The Yakshi and the Doctor

Chapter 8: Love???

In between, alternating between conciousness and sleep, the doctor used to see a crowd of people waiting to enquire about his health. He used to see mohini or lakshmiamma by this bed side. He was quiet moved by their devotion as they actually were not related to him. After about a week, he gathered enough strength to walk on his own. He immediately wanted to resume his duties but was strictly told to take bed rest by the hospital authorities. Mohini also didn't allow him to do any work. One of the days when he was lying down, he got a clear vision how the disease was spreading. He could connect all the dots and it was clearly water borne. If he could ask the villagers to use clean boiled water and maintain personal hygiene, he was sure that the onslaught of the disease could be slowed down. As the spread and symptoms of the disease was like cholera, he was sure that the same drugs could be effectively used to cure the disease. Accordingly he started administering the same medication on himself. With the care of people around him and the effect of medication, he got back the lost vigour in another week. In place of existing routine of 3 months, he was able to reduce the period of the disease to 2 weeks. This was a great achievement in itself. 

As soon as he got back to work, he tested his findings on other patients and it had remarkable results. Wyanad was able to reverse the tide in the fight against the disease they called the tropical flu. The doctor became a hero in the eyes of international media. There were offers of better job and salary from across the world. Even mohini expected him to fall fo these allurements, if not money a person would be interested in fame, she reasoned. But our doctor true to his nature was not affected by any of those trappings and went about his business of treating poor people and their children as if nothing had happened.

Seeing that she had no way to legitimately defeat the doctor, mohini had planned to go back to her palm tree, she approached the doctor and told him now that she had finished her work here, she may be permitted to leave. The doctor who was genuinely impressed by her commitment and sincerity to the work requested her to continue. They even gave her a monthly stipend and a contract to work in the hospital for 3 years. 

There were also now frequent enquiries from the people around them, that when they are going to marry as they were made for one another. The doctor became uncomfortable in face of such questions. But honestly he was not against the concept of marriage per se. If a lady like mohini who is as committed to the society is ready to marry him, he didnt have any problem marrying. 

But honestly he didnt have any clue on what her feelings were on the subject. He also realized that he actually didnt know anything apart from her name. So he decided to ask her about her background. But before he could ask any of these things, mohini who clearly knew about his thoughts slipped away giving cryptic answers. The only substantial information he could gain from her that was she was a widow. She was not ready to reveal anything further on the matter. So he decided to leave it at that as these were her personal affairs.

Mohini on other hand was perplexed with the state of affairs that she brought herself in to. There was no doubt that the doctor was a great man. The kind of person she would have loved to marry and live with in her life. But that time is gone now. There would be no future to a marriage between a yakshi and a man. She clearly didnt want him to die at this point nor she was interested to take his life. Hence, she was thinking about ways and means on how she can escape from her current predicament. She decided to vanish from the scene and not to make an appearance before the people to avoid all complications.

For the next couple of days, doctor did not get to see mohini at all. Neither could he go checking to her place as he didn't exactly know where she lived. He even asked lakshmiamma about mohini. But even she feigned her ignorance. He told that she also didnt know anything about mohini other than what the doctor knew.

Mohini on the other hand kept playing the part of lakshmiamma as if both mohini and lakshmiamma would vanish together, it would certainly create doubts in the mind of the doctor and also people around them. This was the rational explanation she was giving to herself. But the actual truth which even she would refuse to admit to herself was that, by now she had also started liking to be in the presence of a good man like the doctor. She wanted to help him in whatever way she could to serve the poor people of wyanad. It was after all her place and people minus those whom she kept sending to yamapuri at regular intervals.
The number of deaths of young men who were taken away by mohini, which showed a temporary respite had spiked again. The legend or terror (based on the vantage point of narrator) of the yakshi named mohini continued to grow. The doctor on other hand went back to his regular routine and tried hard to forget mohini. He really wanted to forget her. But on some days when there was a knock at the door in office or house, he looked up with expectation that it was mohini. But mohini was no where to be seen or to be heard. So he resigned himself to the fact of his bachelor life again putting the thoughts of his marriage out of his mind. It was after all too good to be true.

To be Continued.