Rab Rakha

Chapter 10

"Papa relax. Aap lait jao, hum yahi hain." Shehnaaz told Jagjit as she tried to calm him down.

That man had been giving tests since the morning, at first he had to give his blood samples and then he posed in various positions for a chest X-ray. They made him lie down on one side, then another, then they made him sit and face a machine and then he was asked to stand up again. Also the bronchoscopy was new to him, the doctor had put a bronchoscope into his mouth to his airways. It was uncomfortable but it didn't last long and didn't hurt either because he had the local anaesthetic and could breath normally. Thus, he was tired already, all the huge machines were making him more nervous.

Now that he had to get into a machine for a PET CT scan, he was skeptical about laying down and letting the stretcher move in. The technician had asked him to lie on a narrow, padded table that slides into the part of the scanner that looks like a doughnut hole. He was instructed to be very still during the scan so that the images aren't blurred. The scary part was that it was going to take about 30 minutes to complete the entire procedure.

"Nahi, itni der andar nahi reh sakta mai." Jagjit announced, getting up.

"Aisi dil ke kamzor hain, rehne de Sana. Andar aur ghabra jayenge tere Papa. Upar se kal se bukhar ho gaya hai." Even Madhu didn't know what to do now.

"Mummy, scan karwana zaruri hai. Please aap mat daro abhi." Shehnaaz told her mother.

"Papa, dekhiye jitni jaldi doctor reports dekhega, utni jaldi aapki dawai chalu hogi. Scan hi nahi karwaoge toh kaise chalega?! Please yaar." She held her father's hand, wanting him to understand the point.

"Kaisa treatment? Uske liye bimar bhi hona padta hai." He scoffed arrogantly.

"Ab jab tak aapki report nahi bolti, kisne maan na hai?!" She was his daughter, if he was going to be stubborn then so was she.

"Thik hai. Sirf 20 minute!" He replied, giving in and laying down nervously.

"Shuru kariye." She gestured to the attendant to get started with the scan and crossed her hands against her chest, keeping her eyes in her father. She was worried that he'd panic in the small space.

"Thodi der ki baat hai." She whispered to her mother and held her hand, keeping an eye on her wrist watch and the huge machine simultaneously.

They went back home after the scan since the receptionist told them that the reports would be ready by the evening and send via email.

"Sana, tu Chandigarh-ch hai? Dassya kyu ni?" Gurjot called Shehnaaz in the evening.

"Arey mai inni hadbadi me aayi, bhull gi." She replied.

"Sheena ne bataya mujhe abhi. Kaise hain uncle abhi? Reports aa gayi?" He asked.

"Nahi, shaam ko ayengi. Papa thik nahi hai, kende kuj ni hoya lekin vekho toh khasi jande ne." She replied, she sounded scared and fed up at the same time. A part of her was so mad at her father for not properly looking after himself. For denying regular checkups and for refusing to accept that he wasn't fine.

"Meri gal sunn, Gobind Singh multi-speciality hospital me mera Mama hai. Dr. Harpal naam ohda. Mainu report bheji, mai ohanu forward karanga. Vadiya hospital aa, tension na le." He told her.

"Hm. Apne Mama ka number de." She nodded, thinking about it.

"Han. And please keep in touch yaar, bataya kar problem hoti hai toh." He added.

"Ha na!" She replied, rolling her eyes and hanging up.

Her phone buzzed the next moment with a couple of texts. She was sure that it was Guru but when she opened her WhatsApp, it was Sidharth as well.