Part 8A ~~ Immune to Love?
Hello! Dr Agarwal's office, how may I help you?..
Uhhh...I need to make an appointment..
For whom sir?
For myself..
Umm.. have you seen her before?
Yes... Uh actually no, I am a new patient. Its just that she is so popular, I feel that she is already my doctor!
Hahaha! Thats a new one!..Your name and age sir?
Ahhh..ummm.... ( no Shaan, no deceptions this time!) Shantanu Khandelwal, old enough to be a father to half a dozen kids but yet to start.! Actually I am 29.
Ohhh!! Then Dr Agarwal cannot see you! She doesn't deal with infertility issues!!
No..No! You are mistaken! I think that part of me is working very well!! Shaan laughed somewhat embarassed.
I actually wanted to see her for something with begins with an H and ends with an Ache!
There was a pause on the side......
Sir, just a headache? Have you tried some Crocin or Anacin etc
(Wrong guess, but I won't tell you so!) Ahhh! Would I give you a call if those things had worked?? This ache has been bothering me continously for the past week and it gets worse everyday!! I am in soo much pain....Shaan groaned loudly for added effect.
I am so sorry to hear that sir.. May be you should go to the ER, for Dr Agarwal won't be able to see you until day after tomorrow. I could check with Dr Krishnan though..
Nooooo! Only Khanak can solve it! ...I ..I mean Dr Agarwal( Abey Shaan, watch your tongue nahin to yeh chance gaya haath se!) I have heard that she is an expert is dealing with PAINS of all kinds especially the one I am suffering from!! Please why can't she see me tomorrow?
Hmmm..strange, I didn't know that! Let me see.... She has a very important meeting in the morning, her afternoon is full...
Yes, I know she's a busy lady.. but please look again.. I can't wait any longer!!.. Its a matter of life and death..well, almost!
Let me see.( What a pretender!)..she does usually keep a slot open for 6pm for emergencies so we don't fill it unless she tells us to..
Well this IS an emergency! Please give me that slot, it works perfectly for me!..Shaan couldn't believe his luck.
But sir! We are not supposed to do that, if she finds out!..
She won't and if she does I will take the blame!..Thank you very much, you are doing a great job!..and before she could protest anymore he disconnected the phone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
If Shaan had known that Khanak was not feeling any more at ease than him, he would have been happier. The encounter with a living, breathing Shaan in his room had left her feeling drained, mentally and physically exhausted. As soon as she came out she went to the break room and finding it fortunately empty, collapsed in a chair trying to calm her racing pulse and confused thoughts.
His personality was an intoxicating cocktail of effortless charm, good looks, intelligence and most of all a incredible vital force that it had almost paralysed her mind. She had felt drawn towards him, and it had taken her a tremendous amount of will power to break the spell and she was still reeling from its effects.
So she avoided spending much time with him after that and made sure that there was always family present. She in fact hurried his discharge, despite his family's protests. She felt happy that at least in that aspect she could exercise complete control over him.
As if this wasn't enough Deepak had become a nasty pest, who she couldn't squish under her feet, no matter how hard she wished she could. She even dreamed about it. He hounded her constantly, so much so that even her colleagues and the hospital staff had gotten used to seeing them together and had started dropping hints of a potential coupling in the future. She vehemently denied it, but you know how the rumor mill works. It has a life of its own.
The next few days were not good days for Khanak. She couldn't stop thinking of the way Shaan had looked at her, as if she was the most beautiful thing in the world. The way touching his skin had almost burned her fingertips. She saw him everywhere, on the streets, in her favorite coffee shop, in the crowded elevator, in her dreams. Even at home her family had started noticing her odd behavior.
One night at the dinner table, Khanak's mother was concerned when she saw her not eating...instead she was breaking the chapati in to tiny pieces and rearranging them on her plate..
He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not..., Didi is in love mom. Yeahh!!, Palak announced loudly.
Sunita shook her head and smiled indulgently. Pramod ( Khanak's father,) laughed..
Palak, that beemari will never affect your sister! She has immunised herself against it!
But Da..aa..d!!
Yes Palak, Dad's right! Khanak gave her father a grateful smile for coming to her rescue, and glared at Payal. I Am Immune to love!..She turned back to her parents, I was just worried about the new Charity Hospital. Remember Mom, Dad... I told you about it.. We are going to have a meeting tomorrow where we are going to discuss about its location and if we would be able to come up with enough money to bid for the site.We have been getting a lot of donations lately, so I am optimistic, but you never know in this city, land is at a premium...
Don't worry my dear, aise nek kaam ke liye, tumhe koi problem nahin hogi! Agar koi problem ho bhi jai to mujhe meri Khanak par poora bharosa hai!..her father said with pride and confidence and her mother nodded agreeing with him.
Khanak smiled back at both of them. Yes, her dream of getting a State of the Art Hospital constructed exclusively for the poor and needy was finally getting beyond the conceptual stage. She had always wanted them to have access to the best of medical care, which they seldom did. When she went to volunteer in the field clinics for a half day a week, she saw that the facilities barely met their needs. Frequently a lot of them needed specialised care which was beyond their reach. Government and community hospitals were so overloaded and poorly run that a lot of them got turned away or ended with wrong or substandard treatments.
She knew that the New Hospital would hardly manage to scratch the surface of the problem but if it succeeded perhaps it could lead the way for others like it. So far everything had fallen in place like clockwork. She had even succeeded in getting Companies like GE and Siemens to donate medical equipment for the new hospital. This she had done when she had attended the Innovations in the Medical Diagnostics conference in New York as a representative of her hospital. If only they could get the building completed...
Dad's right, if I don't trust myself then who will? I will win, Dr Khanak Agarwal will make her dream come true.
Shaan woke the next day with a smile on his face, for the first time since he had left the hospital.
Today is the D Day. Today is the day I'm going to meet my Khanak, with all my faculties intact. Hmmm...I am calling her My Khanak already!..not bad Shaan. Though that day may not be too far away when she'll let me do that openly, right to her face, My.Khanak.
Akshay accompanied him for his appointment with his surgeon, Dr Sharma. Though he protested that he was fine and could very well take care of himself, Akshay insisted saying that he wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth.
Dr Sharma was a big, burly man as wide as he was tall, but he spoke in a tiny whisper that they had to strain hard to understand. He gave Shaan a clean bill of health after squeezing his belly for a few seconds with his giant hands. Shaan had a brief but scary vision of his stomach contents leaking out through his scars. The appointment was over in less than 5 minutes.
Happy? Satisfied?,. that your little brother is H and H as mom would say..
You mean Hale and Healthy!..Akshay laughed.
Yes! So stop feeling guilty and let me be. I don't need a chaperone.. and I want to come back to work!
Okay Bro! Your feet are now unbound! I'll tell Dad but don't hurry back to work..take your time, have a little fun. For once you get hooked your shackles will get permanent like mine!, Akshay winked and mocked a noose around his neck.
Shantanu laughed and shook his head... He was planning to get hooked today for sure but by a person who would set him free.
In a web of our own design
The harder we struggle
The more we get entwined...
~~Loook at the desperation ... How Typical of Shaan ...
