshaan karne waala na ho, to iska matlab us insaan ke paas koi apna nahin hai. Woh akela hai. Tab ye baat meri samajh mein nahin aayi thi. Lekin aaj aa gayi hai.”

“Achcha! To aap akelapan na mahsoos karein, iske liye mujhe aapko pareshaan karte rahna chahiye?” she asked with a straight, innocent face.

He laughed out loud and she smiled seeing the desired effect on him, “Tum mujhe jitna chaho pareshaan kar sakti ho Nidhi. Lekin please… apni khairiyat, apni well being ke baare mein kabhi mazaak mat karna.”

“Nahin karoongi. Promise.”

“Chalo. Ab dekhein tumhara surprise kya hai? Oh God! Itna saara khana kab bana liya tumne?”

“Nahin…” she pouted and looked embarrassed, “Itna sab mujhe banana nahin aata. Ye to maine bahar se mangwaya hai.”

Ashutosh laughed again.

“Lekin sweet dish maine banayi hai,” she added with suppressed excitement.

“Wow! To phir usse hi shuruat karte hain,” he went forward and saw that she had baked a cake. He was about to take out a piece when he remembered, “Main haath dho kar aata hoon.”

“Rukiye,” she stopped him, came to the table, picked up a piece of the cake and extended her hand to feed it to him. Ashutosh hesitated instinctively, but then smiled and took a bite.

“Bahut achcha hai. Pahli baar mein tumne itna achcha kaise banaya?”

“Ek hafte se try kar rahi thi. Kabhi zyada bake ho kar biscuit ban jaata tha. To kabhi kam bake ho kar halwa. Aur cheeni sahi karne mein mujhe chaar din lage.”

“Kya? Itni mehnat kyon…” He was surprised by how much she was doing to make him feel loved and cared for. But before he could complete his question, she had extended her hand again. So, he opened his mouth to take another bite. This time he was in for a surprise. Instead of feeding him, she smeared the cake on his face and started laughing hyterically.

He couldn’t react for a moment and then grumbled, “Nidhi! Ye kya hai…”

That didn’t scare her as she continued laughing. He also got affetected by her childlike spirit and said, “Abhi batata hoon tumhein.” But she ran away, before he could catch her.

Ashutosh shook his head smiling, as if unable to believe that this was happening to him, but happy that it was. He decided to clean his face first and then figure out what to do with his charmingly naughty lady-love!

—

To be continued