“Chadh ja beta sooli par,” Ranghnath approached Nidhi as she was trying to see the duty chart.
“Ab kya hua Dr. Rangnath?”
“Kal to aap bach gayin. Aab aaj nahin bach sakti. Aapki duty Dr. Hardstone ke saath lagi hai.”
“Sach? Dr. Ashutosh ke saath? Wow!” Nidhi was genuinely excited.
“Kya baat hai? Kissi bakre ko halaal hone se pahle itna khush maine kabhi nahin dekha?”
“Dr. Rangnath. Aap bhi na. Do din pahle tak maine Dr. Asutosh ka sirf naam suna tha. Aur aaj main unke saath kaam karne ja rahi hoon. Do you know what that means?”
“Aap to khush hain. To phir main bhi aapke liye khush hoon. Lekin zaraa sambhal ke.”
“Thank you.”
“Aur haan. Namrata ji ko bata dijiyega ki woh bhi zara namra hi rahein. Unki bhi duty wahin hai.”
“Theek hai.”
—
Nidhi, Namrata and Kabir took a round of the ward with Ashutosh and then he assigned each of them some patients whom they were supposed to attend for the rest of the day.
“Namrata. Kya kar rahi hai tu?” Nidhi stopped Namrata from giving some medicine to a patient.
“Kya hua?”
“Label to padh le dawai dene se pahle. Ye 50 mg hai. Child patient ke liye zyada hai. 25 mg waala tablet chahiye hoga.”
“Offo! Ye nurses bhi na. Dekh kar dawai nahin rakh sakti.”
“Agar sahi dawai dena nurses ki hi responsibility hai,” they were suddenly startled by Ashutosh’ voice, “to phir aapko doctor banne ki kya zaroorat thi?”
“I am sorry, Sir.”
“How can you be so careless?” Ashutosh thundered at her, “Ye bachche hamari responsibility hain. Koi exam ke questions nahin ki agar galat bhi ho gaya to bas thode marks kate. This will not be tolerated. You need more supervision than I can give. Wait for me in Dr. Ranghnath’s office for reassignment of duty.”
“Yes Sir,” Namrata was almost breaking into tears as she ran away.
Suddenly he noticed Nidhi’s expressions. “Aapko kya hua hai?” he sounded irritated, “Main aapko to nahin daant raha tha.”
“Main… main nahin Sir,” Nidhi mumbled as his anger had indeed scared her, “Bachche dar rahe hain.” Nidhi pointed out. Ashutosh noticed the patient on the bed and realized that he was indeed scared by Ashutosh’ raised voice. Ashutosh smiled at the kid and sat beside him to try and comfort him. But he cringed.
“Sir,” Nidhi interrupted hesitatingly, “Can I?”
Ashutosh nodded and said, “Please take over Dr. Namrata’s patients for the time being.”
“Y… Yes Sir.”
Ashutosh looked back from the door and saw Nidhi sitting with the child drawing him into a conversation and finally making him laugh. Nobody saw the faint smile on Dr. Hardstone’s face though.
—
“Ashutosh. You are too harsh on the interns. Tum pahle din unhein unsupervised kaise chhod sakte ho?”
“Mallika, maine koi emergency duty par nahin chhoda tha unhein. Bas time par medicines deni thi.”
“Kuchh cheezein practice se hi samajh mein aati hain. Abhi bachche hain woh…”
“Bachche nahin hain, doctors hain. Aur KMC mein MBBS ke dauraan bhi ward duties hoti hain. Phir jab woh Lucknow ke infamous government college se aayi hui ladki itni si baat samajh sakti hai, to hamare KMC ke graduates kyon nahin samajh sakte?”
“Okay. I give up. Suno, aaj raat kahin dinner par chalte hain. You need a change…”
“Sorry Mallika. Mujhe kuchh kaam hai. Main nahin aa sakta.”
“Okay,” she smiled sadly and left. He never agreed to her proposals of going out.
—
“Namrata,” Nidhi rushed by her side in common room, “Tum theek to ho? I am really sorry, yaar. Mujhe nahin pata tha ki Dr. Ashutosh wahan the…”
“Tum kyon sorry bol rahi ho? Ye to achchha hi hua na ki bachche ko strong medicine nahin di. Aur Dr. Ashutosh… Well… Unki baaton ka koi kya kar sakta hai. Tum KMC mein nahin thi na. Isliye jaanti nahin ho unhein. He loses his temper for much smaller things.”
“Kyon aise hain ye?”
“Pata nahin, yaar. Main to bas ye teen mahine khatam hone ka intezaar kar rahi hoon.”
“Mere oopar kabhi aise chillaye to mujhe to heart attack hi aa jayega. Dr. Rangnath theek hi dara rahe the unse.”
Nidhi wondered what was in store for her. Unlike her fellow interns, she didn’t even know the people around here. She had come with a lot of hopes and excitement for her internship. Will her excitement survive? Or will a small mistake make her also fall by the side?
—
“He bhagwaan. Main ye galat patient file kaise le aayi. Dr. Ashutosh ke aane se pahle…” Nidhi turned around and saw Ashutosh in the ward. The file slipped from her hand.”Sir? Aap? Aap… aap jaldi aa gaye?”
“To? Mere jaldi aane par koi pabandi hai?”
“Na… nahin, Sir. Of course not. Main woh… I am sorry, Sir. Main abhi theek karti hoon.”
“Kya theek karna hai aapko? Aur ye file uthaiye zameen par se.”
“Haan… Haan… wahi to, Sir.”
“To iske liye aap itna ghabra kyon rahi hain? Utha lijiye file…”
“Sir woh file galat…”
“Galat?”
“Galat patient ki aa gayi hai, Sir…. Lekin main abhi… abhi.. le kar…”
“To sahi file le aaiye. Aap theek to hain? Aise kyon behave kar rahi hain jaise koi ghost dekh liya ho?”
“Na… nahin to Sir. Main aati hoon.”
Nidhi ran out of the ward and took a deep breath to calm herself down. He was not angry, he won’t blast you, she told herself, got the right file and went back to the ward.
“Dr. Mallika ne ye case refer kiya hai. Lower back mein pain ki problem hai, walk karne par ya zyada der khade rahne par,” Ashutosh explained to Nidhi and two other interns posted in the ward, “X-ray aur ultrasound karwa chuke hain. Spinal chord mein koi problem nahin hai. Muscle relaxants are not helping. Phir bhi physiotherapy karwai thi. But no improvement. Any suggestions?”
Everyone started thinking. Nidhi made to say something, but stopped. If it was something so simple, surely Dr. Mallika would have known it. Ashutosh saw her gulping and fidgeting.
“Aapko kuchh kahna hai Dr. Nidhi?” he asked.
“Yes Sir.”
“Then speak,” he said irritated, “Chup kyon khadi hain?”
“Sir… woh maine file dekhi thi… Bachche ne recently kaafi weight gain kiya hai.”
“So?”
“Ek possibility ye hai ki abdominal muscles utni strong nahin hain aur suddenly gained weight ko support nahin kar pa rahi hain, isliye back par zor pad raha hai… Hum abdominal muscles ki exercise karwa kar dekh sakte hain. Two weeks…”
She looked at him with expectation and fear as he thought over it for a few seconds.
“Possibility to hai. I think koi aur medicine dene se pahle we should try it.Why don’t you take up this case, Dr. Nidhi?”
“Yes Sir. Thank you, Sir,” she was extremely excited.
—
“To aap theek ho gaye?” Ashutosh was talking to the kid after a week.
“Yes Dr. Ashutosh.”
“Ye to bahut achchhi baat hai. Ab aap wapas se bhaag daud kar sakte hain.”
“Ji.”
“To yaad rakhiye ki padhna-likhna achchhi baat hoti hai lekin body ko healthy rakhna bhi zaroori hota hai aur uske liye thodi exercise hoti rahni chahiye, right? Aur jo exercises Dr. Nidhi ne aapko batayi thi, unhein continue rakhiyega. Theek hai?”
“Ji.”
“Good boy.”
“Good job Dr. Nidhi,” Ashutosh said after the patient had left with his parents.
“Thank you, Sir.”
—
“Seriously Ashutosh? Abdominal muscle ki exercise for a week? That was it?” Mallika was unable to believe what had happened.
“Seriously.” Ashutosh replied matter of factly.
“I don’t believe this.”
“Hum doctors aise hi badnaam nahin hote Mallika patients ko ghumane-phirane ke liye. Intentionally nahin bhi, par hum kai baar simple options ki taraf dhyaan hi nahin dete. Back pain – and we started thinking like orthpedic surgeons. As pediatricians, we are supposed to keep all the possibilities in mind and start the diagnosis with the simplest one.”
“Yeah. Right.”
Suddenly Ashutosh smirked.
“What is so funny?” Mallika was flustered and irritated.
“Main tumhein achchhi tarah jaanta hoon Mallika. Tum is baat se hairaan nahin ho ki uski problem simple thi. Tum isliye pareshaan ho ki jo tumne nahin socha woh ek itni junior intern ne soch liya.”
“Come on Ashutosh. Tum ye kahna chahte ho ki main ek intern ko lekar insecure hoon.”
“Maine to nahin kaha Mallika. Tumne infer kiya. Khair, you have to give it to her. She is good.”
“Wow! Aaj suraj kidhar se nikla tha Ashutosh. Tum kissi ki taareef kar rahe ho? Woh bhi ek hardly do hafton se kaam kar rahi intern ki.”
“I can identify a good doctor when I see one.”
“To tumhein poore Kotnis General Hospital mein ya Kotnis Medical College mein koi aur achchha doctor nahin mila aaj tak?”
“Let me rephrase. I can identify a brilliant doctor when I see one. There are many good doctors. Lekin kuchh logon ke andar ek natural talent hota hai. She is one of them.”
“I see.”
“Khair. Tumhari duty to khatam ho gayi hai. Tum nikal jao. Main thodee der aur yahan rukoonga. Phir Jeevan Prabha jaunga.”
“Kabhi to aaraam kar liya karo Ashutosh.”
“Aaraam hi to kar raha hoon. Mujhe hospital mein hi aaraam milta hai Mallika.”
—
To be continued