Dil Tujhko Chahe

Chapter 3

7 months later

Priya sat in her clinic after her last patient left. It was a slow day at work and not many appointments so she thought of getting some reading done. She picked up one of the books she got at the medical conversation last month. After going through the book, her mind wavered back to the last few months.

"Life kitni badal gayi hai inn kuch mahino mein. Pehla ek mahina to bohot mushkil tha but my heart has mended. Itni pyaari family ho to kyun nahi hoga. But, I want to fall in love again. Mujhe mohabbat chahiye, sachi mohabbat." She thought to herself when she got a notification for an emergency appointment.

She looked at the time.

"9 baj gaye already? Where did the time go." She wondered when she saw her dad calling.

"Priya kahan hai tu? 9 baj gaye beta." He asked, concerned.

"Papa, main ab bhi clinic mein hi hoon. I just have one emergency appointment. As soon as I finish, I will book a cab and come back home." She replied.

"Theek hai beta. Dhyaan se aana."

"Ji papa." She said and disconnected the call and got back to her reading until her last appointment gets there.

####

"Jaan, bohot dard ho raha hai kya?" Ram asked his mother while he drove her to the clinic.

She just nodded, unable to bare the pain. Within the next 15 minutes they reached the location. Ram looked at the clinic and smiled.

"Ye to Dr. Priya ka clinic hai." He exclaimed.

Shalini looked over at her soon who had a faint smile on his face. She smiled. Over the last few months, Dr. Priya managed to pop up in most of their conversations. Sometimes it was Shalini who brought up running into Priya's mother in the park and sometimes it was Shardul who had recently started dating Priya's sister Ritika and Ram always smiled at the mention of Priya's name.

Ram guided his mom inside the clinic and saw Priya sitting on the chair reading a book.

"Hey Dr. Priya." He greeted, making her look up at him.

"Mr. Kapoor, what a pleasant surprise. Are you my last appointment?"

"It is a pleasant surprise indeed. No, it's my mom."

"Hi beta." Shalini mumbled in pain.

"Aaiye aunty." She smiled guiding Shalini to the chair.

"Her tooth suddenly started hurting too much. She wasn't able to talk when I got home from work." Ram explained.

"Let me take a look. Aap jaake baitth jayiye, Mr. Kapoor." Priya smiled.

####

Ram looked at Priya doing her work. She had a sweet smile on her face which she spoke to his mother.

"Dr. Priya, you're really something. I haven't been able to get you out of my head for the last 3 months, ever since I saw you again at Marine Drive in May" He thought to himself.

Ram had seen Priya multiple times after that fateful New Years party but he never went over to speak with her. He saw her again for the first time on a rainy evening in May at Marine Drive. She was sitting alone looking at the horizon, admiring the sunset, getting drenched in the rain. It was such a private moment that he almost felt guilty looking at her. The next time, he noticed her talking with Shardul from afar when they had gone to drop Ritika. After that, whenever he got the opportunity to tag along with Shardul, specifically when he went to drop Ritika, he would make sure to tag along in hopes of seeing Priya.