“So. Dr. Ashutosh Mathur. Kaisa mahsoos kar rahe hain aap?” Armaan pushed a rolled newspaper before Ashutosh, as if it were a reporter’s mike.

“Bahut thaka hua mahsoos kar raha hoon aur mujhe sone ki zaroorat hai. Parties can be quite tiring.”

“Kamaal hai? Bade selfish hain aap, Dr. Ashutosh. Party ke liye din bhar mehnat ki Dr. Nidhi ne. Aur woh ab bhi hospital mein night duty de rahi hain. Aur thak aap gaye, Ashu maharaj?”

Ashutosh was taken aback.  Indeed! How did he forget about her?

“Armaan. Main hospital ja raha hoon.”

“Are. Lekin…”

“Use bhi to aaraam ki zaroorat hogi. Main thodee der uska kaam dekh sakta hoon.”

Ashutosh did not even change out of his party dress, picked up his car keys and rushed to the hospital.

—

“Dr. Ashutosh,” Nidhi was surprised as well as relieved to see him. She had been extremely worried, “Achchha hua aap aa gaye. Please is patient ko dekhiye.”

“Kya hua? Aap itni ghabrayi hui kyon hain, Dr. Nidhi?”

“Ek patient abhi abhi admit hua hai. Uska Asthama control nahin ho raha tha. Isliye uske ghar waale use yahan laye hain. Hum woh control karne ki koshish kar rahe hain, lekin kuchh kaam nahin kar raha hai. Aur abhi abhi use cough aane laga. With blood. TB to nahin lagta. Lekin x-ray karne ke layak bhi haalat nahin hai uski…”

“Dr. Sen kahan hain?” Ashutosh asked about the senior doctor who should have been on duty.

“Thodee der pahle emergency se unke liye call aayi thi. Wahin gaye hain. Main unhein phone karne ki koshish kar rahi thi, lekin I think who utha nahin pa rahe hain.”

They had reached the patient’s bed by then. The poor kid was coughing badly and was also short of breath.

“Blood Pressure check kijiye. Jaldi.”

“Blood Pressure?” Nidhi was puzzled.

“Quick. Dr. Nidhi,” Ashutosh was annoyed for a moment.

Nidhi got to work. “Oh God!” she exclaimed as she noticed the BP.

“Blood Pressure control mein laana hoga. This might be a case of Pulmonary Hypertension, not Asthama. Aap please cardiology mein call kijiye aur on-duty senior doctor ko bulaiye. Agar Dr. Khan ho duty par to best hoga.”

“Yes Sir.”

Nidhi followed his instructions precisely. When Dr. Khan reached there she assisted both of them. After a while they had the situation in control and the patient was put to sleep. Before discussing next steps with Dr. Khan. Ashutosh noticed Nidhi, who was standing at some distance from them. She was unable to comprehend what was going on. Patient’s condition had scared her and day’s work followed by the night duty had exhausted her.

“Dr. Nidhi,” Ashutosh addressed her, “The child is stable now. Nurse is looking after him. Mujhe Dr. Khan se aage ki patient-care discuss karni hai. Aap please mujhse dus minute mein mere office mein miliye. I will explain the case to you.” Ashutosh had carefully worded his instructions so that it didn’t sound odd to others. What he really wanted was not to discuss the case with her immediately, but rather for her to take rest in his office.

“Yes Sir,” she said listlessly and left.

—

Without having to mull over Ashutosh’ words, it came naturally to Nidhi that she should directly go to Ashutosh’ office and not wait elsewhere for ten minutes.

Ashutosh smiled when he entered his office. Nidhi had fallen asleep on the visitor’s chair. Her mouth was slightly open as she slept, which made her already innocent face look even more child-like. He walked towards her and caressed her head. He was almost in a trance as he did that. Then he came to himself with a start and stepped back. Nidhi woke up and sprang out from the chair seeing him, “I… I am sorry, Sir. Pata nahin kaise aankh lag gayi.” She explained embarrasedly trying hard to fight off her sleep.

“Sit down, Nidhi. It’s okay. You were tired, I could see that,” Ashutosh himself was yet to recover from the shock of what he had done just moments ago. What was he thinking!!

“Achchha hua aap aa gaye. Warna main to kabhi nahin samajh paati ki…”

“Aap kya padh rahi thi?” Ashutosh noticed a book in her hands. She was reading before drifting off to sleep.

Nidhi handed him the book. She was reading about Pulmonary Hypertension. Ashutosh smiled, “Aapne padhna bhi shuru kar diya. Good. I am impressed.”

“Main bahut dar gayi thi. Khaas kar ke jab mujhe realize hua ki meri diagnosis ki koshishein actual problem se bilkul tangential thi.”

“It’s okay. Calm down. Patient ke pichhle doctor ne misdiagnosis ki thi. Plus, to be honest, I wouldn’t expect you to be able to do it right. Ye cases roz roz aate nahin hain. Rare hote hain. I would not be surprised agar kai senior doctors bhi diagnose na kar payen. Unless they keep reading medical journals regularly. In fact, meri Dr. Khan se baat ho rahi thi. He was also caught off-guard. We may not even be equipped to treat him here. Hum uske parents ko advice karne waale hain ki use Delhi le jaayen. AIIMS mein. He would need a super-specialist’s care.”

“Oh!” the complication of the situation she was in was scary. She silently thanked her stars that Ashutosh came in time.

“You look tired. Aap abhi case further discuss karna chahengi? Ya hum kal bhi kar sakte hain.”

“Nahin. Abhi karte hain.”

“Okay,” she was eager to learn, and Ashutosh decided not to disappoint her. He explained her the details of the diseases, its symptoms, what all could it be confused with, diagnosis and treatment.

“Thank you Dr. Ashutosh.”

“Ismein thanks ki kya baat hai. Aapko explain karna mera kaam hai.”

“Nahin. Time par aane ke liye. Agar patient ko kuchh ho jaata to…”

“Yeah. It was not a good situation ki koi senior doctor nahin tha yahan. Hamein emergencies manage karne ke liye better system chahiye. Main administration se baat karoonga.”

“Ji. Waise aap aaye kyon the? Aap to din bhar bhi hospital mein the?“

Ashutosh laughed out loud, “Dr. Nidhi Verma. Aapko to police mein hona chahiye. Itna sab kuchh ho jaane ke baad bhi aap original question nahin bhooli. Aur mauka milte hi sawaal-jawaab shuru kar diya.”

“Nahin,” Nidhi was embarrassed, “I am sorry. Maine to aise hi poochha. Main chalti hoon.”

“Nidhi,” Ashutosh stopped her, “Tum chaho to ghar ja sakti ho. Main hoon yahan par.”

“Aap to Dadi Bua se bhi badtar hote ja rahe hain. Aapko aisa kyon lag raha hai ki main thaki hui hoon? Koi pahli baar night duty thode hi kar rahi hoon?”

“Lekin tum din bhar bhi kaam kar rahi thi. Obviously thaki hui ho. Dikh raha hai shakal par.”

“I am fine, Dr. Ashutosh. I really am. Aapko mere liye yahan rukne ki zaroorat nahin hai. Main to subah aaraam kar loongi. Lekin aapko phir hospital aana padega.”

Ashutosh nodded and Nidhi left. But he did not leave for home. He leaned further back into his chair and spent rest of the night thinking.

They were fond of each other, there was no denying this now. Nidhi’s feelings – he had heard from her own mouth. And he knew that he liked her. But he didn’t expect it to go anywhere. It was not supposed to. The idea was so ridiculous. He had hoped that their relationship will remain innocent and friendly. But…

What had possessed him when he had seen her sleeping in the chair? Why did he have to go and touch her? And feel like…

Nidhi was also confused as she walked out of his office. Was it in her dream that Ashutosh had caressed her head so lovingly? Because when she woke up, he wasn’t standing that close to her. And yet she had felt like an electrical shock run through her veins. It had to be a dream. Ashutosh could not be attracted to her. That was way too much to hope for. Yes – he did appear fond of her. He was friendly with her. He appeared to take special interest in her professional progress. Once in a while he said or did something that made her feel like he wanted her. But she might be seeing too much meaning in simple things. Hoping that any of that was a reflection of her own feelings might be too much. She didn’t want to hope for too much. She did not want to become another Mallika. She didn’t want to become bitter in love by expecting it to come back. She was happy giving love. She was happy with whatever little came back to her. Or even if nothing did. Loving him was enough to give her all the happiness in life.

—

To be continued