Part 44
Next day Sid, Rohan and Maasi completed the final rituals for Shilpa. Sid guided Rohan through them all, not leaving his side for even a moment. Sid had to be strong and not let himself be overpowered by his emotions for Rohan's sake. Obtaining official guardianship of Rohan, visa and formalites would require him to go back to Mumbai. Sid and Maasi discussed it through and came to the conclusion that on weekdays Sid can be in Mumbai to complete these formalities till they are over and visit Panchgani over the weekends. That way Rohan would also not feel left out. Maasi and Sid explained to him plans they had finalized on.
Rohan: Aap pucca ayenge na milne?
Sid: Haan pucca promise ...........
Rohan: aur agar nahi aa paya toh ?
Sid: Hmmmm phir tum Mumbai aa jaana ......... hum waha pe masti karenge........
Rohan: Theek hai .......... Bade Papa
Sid: Waise Rohan hum dost hai na ............
Rohan looked confused why Sid was asking such a question.
Sid: Toh yeh bade papa kya laga raka hai......... hamari deal yaad hai na .......... tum mujhe Sid bulavoge ....... toh what say ???
Rohan giving a hi five to Sid 'Deal'
Sid: Chalo ab jaldi se tayar ho javo ..... todi der bahar ghoomne jaate hai ...........
Rohan quickly ran off to get ready. It was nice to see him be himself after a long time.
Sid spent the next few days in Panchgani. On Sunday evening after dropping Rohan back at the hostel Sid left for Mumbai.
Sid spent his day on Monday meeting with the lawyer to get the paper work kick started. After meeting with the lawyer following his father's he thought of visiting Purva to check on her.
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For Riddhima life had continued as before except that now she was a little at ease as she did not dread going back home. The kids left for Delhi with Atul and Anjali so she had a lot of free time at hand. She spent her weekend mostly setting up the house completely and reflecting back on her life, her decision. Monday brought back some thing she liked to do and occupy her mind....her work, her patients.
Her day continued as usual rounds, patients and other administrative tasks. Occasionally she used to drop by the ICU just to check up on Purva's. She knew that Sid would not be there but the fact that Purva was Sid's patient, she felt responsible towards her.
After one such visit she went to meet Juhi.
Riddhima: Weekend kaise tha?
Juhi: Wahi normal ........... todha ghar ka kaam and then reading up something............ Nothing special.......how about you?
Riddhima: jyada kuch nahi ........... I finished setting up the house. Atul aur di Delhi wapis chale gaye toh kaafi free time bhi tha.............
Juhi: Aur hospital ke chakkar kaate ........
Riddhima: tumhe kaise maloom .........
Juhi: Nurse ne bataya ............ tum Purva ko check karne aayi thi........ how come?
Riddhima: Nahi .........actually aise hi hospital ayi thi .......toh socha Purva pe bhi check kar loo
Juhi: aise kya khaas baat hai ............ Nurse baata rahi thi ki tum ne dedicated Senior Doctor assign kiya uske liye .........
Riddhima: Nahi actually ............ just wanted to make sure all is fine with her and the surgeon could also rest in peace then ..........nothing else
Juhi: aur aaj ..........
Riddhima: what can't I check up on the patients also ? i know she is your patient but any and every patient in this hospital is my responsibility ........
Juhi: Meine aise nahi kaha .........tum baat kaha se kaha leke jaa rahi hoo............. i was just surprised.....
Riddhima: So what are you trying to say that I am not passionate enough about my work ...............
Juhi: you are misunderstanding me ........... i never meant anything of the kind......... forget it lets end this topic.........
Riddhima: chalo mein jaathi hoon ............ mujhe kaam hai ........ bye ...........without waiting for a response Riddhima walked out of the room.
Juhi could not understand what got Riddhima so agitated and more so why was she so concerned about Purva and no other patient.
Sid was already in the hospital and had finished checking on Purva. She was coping very well. He had a brief chat with Mr Shah to give them a status update and pass on his father's regards to him. As decided he then went on to meet Juhi. She had indeed been great help during and after the operation. Somewhere he had started liking her, he saw the same spark of life in her which he always saw in Shilpa. It was like once again being with Shilpa.
Sid: Hey How are you? I hope I am not disturbing you.
Juhi: Hi !!! No not at all come in .............I am good how are you now?
Sid: Better......... Had come to check up on Purva so thought of dropping in to say hi to you
Juhi: that's soo thoughtful of you........ you wanna check on her now then lets go
Sid: No no I already did that.......... she is responding very well
Juhi: I know .........thanks to you
Sid: Well no big deal........ it's destiny ...........
Juhi: Actually ......... if you would not be here then maybe it would have been a different story........
Sid: I wish I was here for a different reason though.............
Juhi: I can understand.............. if you don't mind me asking me ..........who was it? Your wife..........
Sid snapped back No!!! .............. I did not realise the intensity of his reaction for a moment. Looking at Juhi startled expression he mellowed down. 'No i didn't mean to snap at you ............. she was not my wife .......... she was my friend...........
Sid answer shocked Juhi even more. If the person who passed away was a friend then why did he say that he was in mourning. The mourning ritual is observed by only family.
Juhi: No i thought it was your wife because you told me the other day that you are here to take your child back. I am sorry.
Sid: No actually I am sorry ......... Yes i am here to take my son back ............Rohan he is my friend's son ............ and now my son ................ after all rishte toh dil se bandte hai na?
Juhi could now understand why she always felt there was a lot of pain in eyes. A person who was mourning for one who was not even family, taking responsibility of a child which was not even his, who in midst of all this took up the task to perform the 9 hour operation just because that person was a family friend She could not fathom how can someone be so selfless. She could see Sid becoming more and more vunerable.
She did feel appropriate to probe further and upset Sid so changed the course of the conversation towards work. They discussed some cases for sometime.
Sid: Chalo chalta hoon mein ........ i have already taken too much of your time. ........ plus I have to shop for some groceries. Now that I am here I need to stock some stuff ...............
Juhi: Oh !!! you have a house here or using one of those service apartments.
Sid: Ya I have a house here.......... we have kept it as Papa aur Mom aate hai yaha pe .............my sister is also in India but not in Mumbai though. Kaafi kuch badal gaya hai Mumbai mein ab .........
Juhi: Oh so you used to stay in Mumbai ........
Sid: Ten years back .......... then I moved to US aur phir kabhi aana nahi hua yaha pe...........
Juhi: Oh cool......... do you know the place well?
Sid: Yes yes .......... itna bhi nahi badla hai .......... i will manage.........
Juhi: You know
what .........meri shift thodi der mein khatam ho jayegi ................ may
be I can help waise mujhe bhi shopping karni hai ........... But Sid could
argue ........ she passed the judgement and sealed the fate. Yes good
idea............ give me some time ..........mein sadoo boss ko bye kar aati
hoon ........... aaj phukat ka hamara jhagda ho gaya ......... you chill till
then .........
Link to the next update
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/38468415