The Beautiful Broken

DR ASFANDYAR IS NOT PERFECT

DR ASFANDYAR IS NOT PERFECT

That night, both Zubi and Asfi's mobile rang jarringly at the same time. Immediately Asfi thought "emergency and was up and alert. It was an emergency, a few miles away, in the mountain gorge, a roadways bus had skidded in the continuous rain and had crashed into the gorge. Thankfully because the incline from the road to the gorge was not too steep, the bus had not rolled down but because there were boulders on the side of the road, it had taken several sharp and massive falls. The fifty odd passengers traveling in the bus had all suffered serious injuries. Asfand and Zubiya immediately rushed to the hospital where the injured passengers were being brought. All doctors and nursing staff was rushing to attend the accident victims and the entire hall was covered with people needing attention. As the police recorded the statement of the people, the entire hospital was dealing with the biggest influx of patients it had ever seen as it was the closest critical care center to the accident.

Zubiya, Dr Asifa and Dr Zeba, rushed between women victims, trying to identify which patients needed critical care, suturing up the simple wounds, bandaging superficial wounds and burns, surrounded by the cries and entreaties of the victims. Dr S and Asfi were in the surgery unit while Dr H dealt with the simpler cases and Dr S was handling the Burns unit. No one realised when it became daylight again and hours passed. Finally most of the critical care patients had been dealt with, the less critical were sent home and yet there were a number of makeshift beds that had to be adjusted for the patients. Added to that was the fact that this was a criminal case against the driver who was also one of the patients, and Dr Asfi had to interact with the police again and again.

Gaiti came in the evening. It was only at 10 pm the next night that Zubiya was ordered by Dr Asifa to go home now and get some rest so they could start rotating the duties amongst them. She went looking for her husband and found him still sitting with the police over the paperwork. She went home alone. There she was fussed over by her mother inlaw and father in law and narrated the entire happenings to them. She went straight to bed and then again at 3am she was up and ready to go back to relieve Dr Asifa. She reached the hospital and peeped inside her husband's chamber. He was in the middle of giving instructions to the junior doctors and asked her to wait a moment. He was looking very tired, but they both knew that unlike her he had many more things to handle and wouldn't get to go home so soon. As the others left the room, she decisively clicked the door lock, because she needed that small privacy for a moment. She went behind him and placed her hand on his shoulders and rubbed the tension knots in a circular motion to relax him. Immediately he leaned back against her stomach, relaxing against her as she rhythmically tried to massage his shoulders and sooth him down.

A: "That feels really good.

Z bent down and kissed the top of his head. And she moved so she was now facing him and quickly kissed his forehead.

A: " That feels even better. I think I am going to make you my personal physician cum masseuse.

Z: "Why?

A: " So you can kiss me and make me better. Exclusively contract of course.

Z: " Okay so you are no longer tired?

A: "No, I am good to go for another few nights (with a really naughty expression).

Z: " You do have a single track mind, you know. And here I was, trying to serve humanity

A: " And you have the knack of starting things, only when you know you cant finish them. rest of the time its all about how tired you are and how sleepy and that a tyrant your boss is!

Z: (feeling shy and embarrassed and not sure what to say)

A: Anyway, go now.there's a lot to be done