Part 9 – Her Heart Therapist

It was around 10 a.m. when Karan heard a man enquiring about Samiksha’s ward.
“Thank you, sister.”
Raj Sinha thanked the nurse for the information and proceeded through the corridors towards Samiksha’s ward.
“Who was he asking for?” Karan clarified his doubt upon hearing her name.
“Sir, he was asking for Samiksha. He is a friend from her college.”
Even though Sakhi’s words had relieved Karan the other day, just the thought of another man going to meet her made him creepy.

“Hello, beautiful.”

Raj’s voice startled Samiksha, and she was not very glad to see him there.
“Hello. How did you know about my injury?”
“Come on, I was present there during that match and saw you getting hurt. Until I reached the spot, you were taken in the ambulance for treatment.”
“Oh. That was nice of you. Thanks for visiting, too.”
He handed over a lovely bouquet to her.
“You didn’t bother to visit me before, though,” Samiksha said sarcastically.
He smiled and said,
“I had to visit Calcutta urgently. I received an urgent message that my mother was unwell.”

For the first time

Samiksha listened patiently to him. And she also regretted the way she spoke to him earlier, realising she might have blown up the whole situation.
“How is she now?”
“She is much better, thank you. She worries about me a lot. I am alone here in this city, and she is concerned for me. When I needed admission to this college, I had to make some decisions. I couldn’t help it. And when are you getting discharged?”
The question collided with the entry of a not-so-smiling Dr. Karan Jaiswal.
“I guess my patient needs rest now. In case you have finished offering her your sympathy and good wishes.”

Raj looked at him, and Samiksha intervened,
“Karan, meet Raj. He is from my college.”
“The nurse informed me. So Raj, can I check my patient?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
“I also meant she needs rest”, Karan said calmly.
“Oh, in that case, I will leave now, Sam. Do take care. The visiting hours in your hospital are quite short, Doctor.”
Raj said bluntly to Karan.
Karan replied calmly.

“Well, Raj,

Patients are meant to rest in hospitals with minimum contact with the outside world. You should be aware of this.”
Samiksha sensed an unusual envy in Karan’s voice.
“Raj, you take care of your mother, alright? See you. Bye.”
Samiksha ended the conversation between the two for better reasons.

As Raj left, Karan closed the door and strode towards her. Samiksha was looking wide-eyed at him with a nervous glare.
He sat beside her and took her wrist in his hand. Undoubtedly, her pulse was accelerating.
His eyes never left her as he checked her pulse. His firm grip on her wrist made her aware of his present state of mind, making her even more nervous.
“You don’t look at your watch for the time, Doctor? You are reading my pulse,” Samiksha finally opened her dry mouth and dared to question him.
“I need not even check your pulse today, as I know your heart is racing like a horse this moment. What is making you so nervous, by the way? Your pulse is unusually high, and I can even hear your heartbeats without my stethoscope.”

Samiksha couldn’t take

her eyes off Karan, as she was new to his maiden, serious and possessive side.
Finally, he loosened his grip and brushed his thumb against her wrist, looking deep into her eyes. Samiksha had turned stone.
For the first time, she experienced the closeness of a charming man who happened to be her crush.
The room was full of beats echoing from her thudding heart. Karan came closer to her and asked,
“Is he the ‘boyfriend’ with whom you chat?” Karan asked, stressing a particular word.
“He? No.”
Words betrayed Samiksha as her heartbeats already had.

He was so close to her that she could smell his masculine scent without a perfume, as he was allergic to perfumes. She observed his features closely for the first time with her eyes. His dark eyebrows, his beard, his delicate jawline, and his appealing forehead, which was tensed at present due to obvious reasons, might be.

“Answer me.”
She was at a loss for words. He slowly brought his hand towards her face, tracing the edge of her face with his long fingers. She was so lost in his gaze that she forgot that her hand was now on his chest.
“Tell me, Samiksha, do you really have a boyfriend?”
Her name sounded so pleasing in his mouth.
“Yes, why do you doubt about it?”
Karan had a certain calm on his face despite the tense situation in which both were caught.
“Because your body, heartbeat and mouth are not coordinated.”
The sensual silence in the room and Karan’s nearness took away the thinking capabilities of her brain.
“No, I don’t have one.”, she whispered, gazing deep into his eyes.
“Then why did you lie to me?”
“I wanted to make you jealous,” she told straightaway.

He smiled

from the corner of his lips and swiped her hair away from her forehead.
“Why are you so innocent? Do you know what have you done to me?”
She looked at him with a naive expression and whispered,
“What?”
He smiled, and as he was about to speak, he overheard the door unlocking and got up quickly.

Jolly entered and kept a bag on the side table, greeting Karan. She noticed the flush on Samiksha’s cheek and asked her with a quick raise of eyebrow,
“What happened? Is everything fine?”
Samiksha denied the possibility of such a thing. Karan cracked his knuckles to relieve the tension in the air.

“So when can I take my friend home, doc?”
“Hmm. Whenever you wish,” Karan said confidently.
“But it would be advisable if she stays for a week more as the healing would be faster here.”
“I see. But we can administer the medicines at home too.”
“But is there medical help to attend to her at home?”
Jolly paused and looked at Karan.
“Yup, I give up. You can keep my friend here as long as you wish.”
There was a particular naughty touch to Jolly’s words, though.

“But I must say,

you have cured my friend two ways.”
“And they are?”
One is her foot, and the other is her arrogant, adamant behaviour.”
Samiksha now lost it and yelled, “What do you mean?”
Karan was already laughing at Jolly’s sweet admittance.
Samiksha eyed them and turned in the opposite direction in one move. Her foot ached severely, resulting in her painful cry.

Karan was near her at once.
“Are you fine? Why can’t you take care? You have been operated, don’t you understand?”
Jolly was undoubtedly startled by his concern, but she suspended her intuition for the time being. Certainly, the concern was not just from a doctor.
“Am fine. Sorry,” Samiksha told him mildly.
Karan left the ward after ensuring Samiksha was fine, and Jolly sat right in front of her, looking straight into her friend’s eyes.
“What’s going on?”
“What?” Samiksha tried to change the topic.

Jolly noticed

the blush on her friend’s cheeks and smiled.
“Are you in love, sweetheart?”
Samiksha’s smile escaped her lips, and she nodded, stretching out her hands to hug Jolly. Both friends hugged and shared the sweet moment. They chatted and talked their hearts out.

Love was in the air.

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