Dancing to his tunes

12|Party

"Ain't she pretty," Soniya teased Rahim seeing how his eyes had followed Bia every now and then and even when she walked out of their house.

"She is." Rahim said honesty with a straight face that mildly shocked Soniya. She knew Anabia was a childhood crush of Rahim. Her brother had secretly admired Bia and it wouldn't be wrong to say that he had chosen the same subjects as hers in order to be in the same class back in high school. There even was a time where most of the conversations of Rahim revolved around Bia, he was a smart kid but one that lacked clarity pertaining to his future career while Bia was crystal clear about being a doctor.

"Do you still...,"Soniya asked rather cautiously.

"No. It was a long time ago soniya. I'm a 30 yr old grown ass man now not that teenage boy. Moreso, she is married. It's wrong to talk about her like that."

"Yeah. You tell me did you find anyone in America because Mom is dying for your wedding?"

"Uff that's the reason I don't like coming here. I've been in some relationships but none lasted long enough due to my hectic schedule. Half of my life is spent in the hospital and the other half pouring over medical books and articles."

"Sad life bro. Who told you to pursue medicine?"

"I wish I knew. At times I feel like socking myself in the face for becoming a doctor while the other times I want to pat myself on the back. Have I gone bipolar? Damn, don't get me to evaluate myself Soniya."

"Calm down bro, there is no need to get your panties in a twist. All you need is to stay amongst sane people, so let's get you to socialize. You shrinks need it the most." Soniya laughed seeing the worry on her brother's face.

"Hey! I take offense!"

"There is a party tomorrow thrown by Zulqernain at his farmhouse, be sure to be there at 10 pm."

"I'll see."

"Bia will also be there."

"So?"

"Just saying since she is single and in town, I wouldn't want my brother to miss a chance to interact with his childhood sweetheart." Rahim rolled his eyes at Soniya but couldn't help stop the smile from forming on his face. There was undoubtedly a time when he had a huge crush on Bia but that was years ago. He hated to admit that there was a time when he had felt threatened by his own brother because Bia was more close to Daniyal. Though he never had the courage to confess his feelings to Bia, he was sad when he had heard about her marriage. He felt silly reminiscing about his teenage self. Now he only had immense respect for Bia. Rahim decided to go over the case report and after editing it, he retired for the night.

*************************

The ringing of his phone startled Rahim, who was busy editing his research paper.

"Hello Stacey! I'm enjoying my vacation. How have you been doing?"

"Dr. Yazdani, I'm doing great. I'm sorry to interrupt your holiday but I want to remind you that you have a telepsychiatry session with two of your patients today in about an hour. I've emailed the details of the patients and the video link."

"Thank you Stacey! You are a lifesaver! Also how many times do I have to remind you to call me Rahim. Dr Yazdani makes me feel extremely old."

"Sorry Dr. Rahim, I'll try. It's just easy calling you Dr. Yazdani. Hope you have a great trip."

"Thanks Stacey! Have a great life ahead."

"Likewise. Bye!"

Rahim halted his editing and checked his email to prepare for his session. Since it was a telepsychiatry session, he needed to review the patient's case, diagnosis and the prescribed medications. He didn't want any of his patients to feel like he either isn't well versed with their case or is too busy to even remember them. Moreover, this telepsychiatry session was another research venture of the hospital, so he needed to document the pros and cons of a virtual session with blinding. He had to further ensure that the experience wasn't any different for his patients since they had an option of going anonymous in their session. Though most of his patients after their 3rd or 4th session had decided to reveal their identity and had even opened up their cameras to better interact with their doctors, however, there were some who still hadn't. One of them was a lady who went by the pseudonym of Anna. She had opted for complete blinding because she neither wanted to know/see her doctor nor wanted the doctor to know/see her. Despite a year to their audio counseling sessions, all he knew about her was the painful betrayal brought on by her husband. There were a lot of patients of his that he felt pity for, but he couldn't help but strangely admire this patient of his. She was a fighter even when she didn't believe it herself and strangely he had wished to see this patient and do something for her.