Love you forever

Chapter ten/they met n kept meeting

"Your voice is my favorite sound." — Unknown

Three weeks later.....
At the aushadhalya.......
"Gaura have you prepared the medicines for Dhulia?"
"Yes Baba! I am just packing them." Picking up the bundles of medicines, from the floor, next to where she was sitting and working she pushed the mortar and pestle aside and went indoors. It was a nice big room, with two big windows providing lots of lights and fresh air. Towards one wall there were shelves stands, with all sorts of jars stored on them. Bundles of herbs were hanging from multiple ropes hanging in between the shelf stand.Several mats kept for any patient who needed to stay and be cared for, were rolled in one corner of the room. Baba was sitting on a small cushion on the ground, an old man was sitting next to him.
It was still early, handing the bundles of powdered medicines to him, she turned and walked out the of the room, to where she had been busy preserving all the herbs and medicines that she had been gathering for the past few days. Even the land around the village was treasure trove of herbs. She had been collecting even more herbs since she had come back from the forest. She now needed to prepare them before they spoilt or lost their healing properties. She was liking the work place that had been setup for her and Baba. The room served them well, for all the patients that came for treatment. The entrance had a nice shaded porch with mats rolled out, where the patients could wait out their turns. Inside the clinic, an area had been cordoned off for Baba to see all his patients in privacy. In case the Patient was severely ill or hurt and needed to stay for the day in the clinic the mats could be rolled out to one side of the room, a mat curtain which were rolled up to the beams of the ceiling, could be opened to hang in the middle of the room providing temporary privacy to the occupants of the room.
She on the other hand, had a nicely shaded porch, at the back of the clinic, where she had set up her work station. She had feared that she might not get all the instruments and ingredients she would need to set up a fully functional clinic, but surprisingly the old local Vaidya had been more than willing not just in giving away his instruments and what ever medicines he had. But also had come to help set up the clinic. He was a cranky old man, but dedicated to the science of medicines. He would come whenever the mood struck him. But Baba seemed to really enjoy his company, so was kind of ok with him.
There was an open pipe, which ran right next to the aushadhalya, it was one of many, which brought in fresh mountain water to fill the pond in the back yard. A blessing since she was constantly in need of fresh water all the time. The pond was a common water body which provided water not just for the aushadhalya but also for the soldiers training centre as well as the administrative building. Actually the pond was in the centre of the complex, it was a big and quiet deep water body. The govt building to one side of it, the aushadhalya next to it and the soldiers training centre and the armoury taking the other two sides. The open pipes all came from the north, fed by the various streams surrounding the village. They fed the pond and all the excess water flowed out of the pond to the south, running a grid pattern through the village. She had seen small trough all over the village, where people filled fresh water. It was extremely efficient and hygienic. Here the porch, which was also her workshop was very close to the akhara the outdoor training area, in fact she could see the soldiers working out from where she was working. They were a rambunctious lot but she did not mind. Rather it reminded her of her training. In between her work she glanced in their direction and was surprised at the number of men training. The number had been increasing, slowly and steadily. Every day in the last week that they had been here, since she and Baba had been setting up the aushadhalya the number of men training in the ground had gone up. Funny!

Picking up a bowl of medicine paste that she had prepared along with a smaller bowl of a greenish liquid and a glass of water, she went over to Ballu, who was lying down dozing in a cot set in the shade of the porch. For the first few days after they had come back to Pinakipura, she had gone everyday, twice a day to check on him, giving him his medicines, changing his bandages. But the growing line of patients was making it difficult for her, so she had insisted once he was able to get up and move a bit, that he come everyday for day stay at the aushadhalya so that she could give him his medicines and keep a check on his bandage dressings. She sat down next to him and shook him lightly. He opened groggy eyes, and on realising who it was, made a disgusted sound and tried turning to the other side so he could sleep some more. Persistently waking him up she made him sit and was giving him his afternoon dose of medicines she sat down to dress his wounds, when she got a strange feeling, a feeling which she had come to recognise. She looked up to where the soldiers were training, and sure enough it was him.....Rudra!
He was standing in the middle of the ground with a deep scowl on his face.
"Does he never smile?"
"Huh!" Ballu looked up puzzled. Seeing the direction of Gaura's gaze, he smiled.
"Not in the training compound. He takes his responsibilities very seriously, and he trains the young soldiers very hard."
"Tomorrow onwards you don't need to come to the aushadhalya everyday."  Opening the bandaged wounds, she carefully removed the leaf and then the thick paste applied to the wound. Seeing the soft pink clear skin, with a satisfied smile she got up and returned quickly with a bowl of clean water and a clean rag and started cleaning the wound.
"You don't need to come here everyday, you can take your medicines on your own at home." Waiting for the look of happiness to come on his dear face. These last few days she had gotten to know him well. He was not only like her brother but a dear friend too. She felt so glad that he had fully recovered, the attack had almost proved fatal. Had it not been for Baba, she was not sure she could have saved him. Although she had given him first aid, but they had to walk the next day back out of the jungle, which had got his wounds opening again. He was in a bad condition by the time they had reached the village.