Paayal - His Scarred Butterfly ✅

33 - AFTER SIX YEARS

ராமன் செய்த போரே
சீதைக்காக தானே
ஆனால் என்ன போர் இது?
(Rama's war was for Sita.
But what is this war?)

AFTER 6 YEARS,

As Krishna shrugged off his white coat and hung it up in a hook on a wall of his flat, he felt a heavy drain from his energy. He cupped his neck with his palms, his eyes being shut, tilting his head side to side and cracked a neck bone. Then, he intertwined his fingers, stretching his arms, cracking finger bones. He developed this habit, from working for continuous 16 to 18 hours of shifts everyday as a junior resident doctor inside the sterile walls of AIIMS. He had just completed his 16 hours of duty on that day and his eyes were yearning to shut. But the summer temperature of Delhi and his medical field demanded him to bathe before getting into the bed. He headed to bathe.

As the bathroom door closed behind him, the bathroom mirror reflected his handsomeness, but with a deeply buried melancholy in his eyes. His neck still had the silver chain with the locket P. His heart still had all the memories of Paayal. But he had kept it all still. Though he had a hard time handling the separation in the beginning, his busy schedule slowly pulled him away from stirring her memories. Though his eyes caught the locket P in the bathroom mirror, his exhaustion didn't leave him to delve into the memories it held. He simply bathed and settled his body on the bed, drifting into sleep soon.

As the following day dawned, he resumed his routine in the hospital from morning 7. His first duty on that day was to go on morning rounds through the wards. He walked through the wards, ensuring the health of patients. Once he completed his rounds by morning 9, he settled himself in his cabin to have breakfast which was brought by a peon from the canteen.

In between his mealtime, "Doctor....," A senior nurse entered Krishna's cabin, and paused as he was having his breakfast.

Krishna's eyes turned to her. "Tell me, Didi. You were about to say something, it seems," He replied between his bites.

"A new patient is admitted in the general ward. She is suffering from fever and vomiting. You have your breakfast, Doctor. Then Visit her," The nurse suggested.

"No, I have eaten enough. Come with me," Krishna said, rising from his place immediately. He washed his hands, donned his white coat, slung the stethoscope around his neck and headed to the general ward.

On reaching the ward, the nurse pointed towards the newly admitted patient. The patient was a four year old girl child. Krishna approached the child and asked affectionately, "Hi dear, What is your name?"

"Paayal," came the feeble and innocent reply.

Krishna felt a pang in his heart, that single name stirring a flood of memories and emotions within him. It was the name of the owner of his heart. It was the name of his Paayal!! He was missing her so much. He wanted to go back to the day when he saw her in the street and felt butterflies in his tummy. He wanted to live back those beautiful, innocent school days. But he was a human being. He couldn't do anything to go back and live those beautiful moments again. He was helplessly surviving.

"Doctor, What happened?" The nurse intervened politely.

He blinked, dragging himself away and forced a smile. "Nothing, Didi."

Then he turned to little Paayal, leaning down to her, and caressed her head warmly. "What are you studying?"

"LKG,"

"Oh, Very good. What game do you like to play?" He asked, moving his hands to her eyes to check.

"Hide and seek,"