Neelu looked over the white walls, and the small but not claustrophobic cubicle, but the bed for the patients, the desk ishita was writing on, and sitting in front of her, the chairs neelu was sitting on, it couldn't help but emphasize the modesty of the place.
"yeh lijiye..." handed ishita a paper to neelu, as she accepted it graciously.
Her glance fell on the title, all caps, bold and underlined, 'CAUSE OF DEATH CERTIFICATE'. Seeing her son-in-law's name, made her heart ache, she tried to look around, not read into detail. She looked at the very top, 'Arcus Multi Speciality Clinic', all in bold and the highest font for anything else on the page. She looked down, on the stamp ishita put on, next to her name.
'Dr. Ishita Kother Arora
Physiotherapist, Orthopedic Specialist&Neurosurgeon
Ganga Ram Hospital'.
A fond smile came on neelu's face.
"tumhe yaad hai, jab humare paas aayi thi, toh tum bas 2nd year mein thi apni Bsc Physiotherapy mein...aur mujhe toh tab hi aisa lagta tha ki kisi doctor se baat kar rahi hoon..." recounted neelu, as ishita chuckled, even though she had took out the page she wrote prescriptions on, she knew what she had to write, that's what made it harder. She couldn't prescribe anything even for herself right now.
"MBBS mein itne saal bhi lag jaate hain, upar se NEET bhi dena itna mehenga padta hai...toh woh field lele open college mein jisse jaldi hi kaam pe jaa sakoon...." responded ishita, as neelu had such pride in her eyes, when she looked at her.
"tumne bahaut mehnat ki hai beta, aur phir uske baad aur mushkil specialisations leli...i mean, neurology hi itni mushkil hoti hai, neurosurgery! pata nahi kaise karleti ho..." remarked neelu in awe for her, as ishita chortled.
"pata hai, jab maine dushyant ko bataya ki main thoda time off lungi beech mein, isse pursue karne ko, but baad mein mera pay increase usse compensate kardega...he was like, tumhare liye logon ke haath-pair todna kaafi nahi tha, ab haddiyon se aage, nassein bhi katt dogi..." reminisced ishita, as they both crowed in laughter, as neelu just shook her head.
"yeh ladka bhi na...mujhe bhi kehta tha, aap political science padhati ho, aap ko kyun nahi pata election ka kya reuslt hoga..." added ishita, as their crows turned into snickers, the realisation of why they were even here hit them.
"beta, i understand, agar, tumhe thoda time chahiye, isse banane ko...purvi bhi khudh nahi aana chahti thi yeh lene, but..formalities toh ab puri karni hi hai...tum lelo time...it's ok.." assured neelu, as ishita just shook her head, a fake smile on her face.
"nahi, mummyji, ab yahi reality hai, i'll have to accept it, aise usse maan ne mein delay karne se woh badal thodi jayegi..." admitted ishita, as she somehow put the heading with her shaky hands, and as hard as it was, wrote her husband's name, to begin with the certificate.
Neelu noticed it, sameer won't be spared for doing this.....
***
Purvi stared at the fan on her ceiling, rotating to and fro in continous circles, lying down in her bed, as her phone rang. She turned to her right side, the phone on the nightstand beside her bed, as she stared at it for a few seconds, before she felt like picking it up.
"hello.." received purvi the call, disinterested in what the caller on the other end of the call had to say.
"i won't be coming in today, uhh, maybe for a week....i don't feel well..." stated purvi and hung up, keeping the phone aside.
she kept on staring at the ceiling, she didn't want to get up but she couldn't sleep, this is the first time in her life where nothing in her heart or mind could tell her what should she do...
***
A huge name plate, bold font in italics, a steel name plate of a cabin, that you could already see the area of 200 metre square being crossed.
'Mr. Ashutosh Paragh
Chief Medical Officer(CMO)' read the name plate.
"no, no dr.ishita, i completely understand if you would like to take some time off...Your health should be your first and utmost priority...but, i would advise you to not take more than 2 weeks off...the hospital is quiet understaffed in neurology and orthopedics department, we really need you here as well, but fit and fine." stated Mr.Paragh, as ishita nodded, and got up.
"thank you, sir." acknowledged ishita, as he kept her application of leave aside in a file.
"no problem, doctor.." he obliged, as she left the room.
***
Ishita drove her car inside the society, as the guard, who came to open the gate, recognized her.
"arre madam, aap.." he remarked, as ishita smiled.
"kaise hain bahadur sahab?" asked ishita politely, as he nodded in sign of his well-being.
"ghar jaana tha zara maa ko dekhne..." informed ishita, as he nodded, and lifted the stop sign in front of the gate, to let her car come inside.
"ji,ji, bilkul, T-23 na?" he confirmed, noting it down on the register as ishita nodded, and headed to the parking lot.
***
Ishita rang the bell for her mother, she just wanted to lie down on her lap, and just want to hear her tell her, that everything'll be alright, that the mess her life had become, would not be permanent, that she'll be okay. the bell was unresponsive, as ishita rang it thrice, but in vain.
ishita panicked, as she looked for the house key in her bag. each passing second, her concern for her mother got intense, there was not even a sound of even one footstep. she found the key, and unlocked the door in a hurry, and got inside.
the door was locked from inside...she walked further into the house, her panic only increasing with every heartbeat going faster with every step.
there was no sign of her in the living room, but there was a smell of something burning, smoke coming from the kitchen. ishita ran there for her mother's dear life, only to not find her at all. there was just a burnt tea....
"maa!" exclaimed ishita loudly, looking for her everywhere.
"maa!" she called again, only to find a broken bathroom window, that led to the backgate of the society.
the guard, gleefully asleep, completely unaware, that the door was open....
ishita, covered her mouth, an awful fear hitting her, was she going to lose her too?
***
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
THE LIGHT WE NEVER SAW 2
Fanfiction8 months later, as kavin and purvi celebrate their expected newborn, this happiness is completely snatched away from them, as purvi has a miscarriage from a rape she never even knew of. things only get worse for ishita and dushyant, as ishita has co...
