What next? FF with the Doc: epilogue page 55 - Page 2

Chapter 2

The security man touched Ashutosh's arm: "Saab, aur kitni der yahan khade rahenge? Nidhi Madam ka kuchh pata chala to hum aapko turant khabar kar denge na...Ranganath also came bounding down the stairs and shook his head, "Nidhi is not there anywhere in the hospital...Maybe she had just gone home? Shall we lodge a complaint with the police?" Ashutosh had tried his home number but constantly got a "number not available" tone...then he remembered that a tree had probably uprooted and fallen across the wires, as had happened in the past with heavy rains. 

Ashutosh went back to his cabin and sat down heavily, not knowing what to do further.  Should he notify the police? Or maybe she had just flagged a cab and gone home? Or to her mayka? He thought against calling the police..bekaar mein hungama ho jayega...then everyone would pull his leg mercilessly. Nidhi had once cribbed to him, "sab log kehte hai ki mein aapko apne ungaliyon par nachati houn...aur maine aapki neend to apne dupatte mein bandh rakha hai..." Those thoughts brought out a small smile to Ashutosh's face, how true were they...He fondly remembered their engagement, wedding and the life beyond...Nidhi had filled all the voids in his life simply by her love and commitment.

There was a soft knock on the door...Ashutosh leapt to his feet and opened the door, anticipating Nidhi when suddenly a pair of arms pushed him back in his cabin. Armaan, his eyes blank and expression murderous, accousted Ashutosh with "Tujhe pata hai, Nidhi kahan hai?" the unfriendly piercing gaze and the aggressive body language was not lost on Ashutosh, as he pleaded, "nahin pata yaar, mein ussi ko leke pareshan houn..pata nahi kahan chali gayi..." Armaan let go of his collar, grabbed him by the arm and dragged him through the hospital reception, stairs, corridors and wards to the ICU. Ashutosh started getting anxious, fearing the worst, when Armaan spoke in a chilling no-nonsense voice: "Dr Ashutosh, KGH ke famous neurosurgeon, aapki biwi yahan par apni maut se lad rahi hai. Woh muzhe Lucknow ke bahar ek raste par behosh padi milli..."

Ashutosh tore himself from Armaan's grasp and rushed inside the ICU: and there she was...totally un-recognizable...with half a dozen tubes running in and out of her frail body. Behind her a silent green fluorescent monitor beeped a silent rhythm, a light coursed through the length of the screen and appeared again. Her face was totally van and gaunt, partly hidden by an oxygen mask and partly by bandage covering a head injury. The only thing recognizable was the engagement ring on her finger.

"How is she? These words might as well as had come from a stranger, they sounded so hollow and meaningless. "Do you really want to know?" Asked the gynaecologist, Dr Bharati. She had joined a month back and was famous for her tart-acid tongue and a no-nonsense attitude. "Dr Ashutosh, yeh aapki kaun lagati hai? Agar aapki biwi hai to iss halat mein kyoun hai? Don't you have any sense of responsibility towards your wife? Arre gaav ke ganwar hai jo apni biwi ka isse achha khayal rakhate hai...Kya aapko pata hai ki yeh pregnant thi?

Ashutosh stood the tirade silently, with bowed head...what Dr Bharati had said was in its right place anyway. Then suddenly he jerked his head, when the reality of the past tense of her last statement hit him "what do you mean Dr Bharati, yeh pregnant thi? Aur ab...? Dr Bharati replied, "you see Dr Ashutosh, it was probably a very early pregnancy, and there has been severe trauma to the body...the way she was found, I suspect she was knocked down by a speeding truck, and after such an incident, there was no hope for the pregnancy. Plus there has been a massive loss of blood from the head injury...even after multiple transfusions, we can only pray...Dr Bharati's words hung like the proverbial sword on his head. Nidhi, his Nidhi, lay in front of him, fighting for her life, in severe pain, and he could'nt do anything. All because of his infamous temper wherein he had hurt her and now he was all set to loose her forever.

Tears welled in his eyes and his throat choked with the imminent possibility, when Dr Bharati offered a glass of water to him. Taking the glass gratefully, he sat down next to her and called softly " Nidhi...I am sorry, Nidhi...please meri baat suno...mein tumhare bina nahi ji sakta...Nidhi please ankhein kholo..." At this Armaan put his reassuring hand on Ashutosh's shoulder, "Uparwale par bharosa rakh yaar...jahan dawa nahi pahunch paati wahan dua zaroor pahunch jati hai..." Ashutosh hugged Armaan and completely broke down, "Main Nidhi ko nahin jaane doonga, Armaan...I cannot afford to lose her...meri zindagi mein aur kuchh nahi hai ...

It was a long night. Ashutosh continued his vigil by Nidhi's bedside, holding her hand...and softly talking to her...Armaan sat in the waiting area outside the ICU. Others came and went, BB, DB, CV, Anjie...DB was pleading with Hanuman ji for her Bacchi's life.  Ashutosh was staring fixedly to Nidhi's face, trying to recollect and treasure all memories of her, as far as he could remember...the dashing of their cars on the first encounter...her nervousness in the OT...the ease with which she dealt with the children...sometime then he had started developing feelings for her...then there was this ICU...and suddenly the dream was shattered by the screech of the monitor...she had suffered a cardiac arrest.

Suddenly the room was abuzz with activity, as the resident dr came running, followed by Dr Bharati.  Ashutosh was politely asked to leave the room as they were trying to resuscitate Nidhi, with the resident Dr yelling, "all clear!!", applying the defibrillating electrodes on Nidhi's chest, followed by an upward jerking movement of her body, and then, nothing...the monitor traced a straight line pattern...no heart beat...none at all.

Ashutosh tore in the room, cupped Nidhi's face in his hands...Nidhi...Nidhi...mat jao Nidhi...and buried his face in her shoulder, his body racked by sobs. Suddenly he felt Dr Bharati's hand on his arm, she was standing beside him and smiling, "I think she has made it Dr Ashutosh, she is out of danger, maybe you had a dream? Your prayers have worked!!!

Ashutosh looked up to the monitor, it showed normal heart beat...so it was a dream after all!! It felt as if someone had lifted the Qutub minar off his chest and he could breathe normally now. The stormy night had passed and a dawn was breaking on the nearest rooftops.

Is she...is ssshe alright? Ashutosh stammered to Dr Bharati. Dr Bharati nodded, "as of now, yes, we have won the initial battle of survival...my next step would be to take her through a CAT scan for assessment of internal injuries...and most important...we still don't know the extent of her psychological scarring...for that, we could do with a psychiatric consultation, once she is fit enough.." "Suits me fine Dr Bharati, so let me know what's to be done next? Ashutosh was clearly relieved that Nidhi was out of danger. "Dr Ashutosh, right now, I suggest you go home and rest for a while, I will be here with her, plus Dr Bhatia, the trauma specialist has agreed to be here and take a look at her case, so be here by about 3 O'clock afternoon, so that you can talk to him also"

Dr Bhatia, was a large, balding rotund man of about 50, with a French goatee beard. He had a habit of tugging at his beard when nervous or in a difficult situation. And this was exactly what he was doing, going through Nidhi's file, when Ashutosh walked in the ICU just before 3 pm in the afternoon. He was in a deep animated conversation with Dr Bharati and on hearing Ashutosh's footfall, gestured him to take a seat.

"So, how are you, my friend? And what exactly happened yesterday?" He asked Ashutosh, as he settled his bulk in the facing chair.  Ashutosh quickly related his version of yesterday's happening to Dr Bhatia, starting with his fight with Nidhi followed by her disappearance and subsequent discovery by Armaan. As he was hearing this, he kept on pulling his beard, and this did not result in any significant uplifting of the melancholy mood of Ashutosh.

"You see, Ashutosh, I cannot say anything till a whole body CAT scan has been done...I still don't know if there are any internal injuries...the only injury that is visible is the head one..." with this he jabbed his own balding head with a pudgy finger.  And then you should also talk to a psychiatrist, once she comes to..."at this instant, the door to his cabin flew open, following a knock,  to reveal the resident doctor, with a wide smile, "Dr Ashutosh, Nidhi is slightly conscious now, would you like to see her?"

Ashutosh ran past the resident and reached Nidhi's bedside in a blur. Nidhi was slowly coming to consciousness, her fingers were randomly flexing and eyelids twitching. Ashutosh called softly, "Nidhi...meri aawaz sun sakti ho? And he tried to take her hand into his, the one that bore the engagement ring. With this, Nidhi jerked awake and her eyes flew open...eyes that were blank, devoid of all recognition and emotion, except fear...pulling her hand away, she tried to bolt away from Ashutosh, tearing away the IV drip that snaked into her hand. Dr Bharati came quickly and restrained her in a hug, Nidhi's eyes were wide with fear mirrored in them and she was shaking uncontrollably...Dr Bharati quietly gestured Ashutosh to leave the room.

Ashutosh left the ICU with leaden feet, shaken all over and somehow reached his cabin, put his head in his hands and broke down..."Yeh kya ho gaya meri Nidhi ko?"...he wanted to say so many things to Nidhi...apologise to her...love her...and here the whole thing was: she couldn't stand him!!! Dr Bhatia rejoined him there soon, "I think you stay away from her for a few days, till she recovers fully...otherwise, if she gets agitated like this everytime she sees you, then we are undermining whatever little chance we have of a complete recovery". Dr Bharati also re-echoed Dr Bhatia's statement, "Dr Ashutosh, Nidhi has gone through a major trauma...aise mein patients aise react karte hai...aur kuchh dino mein theek bhi ho jaate hai. Right now she has been sedated again, aapse ek hi request hai, aap chahe to use door se dekh sakte hai, please uske pass mat jaayeyega!!