PART 11
Muskaan was looking at Armaan incredulously. Actually she was only looking at Armaan but her mind was occupied with his and Ridhima's thoughts. The way they were, or rather Ridhima was reacting to Armaan's statements had made her suspicious beyond any level, she was damn sure of the fact that there was some scene between the two which was not clear to her. She and Ridhima had gotten off really well. She made a mental note to ask her this today itself. Flinging her hands in the air she walked off.
The gang was given the usual duties. All of they were happy, or rather seemed to be. Atul and Anjali, having found the new bond they shared, obviously wanted to work together. Curse their bad fate, they tried getting it changed but for Rahul and Muskaan who really threatened them, courtesy the gender suspicion raised by Muskaan and the consequent fight!
Muskaan and Atul were working in the ICU, both disturbed for their own reasons. Atul, longing for a peak in the children's ward and Muskaan was racking her brains over Ridhima. While she was attending to a patient, Atul silently came up to her and smiled his most grateful smile. Muskaan looked up at him, smiled as widely as he did, turned down her face and returned to her work. Atul's hopes of persuading her had turned to ashes. Still not giving up, he tried yet again. He patted slightly on her shoulder.
"What is it?" Muskaan asked, trying to be all calm but her face was clearly displaying emotions of an impending murder.
"Nothing." Atul said finally.
"Then why have you come here?"
"Just like that. Are you okay Muskaan?"
"Do I look like?"
"No."
"What? I am completely okay." She calmed down a bit looking at the scared expression on his face. "What happened to you?"
"Mujhe? Nothing at all. I just wanted to ask you if I am looking good today. Aur haan, agar tum bura na maano, toh kya main ek minute ke liye children's ward mein jaa sakta hoon?"
"Kyu?"
"I wanted to meet somebody." He said looking down. Muskaan left from there, went out and peeped into the children's ward to see Anjali working there and Rahul just walking out of the ward. He made a face at her and Muskaan just scowled at him. She put her mind to work. Rahul just went out, so obviously Atul didn't want to see him and other than him only Anjali is there. Anjali! This is the reason. Shrugging her shoulders, she went back to see Atul looking at her expectantly. Love's in the air! She said thinking aloud.
She was looking at Atul incredulously and walked back in a huff towards him.
"Tum bhi?" She spoke ever so surprised that Atul was taken aback for a moment and he stared back at her in confusion.
"What do you mean by tum bhi?" Atul was thinking hard on this 'tum bhi' of hers. "Did you just do something? Or do you want a partner in crime?"
"What the hell are you saying Atul? Do you even realize it yourself? I guess not." Muskaan said grumpily. "The interns of this hospital are all out of their minds. They don't even what they are doing and then want some partner in crime. But hello! I am not party to this at all! So keep me out of it."
"What are you saying Muskaan?" Atul asked concerned. "Do you need some help? Is everything okay?"
"And now they have gone silly also. Oh! Not silly, but absent minded. They don't even understand a little thing. What am I doing in this hospital even? The doctors here are a bunch of stupids..."
"Muskaan, you don't know what you are saying. You need to..." Atul tried reasoning with her and making her think with his point of view.
"Oh my gosh! You are saying this? The most stupid of all here? Atul please..." Muskaan still went on with her ramblings whilst Atul thought that someone had banged Muskaan's head on the wall while she was out.
"Dr. Muskaan!" Keerti's voice echoed through the ward. Muskaan was suddenly put to a stop. She closed her eyes in fear of what would become of her now. How she would be thrown out of this hospital and how will she face her parents now who sent her here out of so much expectation. While all this was going in her mind, the senior stupid doctor, i.e. Dr. Keerti was looking at her as if she would kill her today.
"I really wanted to know if you were working amongst a bunch of stupid people." She said maintaining her calm.
"No Mam. How can you even think like this? This is the best hospital in India. And ou are saying that the doctors here are stupid?" Muskaan gave a final try to retain her internship here.
"Was I saying that?" Keerti asked with a stern expression on her face.
"You? No! When did you say that?" She turned towards Atul. "Atul, did she say anything like that?
"She? No!" Atul fumbled. "You... I mean me... no... Nobody said that." Muskaan smacked her head in response to Atul's fumbling reply. She turned towards Dr, Keerti who still had that stern expression on her face. Muskaan grinned at her stupidly and when she found nothing to say, she continued.
"You were saying something, Mam?" She said at a loss of words.
"At last you came to know who ought to speak here. Should I take it as an achievement? She smiled slightly now.
"Yes Mam, definitely!" Muskaan mumbled not knowing what she was saying. She was being one kind of a nervous wreck and she knew she was bad at these times, so she chose to keep her mouth shut. At last Dr. Keerti went off leaving a fuming Muskaan and a grinning Atul behind. As soon as she went out Muskaan turned towards Atul and smacked him right on his head.
"Now that will remind you to remind me of the dangers that you ought to remind me off. And about going to meet Anjali, stop right there in your tracks. Don't you dare do that?" Muskaan said threateningly and walked out off the ward.
*************************
Ridhima was checking up on Anushka. The recent encounters of embarrassment with Armaan had made her decide on one thing. She will not be affected by it anymore and will behave like she always does. He had irritated and teased her enough already and she wasn't going to take it anymore. Of all what happened in the past few days had her realize one more thing. Her feelings towards Armaan had gone beyond where they ought to have been. It was disturbing her like anything, especially last night when she literally couldn't sleep because of this. The little gestures of his always made her heart swell with happiness. She was already missing her friends and family like anything and the way he was behaving with her scared her. What would she do if she got too close with him? And of what she knew, he already had a girlfriend. She dead scared at this thought. Even though nothing made her happier than spending time with him, she knew she had to stop. But how was she going to do it? That was one question that kept ringing in her mind. He was a wonderful friend and not only would it pain him if behaved oddly but her also. She was surprised at the closeness that they shared in a matter of few days. She was afraid. Afraid to lose a loving friend. She looked into the depths to find herself that she was being very selfish. She was concerned of what this friendship would do to her and not at the fact that when a friendship breaks no one is happy. This might be beneficial for her in the long run, but the sadness and the hurt that Armaan would go through in the process further heightened her insecurities. She needed a friend to talk this all out. She wondered whom could it be. Muskaan, no. She is already behaving oddly in front me and Armaan. No chance. Atul, no it would be too obvious. He will get to know in a second whom I am talking about. It couldn't be anyone in the hospital who she knew. She really couldn't think of anyone else. Her only best friend, Nikita. No again, instead of solving her problem, she would end up teasing her. Even though she will understand it, but she was wary of this thought. She decided to leave things to their fate as of now and continued with her work.
Anushka was looking at her as if she had gone mad. The doctor who was fighting yesterday like anything was quiet today. She expected one such sort of battle to happen again today and she was really looking forward to it. Where has that handsome doctor gone? She thought. She decided that she will ask Ridhima only.
"Ridhima didi, aaj Armaan bhaiya nahi aaye?" She asked ever so innocently.
Ridhima was shook out of her work for a moment. She looked at Anushka who sat there anticipating the reply from her. Armaan really has his charms. Even his patients are not spared. She smiled inwardly. What the hell are you thinking Ridhima? Only now you decided that you will not think about him. Get a grip girl! Her expressions changed that instant.
"He will be coming in a while." She answered coldly. Anushka's face dropped. She turned her face away. Looking at her Ridhima felt guilty.
"How about I call him now?" Ridhima smiled widely at her and as Anushka's face broke into a smile, she felt happy.
"Please call him na!" She said excitedly.
"Who's thinking about me?" Armaan reached the bed and looked in Ridhima's direction. But she did not return the gaze. Instead she just turned her face away and tried to look anywhere but at Armaan. Not getting any response from Ridhima he looked at Anushka who seemed ever so happy as he came. "How are you today?"
"I am very good today. But why didn't you come earlier? I was so missing you bhaiya!"
"Aww...! I am sorry. I will make sure that it doesn't happen again. Okay?"
"That is alright. But why aren't the two of you talking? Please kal ka action replay karo na!!" Anushka pleaded while Armaan grinned. He looked at Ridhima who was flustered at what Anushka just said.
"Bachche I have a lot of work to do today. I will come and meet you in the evening." She turned to Armaan. "Armaan, I have studied the case files and have given her the medicines. Please just consult Dr. Keerti on this and tell me if I have to do anything else." Giving a final look she turned the other side and walked out of the ward.
"What did just happen?" Armaan muttered under his breath obviously confused at Ridhima's changed behavior. Neither did she say a proper hello to him in the morning and has been acting all weird the entire day. What just got into her head? Armaan wondered. Putting off these thoughts from his mind, he continued with his work.
**********************
Armaan was going around in the corridor trying to find Ridhima. He had not seen her after she checked on Anushka. It was evening now. Waiting for her he was spending time with Anushka as she had said that she would come to meet her. It was about time for their duties to get over. He gave up and after bidding a good bye to Anushka he proceeded towards the locker room. On his way there he caught a glimpse of Ridhima sitting in the fire escape with her head in her hands. He opened the door a bit without making any noise. She seemed to be in deep thought. He went slowly proceeded towards her. Her eyes were closed. He sat on the step where Ridhima was sitting and tapped her on the shoulder. She opened her eyes with a start and was surprised to see Armaan there.
"Feeling sleepy, someone?" He asked.
"Armaan, what are you doing here?" She asked surprised.
"I am out to have a walk." He said sarcastically.
"Walk? Are you crazy or something?"
"Ridhima you really don't have a brain or you are actually this stupid?" He asked grinning at her stupidly.
"Me? What did you just say?" She said trying to make out.
"I am sorry. I got my doubts confirmed. You are really that stupid. Anyways, I came here looking for you."
"Why me?"
"Just like that. Do I need a reason to meet you?"
Ridhima was taken aback by what he just said. She didn't reply to what he said and looked here and there.
"What happened? You are my friend na? I don't need a reason to meet you."
"Ah yes. I forgot."
"What? You forgot that I am your friend? Silly girl! You need some check up for your memory."
"Armaan, I don't need any check. You go and check up on the silly mind of yours okay?" Ridhima said but Armaan was not listening to her. He was thinking about something and suddenly out of nowhere he shrieked.
"Idea! Meri tubelight jal gayi Ridhima."
"At last!"
"You know we can play a game. When I was small na, I used to play this with my friends. It is simple. Choose one category- colours or fruits."
"What? What are you saying Armaan?" Ridhima said flustered.
"Arre you just choose na, I will tell you afterwords."
"Okay! Umm... colours."
"Done. I will speak the name of one colour and you follow up with another one of yours and but first you have to speak the name of the colour I spoke first. Then I will speak the name of the third colour after speaking the two which were spoken before. Got it?"
"Ya... I hope so." Ridhima said nervously not understanding even half of what he said but she decided to try nonetheless.
"So let's start. First me. Umm... Red."
"Red... orange." Ridhima was trying her level best to understand what she is doing.
"Red...orange...blue"
"Red...orange...blue...green"
"Red...orange...blue...green...yellow"
"Red...orange...blue...green...yellow...pink"
"Red...orange...blue...green...yellow...pink...purple"
"Red...orange...blue...green...yellow...pink...black"
"Ah haan! You missed one colour. I won!!!" Armaan said excitedly and doing a small jig with his hands.
"No Armaan! I said all the colours. You are mistaken." She turned away pouting her lips.
"No Ridhima, you missed out purple."
"No I did not..." Then suddenly remembering she said. "Yes I did."
"See! I won."
"Hmm..."
"By the way, won't you ask the name of this game?"
"No. I am not fond of playing such stupid games."
"Kuch ni hota. Main tumhe phir bhi bataunga." He said grinning.
"I will not listen to you Armaan."
"It's called..." Armaan started to speak but did not when he saw Ridhima covering her ears with her hands.
"I am not listening Armaan!" She spoke.
Armaan bend towards Ridhima and turned his face towards her ears. Ridhima grew conscious all of a sudden. Armaan was bending towards her slowly and slowly and was enjoying himself fully looking at the scared expression on Ridhima's face. Then without wasting any more time his hands reached Ridhima's waist and he started tickling her there. Ridhima's hands at once came down. She was not able take it meanwhile Armaan was not leaving her and kept tickling her. She was laughing out like anything and was not able to control herself. She slipped down two steps and was not lying flat on the floor. In between she was shouting at Armaan, asking him stop that.
"Armaan...pl..please...stop this."
"Game ka naam toh tumne suna hi nahi.how can I stop?"
"Accha, okay. I will listen to you. But first please stop this."
Armaan withdrew his hands and Ridhima got up and straightened her dress. After collecting herself she sat on the step where she was sitting previously but a bit away from Armaan lest he started tickling her again.
"Haan, so. It is called the memory game. It helps in improving your memory. From tomorrow onwards you will play this game daily so that you don't forget things, okay?" Armaan said with a child-like amusement.
"What? Armaan I am not going to play this game. Come what may!"
"Are you sure Ridhima?" Armaan said with an evil grin on his face and his hands ready for tickling her again.
"No...no. I am not sure at all." She said nervously looking at his hands. "I will play it with you. Happy?"
"Very happy!" Saying this Armaan pulled Ridhima into a tight hug and whispered a silent thank you to her. He slowly parted from the hug and looked at Ridhima generously.
"Why did you thank me?"
"Voh... actually you said something yesterday which helped me in taking some very important decision."
"What did I say?" Ridhima asked confused. She was racking her brains as to what did she say that Armaan is thanking her.
"See! Memory. Ab toh tumhe roz do (2) baar memory game khelna chahiye!"
"Armaan! Stop joking around, will you?"
"And you, stop racking your brains. They will burst!"
Ridhima crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Armaan with a stern expression on her face. Armaan was looking at her stupidly and in question, he raised his eye brows.
"Forget it! It's no use talking to you." Ridhima said giving up.
"High time you knew that!" He said shrugging his shoulders.
*************************
So part eleven is up for grabs! I know I said that I will write about Armaan and his Dad in this part but when I started writing the fire escape scene, I just went on and on and did not realize the length up to which I had written. The next scene was supposed to be that one but since it has been a long time since I updated, I stop at this.
And one reallyyyy happy news. I got my result and I scored 92.6% aggregate!! I am really glad that it came out finally and I stopped having nightmares. I am so happy and because of this I sat down to write this part. I hope you all like this.
And I really want long comments on this one please. Silent readers, if you don't want to or don't have the time to leave a comment, at least press the 'Like' tab which is latest feature of the posts on IF. But this goes for the regular readers and commentators as well!! đ
Love you loads,
Swati... đ¤
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