Meenu and Nofil OS

Just life happening for Meenu and Nofil.

7 missed calls from 'Begum ❤️' while he busy with the morning round in his ward. She wouldn't call at this time normally, especially knowing he was on-call last night and had to report to the consultant about the ward during the morning round.
He called her back, feeling worried. What would have happened? Why would she give him seven missed calls at this time? Something must have gone terribly wrong for her to panic this much. He attempted to refrain from assuming the worst. Did she fail a substage?! She was not used to failing. She had been a brilliant girl all along and she was one of the brightest students in her class even at the medical college. But you never know in a medical college; even the brightest students can fail sometimes. The last time it happened, she was in the first year. She had worked so hard to prepare for the test, he knew because she had gone through everything with him on call, they always did. She had been so heartbroken. So much that her beautiful big brown eyes had welled up and she couldn't stop crying. He had felt so helpless looking at her from across the screen, being unable to hug her and kiss her. But this could not be that. She would not call at this time for that. He hoped she was alright while still trying to call her back.
She finally picked up at his third attempt.
'Hello', her voice a little dim.
'Hello, Meenu sab theek toh hai? I'm sorry round k doran mera phone silent pe tha main ne tumhari call nahi pick ki'.
The realization hit her. 'Sorry, vo main bhol gai thi k ap morning round main busy hon ge'.
'Tum vo choro, tum mujhay ye batao k sab theek toh hai?! Tum theek ho?!'
'Vo kal raat main mujhay nausea aur vomiting ho rahi thi, mujhay Huma k sath hospital jana para.'
'Tum ne mujhay kaal raat hi kun nahi bataya?!'
'Ab tabiyat kesi hai'
'Theek nahi hai.' she sounded wearied. 'mujhay laga tha dawai letay hi theek ho jaun gi. Is liye wapis apnay kamray main aa gai. Lakin wapis atay hi meri tabiyat mazeed bigarh gai. Bechari Huma ko itni raat main mujhay phir se hospital le kar jana para'
'Tum mujhay ye batao tum is waqt kahan ho'
'Main raat se hospital main hi hun. Doctor ne kaha k IV fluids laganay parain ge.'
'Oh God Meenu! tumhay mujhay kal raat main hi batana chahye tha. Main abhi Lahore k liye nikal raha hun.'
'Uski zaroorat nahi hai'
'Zaroorat kesay nahi hai Meenu. Main kesay tumhain asi halat main itni dur akalay chorh sakta hun'
'Theek ho jaun gi main. Ap abhi raat on-call thay aur safar bhi kitna lamba hai. Weekend pe wesay bhi mujhay ghar ana hi hai'
'Main tumhari koi baat nahi sun'naay wala. Agar main asay waqt main tumharay sath nahi hun ga toh kab hun ga. Main bas apnay supervisor ko inform kar k thori der main nikal raha hun.'
'Ap khamkhawa itna parehsan ho rahay hain'
In 5 hr 45 minutes he was outside the obgyn ward Mayo Hospital.
'Dekhiye sir ap andar nahi ja saktay' says the security guard standing outside the ward while pointing at a notice hanging right next to the ward door. 'Ye zanana ward hai, yahan mard hazrat ka dakhla mamnu hai'.

'Janab Mera naam Dr. Nofil hai. Main Bahawal Vactoria Hospital main PGR hun. Meri ehlia kal raat se yahan admit hain. Mujhay un se milna hai.'

'Doctor sb ap mujhay apni begum ka naam batayen main nursing counter se pata kaar k bata deta hun ap ko. Lakin ap asay andar nahi ja saktay.'
'Maimoona Khanum. Vo yaheen King Edward Medical College main 2nd year MBBS ki student hain'. It had been almost a year and a half since she was admitted to one of the most prestigious medical colleges in the country, yet his heart still swelled with pride every time it came up. Actually, he never let any opportunity to bring that up slip by. This village girl, his wife, achieved that on her own, all because of her brilliance and her strength. He was always in awe of her; now he was incredibly proud of her.
The security guard returned shortly after. 'Sir ji ap ki begum private room main hain. Room number 4. Private room wahan pechay ki taraf hain. Ap wahan ja saktay hain.'
He could not waste another moment standing there.
He knocked at the door of the room. Huma, his wife's friend and roommate opened the door. She had been with her the whole time.
As soon as he entered he could see how tired and weak she looked. She on the other hand was so relieved to see him. She felt bad for causing him the trouble of traveling all the way from Bahawalpur to Lahore, that too when he was post-call but she could not lie to herself that him being there in front of her just made everything so much better and easier suddenly.
She tried to sit up in her bed when he quickly signaled her to lie down.
'Meenu please, leti raho'.
She could see the worry on his face. 'Theek hun main'.
He leaned forward and tenderly caressed her forehead. 'Janta hun', he said while gently moving a stray strand of hair behind her ear. A sweet smile and a soft kiss on her forehead made it feel like she had healed already. She could have managed on her own, as she always had before meeting him. She was used to carving her way but now she had gotten so used to the comfort of his presence while she did that. Having the warmth of his support by her side was almost becoming a need now.
'Pehlay se kafi behtar hai ab Maimoona, she hasn't vomited in 3 hrs. Doctor ne kaha hai k shaam tak observe karain ge and then she can be discharged'.
'Thank you for being there for her Huma. I really can't thank you enough'
'Apko mujhay thank you bolnay ki koi zaroorat nahi hai. Maimoona meri bhi dost hai.'
'Tum ab hostel ja kar aram karo, kal raat se hospital main dhakay kha rahi ho. Nofil hain ab meray pas'.
'You know Meenu tum mujhay directly yahan se janay ko keh sakti thi, I would have left you guys alone'. Huma remarked playfully. 'You guys really are couple goals, you know'. She left both of them with a warm smile.
'Mujhay tumhain asi halat main akelay yahan nahi anay dena chahye tha'. Nofil said while gently holding her hand that had the intravenous catheter in it and sitting next to her on her bed.
'Ap bilawajah itna pareshan ho rahay hain. Meri doctor se baat hui hai. Un k mutabik pregnancy main asi choti moti complications chalti rehti hain.' They had only found out on Meenu's last visit home, two weeks back, that she was pregnant and they were going to have a child. They had not anticipated or planned for the pregnancy. In fact, when they got married right after Meenu's entrance exam, they had decided that they he will only plan a pregnancy after Meenu's graduation. But as it happened, one and a half year into Meenu's medical education they found out that they were expecting a child.
Two and a half months into their marriage, Meenu got into KEMU, the best medical college in the province. She could have easily stayed in the medical college in her own city but that would have been unfair to her hard work and her achievement. So from then on Meenu and Nofil had been managing a long distance marriage. Soon afterwards Nofil got residency at BVH. Their first year of marriage as a first year MBBS student and a first year resident doctor had been incredibly hard for both of them but they managed to get through it together. Both of them had gotten the hang of their routine by now. Meenu would travel back home on almost every other weekend and Nofil would visit her whenever he could in between.

Then came the big news.

Managing such a distance was hard enough as it is, let alone doing that while being pregnant. They had to sit down and reimagine their future according to the new circumstances they were in. They knew they could take it on. Together they could manage anything. They had even discussed the possibility of Meenu's migration from KEMU to Quid e Azam Medical College, if need be. That way she and Nofil would be close to each other at all times and managing pregnancy and parenthood together would be way easier. More importantly, Meenu would be able to stay at home. QAMC may not be the best medical college but it still was one of the good ones. In fact QAMC was also where Nofil had done his MBBS and he was now a resident doctor at the affiliated hospital.
Before they could take a final decision on that, Meenu had to come back to the college. So much had changed in their lives over the weekend. They were happy and excited for their future and above all they had so many questions in their minds. So many important decisions to take. There was only so much they could take in over one weekend.
Her first week in college after the big news had been smooth. She got busy preparing for her modular exam which was just around the corner.
They were always connected to each other through calls and texts throughout their day. Filling each other up on details of their day. Their chats with each other were like their personal diaries. Sharing even the smallest details was their way of staying connected despite the distance. Nofil was always concerned about her well-being when she was away from home, now he had all the more reason to be concerned.

'Meenu aisa aj hua hai lakin phir bhi ho sakta hai. Aur main nahi chahta k tumhain iss sab se ya kisi bhi cheez se akelay deal karna paray. Let's rush the process of your transfer to Bahawalpur.'
There was no reason to not agree. She had the opportunity to study at the best college in the entire province, but now it was probably best for her to stay closer to him. Where they could go through their journey of parenthood together. Where she wouldn't have to go through it all alone, he wouldn't have to worry about her from far away and their families would be around too.