The love of my life

22. Mistakes

February '2023

The next day after the drunk dial, Daman had taken another leave as Ishleen and Sammy came in to check up on her before work. She left Tejas with them and decided to freshen up. She exited the shower, to her phone ringing like crazy as she walked out with a towel wrapped around her body, knowing that Tejas was in the living room.

She ran to the phone and accepted the call, before looking up who it was from.

"Yes?" She says as he clears his throat.

"This is a video call." Ekansh says as she looks carefully at the screen and immediately disconnects and makes an audio call.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She says as he chuckles.

"What the hell was wrong with you, night before yesterday? Chardonnay?" He asks as she just clicks her tongue in response.

"Why have you been video calling for the last five minutes?" She asks as he clears his throat.

"You need to come to work. I need you to see this " he says excited.

"I am on leave." She informs him.

"Yeah, trust me you'll want to see this." He says.

"What is it?"

"Dagnala disease... Textbook signs, outbreak at a farm with total 300 cattle and no mortality as of yet but morbidity in over 70%. They got one cow here." He says as her curiousity grows.

"Yeah, I'll be there... But... Tejas... Hold on, I need someone to watch Tejas." she mutters to herself immediately regretting for putting her career before her son.

"Bring him in. I'm done with my clinical hours and you'll be free by the time I have a lecture." He says.

"But... Yeah okay... In the meantime I'll text you a list of blood and urine tests, please send the samples in the lab." She says disconnecting and sending the required test before rummaging for a suit but settling on her college time scrubs, since she'd be in clinics for the day.

"Oh, you're going?" Samayra says, ready to leave for her clinic as well.

"Yeah, I'll drop Ishleen at her boutique, it's in my way." Daman says and looks at Tejas.

Ishleen had been a housewife for a while, but her sense of dressing and designing, along with knowedge of embroidery, stitching and tailoring made her mother-in-law invest in this idea of a boutique.

"You brushed and had your breakfast. Right?" Daman asks as the toddler nods and she goes into his dressing room to get him ready.

"What's the emergency?" Samayra asks.

"You know I've been researching Selenium toxicity for a while and all I needed was a big outbreak to test the efficacy of my treatment methods in a better way and get the required approvals." Daman explains.

"Yeah..." Samayra says.

"Ekansh called. There's a guy with..." Daman was about to say as Ishleen interfered.

"Wait, it's not creepy that your ex knows the exact requirements for your research?" She asked.

"Alot of veterinarians have their eyes on this research and..." Daman was about to explain as Samayra shook her head.

"The focus being on 'Exact requirements' at the exact point of your research. I think it's stalker-ish." Samayra says as Daman just shakes her head, thinking it was futile to argue and gets Tejas ready.

+++++++++++++++

"Hey." She said as Ekansh opened his arms to take Tejas, so she could work without worrying about him. Plus also, he was trying to not look at her in her scrubs feeling waves of nostalgia and longing wash over him.