Part 15

*********RECAP*************
A thunder was heard, followed by a hollow wind. The whole terrace and the garden around them was misted and fresh. Water was dripping everywhere and they were both soaking wet. He took her wrist, pulled her close to him, looked into her eyes and said:

Arm - Riddhima. I love you.
***************************

Riddhima's breath stopped. She couldn't believe her ears. She never thought she'd hear this from Armaan. She was astounded.

Armaan was still holding her wrist, like he would never ever let go. The rain pitter pattered around them. Armaan's eyes were full of love. Riddhima felt something so deep looking into his eyes that she never felt before for anyone. Her heart wanted to go closer to him. She did what her heart told her to do. She went closer to him, and put the palm of her other hand on his cheek and stroked it once gently. He put his other hand onto hers and half-kissed the palm of her hand and his eyes closed with reassurance on receiving such a response....but then, Riddhima remembered...

...all those times that she'd seen Anjali with a guy close to her. They would tell her they loved her and then break her heart. She would get enraged and then cry and tell Riddhima to NEVER fall in love.

NEVER FALL IN LOVE.

She pulled both her hands free abruptly. When pulling her wrist from his grip, Riddhima ki chudi ka ek ghungroo toot ke girgaya. She took a few steps back. Armaan was left bewildered and trying to figure out what he had done wrong. She turned around. Her trying to get rid of these feelings. Him left confused. She ran past him and inside Sanjeevni. Armaan was about to run after her when he stopped. He was about to step on the ghungroo. He knelt down, picked it up and put it into his pocket quickly. He then ran after her, down the stairs and into the hallway.

Riddhima reached her room and closed the door and locked it. He knocked on it.

Arm - Riddhima (knocking) Darvaza kholo Riddhima! Please, open the door.
Rid - (hesitantly and wondering what she should do. She wanted to open it. But part of her just wouldn't let her...she backed away from the door.)
Arm - (He didn't know what else to do. He was about to knock harder and he stopped upon seeing a patient walking by. It was still night. He didn't want anyone to think anything wrong about Riddhima letting a man in her room at this hour at night. A tear ran down his cheek that he didn't notice because he was still dripping wet. His hand lowered and he put his back to the wall near his door. He sat down slowly and pulled out the ghungru from his pocket.)

Rid - (She sat on her bed and pulled back her hair. 'Yeh sab kiya horaha hai? Armaan mujhse pyaar...nahin, aisa nahin hosakta...aur agar main usko pyaar nahin karti, tho mujhe itni fikr kyun horahi hai? Kya main ussey pyaar karti hoon? Kya vo bhi? Itne din usne mera khayal rakha..vo sab yun hi tha? Kya vo bhi unn larkon ki tarhan mera dil akhir main tod dega?' she thought. She walked to the bathroom and looked herself in the mirror. She looked at the palm of her hand where he had kissed her. She remembered all her moments with him.)

FLASHBACKS****************************
The med-exams, how he had worked with her, how he had gotten close to her to get her to eat something.
How he had always joked around with her and made her laugh.
Their moments in the basketball court.
Their ride on Armaan's "baby"...
Little things like how he kissed her finger.
How he was so good with kids.
And most of all...
How he cared for her, especially in the past few days.
**************************************

NEXT MORNING

RIDDHIMA'S ROOM

Rid - (hears a knock. She had fallen asleep. She got up from her bed and opened the door)
Anj - Ridzi! Itni der se tumhare door pe knock karrahi thi! Kahan thi?
Rid - Di...vo..
Anj - (seeing her hair slightly wet, she takes her hair in her hand) ye tumhare baal geelay kyun hain? Aur tumhari ankhein, itni sooji hui hain...are you ok?
Rid - Haan di, vo bass main (nervous)...I was working on Radhaa's case. Thodi der hogaee raat ko.
Anj - (entered the room and closed the door behind her) Tujhe kiya hogaya hai Ridzi? Papa ko pata chalgaya aur tumko aisay dekh liya, tho vo itna BARA fuss kardeinge. You know how Papa is with his laadli daughter.
Rid - ('Oh no' she thought) Nahin nahin di...please Papa ko nahin batana! Please!
Anj - Pata hai, pata hai...tumhe unki lecture nahin sunni...I can do at least that much for my little sis. Acha suno...(keeps talking)
Rid - (head feels really heavy. She looks towards the door and gets lost in the thoughts of what happened the night before...she was half-expecting Armaan to walk in...'lekin vo kyun ayega...maine jo kya hai uske baad' she was sadenned)
Anj - RIDZI!
Rid - (comes out of her thoughts) haan di...
Anj - What's happened? Kahan kho gaee thi?
Rid - Main sun rahi hoon di...
Anj - Oh acha (puts her hands on her hips) tho abhi abhi maine kiya bola?
Rid - umm...
Anj - agar koi problem hai tho...I mean if you don't want me here..then...
Rid - (she doesn't want her to get disheartened, so she turns to her) I'm sorry Di...ab batao, I'm all ears.
Anj - Main kehrahi thi ke Dr. Keerti ne decide kiya hai ke hum Panchgani jaane vaale hain. Udhar ek gaaon hai aur udhar doctors ki zarurat hai.
Rid - Acha? That's great!!!
Anj - (not too excited-sounding) What do you mean great? We're gonna be leaving a busy Sanjeevni jahan har waqt koi na koi extremely interesting surgery hoti rehti hai and all these cool cases, and kis liye? To treat kids who have a cold and give them injections? Seriously Ridz?
Rid - Haan di...vahan bachey hongay jinko hamari bohot zarurat hogi. Aur socho ke kitna khush hongay vo, and how much we're going to impact their health!
Anj - (rolls her eyes) I'm never going to understand you.

Riddhima got discharged. She was all better now. Anjali and her were informed that their Papa was gone on an out-of-town trip for an important meeting. He had been delaying it because he did not want to leave Riddhima, but before leaving he made 100% sure that she was alright. He even left a care package for her and a letter telling her to becareful and that he'd be back soon.

Riddhima couldn't see Armaan anywhere.

DUTY STATION

Atl - (walks to the duty counter singing) Tunak tunak tun tunak tunak tun tunak tunak tun tanana..(sees Riddhima) HEY!! Ridz, tum yahan?
Rid - (Checking her duties at the duty station, she looks at Atul) Hey Atul!
Atl - It's so nice to see you back! (high fives her)
Rid - Thanks! Uss kamrey se nikal ke itna acha lagraha hai.
Atl - (opens a binder, writes his data in) Ridz, tum ne vo news suni?
Rid - vo Panchgani vaali?
Atl - Maine tho apne bags abhi se pack karliye!
Rid - Atul? Kya?...Di tho batarahi thi ke Dr. Keerti ne aaj hi bataya hai.
Atl - Arey, samjhakaro, vo...mere tho bass 1 labcoat, and 2 pairs of clothes...hum larkon ki yehi tho baatein hain.
Rid - (smiles...she hadn't smiled that much today...because she kept thinking about what she had done to Armaan)
Atl - Acha Ridz, tum ne Anji ko dekha hai?
Rid - Di abhi locker room main hai...koi khaas baat?
Atl - Nahin bas, main Anji ke liye kuch laya hoon (holds up a beautiful flower)...let me go check in the locker room
Rid - Suno Atul...tum ne (she decided she'd ask)...Armaan ko kahin dekha?
Atl - Nahin, sorry Ridz (he says running to the locker room...he turns back) Actually, try the Emergency ward...uski aaj duty vahan hai.
Rid - Thanks!

EMERGENCY WARD

Sapna is fixing up a patient's gash wound. She's just about done when Riddhima enters.

Sap - Riddhima! Welcome back!
Rid - Thanks Sapna.
Sap - (Sapna takes her gloves off and tells Riddhima to take a look at the patient's wound, she then brings her to the side) Riddhima, ek jagged laceration that injured some tendons and muscles.
Rid - Hmm...Tho you applied some antibacterial disinfectant...
Sap - Haan, aur maine stitch kardia, but I'm not sure if I should give him painkillers.
Rid - Agar he's had allergic reactions, tho nahin do.
Sap - That's what I thought. I just needed confirmation.
Rid - No problem!
Sap - Chalo, tum ne tho meri itni help kardi, ab tum batao, tumhari kiya help karoon?
Rid - (smiles again at Sapna, she loved her friends for making her feel so good...she then remembered Armaan again...his thought just wouldn't leave her mind) Actually Sapna, tumne Armaan ko dekha hai?
Sap - (thinks) nahin abhi tho nahin, he was here awhile ago, lekin abhi thodi der pehle kahin chalagaya.
Rid - Oh.
Sap - Ussay koi zaruri kaam hai?
Rid - Haan...actually vo...umm...case, Raadha ka case, uss ke liye kuch baat karni thi usssey (she didn't want to lie, but she couldn't tell her).
Sap - Oh I see...agar vo nazar aya, tho I'll definitely let him know.

Riddhima thanked Sapna and went out of the Emergency ward. Who else could she ask?

CHILDREN'S WARD

Kids were running around. Everyone was restless. They couldn't control them. Minnie was sitting on her bed reading a magazine. Other doctors were trying to calm them down.
Kid1- Humey davaai nahin khaani!
Kid2- Humey force nahin karsakte!!
Doc1- Dekho bache, abhi tum achi tarha se davaai khao, aur hum lollipop dengay tumhe.
All kids in unison - NO NO NO NO NO!!

Riddhima walks in. Minnie looks up at her.
Rid - (comes and sits on Minnie's bed)
Min - Dr. Riddhima, aap yahan?
Rid - Kyun? Main nahin aasakti kya?
Min - nahin nahin, maine tho bass ye socha ke...
Rid - Kya socha?
Min - Chodo. Vaise boyfriend ko kya hua?
Rid - (her heart skipped a beat....had something happened to Armaan?) Kya hua Armaan ko?
Min - (she knew it...Riddhima liked Armaan too, that's why she jumped up so suddenly...'I'm such a smart cookie' she thought) Nahin nahin...kuch nahin...
Rid - (still worried) tum ne uss ko dekha kahin?
Min - Thodi der pehle aya tha..lekin pata nahin kyun, aaj hamari chocolates bhi nahin yaad rahin ussey aur chehra kuch utra utra sa lagraha tha.
Rid - (she knew why...she was guilty of it. She reached in her pockets and pulled out the few lollipops she kept for some child patients) Ye lo.
Min - (her eyes lit up) Lollipops!!
Rid - Ab chalo, apney saarey chehlon se kaho ke ye sab shaitani chodein, aur chup chap araam se davaai kahein. (she said to Minnie smiling)

Minnie signalled all the kids over to her bed, and they divided up the candy and ate their medicine making a face.

Riddhima headed out of the children's ward. 'Armaan...tum kahan ho'.

She runs into Dr. Keerti in the hallway.

Kee - Dr. Riddhima, acha hua aap yahan mill gayeen. Aap se Panchgani ki Sanjeevni visit ke baare me batana tha.
Rid - Doctor Keerti, actually Di ne...mera matlab Dr. Anjali ne mujhe bataya tha.
Kee - Alright great, tho hum kal nikal rahe hain.
Rid - Sure mam...ummm...Dr. Keerti, aap ne Armaan ko kahin dekha?
Kee - Dr. Armaan tho half-day leke gaye hain. Kuch patients the jinko zaruri attend karna tha, aur phir vo chaleygaye. Koi kaam tha Dr. Riddhima?
Rid - No mam, main bus...vo Raadha ka...
Kee - Arrey haan, main uss baare mein bhi aap se baat karne vaali thi, actually Panchgani se vapsi mein hum ne socha ke aap aur doctor Armaan (she gets paged for an emergency as she's saying this)...oh, emergency, looks like we'll need to talk later(runs to attend)

ARMAAN'S HOUSE

Armaan arrives at his house, opens his door and goes to his balcony. He could see the sunset from there. It always made him realize that the day had ended and a new one was going to begin.
Arm - New day, new beginning (he said putting his hands on the railing of his balcony.)
He was still hurt from the fact that Riddhima had responded like this. But this was Armaan Malik, and this was the first time Armaan Malik had ever loved, so no way was he ever going to give up.
Arm - (he smiled at one thought that had stuck with him the whole way through...when he told Riddhima he loved her, he was sure he saw that same love in her eyes. She had unknowingly admitted by coming closer to him, caressing his cheek with such tenderness...) Iss se ye tho pata chalta hai ke Riddhima bhi mujhse...pyaar karti hai....lekin Basket thoda sharmati hai, darti hai. Actually uska sharmana, yun reserved rehna..that's one of the reasons that..I'm crazy for her. Akhir kab tak pyaar chupa payogi Basket...ek na ek din tho, sach samne aajayega. (He said smiling with his arms crossed.)

GUPTA HOUSE

Anj - Saarey bags pack hogaye Ridz?
Rid - Haan Di, I was thinking ke bachon ke liye kuch lejaoon
Anj - UFF (puts her hand on her head) Koi zarurat nahin hai...that's just gonna spoil them more!

Riddhima secretly kept little toys from her childhood as well as a few chocolates and candies for the kids, without Anji knowing.
She was just about to go to bed when she went to close the window. The sun had set. The wind blew making her lost in her thoughts.
Rid - (thinks 'Aaj puray din Armaan ko nahin dikha. Half day lekar chalagaya. Maine usko kitna hurt kiya hoga, lekin main usse pyaar kese kar sakti hoon? Vo itna alag hai mujhse, aur vese bhi, uss ne aaj tak kitni larkiyon ko I love you kaha hoga. Lekin uski dost hone ke naatey, mujhe ussay sorry kehna chahiye. Abhi vo kal mileyga then, I'll say sorry.')
And she went to bed.

NEXT DAY

SANJEEVNI LOCKER ROOM

Everyone was there talking and organizing their things.
Atl - Oye Ridz...ye chocolates aur toys...(when he sees some things fall out of her suitcase)
Rid - Shhh....di ko pata nahin chalna chahiye.
Anj - Kiya nahin pata chalnachahiye?
Sap - Anjali...ye file (diverting her attention)
Rid - (signals a thanks to Sapna)

Armaan walks in.

Arm - Hey guys!
Atl - Armaan, hum briefing ke liye jaane wale hain.
Arm - Sure, main abhi aata hoon.
Anj - Ridz...tum aajana jaldi.

Armaan and Riddhima are left alone. Riddhima has her face in her locker and doesn't know how to say sorry to Armaan. 'Kahan se shuroo karoon?' she thought 'vo mujhse baat bhi karega ya nahin...kaise kahoon'.

As she's thinking this, some wrapped sandwiches appear before her. Armaan is holding them out. She was surprised to see him acting so normal.

Rid - Armaan, iss ki zarurat nahin hai...ab mein bilkul thik hoon
Arm - Haan haan...jaanta hoon....Kiya karoon aadat si parh gayi hai.
Rid - Armaan, jo sab hua tha..vo uss ke liye...I'm...I'm sorry.
Arm - (he looks at her) Sorry? for what?
Rid - Armaan, maine jaise react kiya, uss ke liye...
Arm - Arey Basket, tum bhi kiya purani baatein leke beth gayeen.
Rid - umm...lekin, main aur tum...
Arm - (takes a step towards her) main aur tum (he says lovingly)
Rid - (uneasy again) hum...
Arm - (one step closer to her, she is against her locker) Hum...
Rid - I mean, I'm sure ke tumne vo baat ghalti se kehdi hogi...umm...hum dono sirf achey dost bhi banke rehsakte hain...
Arm - (looks down)
Rid - (tries to peer at him) umm tho...
Arm - (puts his head back up and with a smile) uh...dekhounga...sochunga...kal padson kuch kahounga...
Rid - Kiya? (she looks at him, kind of surprised, and walks away.'As always, full of himself!' she thinks)
Arm - (watches her go) Sirf dosti, aur vo bhi tumse? Nuh huh Basket, impossible. (naughty grin)

BUS

Atl - Arey ye Armaan kahan rehjaata hai?
Arm - Kissi ne bulaya SUPARMAAN ko?
Atl - Arrey va yaar! (he pulls out a spoon from his inside coat pocket) Kahan hai soup?
Arm - Soup?
Atl - Abhi tu ne kaha na, Soup Armaan.
Arm - Champ, tu bhi na, aur ye chamcha kahan se aya?
Atl - Tu dekhegana, tho pagal hojaye ga. (opens his coat up) Ye dekh (he sees the inside of his coat has a spoon, a fork, a butter knife, some talcum powder, and all the necessary utilities they could think of)
Arm - Vaaqi main Champ...(sarcastically, restraining himslef from laughing) fantastic! Laga reh! (pats his back)
Arm - (looks around...no Riddhima)
Rid - (walks in right at that moment. Jaise Armaan ne yun yaad kia aur uss ke yaad karte hi, vo aagyee. She had changed into a light yellow chudidar and she looked as lovely as ever.)
Arm - (sitting down, he stopped to stare at her for a bit)
Rid - (She lifted her luggage over her head to put it in the compartment of the bus, obviously her being so delicate, she was having a bit of difficulty getting it in)
Arm - (without asking, he gets up and while everyone else is busy in their own thing, he gives Riddhima a hand by giving her luggage a push, standing behind her)
Rid - Thanks.
Kee - settle down everyone.

Dr. Keerti sits at the front of the bus with all the other senior doctors. While all the interns sit at the back. Riddhima is sitting on the windowside and Armaan in another seat by the window. Another intern comes to sit beside him. She's wearing a short skirt and her name is Kamni.

Kam - Hi, can I sit here?
Arm - Umm..vo vahan aur bhi seats khaali hain, you don't want a seat by the window?
Kam - No...It's alright, so can I?
Arm - (before he says anything, she sits down. She's blocking Armaan's view of Riddhima...'Isko bhi aur kahin jaga nahin mili!' he starts looking out the window).
The bus starts going.
Along the way, everyone was quite tired so they all started falling asleep. Armaan feels a hand on his lap. He looks beside him and he sees Kamni smiling at him in a flirty way.
Arm - Ah!
Kam - Kya hua?
Arm - Main vo umm...('wow' he thinks 'if any girl did this to me before, it would seem completely normal lekin ab tho, bohot hi ajeeb lagta hai!') Mujhe actually...I need to stand up, pair sun horaha hai.
Kam - Oh, ok.
Arm - (he gets up closes an open button of his shirt and goes to sit beside Riddhima.)
Rid - (she had her head against the window and her eyes were closed, feeling the wind in her hair.)
Arm - (puts his hand on hers)
Rid - (her eyes open) Armaan ye kiya karrahe ho?
Arm - Kya?
Rid - Maine kaha tha na ke..
Arm - Main tumhari har dafa help karta hoon...ab tumne hi kaha tha ke tum aur main, hum dost hain, ab dost hone ke naate, tumhara farz banta hai ke tum meri thodi tho help karo right?
Rid - Tum please...
Arm - Udhar dekhrahi ho? Meri seat ke paas...vo ladki bohot chipku hai..
Rid - (looks over at Kamni) Tho main kiya karoon?
Arm - (puts his other hand on her hand and pulls her hand near his heart) Ab uski taraf nahin dekhna, tum bass smile karo. Smile...
Rid - (smiles forcingly)
Arm - (Kamni is looking at Armaan, he smiles at her and takes Riddhima's hand and kisses it lightly. Riddhima is surprised at this and starts to take her hand away when he looks at her with his intense eyes and she shys away. Kamni looks away pissed off. Now if Armaan wanted, he could have left Riddhima's hand, but he didn't. He interlocked her fingers with his and started playing with her fingers)
Rid - (looked over at him and couldn't help smiling to herself. 'Jab aise gum sum rehta hai...tho it's kind of cute....lekin nahin, hum bas dost hain, just friends' she kept repeating the last part as if to memorize it. Her eyes fall on Kamni. 'Ab ye tho nahin dekhrahi' she takes her hand away)
Arm - Basket...ek baat kahoon?
Rid - Thoda halke bolo varna...
Arm - Ohh...(raises his eyebrows)...tum chahti ho ke main thoda halke boloon, whisper karoon?
Rid - Haan.
Arm - (moves her hair from in front of her ears and whipers in her ear) Tum ye yellow chudidaar main bohot achi lagrahi ho.
Rid - (felt awkward now and surprised that she felt something nice when he had whispered in her ear, she didn't know what to do)
Armaan sits back on his seat satisfied, with a smile and starts reading a magazine.