A Serendipitous beginning

Chapter 11

Accidentally...ouch..

It was late in the evening. Sonakshi walked quickly to get inside her building. It had been an exceptionally tiring day. A patient she had been working with for the past one year had taken a turn for the worse. His cancer had relapsed, and it wasn't looking good. Sonakshi had spent long hours talking to him, his family, planning what to expect in terms of therapy, diet and nutrition, and future. As much as she loved her job, this side of her job truly drained her, mentally and physically. By the time she left the hospital, she could barely keep her eyes open.

There had been a cold wave the last couple days ending with a snowstorm. Typical Midwest weather. Just when you thought spring was here, you just had to have one last shower of snow, and the snow had hardened to slick ice on the streets. It was getting dark, and she had to catch up on some emails from work. What's the time right now? She pulled her phone out to check, increasing her pace.

There was a voicemail from Dev. It was his sister's engagement day, so she expected he would have his hands full. They hadn't talked in a couple days, and she hadn't expected anything until the engagement was done. But he may have gotten an interim moment. A sense of gladness filled her. She wanted to hear it right away, so started punching in her password.

It happened in a flash. Her attention was on her phone screen and she never saw the ice on the pavement. One moment she was walking, and in the next, her heels skid, making her lose her balance. She landed flat on her back, sprawled on the ground, her right leg twisted in a dreadful way. Her head hit the concrete hard as she flew. The pain that was shooting up her body was excruciating. She summoned all her faculties to form one thought: Help. Where was her phone? Her bag lay a little away from her, its contents strewn across the street. She tried to reach for it but her lips turned white and her face contorted with the pain that increased manifold at the slightest movement. Sonakshi wasn't sure if she was conscious or not anymore.

                                                                                        *

Dev paced in his room, his phone to his ear, listening to the call go straight to voicemail again. 'Hi this is Sonakshi Bose. Please leave a message and I will get back to you!' the cheerful voice said. "Hey, it's me. Again. Call me when you get this." He tried to keep the frustration out of his voice. Why wasn't she replying to his messages.

He was about to dial again when his mother walked in. "Dev."

"Yes ma." He kept the phone aside.

She led him to sit next to her as his aunt and uncle walked in as well.

"Who is she? This girl you like?" She asked softly.

"Or did you just say that for Neha?" His uncle questioned.

Should he go with that angle? He turned to his mother and knew that wouldn't work. She knew he had meant it.

"She is just someone I met while I was abroad." Her image in the winter jacket, beanie and knee length boots, with a cup of coffee in hand floated into his mind and a smile hinted at his lips. His mother's eyes bore into him. Dev swallowed.

"Oh. My. Goodness. She is a foreigner??Jeeji, this is so exciting, imagine a foreigner as your daughter-in-law, so fair with golden hair!! Our fortunes are shining!" His aunt exclaimed, palms flying to her cheeks.

"She is not a foreigner and doesn't have 'golden hair'." Dev rolled his eyes. "She just lives there."

"She lives there?! Jeeji, imagine having a daughter-in-law from..." She stopped seeing his mother's unimpressed, stony expression. "I was just saying..."

His mother never let her complete her sentence and turned to him. "So, you and her... You are.... do you love... I mean, does she like you too? Are you both..."

"No. We are both... nothing." Dev replied to her unasked question. After all, it was the truth. Where did he stand with Sonakshi right now?

He clarified on seeing the confusion on all their faces. "I haven't talked to her about anything. We are friends. That's all. I just think she is...well, she is nice, that's it." He wanted to laugh at himself. When no words could ever be enough to describe her, pick the least controversial. His whole world was based on this 'niceness'.

The creases on his mother's smoothened. "You aren't together?"

"No."

"But you think you would like to...be with her? She would be suitable as a life partner?"

"I suppose so, yes." He shrugged. Huh. She was perfect for him. Just perfect.

"Well, if that's how you feel. We just wanted to know. You get some rest now." She patted his shoulder and herded everyone out.

                                                                            *

"You are good to go home now, Sonakshi." The doctor told her.

Sonakshi smiled and thanked him. To say the last few days had been eventful would be an understatement. She had been rushing home at night when she had stepped on hard ice on the street, slipped and fallen down. Someone had found her and called 911.

Zoya, who worked in the same hospital as her, had rushed to her side, filling in all the details needed. Sonakshi had to stay in the hospital for a couple days, considering the injury on the head when she fell on the hard concrete. She had suffered a mild concussion and was kept under observation. Her right leg had fractured near the ankle and that will probably take at least a couple months to heal. She was given an air cast to make moving around a little easier.

All four of her friends had been there with her through her short stay in the hospital. Her phone had gotten damaged, but her friends informed her family about what happened. They had panicked, with her father immediately looking for tickets to fly out to Chicago.

Sonakshi had to convince them that it wasn't needed, and it was just a fall. Her friends had joined her to put their minds to ease that she was well taken care of, and they need not rush out there.

"Aunty, we are here, we will take care of her. Don't worry. We will pamper her. She just has a cast, and the head injury isn't major. She will be fine." Zoya had reassured her mother.

"Exactly. Ma, Baba, please don't worry, I am going to be just fine. I just need to look where I am walking." She laughed.

"Are you sure Shona? I can come right away. Or Saurabh can come and bring you back." Asha asked. Sonakshi teared up a little at the deep worry in her mother's voice.

"Yes Ma, I am sure. I am fine, don't you worry. No one has to come. If I need more help, you know I will insist on you coming."

"What about your phone?" Her father queried.

"It's damaged Baba. I must order a new one. Until then, you can call Zoya or Aniket to reach me."

"Make sure you order a phone soon. And order the best one available. Don't think too much about that. Should I order one from here?" Bijoy asked.

"No no Baba, I will order one today or tomorrow. I promise. And stop worrying so much, see I am fine. I just fell down, nothing major."

Her family called several times a day to check up on her. Sonakshi had apologized to Zoya for the constant bother but had been waved off. "Sona shut up." Had been Zoya's response. But now, the doctor was discharging her, and she was relieved. She loved working in the hospital but truly hated being a patient in the same hospital. She was ready to go home.