Her Innocence, His Obsession

Chapter 7

The next day Diya woke up early at 6:00 AM and did her daily chores, brushed her teeth, took a 20-minute shower (she hated wasting water but couldn't help herself), and finally started praying. Her favorite deity was Lord Krishna but since Hindu prayers traditionally start with Lord Ganesh, she started by doing Ganesh pooja. Once she was finished eating breakfast that her mom lovingly prepared for her she was out of the house by 7:30 and ready to go to college at her bus stop. 

Her day at college was pretty mundane. As usual, the rowdy group of students at the back of the class tried to approach her but she was prepared. When she knew lecture was about to be finished, exactly 30 seconds before the class ended, she packed her bags and left without even turning around. The rest of her classes were relatively unbothered. She went, listened to lectures, got a ton of assignments (but she knew how to handle them pretty well), and left. 

Finally, her most favorite part of the day was approaching at 3:00 PM, when her day at college listening to boring lectures ends, when she gets to work at the hospital, where she interacts with patients and spends time with them daily. Her favorite part was working with children, especially the infants. She always had the rare ability to calm them down. Once she held them in her arms, they immediately always stopped crying. She loved watching them smile, as the innocence shined on their faces, and even the smallest most insignificant acts give them pure, blissful happiness. 

Soon, she changed into her scrubs, wearing a white coat over them as she was practically already a doctor. The hospital gave her that recognition after having watched her growth since she first stepped foot into the hospital. She first started by going into the general medicine ward, where she can take a look at all kinds of patients and diagnose them or send them to a more specialized doctor based on their health condition. 

Her first patient was an old woman experiencing knee pains. She quickly gave her the necessary medication to take and recommended she take it easy on her legs before sending her on her way. Next, was a young couple with a baby, who had a cold. Instead of giving the baby traditional western medication, she recommended natural remedies as she didn't want him to get used to addictive medications at such a small age. Soon, a young nurse, who was still knew to the hospital came up to her asking her to give an injection to a small 3-month-old baby. The nurse was a bit nervous because of his young age, and the baby was already crying, further making her hesitate.

Diya took the baby into her arms and slowly started rocking him back and forth. Soon, he was in a drowsy-tired state and stopped his crying. Then, she distracted the baby and made him laugh by pulling her face, lightly pinching him, and poking his face a bit. The baby burst into a fit of giggles and grabbed some of her hair, holding it like it was the most precious thing in the world. Using this distraction to her advantage, despite the pain she felt while the young baby pulled her hair, she went ahead and administered the injection. Surprisingly, the baby was still obsessed and lost in the scent of her hair so he didn't even notice her poking him with a needle. As soon as she was done, she wiped the area where she administered the needle, and put a band aid on him, while trying to pry the tips of her hair away from the baby. He made a face as if he would start crying again at her denial to play with her hair, so instead, Diya gave him a small toy to play with (she keeps them handy for these kinds of patients). And, before she knew it, the baby was again distracted with his new toy, and his parents were even more happier that they get to leave the hospital with a happy, smiling baby. They were impressed by the way Diya handled him, as even they were not able to control his crying. They thanked her and soon left.

Rudra, whose whole day, revolved around seeing her and witnessing Diya while daydreaming about listening to her sweet voice, finally made it to the hospital to have his first interaction with his sweet baby. Through his detectives, he came to know that she was working in the General Medicine ward, which worked in his favor, as he could make up anything he wanted to and drag out the time he can spend with her. As he made his way to the hospital, he saw a large poster where Diya's image was centered in it. It was titled "Highest-Performing Surgeons in Apollo Hospitals India," and looking at that made him so proud. All the girls he ever knew or had a relationship with didn't want to work and only ever wanted to "marry someone rich" and settle down. But he knew that his Diya wasn't that kind of a girl, that she had an amazing talent, which she will pursue. 

He soon made his way to the General Medicine ward and for a second lost himself in her world again, as for the first time in his life, he witnessed what Diya was like at work. True, she looked simply beautiful in traditional clothing, but in her hospital outfit, wearing a white coat, she looked so much older and so much more mature than he would think any 18-year-old girl would be capable of looking. But again, Diya is no ordinary girl, he thought to himself. He watched as she quickly handled all the patients who came up to her, including the old lady with knee pains. He loved watching her handle kids, especially the way the 3-month old infant simply stopped crying and relaxed in her arms. 

He wondered what she would look like as a mother to his kids. She would absolutely be an amazing mother he thought to himself. As the baby started playing with her hair, he was surprised to find himself becoming jealous. At first, he tried to deny his feelings and question his sanity, becoming jealous over an infant. But all those thoughts were thrown out the window as he saw the baby was smelling his Diya's hair, which only he had a right over. He so badly wanted to be that kid now. But soon he noticed Diya's painful expression as the baby pulled her hair too hard. Why in the world is she not stopping him? he thought but soon realized she was just using her hair as a distraction. "Stupid girl" he thought, "She has no care for herself, being in pain just for a stupid kid." He had the strong urge to smack the baby over the head and watch him cry. He was almost about to go up to the poor kid and execute his actions when Diya finally finished up, gave the kid his stupid toy, and gave the family of three a blissful smile as they left.

Soon, Diya noticed Rudra, the last person standing in the line and asked him "Sir, do you need something?"